Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus of Nazareth was the founder of Christianity or the Christian faith. A lot of the records involving Jesus associate him with miracles. During Passion week, Jesus was charged with treason and was crucified. On a Sunday morning he supposedly was resurrected but only certain people could see him. When someone went to check the tomb it was reported empty. He died in 29 C.E.

Paul of Tarsus (died 62-64)

4

Paul of Tarsus grew up in a Jewish family and was a faithful Jew. When he learned about Jesus who claimed to be the Messiah he started to discourage many people from joining this religion but no matter what he did people kept joining. One day while traveling he was blinded by light and then heard a the voice of Jesus asking why he was prosecuting his people. This lead to Paul becoming a Christian. His real name was Saul but in honor of the new life that Jesus gave him he changed it.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

The Great Fire started in the Circus Maximus. Many ancient historians thought that Nero did it because he wanted to rebuild Rome. When people started to blame Nero he blamed the Christians. Modern historians don't believe that Nero started the fire because of how many people lived there at the time. The population was about 2 million and many lived in wooden apartments. The Great Fire lasted 6 days and it ended on July 24, 64 AD.

Roman Rule of Israel

66

When the Romans became the main power within the region, they appointed a king limited authority under the Roman governor of Damascus. The Jews were hostile to the new rules and as the years went by they started revolting until the Romans had enough and they started to fight back. They destroyed Jerusalem and defeating all of the Jewish outposts. Many Jews lost their lives during the destruction of Jerusalem, but some were lucky enough to survive.

Perpetua (died March 7th, 203)

182

Perpetua was a Christian was the one to write The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. Perpetua was arrested for going against the emperor and was sent to prison. She then recorded her story into a diary about her life in jail. She then gave the journal to someone to record what would happen to her when she was sent to the arena. She survived and then accepted death by sword. The diary was one of the rare written records that could be found in the ancient word that was written by a women.

Constantine the Great (died May 22, 337 AD)

272

Constantine was born in Naissus which was located in the province of Moesia which is in the present day country Serbia. His father, Flavius Constantius, worked in the Roman gov., and he eventually became the second in command under Emperor Diocletian. When Diocletian died, Constantine fled with his father to the west. Eventually Constantine was named emperor. Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians when their god told him to fight under the sign of the Christian cross and he won.

The Great Persecution

303

The Great Persecution was initiated by Diocletian. It was the only persecution that lasted a long time. It was Diocletian's goal to kill all of the Christians. When a christian was caught, they could be spared if they converted to paganism. They could also gain great favor if they handed over some scriptures for them to be burned. The Great Persecution lasted 8 years and ended in 311 AD.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

The Battle of Milvian Bridge was between Maxentius and Constantine. This battle is most famous for its link to Constantine's conversion to Christianity. Before the battle Constantine saw a cross of light in the sky that had some words underneath that said "In this sign conquer". He also had a dream the same night where the Christian god came to him and told him to use the sign of the cross against his enemies. He then put the cross on his soldiers shields and proceeded to win the battle.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a proclamation that helped stop the persecution of Christians. It was an agreement between Constantine and Licinius. This gave everyone within Rome rebellious freedom. This included Christians, so all of the restrictions that they had were taken back. There had been other agreements for toleration but they didn't last very long.

Emperor Theodosius

347

Theodosius was born in the province Gallaecia. When Theodosius proved his military experience, Gracian who was the emperor at the time gave him the title of co-emperor. He ruled over the Eastern part of the empire. In the first few years of his rule, he helped to rebuild the army. He also created a treaty with the Visigoths who for in exchange for territory, they pledged to lend military assistance. He died on January 17, 395 AD.