Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Isreal

6 BCE

Roman Leadership became very unstable as the empire grew. Meaning of ruling Isreal is Rome could move freely between two continents. The Isreal people could practice their religion as long as they followed roman laws, and kept peace throughout the city.

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, and is the start of adoption of Christianity. Augustus was said to be the emperor when Jesus of Nazareth was born. Jesus had 12 disciples, and he helped and cured people from Nazareth. Without Jesus of Nazareth their would not be the religion of Christianity.

The great fire of Rome

64

Nero was the Emperor and was said to have started it the fire. He wanted to build a series of palaces in Rome but the Senate would not let him, so he was said to have started the fire so he could rebuild Rome the way he wanted to. Nero did not want the blame to be on him so he blamed the people who were a part of the new religion called Christianity, and punished for “starting the fire” by crucifying them and feeding them to wild beasts, and this started the persecution of Christianity

Paul of Tarsus

67

Paul of Tarsus was a historical figure that set the ‘’tone’’ for christianity. At first Paul of tarsus supported the persecution of Christianity. Then in AD 34 paul saw a vision of Jesus, and from then on he became a missionary of christ. He even wrote a big part of the new testament in the bible. Paul was imprisoned for supporting the Christians and executed in Rome under the power of Nero. Paul is a victim of the persecution of christianity.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua and 4 others were the first to be arrested because they were taking a class on Christianity baptism. Perpetua father visited her in Prison and told her to deny that she was a Christian but she would not deny her religion. After saying they were Christians they were fed to wild beasts, but the wild beasts did not kill the 5 fast enough, so they were “slain by the sword”. This was one of many that added to the persecution of Christianity.

The great persecution of 303

303

Emperor Diocletian in 303-311 ordered all Christian churches to be destroyed, all meetings to be prohibited and all Bibles to be publicly burnt. After Diocletian “retired” his successor Galerius continued the persecutions. Some Christians would not give their scripture up to the persecutors, but some would to avoid further punishment. The persecutions were meant to eliminate Christianity, but instead it turned some of the people accept Christianity. 303 was the continuation of Christianity.

Constantine the great

306

Constantine saw a sign in the sky, which said: “hoc signo vinces” which means in this sign conquer, that night Constantine had a vision sent to him from God, which told him to put the Christian symbol on his shields, he did and they won the battle of Milvian Bridge, and he Attributed the win to the gods. Constantine became emperor of the west after the battle of Milvian and signed the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity as a religion, and it was the start of prosecution of Christianity.

Battle of Milan

312

The battle of Milan bridge was a battle between Emperors Constantine and Maxentius. The battle was started because both Constantine and Maxentius wanted control of the western part of the empire. The night before the battle Constantine had seen the “hoc signo vinces” and had a vision sent to him from Christ to put the symbol of Christianity on the front of his armies shields to win the battle, and he came out victorious. This battle became the end of persecution of Christianity.

Edict of Milan

313

The edict of Milan was a proclamation establishing Christianity as a religion. It was the outcome of a agreement between Constantine and Licinius in February of 313. This Edict saved Christians from being persecuted in Rome. Christianity was spread through Rome and Europe because of the Edict of Milan and was the being of Prosecution of Christianity.

Emperor Theodosius

379

Emperor Theodosius accepted Christianity baptism In 380 he called himself a Christian and called a council to put an end to Arian heresy. Which divided Rome for more than half a century. To try and turn the tables Theodosius started to persecute heretics and pagans instead of Christians, and the Heretics and pagans were driven underground. In the late 394, 5 months before he died, he was the emperor of a once again united empire.