Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel Begins

63 BCE

When Romans took over Israel, Jews became part of Rome allowing Christianity to develop off of Jewish beliefs because it is somehow based on Judaism. This event is what allowed Christianity to be started in the first place.

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish religious leader that lots of Christians think is god and is the center of Christianity. The word Christ came from the Roman word christos, which pretty much just means the chosen one, so Romans just called him Christ hence the name Christianity.

Paul of Tarsus

4 BCE

Paul of Tarsus was one of the first preachers of Christianity. He was a leader of early Christians. He is said to be the best religious leader since Jesus and is thought to have been very influential.

Great Fire of Rome

64

The Great Fire of Rome was 6 days of fire that wiped out 65% of Rome. Most areas that were unaffected by the fire were inhabited by Christians, so Nero, the emperor at the time, blamed them for the fire, which lead to the persecution of Christians. Many people think that this fire was caused by Nero just so he could blame it on the Christians so he would have reason for the Great Persecution which started when people were mad at the Christians, who the people thought really had started the fire.

Perpetua

182

Vibia Perpetua was a woman who was imprisoned then killed at the age of 22 due to her Christianity. While she was in prison she wrote a journal that is now famous among Christians. She is found to be significant because she died for Christianity. She was found inspirational by later people who practiced this religion and made people more interested in it since they saw what she was willing to give just for her religion.

The Great Persecution

303

The Great Persecution of Christians was the most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire where Christians were killed in horrible ways. For a long time emperors had ignored Christians since they were busy with other problems, emperor Decius blamed Christians for a period of crisis and started an empire wide persecution of Christians. He disliked Christians because they didn't sacrifice to the gods which he thought was dangerous to Rome, so he required sacrifice to be made to him.

Constantine the Great

306

Constantine the Great was an emperor that made Christianity in Rome go from persecuted to widely accepted because of a vision he had. He "saw" a cross in the sky and the words In Hoc Signo Vinces (In this sign you will conquer). He made shields with Christ's initials on them for his troops and won a war with these shields. This lead him to believe that it was Christ that this happened and wrote the Edict of Milan.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

This battle happened between emperors Constantine and his brother-in-law Maxentius over full leadership of Rome, since there were two rulers for two different parts of Rome at the time. Constantine won and became the emperor of all Rome.

The Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was written by emperors Constantine and Licinus after Constantine became an endorser of Christianity that promoted this religion and allowed freedom of religious practice.

Emperor Theodosius

379

Though emperors before Theodosius had allowed and promoted Christianity, Theodosius actually made Christianity the official religion of Rome. This caused Christianity to spread a great deal more.