Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Israel (begins)

64 BCE

Roman empire had expanded to Israel. Rome let the people or Israel practice most religions. But the Romans didn't want their empire to be out of control so they would execute criminals. In the time that Rome was in control of Israel, Christianity started to spread around the entire Roman empire. The reason the Romans cared about Israel was because it was connected to the Roman empire.

Jesus of Nazareth

33

Jesus of Nazareth, also called Jesus Christ, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader. He was one of the people who caused people to believe and follow Christianity. Most people thought of Jesus as an important figure in the christian religion, he was also well known because he was thought to of been the incarnation of God.

Great Fire of Rome

64

The Great Fire of Rome was able to spread quickly due to winds. The fire burned for 3 days and after it was put out, only 4 of Rome's 14 districts were unharmed by the fire, 3 were completely destroyed. Thousands of people died.

Paul of Tarsus

67

Paul of Tarsus spent the first part of his life prosecuting Jewish Christians. After that part of his life he became a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. He was he second important founder of Christianity. He traveled all around to inform people of Jesus, and he came up with the doctrine that would help spread the knowledge of Christianity.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a christian women who was killed when she was just 22 years old. in North Africa, Emperor Septimius Severus decided he was going to "destroy" Christianity. He started by arresting 5 people in a church class, Perpetua being one of them. When she was arrested her father who was not a christian came to her jail and told her that if she lied about being a christian she would be able to save herself. She said she would not lie about being a christian. So she was killed a few days later.

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

The Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius were annoyed with the Christians who kept practicing their religion even though it was frowned upon. So the emperors issued edicts saying that the Christians must comply with Roman religious standards. If the Christians didn't comply they were threatened to be killed. The Emperors decided to do this because they wanted to restore order in Rome.

Constantine the Great

306

Was a Roman Emperor who ruled between 306 and 337 AD. Constantine was famous for being the first Roman ruler to allow and support Christianity. Constantine met with Licinius in Milan to create a "law" stating that Christianity was "legal" in Rome. The "law" was called the Edict of Milan.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

The Battle of Milvian Bridge was fought between Roman Emperors Constantine and Maxentius. Constantine was fighting to restore the rule of one emperor in the west, while Maxentius was fighting to keep Tetrarchy in western Rome. The night before the Battle, Constantine had a dream about a cross and on the day of the battle he had his troops paint crosses on their shields so that they would be fighting as christian soldiers. After the battle, Christianity was the official religion of Rome.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a letter or "contract" that was signed and put in order by the Roman Emperors Constantine ( emperor of the west) and Licinius ( emperor of the east) . Constantine was realizing the bad treatment of Christians and wanted to put an end to it so he went to Licinius in Milan. They signed the Edict issuing an "allowance" of the Christian religion in Rome.

Emperor Theodosius

379

Theodosius was the last emperor to rule a united Rome ( later it was split into 2 halves) After Rome was split in two, he became emperor of the East half. He made Christianity the official religion of Rome. This allowed the Christians to stop being persecuted.