Roman Empire and Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus was a Jewish preacher. He is seen as an instrumental character in the Christian religion. He is seen as the incarnation of god the son. He is referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth. In the Christian religion he is seen as if he was crucified for the sins of the Christian people.

Roman Rule of Israel Begins

63

Jewish people of Israel began to move to the Roman empire/ moved to Rome. Roman general Pompey established the province of Syria, and in the year 63 conquered Jerusalem. Following the conquer of Jerusalem the spread of Judaism started to begin at a slow rate.

Great Fire of Rome

64

The Emperor Nero's Rome caught on fire. Almost 70 percent of all of Rome was burned to the ground. One of the few areas of Rome that wasn't burned was the area in which the Christians lived. Nero blamed them for starting the fire and the Christians were prosecuted.

Paul of Tarsus

65

He was known as Paul the Apostle. Taught the Gospel of Christ to the first century world. Paul was sent to Jerusalem as a young man to study Jewish law. While he was in Jerusalem people kept telling him about the significance of Jesus. He began to persecute these followers of Jesus. The more people he persecuted the more followers of Christ he began to see. Eventually these people started calling themselves Christians. He died under the reign of Emperor Nero.

Perpetua

203

Was one of the first Noble Christians. She was from the Roman Province of Carthage in present day Africa. She was killed at the age of 22 and she was said to be holding her child while she was slain. She was killed for being Christian

Great Persecution (Christians)

303

Was an edict created taking away all the legal rights of Christians. Following this Christians were to be sacrificed to the pagan gods, or imprisoned. These Christians were tortured to death.

The Great Persecution (Christians)

303

Edict was made taking away rights of Christians. Following Christians were killed in mass numbers in the Colosseum being tortured to death. They were imprisoned if they were not killed. They were killed by animals that were released into the Colosseum.

Constantine the Great

312

Was the first emperor to profess Christianity. Had a vision of the christian symbol in the sky before a battle. Later in the night he had a dream that he would put the symbol of Christianity on the shields of his soldiers and he would be victorious. The next day before the battle he put the symbol on the shields and they were victorious. Constantine was believed to be the main reason for the rise of Christianity.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge

312

Was battle involving Constantine. The night before he went into battle he had a dream of him putting the Christian symbol on the shields of his soldiers. He had won the battle for the Romans and he said that his victory was because of Christianity. Helped with the rise of Christianity. Was the first emperor to interpret Christianity into his rule.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire. It allowed the freedom of religion in Rome which helped the rise of Christianity.

Emperor Theodosius

395

Made the support of pagan gods illegal. Helped with the upraise of Christianity. Passed an edict making Christianity the main religion in Ancient Rome.