Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

The Roman conquest of Israel

43 BCE

The Roman conquest of Israel Began in 64 BCE when the Romans conquered Jerusalem, and was followed by the Julius Caesar conquering Alexandria in 47 BCE, and was followed by Julius Caesar taking control of Pompey in 43 BCE

Jesus of Nazareth

29

Jesus of Nazareth was a very important religious figures to the Christian religion. He spread his teachings through the Roman empire and spread the message of Christianity everywhere. He was crucified on a cross by the Romans in between two convicted criminals, and was believed to have died, and later to have risen from the dead and into the heavens above.

Great Fire Of Rome

64

For 5 days the fire, which started in Rome's slums, raged throughout the city, leaving only 4 districts untouched, 1 of which was the Christian district. Emperor Nero was in power at the time and is sometimes blamed for starting the fire, legends say he fiddled as the city burned. He used this fire as a way to blame the the Christians, and persecute Christians because he did not agree with their beliefs, and did not like how they did not worship him.

Paul Of Tarsus

64

Saint Paul Was well known for the Christian religion for his contribution in Christian writing. He converted to the christian religion after seeing a vision of Christ and spread his seeings throughout the people and converted many people of Rome, and many other surrounding areas to become Christian. He lead the church of Christ in Rome with Saint Peter. He was imprisoned after he was blamed for the great fire of Rome by Nero and was later executed in either 64 or 67.

The great fire of Rome

64

The Great fire of Rome raged throughout the city for 5 days, and was rumored to be started by the emperor Nero. Rumor has it that he fiddled while the city burned, and was later Nero blamed the Christians on this horrible indecent because he did not follow their beliefs. He persecuted many Christians for this, including Saint Paul, and Saint Peter, the head of the Christian church at the time.

Paul of Tarsus

67

Paul of Tarsus was one of the most important, and most recognized Christians of his time, and was well known for his religious writings. He was converted to a Christian when he had a vision of Christ in the sky, he spread his findings through the Jews, and spread the idea of being a Christian throughout many people, and places. He ran the first church of the Christians in his time with Saint Peter.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a Christian martyr who lived in Carthage who was captured, and imprisoned for her beliefs. She wrote "The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity" which describes her imprisonment and how her father begged her to give up Christianity for her life, but she refused because she believed in Christianity so much she would rather die than live and live without it, because of this she was killed by a sword along with her imprisoned pregnant slave Felicity.

The Great Persecution (Diocletian Persecution)

303

In 303 emperor Diocletian issues a series of laws targeting the Christian belief system, and all those who followed it. They stated that the must worship the emperor and sacrifice to the pagan gods, or they would be imprisoned, and tormented to death. Many Christian Martyrs were killed in this time, because they would rather face death than disobey their belief system. They were either killed by sword, spear, or other weapon, or even thrown into arenas with lions to die a slow painful death.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

In 312 Constantine the great and Maxentius fought on Milvian bridge outside of Rome, which would be a crucial battle in Rome's civil war. Constantine lead his men under the sign of the cross, and the protection from God, they wore the overlapping X and P on their shields as they fought also. Constantine crushed Maxentius's army, and was victorious over the Roman civil war. He then thanked the Christian religion for the support of his army during the battle and made several laws to benefit them.

Edict of Milan

313

The Edict of Milan was an agreement between Constantine and Licinius which established religious tolerance, and religious freedom throughout the entire Roman empire. This was very important to the Christians because they were given legal rights which had previously been taken away from them, and allowed them to practice their religion in public, and worship their gods without fear of being imprisoned and executed for it.

Constantine the Great

337

Constantine the great was a Roman emperor who fought under the sign of the Christians, the cross. He believed that he has seen a cross in the sky with the words "In this sign we conquer" he later than dreamed that god has told him to put an overlapping XP on his soldiers. He won this battle, and believed it was because of the Christians, and passed many rights for them that would benefit the whole religion, and allow it to spread throughout every single nook and cranny of the Roman empire.

Emperor Theodosius

392

Emperor Theodosius died as the sole emperor between Rome's two halves, east and west. He boosted the support, and numbers of the Christian religion through the Roman empire severely by prohibiting the practice of worshiping the Pagan gods. He did this to unite Rome under one religion which he believed would end any civil wars that may start in the future over the argument of religion.