The Persecution and Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Jesus of Nazareth

5

Jesus is important because he was the son of God who was crucified by the Roman Empire. He was the Christians hope, which was crushed by the Roman empire. Jesus grew up in Judea, a Roman city. After he was baptized, he preached the Christian word to the Romans. He said there was a kingdom greater than Rome if they could believe in God. This message excited his audiences, but it offended people when he claimed he was the son of God. He was tried of treason and crucified on the cross.

Paul of Tarsus

33

Paul of Tarsus helped bring the Christian religion into a better light. He originally persecuted Christians, but converted to Christianity when he had a vision of Jesus. During the rest of his life, he was preaching about Christianity. Thirteen of the books in the New Testimate are attrubuted to his surviving letters. Eventually, he was captured and sent to rome before the great fire of Rome. He was supposedly killed by Nero in his christian purge after the Great Fire.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

Why is this important?
The great fire of Rome was imperative for Emperor Nero to place the blame of the fire on the Christians so they would be persecuted instead of himself. The fire burned for six days before it was put out. It burned ⅔ of the city of Rome. The fire left a few pockets untouched, one of these being a christian community. Nero, who had tried to convince the Senate to let him build a lot of private temples and palaces, built one of his new villas in the fire's wake.

The Beginning of Rome's Rule in Isreal

64

This event is important because it is when the Romans are originally exposed to Christianity. Christianity is said to have originated from Judaism in the first century of AD. They set up their first temple and places of worship in Israel. The Romans came to conquer Isreal a while after and laid siege to the city for three years. When it fell, the temple was destroyed, both religions were taken as slaves, and heavy taxes were laid on the Jews and Christians.

Perpetua

203

This showed the Romans the loyalty of the Christian people to their religion. The news of this event was everywhere, and it inspired many. She was a young Roman noblewomen and nursing mother. Her father supposedly came to her in prison and begged her to give up Christianity, but she refused. Her and her slave, Felicity, were thrown to beasts and survived. They were killed by swords, and Perpetua supposedly helped guide the trembling hand of the executioner to her own neck.

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

The importance of the Great Persecution of 303 CE is that shows the world what Christians were willing to sacrifice for what they believed in. Diocletian asks the oracle of Apollo, who says to prosecute. Christians were ordered to destroy their scriptures and places of worship, but they resisted. In court, the Christians were not given the right of petitioning. They had to go undercover and practice in secret, so they have varying types of Christian religions, all of which were illegal.

Constantine the Great

312

The event of Constantine's adoption of Christianity is what made the religion survive to today. Before the battle of Milvian bridge, he had a vision with the cross and a voice that said, translated, "in this sign, you will conquer". He has the sign put on his soldier's shields and the march into battle. They are victorious. After the battle, he issues the Edict of Milan that allowed the Christians the freedom of religion. He builds a city for the Christians to show his acceptance of them.

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

This is the event that gave Emperor Constantine the great respect for the Christian religion. On the night before he goes into battle to take over Rome, he has a vision. It is of the Christian symbol, and a voice telling him, “In Hoc Signo Vinces”, or, “In the sign, you will conquer”. He puts the sign on all of his soldiers’ shields and himself and they ride into battle. They dominate and take over Rome, and Constantine attributes it all to the god of the Christians.

Edict of Milan

313

This event was important because it is what opened the door to the freedom of religion today. Emperor Constantine held the Christian religion and god in such high respects that he decided to make the Edict of Milan. He made it legal for Christians to practice their religion without the fear of persecution. The picture is of constantine because it was he who made the edict possible.

Emperor Theodosius

380

Emperor Theodosius truly brought the Christian religion out of the dark. He was much more in favor of Christianity, as we can see by evidence that shows he 1) made Christianity the one legal religion, 2) ends the governmental support for any polytheistic religions and their practices, 3) refuses to have many of the Roman-related religion artifacts in the government buildings, and 4) he is said to have abolished the Olympic Games. This image is of the angy crowd after the close of the games.