Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Roman Rule of Isreal

37 BCE

In 37 BC Herod was appointed as ruler of Judea by the Roman Empire, and despite many of his attempts and successes at improving the Empire, he couldn't win over his Jewish subjects. In 4 BC the Romans had a complete control over the nation. The Jews weren't happy and held a full scale revolt. In 70 BC the area was conquered completely by Roman soldiers.

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

Jesus Christ was theorized to be born somewhere between 4 BC and 0 CE. He died in the year 33 through crucifixion, the reason was for claiming to be the Ruler of the Jewish people and having been the offspring of the LORD, as well as claiming to be part of the Holy Trinity as the Son. The New Testament of the Bible has lots of information on his teachings and death. He was able to perform miracles and exorcisms to grow in popularity and receive followers.

Paul of Tarsus

5

Saint Paul of Tarsus was a follower of Jesus in his younger years and after the death of Jesus he began to spread the teachings of the Catholic faith and the gospel through the world. He was known as Jewish Roman Citizen and because of this he could attract both audiences to his teachings. He is also responsible for founding many early Catholic churches in Europe.

The Great Fire of Rome

64

In 64 CE, a great fire started to burn down the massive city of Rome. Many of the Romans speculated that this action was caused by the current emperor, Nero. They thought it was under his action that he started the fire in attempt to punish his citizens for not being completely loyal to him. The fire lasted for 5 full days and burned roughly 70% of the city. However, the Christian area had not been burned, and Nero used that observation to point the blame finger at the Christians.

Perpetua

203

Perpetua was a Christian Martyr that was persecuted and sent to a prison in one of Rome's provinces in Africa. During her stay she wrote many texts about the visions of prophets and other Christian ideas and views. Her death occurred in 203 CE shortly after her sentence on death row in Carthage.

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

After the blame on the Christians for the Roman fire there was a great deal of discrimination against the Christians, many were taken and forced to fight beasts in the Colosseum, participate in Gladiator fights, and some were even burned or tortured openly in front of massive crowds. They were severely disrespected and the conditions were unbearable for them.

Constantine the Great

306

Constantine ruled Rome between 306 and 337 CE, and had a great deal of accomplishments in that time. Including winning the Battle of Milvian Bridge, and abolishing Christian discrimination. He was one of the most effective rulers of his time. But one of his most notable feats was the "In Hoc Signo Vinces" vision, one that described how living and fighting in the Catholic light can lead to victory.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

During the persecuting time period Constantine supposedly had a vision, suggesting that he saw a massive cross in the sky with the Greek letters that translate to, "in this sign you will conquer". After seeing this in his dreams he had the Christian symbol painted on each of the soldiers shields. And after this ended up happening he went on to win his next battle, the battle of Milvian Bridge, which sparked the idea that Christianity was the chosen religion.

Edict of Milan

313

Shortly after Constantine's victory at the Battle of Milvan Bridge, he only saw it fit that because the cross symbol was on the shields of his men, Christianity and the existence of Jesus Christ had led him to a higher state of being. And because of this he established the "Edict of Milan", an almost constitution that defined the definitive rights of all Christians, this caused Christianity to rise to the top of the religious totem pole. Becoming one of the most respected faiths on Earth.

Theodosius I

379

Theodosius was the last emperor who ruled over both the Eastern and Western areas of Europe. When he was first brought into the throne he campaigned against the Gothics and the Barbarians who had attempted to invade certain areas of the Empire. His men didn't have sufficient resources to drive them off, so he had an indecisive battle. These events built up to Rome having to fight 2 Civil wars that would disrupt and split the Empire.