Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Rome Rule of Israel begins

63 BCE

**Rome took over Israel which started all of the events that made Christianity a major world religion,
2. the Romans killed Jesus Christ
3. Because of the large size of the Roman empire, Christianity spread quickly

Jesus of Nazareth

4 BCE

1. Central figure of Christianity
2. He is the Messiah (Christ)
3. Romans crucified him and killed him, but then as some people believe, he came back from the dead
4. believed to be "son of God"
5. He was first a Jewish preacher **Head figure of Christianity, Jesus is literally Christ, hes the lord, died 33 AD on the cross

Paul of Tarsus

4 BCE

1. Was an apostle
2. Taught the gospel of Christ to the first century world
3. Considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic age
4. Founded many churches
5. Wrote many things in the New Testament
6. died 62-64 ce ** Was an apostle who taught people the ways of Christ

Great Fire of Rome

64

1. Huge fire broke out in Rome, caused many deaths + destruction, 65% was destroyed
2. The christian part of town was unharmed, this raised suspicion
3. Nero, blamed the fire on the Christians, even though he might of been the one who started it
4. Some people believe the Christians started the fire for a prophecy, this event was initial prosecution of Christians
5. The city burned for 6 days, until July 23 *One of the first events where the Christians were blamed, started all this prosecution

Perpetua

182

1. Wrote one of the most earliest and notable Christian texts
2. Wrote a "diary" on her last days before she got killed for being a christian. Many Christians look at this document today
3. Christian noblewoman
4. Her written diary also included stuff about the visions of Saturus, another Christian that got killed.
5. text was called The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
6. died March 7, 203 ** wrote text the showed life and events leading up to her death, was a martyr
   

Great Persecution of 303 CE

303

1. Diocletian blamed the Christians for the problems in Rome
2. Churches were destroyed, sculptures were destroyed, people were killed and put into the Colosseum sometimes.
3. About 2 million Christians were killed
4. The goal of this persecution was to re unify the empire, and get people believing the same things again, old Gods
5. most severe persecution of the Christians
6. Some Christians went to the Colosseum *Series of killings and persecutions of the christian people, ended in 311 AD

Constantine the Great

312

1. Came to power after a series of civil wars
2. During a battle against Maxentius, Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky, 312
3. Later he had a dream where Christ told him to put XP on his soldiers shields,
4. Met with eastern emperor Milan to make Edict of Milan, (made Christianity legal)
5. Constantine believed that God was on his side, after he defeated Licinlus this belief went even further and **he legalized Christianity throughout empire, saw cross in the sky, visions

Battle of Milvian Bridge

312

1. Constantine I vs Maxentius, Constantine had vision of cross before this battle.
2. Constantine won. Start of the end of persecution of Christians, because Constantine supported Christianity
3. Battle let Constantine gain more power,
4. Constantine was the main power now and he made Christianity a major religion part of the Roman empire.
5. This led to the Edict of Milan

**Battle that ended the persecution of Christians because Constantine was in power, ended October 28, 312 AD

Edict of Milan

313

1. Declared religious peace and toleration in the Roman Empire for the Christians
2. Made by Constantine and Licinius
3. Stopped the unfair treatment to the Christians that came from emperor Diocletian permanently
   
4. It was a political agreement
5. began a period when Constantine granted favors to the Christian Church and its members. ** a letter that said Christians were to tolerated throughout the roman empire, this stopped unfair treatment of the Christians

Emperor Theodosius

379

1. Last emperor to rule over eastern and western Roman empire
2. Prosecute Christianity even though he wasn't supposed to
3. Even though he persecuted it he soon made Christianity the official church of Rome
4. Defended Christianity against paganism and Arianism.
5. Theodosius stopped the persecution of Christians **Last emperor of Rome, at first he persecuted the Christians but then he defended them and made Christianity the official church of Rome