Chapter 13 – Rome and Christianity
Section Notes
Video
Religion in the Roman Empire
Origins of Christianity
The Early Christian World
Ancient Rome and the
World Today
Quick Facts
Chapter 13 Visual Summary
Maps
Jesus of Nazareth
Paul’s Journeys
The Spread of Christianity,
300-400
Images
Pantheon
Resistance to Rome
The Last Supper
Religion in the Roman Empire
The Big Idea
The Roman Empire accepted many religions,
but it came into conflict with Judaism.
Main Ideas
• The Romans allowed many religions to be practiced in
their empire.
• Jews and Romans clashed over religious and political
ideas.
• The roots of Christianity had appeared in Judea by the end
of the first century BC.
Main Idea 1:
The Romans allowed many religions to be
practiced in their empire.
• Romans were accepting of the gods of the people that
they conquered, and they prayed to a wide range of gods.
– They were not sure which gods existed and which did
not, so to avoid offending the ones that did exist, they
prayed to a wide range of gods and goddesses.
• The Romans would ban a religion if it was considered a
political problem.
Main Idea 2:
Jews and Romans clashed over religious and
political ideas.
Religious Reasons
Political Reasons
• The Romans worshipped
many gods, whereas the
Jews had only one God.
• The Jews rebelled against
Roman rule twice and were
defeated.
• Some Romans thought the
Jews were insulting their
gods by worshipping only
one God.
• The Romans grew tired of
rebellion, so Emperor
Hadrian banned the religion.
• The Jews still rebelled, so
Hadrian destroyed the Jewish capital of Jerusalem and
forced the Jews out after the
Romans built over it.
Main Idea 3:
The roots of Christianity had appeared in
Judea by the end of the first century BC.
• Before the Jews rebelled, what would become a new
religion appeared in Judea.
• This religion, which later developed into Christianity, was
based on the life and teachings of the Jew Jesus of
Nazareth.
• It was rooted in Jewish ideas and traditions.
The Messiah
• Messiah means “anointed” in Hebrew.
• The Jews believed that the Messiah would be chosen by
God to lead them.
• The Jews believed that if they followed the laws closely, a
descendant of King David would come restore the
kingdom.
• A prophet named John the Baptist announced that this
leader, the Messiah, was coming soon.
Origins of Christianity
The Big Idea
Christianity, based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth,
spread quickly after his death.
Main Ideas
• In Christian belief, Jesus was the Messiah and the son of
God.
• Jesus taught about salvation, love for God, and kindness.
• Jesus’s followers, especially Paul, spread his teachings
after his death.
Main Idea 1:
In Christian belief, Jesus was the Messiah
and the son of God.
• The limited knowledge about Jesus’ life is contained in the
Bible, the holy book of Christianity.
• The Bible is made up of two parts.
– The Old Testament tells the history and ideas of the
Hebrew people.
– The New Testament tells about the life and teachings of
Jesus.
The Birth of Jesus
• According to the Christian Bible, Jesus was born in
Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph.
• Jesus studied carpentry and Judaism.
• Stories of his teachings and actions make up the
beginning of the New Testament.
The Crucifixion
• His teachings challenged the authority of political and
religious leaders, and Roman authorities arrested him.
• According to the Christian Bible, Roman authorities
arrested him.
• He was tried and executed by crucifixion, a type of
execution in which a person was nailed to a cross.
The Resurrection
• According to Christians, Jesus rose from the dead,
something they called the Resurrection.
• They believe he then appeared to his disciples and told
them to pass along his teachings before rising up to
heaven.
• Some people called him Jesus Christ, which is how the
words Christians and Christianity eventually developed.
– Christ comes from Christos, the Greek word for
Messiah.
Main Idea 2:
Jesus taught about salvation,
love for God, and kindness.
• His followers believed that Jesus performed events that
cannot normally be performed by humans, called miracles.
• They claimed he taught through parables, or stories that
teach lessons about how to live.
– Parables were able to link his teachings to people’s
everyday lives.
– They explained complicated ideas in ways that people
could understand.
• He taught his followers about loving God and other people,
and about salvation.
Main Idea 3:
Jesus’ followers, especially Paul, spread his
teachings after his death.
• Jesus chose people to pass along his teachings.
– 12 Apostles
• They were Jesus’ closest followers during his lifetime.
• Peter became leader of the group after Jesus died.
– The writers of the Gospels were Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John.
– Paul was also known as Paul of Tarsus. He didn’t like
Christianity at first, but converted later.
Saint Paul
• Paul of Tarsus, who had never met Jesus, became one of
his most influential followers.
• Paul was named a saint, a person known and admired for
his or her holiness.
• Paul traveled widely, spreading Christian teachings.
• Paul believed that God is made up of a Trinity, or three
persons—God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. There are three persons, but still only one God.
The Early Christian World
The Big Idea
Within three centuries after Jesus’s death, Christianity
had spread through the empire and become
Rome’s official religion.
Main Ideas
• Christianity spread quickly in Rome, but its growing
strength worried some emperors.
• As the church grew, new leaders and ideas appeared and
Christianity’s status in the empire changed.
Main Idea 1:
Christianity spread quickly in Rome, but its
growing strength worried some emperors.
• Christians spread their beliefs throughout the Roman
Empire, but were challenged at times.
– Distributed parts of Jesus’s message, including the
Gospels
• Some people, called martyrs, were killed for their
religious beliefs.
Persecution
To prevent unrest in the empire, some emperors banned
Christianity, leading to periods of persecution.
Persecution means punishing a group because of its beliefs or
differences.
Christians were often forced to meet in secret. They developed
symbols such as the fish to identify who shared their beliefs.
Main Idea 2:
As the church grew, new leaders and ideas
appeared and Christianity’s status
in the empire changed.
• Bishops, or local Christian leaders, led each Christian
community.
– One of their most important duties was leading the
Eucharist. This was a central ceremony of the Christian
Church. Christians ate bread and drank wine in memory
of Jesus’s death.
• The papacy grew in power.
• Emperors and writers started to accept Christianity.
Growth of the Papacy
• Christians looked to bishops for guidance.
• The most honored bishop was located in Rome and was
called the pope.
– Pope is the Greek word for father.
• As the pope’s influence grew, so did the papacy, the office
of the pope.
• People in the West came to see him as the head of the
whole Christian Church.
New Teachings and Emperors
• Augustine of Hippo, a classical philosopher, became a
Christian and applied Plato’s ideas to Christian beliefs.
• About the same time, an emperor named Constantine
converted to Christianity. He removed all bans against the
practice of the religion.
• His successor, Theodosius, banned all non-Christian
religions.
– He called together Christian leaders to clarify church
teachings so that all Christians believed the same thing.
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