Ancient Rome: The
Rise of Christianity
World History
Entering a Time of Peace
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Under Julius Caesar, Rome became an empire.
Octavian Augustus was the first emperor of
Rome.
Rome became too powerful to be challenged
and entered a time of peace in the empire,
known as the Pax Romana or “Roman Peace.”
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Allowed ideas to spread across the world.
How Powerful Was Rome?
3
million square
miles
 80 million
people
 1 million
residents in city
of Rome.
The Rise of a New Religion
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In 63 BC, Rome took over
Judea, the home of the
Jewish religion.
Judea was controlled by
King Herod, a Jewish
governor for Rome.
After Herod’s death,
fighting broke out among
his sons.
Rome sent troops to create
peace in Judea.
The Birth of Christianity
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Judaism was tolerated by the Romans at first.
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First Monotheistic Religion: Only one
supreme god.
Jesus of Nazareth was born under the rule of
Octavian (Caesar Augustus)
Grew up preaching the idea of one true god
 Spread a message of peace, love, forgiveness.
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Some Jews believed that Jesus was the
Messiah or Savior, from the Romans.
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Jesus was called Christ which means “savior” in
Greek.
How do We Know About Jesus?
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Followers of Jesus wrote about the
teachings and experiences that
occurred during his life.
These writings were called Gospels,
meaning ‘good news’
Can be found in the New Testament of
the Christian Bible.
 The Old Testament is used by the Jewish
faith which does not believe Jesus was
the Messiah.
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The Pros and Cons of Christianity
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Why did Christianity appeal to people?
Embraced all people
 Promised life after death for
‘Saved’ people.
 Appealed to poorer people
who were not wealthy like Romans.
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Because of the Pax Romana, these ideas of Christianity
were able to spread quickly through the empire.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
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The popularity of Jesus was seen as a threat to
the Romans and the Jewish priesthood in Israel.
Jesus was called the “Son of God” and a “King”
 Jews feared Jesus’s preaching would anger the
Romans
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Jewish leaders turned Jesus over to the Roman
governor of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate to be
Crucified.
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“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to
God.”
Golgotha- “Place of the Skull”
After the Crucifixion
*Followers of Jesus became known as Christians.
Much of what is known about Jesus comes from
the writings of his Disciples and Apostles.
*Disciple refers to the direct companions of
Jesus- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
*Apostle means “One who
travels”.
Apostles traveled, spread Christian teachings,
and wrote the Gospels of the Bible.
Paul was the most influential Apostle- many books
of the bible are his letters to early churches
The 12 Apostles
Roman Persecution of Jews and
Christians
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Why did the Romans hate Christianity/Judaism?
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
 Christians/Jews didn’t recognize the emperors as
Gods.
 Blamed for any problems in Roman society.
 Emperors such as Nero crucified and tortured
Christians and Jews as traitors.
 Many Jews fled their homeland to escape- Known as
the Jewish Diaspora- or “spreading out”
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Christians and Jews became Martyrs: Dying for their
beliefs.
The Jews Strike Back
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66 AD- Jews rebel against the Romans.
70 AD- Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroy
their temple, leaving only the Western Wall a.k.a
the “wailing wall”.
73 AD- Jews and Romans fight at the Battle of
Masada. Over 500,000 Jews died in this battle,
mostly of suicide.
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Today- The Western Wall is Jerusalem’s holiest
shrine.
The Victory Arch of Emperor
Titus over the Jews in Jerusalem
Hilltop Fortress at Masada
Jerusalem’s Western Wall
The Martyrdom of Peter
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Peter the Disciple traveled to Rome
and was crucified upside down by
Nero.
Believed to be the first “Bishop” or
Pope of the Christian Catholic Church.
 Today, all Popes are believed to be
descendants of St. Peter.
 We now call this the “Catholic” church
which means “Universal”.
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St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican
City
The Vatican
The Tomb of Saint Peter
Christianity Under Constantine
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In 312 AD, Constantine became
Emperor of Rome.
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During Battle, he saw an image of a cross
and won.
313 AD- Constantine issues the Edict of
Milan making Christianity a legal religion
in Rome.
To strengthen the religion he called the
Council of Nicaea to establish the core
beliefs of Christianity, leading to the
Nicene Creed.
Council of Nicaea- 325
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Council met to determine the codified official
Roman version of Christianity
Up until this point, Christianity was a fractured
loosely organized group of churches throughout
the Near East, East and North Africa and the
Mediterranean world which had a high level of
variation of belief
Council established:
The divinity of Christ
The virginity of Mary- Immaculate Conception
The Trinity
Apocrypha v. Canonical Text
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During this time, the Catholic church sifted
through the many writings of the Christian
churches and determined which would be
considered ‘divinely revealed or inspired’
(Canonical Text) and which writings would be
considered relevant, but not ‘revealed’ texts
(Apocrypha)
Finally Official
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In 380 AD, Emperor Theodosius declared
Christianity the Offical Religion of the Roman
Empire.