The Rise of
Christianity in
Ancient Rome
Religion in the Roman Empire
• Initially, the Romans worshipped nature spirits
• Then they adopted the Greek religion and gods –
this was a polytheistic system.
• The emperor was honored as the chief priest but
people were allowed to worship freely so there
were many religions in existence.
• Some of the Jews in the eastern Mediterranean
began to practice a monotheistic religion called
Christianity – a small sect (group) within Judaism.
Judaism and the Empire
• In AD 6, Augustus Caesar turned the
kingdom of Judah into a Roman province
called Judea.
• The Romans allowed the Jews to practice
their religion but treated them cruelly.
• The Jews hoped that a savior, or messiah,
would come to help them regain their
freedom.
• In AD 66, the Jews rebel against the
Romans and overtake the small army in
Jerusalem but four years later, in AD 70,
the Romans re-took Jerusalem and
destroyed the temple.
Judaism and the Empire
• The Jews rebelled again in AD 132, but the
Romans banned them from living in
Jerusalem
• The Jews were forced to live in other parts
of the Mediterranean and Middle East
• They were scattered but continued to
study the Torah, they set up special schools
to promote its study
• Between AD 200 and AD 500, they put all
interpretations of the Torah into a book
called the Talmud – known even today as
an important book of Jewish law.
Jesus of Nazareth
• Before the Jewish revolts, a Jew named Jesus grew up in the
town of Nazareth.
• He travelled through Galilee and Judea preaching a new
message and winning followers or disciples.
• Jesus urged people to turn away from their sins and practice
kindness – God loved them and was forgiving toward those
who repented of their sins.
• Jesus used parables (stories) to help people to understand.
• The disciples believed that Jesus was the messiah but other
Jews disagreed.
• All the disagreement and controversy caused the Romans to
become concerned and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate
arrested Jesus as a political rebel and ordered that he be
crucified.
Spread of Christianity
• After Jesus’ death, the disciples proclaimed that he had
risen from the dead and appeared to them.
• His followers preached that he was the Son of God –
the people who accepted this became the earliest
Christians (Christos is the Greek word for messiah)
• Churches were formed as communities for worship,
fellowship and instruction.
• Paul was important in spreading Christianity, providing
many writings and letters – which form the New
Testament of the Bible.
• Peter, an apostle, spread the word through Rome and
formed the first church in that city.
Persecution and Competition
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Christians taught that their religion was the only true faith and refused to honor the
emperor as a god or serve in the military – because of this the Romans accused them
of treason.
The Romans thought that the Christian rejection of their gods would cause the gods
to punish them – if they thought Christians were causing problems, they would kill
them.
Christians who voluntarily chose to die rather than give up their beliefs were called
martyrs and were often thrown into the stadiums to be killed by wild beasts
The persecution lasted until the early AD 300s
Because of the hazards involved and competition from other beliefs, there were very
few Christians in the Roman provinces.
HOWEVER, they were quite active in the cities and so the influence of Christianity
continued to be felt.
Romans Adopt Christianity
• In AD 312, the Roman general
Constantine led his army to battle under
a flaming cross and the words, “With
this as your standard, you will have
victory.” in the sky.
• He ordered his men to paint the sign of
the cross on their shields and they were
victorious.
• He credited his victory to the Christian
God
• Constantine was named Emperor Rome
and he issued the Edict of Milan which
said all religious groups were free to
worship as they wanted – including
Christians.
Rise of Christianity
• Because the Christians were such
good missionaries (they spread
the word well); Christianity grew
in popularity.
• Christianity spread across both
the eastern and western parts of
the Roman Empire.
• In AD 392, Emperor Theodosius
made Christianity the official
religion of the Roman Empire and
banned old Hellenistic and Roman
religions.
The Early Church
• Christians knew that the spread of their
religion depended on unification under
the Church.
• Church Fathers were scholars who tried
to clarify the beliefs of the Church so
that there would be unity.
• Augustine was a well-respected
Christian scholar and he became a
leading church official in North Africa
and wrote the first history of humanity
from the Christian viewpoint – City of
God.
• Originally the Church was organized as a hierarchy – a chain of
command.
• At the local level, communities were called parishes and led by priests.
• Many parishes put together are called a diocese, which is lead by a
bishop. The bishops of the largest cities (Rome, Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem) were called patriarchs.
• In AD 400s the bishop in Rome claimed authority over the other bishops
and became the pope – the head of the churches.
• Greek-speaking Christians would not accept this and neither would the
bishops in Alexandria and Antioch—the Church SPLIT
EAST vs. WEST
Eastern Orthodox vs.
Roman Catholic