Ancient Rome The Rise of Christianity World History

Ancient Rome: The Rise of Christianity World History

Entering a Time of Peace Under Julius Caesar, Rome became an empire. n Octavian Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. n Rome became too powerful to be challenged and entered a time of peace in the empire, known as the Pax Romana or “Roman Peace. ” n n Allowed ideas to spread across the world.

How Powerful Was Rome? Don’t Write n 3 million square miles n 80 million people n 1 million residents in city of Rome.

The Rise of a New Religion Don’t Write In 63 BC, Rome took over Judea, the home of the Jewish religion. n Judea was controlled by King Herod, a Jewish governor for Rome. n After Herod’s death, fighting broke out among his sons. n Rome sent troops to create peace in Judea. n

How do We Know About Jesus? Don’t Write Followers of Jesus wrote about the teachings and experiences that occurred during his life. n These writings were called Gospels, meaning ‘good news’ n Can be found in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. n The Old Testament is used by the Jewish faith which does not believe Jesus was the true Messiah. n

Roman Persecution of Jews and Christians n Why did the Romans hate Christianity/Judaism? Monotheism vs. Polytheism n Christians/Jews didn’t recognize the emperors as Gods. n Emperors such as Nero crucified and tortured Christians and Jews as traitors. n Many Jews fled their homeland to escape. Known as the Jewish Diaspora- or “spreading out” n n Christians and Jews became Martyrs: Dying for

The Jews Strike Back 66 AD- Jews rebel against the Romans. n 70 AD- Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroy their temple, leaving only the Western Wall a. k. a the “wailing wall”. n 73 AD- Jews and Romans fight at the Battle of Masada. Over 500, 000 Jews died in this battle, mostly of suicide. n n Today- The Western Wall is Jerusalem’s holiest shrine.

n Christianity Under Constantine In 312 AD, Constantine became Emperor of Rome. n 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. n To strengthen the religion he called the Council of Nicaea to establish the core beliefs of Christianity, leading to the Nicene Creed. n

Finally Official n In 380 AD, Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the Offical Religion of the Roman Empire.