Ancient Rome: The

Rise of Christianity
World History

Entering a Time of Peace

Julius Caesar desensitized to Rome became an

empire.

Octavian Augustus was the first emperor of Rome.

Rome entered a time of peace known as the Pax
Romana or Roman Peace.

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

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 Herods death, fighting

broke out among his sons.

Rome sent troops to create

peace in Judea.

The Birth of Christianity

Judaism was tolerated by the Romans at first.
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.

Many Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah

or Savior, from the Romans.

Jesus was called Christ which means savior in

Greek.

How do We Know About

Jesus?

Followers of Jesus wrote about the

teachings and experiences that
occurred during his life.

Apostles: 12 men that followed Jesus

These writings were called Gospels,

meaning good news

Can be found in the New Testament -the

first four books.

The Old Testament (Torah) is used by the

Jewish faith which does not believe Jesus
was the true Messiah.

The Pros of Christianity

Why did Christianity appeal to people?

Embraced All people (class, race, moral)

Promised eternal life after death.
Gives hope to the Powerless
Appealed to poorer people .

Pax Romana enabled the Christian ideas were able to

spread quickly across the empire.

The Crucifixion of
Jesus
The popularity of Jesus with the

poor angered the Romans and the

Jews.

Jesus was called the Son of God

and a King

Jewish Leaders feared Jesuss

preaching would anger the Romans

Pontius Pilate the Roman

governor of Jerusalem decided

that Jesus would be Crucified.

Give to Caesar what belongs

to Caesar, and to God what
belongs to God.

After the Apostles

*Followers of Jesus became known as Christians.

Much of what is known about Jesus comes from the
writings of his Apostles.
*Apostle means One who travels.
Apostles traveled, spread Christian teachings,
and wrote the Gospels of the Bible.
Peter and Paul were two very influential
Apostles.

The 12 Apostles

Roman Persecution of Jews

and Christians

Why did the Romans hate Christianity/Judaism?

Monotheism vs. Polytheism

Many Jews fled their homeland to escape- Known as the

Jewish Diaspora- or spreading out

Christians/Jews didnt recognize the emperors as Gods.

Made SCAPEGOATS for any problems in Roman society.
Emperors such as Nero crucified and tortured Christians
and Jews as traitors.

Christians and Jews became Martyrs: Dying for their

beliefs.

The Jews Strike Back

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.

Today- The Western Wall is Jerusalems holiest shrine.

The Victory Arch of Emperor

Titus over the Jews in
Jerusalem

Hilltop Fortress at Masada

Jerusalems Western Wall

The Martyrdom of Peter

Peter the Apostle traveled to Rome and
was crucified upside down by Nero.

Believed to be the first Pope of the

Christian Church.

Today, all Popes are believed to be

descendants of St. Peter.

We now call this the Catholic church

which means Universal. AKA Roman
Catholic

St. Peters Basilica in Vatican

City

The Vatican

The Tomb of Saint Peter

Christianity Under
Constantine
In 312 AD, Constantine became Emperor
of Rome.

During battle at Milivian Bridge, he saw an

image of a cross and won.

Then order the image of a Cross to be printed

on his legions shields

313 AD- Constantine issues the Edict of

Milan making Christianity a legal religion

in Rome and ends the persecution of
Christians.

To strengthen the religion he called the

Council of Nicaea to establish the core

beliefs of Christianity, leading to the
Nicene Creed.

Finally Official
In 380 AD, Emperor Theodosius declared

Christianity the Official Religion of the Roman

Empire.

The Church

Priest In charge of a single church

Bishop- Supervise several churches (regions)
Pope- The head of the Catholic Church