Chapter 9 - Ancient Rome Assessment

Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. In 312 CE, he publicly adopted the faith, attributing his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge to the Christian God. His conversion led to the Edict of Milan, which decriminalized Christian worship across the empire, ending the persecution of Christianity in Rome.

From around 30 to 310 CE, Christians were persecuted and martyred by Roman authorities. The appealing message of Jesus spread throughout the lower and merchant classes of the Roman Empire. Roman citizens across the empire began to convert to Christianity in spite of Roman laws and soldiers trying to suppress it. The early Christians were not organized by an official hierarchy and didn't have a standardized Bible yet.

Local Jews were offended by Roman rule, passively resisted Roman laws, refused to pay Roman taxes, refused to offer tribute to Roman gods, and overall resisted Roman rule. First John the Baptist and later his student Jesus of Nazareth were two of the main leaders promoting traditional Jewish values in contrast to Roman rule.

The Emperor Theodosius I (also known as Theodosius the Great) was the first Roman emperor to make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and actively ban the old pagan gods. In 380 CE he issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which declared Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire and declared there to be only one single standardized Bible. From 391 to 392 CE, he passed a series of laws (known as Theodosian decrees) that made traditional pagan sacrifices treasonous, banned public worship of the old gods, and ordered the closing of pagan temples throughout the empire. This is considered the start of both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. From this point forward Christianity would be supported by the state until the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and the Byzantine Empire in the East.

The Roman Governors, the Jewish Priests, and the King of Judea worked together to govern the Lands of Canaan (Israel) performing many acts considered sinful by devout Jews. Such sinful acts as trading in the Temple in Jerusalem, setting up shrines to Roman gods, instituting Roman law, and demanding taxes be paid to the Roman Empire.

The Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem due to continued Jewish revolts, banished Jews to the diaspora, banned the teaching of the Old Testament (the Torah) and the New Testament (the gospels) in public, and began to persecute Christianity which was considered a threat to Roman rule.

Around 63 BCE, the Roman Empire expanded into the Middle East conquering the Lands of Canaan (Israel).

Jesus of Nazareth promoted new values, teachings, and was claimed to be the messiah. His protests against Roman rule got him executed by crucifixion. After his death, his followers, the apostles, spread his teachings far across the ancient world from the island of Britannia to India, and much of the Roman Empire in between. Thanks to the efforts of the apostles, the Jewish Cult of Jesus transformed into it's own religion, Christianity.