Diocletian Persecution In North African Religion

When Constantine was battling for control of Rome, he prayed for divine interference and saw a cross, the sign of Christianity. He put a cross on all of his soldiers, and they were victorious, with Constantine crediting his triumph to the Christian God. After Constantine took power in 313 AD, he announced the end of Christians persecutions. Later, in AD YEAR, Constantine converted, and Christianity grew faster than ever. Of all factors that influenced Christianity development, Constantine’s conversion was one of the most important, because he made it acceptable.

‘Christians to the lions’ as Trajan would say, an emperor in the early centuries Christianity to them have alienated the favour of their gods which has and would continue to cause disasters in the Roman Empire. The misfortune of Christians did not stop during this period, but it did come to a composed halt as Galerius, gave Christians the right to worship in some sense. Christianity during the early stages was clearly a course of persecution and forced pagan accusations. Constantine dramatically changed the recourse of religions with the battle of Milvian Bridge as Christianity became the predominant religion of the Roman Empire.

When we look back at Christianity over the years, there are several people who are remembered for their impact on the religion. The first most important figure was Jesus Christ. However, if we travel forward a bit, into the 4th Century we come across Constantine. Historians agree that Constantine served as an important component in the spread of Christianity. Although he spread the religion in a massive way, others wonder if his methods were more harmful then anything. In this paper I will be discussing Constantine in his rise to power and his impact on Christianity. Constantine provided a mean for the word of God to be spread, which is a major benefit. However, He also used violence and hate as

The conversion of Roman Emperor, Constantine, marked the start of a reform that would change Rome forever. A once pagan society, Rome was one of the last to grasp the Christianity concept. The start of “Christianizing” Rome began with two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and James, as well as the apostle Paul in the Roman province of Antioch during the first century ("New Women of Color Study Bible" 1742). From this, Christianity spread all over the province, by the time it got to Rome it was not widely practiced. It wasn’t until the reign of Constantine that Christianity took its place as the empires forefront religion. Since Rome was known for its worship and idolizing of gods, how and for what reasons did Constantine transform his subjects’ beliefs? According to authors, Ramsay MacMullen, John Curran, and A.H.M. Jones, a number of tactics were used to sway the masses’ minds. Use of coercion, money, and campaigns aided Constantine’s questionable Christian “cleanse”.

The Christian faith was effected differently dependent upon the king at the time, and the changes they decided to make. Sometimes for the positive and sometimes for the negative. Originally the Church and the Roman Empire in the East worked closely together. By the mid-400 's the commander in chief, who was named, Odovacar, was king of the Goths, (he deposed the Western emperor in 476.) Then Theidoric became king of the eastern Goths, he managed to keep the peace, however he had one major different religious belief. Thai difference was that the Romans were allied to the Church of Rome; the Goths, Theodoric included, were Arians. Theodoric granted religious freedom to all. Clovis, king of the Franks was baptized and had thousands of his soldiers be baptized with him. (The Franks were the only Catholics.) Clovis used the Church to unite the people, and had a set order of religious rituals. As the Franks spread Arianism died out. However then disagreements arose amongst the bishop of Rome and patriarch of Constantinople of theological matter. So Denis the Short created the canon law, he also changed lists of the saints, and he started a new calendar—one dating from the year of Christ 's birth (what we use today.)

In the initial response of Rome to the Christian religion The Great Persecution under Diocletian did not work. This is because it did not solve the problems that were still being faced in Rome at the time. Instead of helping it divided Rome because people were not able to practice the new religion that they wanted to practice. The Christian church had a strong secular and administration organization. This is shown by the number of followers that they have.

Eight years after Constantine's birth, Emperor Diocletian issued a new type of government: a tetrarchy, or “rule of four”. This tetrarchy split the government in two, and consisted of Maximian, a strong military commander, ruling the west, and Diocletian himself ruling the east. Galerius, a soldier of Rome, and Constantius Chlorus, Constantine's father, served as co-Caesars. It was in the east that Constantine happened to work as a member of the Imperial Court. So, it comes as no surprise that there is where he probably had his first encounters with Christianity in court circles and in the cities of the east. Diocletian and Galerius, on the other hand, dealt with Christianity almost constantly, but with their beliefs firmly rooted withing paganism, they were the ones who persecuted the Christians. For these men the state of mind toward state and God between Christianity and roman paganism were polar opposites: “In the Roman mind, religion was a government department, and it was the duty of the government to maintain favor in the eyes of the gods. From the Christian point of view there was a distinct difference between God and emperor, and the former had priority. Pagans saw Christians as a dangerous threat to the crown. Christians simply wanted relief from persecution (Willems, Katharine. “Constantine and Christianity: The Formation of the Christian State Church”)”; Diocletian was

When Diocletian’s guiding hand was removed, years of dreary fighting amongst rulers ensued, Constantine I emerged as the sole winner. By 324, he had disposed of all rivals, and for a brief period there was again, one empire and one emperor. Unlike Diocletian, Constantine ordered complete freedom of worship throughout the territories under his control (Edict of Milan) This was the beginning of the adoption of Christianity by the empire, however, it could not solve the immediate problems it encountered: rivalries and warfare among emperors and would-be emperors, the threat of barbarian invasions and the economic decline of the West. The destruction of the West was also due to high taxation and rising prices, which by the third century, turned the prosperous cities of the early empire to heavily fortified outposts whose citizens had lost all real self-government.

Constantine’s dealings with Christianity greatly propagated the religion. Hoping that the Christian God would aid him in battle, Constantine became the first Roman emperor to convert to the religion. His conversion marked an end to the persecution Christians faced from Diocletian, and a start to Christianity eventually becoming the state religion of the Empire. Constantine’s dedication to the advancement of Christianity can be best shown through the fact that he is regarded as a saint by Eastern Orthodox Christians.

In the early, 300’s A.D, Christians were severely persecuted for abandoning their ancestral faith. Many Christians were tortured and killed for continuing to practice their faith when Roman laws forbid them. However, under the leadership of Emperor Constantine and his successor Theodosius, Christians were free to practice without persecution. The strengthening relationship between church and state resulted in the end of religious persecution of Christians and the acceptance of Christianity. This essay will show how Roman laws changed the placement of Christian in society and ultimately the future of Christianity.

The emperor Nero used Christianity as a scapegoat to divert attention away from his own failings and the empire problems. He told the empires people that because the Christians were not practicing the traditional pagan religion the gods were mad punishing the Romans. During Nero Rule some problems were plagues, famine, barbarians, and lots of other natural disasters. Nero and many other emperors’ prosecutions of the Christian brought them closer together. With the plagues, wars, famine and other chaotic events taking place the first converts were slaves and the poor people who need hope that there was an afterlife a better place beyond the chaotic roman world called heaven. In 313 Constantine I and Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius ratified the Edict of Milan, Which finally made Christianity legal and later the religion of Rome. The emperor would have difficulty ruling since the pope and other church officials were involved in politics and as powerful as he was further complicating governance. Unlike Rome pagan roots Christians during those days had zero tolerance for any other religion of any one who stood against their beliefs and

In 313 A.D., after centuries of persecution by the Roman Empire, Christianity was accepted as a legal religion by Emperors Constantine and Licinius. This sudden acceptance was due to Constantine’s dramatic conversion to Christianity. While many argue whether Constantine truly had visions and dreams from Christ, his impact on the Church cannot be denied. Ending Christian persecution is one of the most obvious contributions he made to the faith, but he did much more than that. As Emperor, he used his power and wealth to fund the Church, give benefits to priests, and build churches. Constantine was very interested in Christian theology and helped to unify the faith. The conversion of Constantine was a critically important factor to the growth of Christianity.

Section 1: Evaluation of sources This investigation will explore the question, ‘To what extent did the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, adopt and impose Christianity as a political strategy?'. This investigation will focus on the rise of Christianity, Constantine's role, the effect it had, and examining the impact and relationship of Constantine and Christianity. The two sources that will be examined in depth are, the Swiss historian, Jacob Burckhardt's book: ‘The age of Constantine the Great', 185, argues that Constantine was a scheming Emperor who exploited the numerous conflicting religions to maintain control and recover the economy after Civil War with Licinius had, whereas, the British historian, A.H.M Jones' book: ‘Constantine and the conversion of Europe', 1948, argues that Constantine

In 313 AD the Emperor Constantine formally recognized the Christian religion. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, this event affected the way people thought and lived their lives. Had a great impact on how rulers viewed their power and used their powers. Such influence was portrayed in Christian art as we know today.

Christianity in Africa is not a recent happening nor is it a product of colonialism if we go back to the very time of the apostle. Christianity in most area was confronted during the centuries after the struggle by Islam, the Christian religion suffered in some measure, but did not disappear. Christianity has been flourishing on the northern part of this continent for years before Islam was born. Christianity in North African seemed to have been well founded deeply entrenched and firmly led.