Essay on Roman Persecution of Christians

‘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.

At the beginning of the first century a new religion was born and started to spread rapidly across the Roman Empire. Its source of inspiration was Jesus. It was different to the other religions of the day in a profound way. It was universal, offering all things to all men, proclaiming an afterlife, triumph over death, and presenting a road to salvation for all men and women. It emphasised the inner life and filled the spiritual void created by the Roman lifestyle. Yet it was one of many religions. There were many rivals, the mystery religions of Persia, Syria and Egypt were popular at the time and of course there was Judaism. Nothing at the time suggested this Jewish heresy could rival the other religions. Nevertheless Christianity spread relatively quickly, mainly due to the missionary work of St. Paul and, also, St. Peter. St Paul's journeys took him to Palestine, Asia, Macedonia, Greece, Rome and finally Spain. In addition this new religion spread quickly throughout the Roman garrisons and from there was carried by the soldiers through the Empire. In early fourth century Emperor Decius attempted to wipeout the Christian faith, the great persecution lasted thirteen years, but in 313 the 'Edict of Milan', in which religious tolerance was granted to Christians and previous

According to Gaddis (2005) some disturbing news came to the Emperor’s attention regarding some soldier refusing to make sacrifices. He was so disturbed by this information, and the fact that the Christians influence had reached so far into the Empire and its ranks, that he had no other recourse than to put into action a plan that might rid the Empire of the Christians.

In contrast to the persecution experienced by early Christian followers, Christianity today does not experience the level of outward persecution. Christianity is practiced in an atmosphere nearly void of violence. It was not until the reign of Constantine when Christians were authorized to practice their chosen faith. The “Ediet of Milan”(313 A.D.), gave official recognition to the Christian faith, thus ending persecution within the Roman Empire. Before Constantine’s rule, there were many rulers eager to drive out the Christians. The Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.) established the first official policy relating to Christians and how they should be dealt with. Diocletion and the Apologists were the last of the persecutors in this era before Constantine. This marked the end of open persecution

While Nero’s persecution of Christians in 64 AD led to the death of innocent people, it had a positive impact on making Christianity public and helped to establish it as a superior religion. Since Christianity was based on the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, Christians expected to be tried and faced a lot of suffering for their beliefs. The persecution only meant that those killed became martyrs, who only brought popularity to religion. Furthermore, the attention paid by Nero also sent the message that Christianity was not a religion like any other. 18.

This document ultimately opened up many windows and opportunities for people to openly practice Christianity and prohibited people being subject to persecution. When Constantine converted, he made the religion much more known and a religion of the powerful. This made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Many Christians opted for pacifism and martyrdom as a way to cope with their persecutors, but now Christians had an access to armies, swords, and an endless supply of resources.

Christians were persecuted in the early centuries after Christ. When we hear about the persecution of Christians, you hear about genocide or Christians being dragged out of their homes to be eaten by wild animals. Christians were seen as traitors and were also blamed for the cause of every public disaster. Around 115 C.E, there was an emperor named Trajan. Trajan stated that if Christians refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods then they would be punished by death. On page 88 it also stated, “...Christians would not go along with the sacrifices necessary for the good of the empire, and so were traitors of the empire.” Another known emperor was Nero. Emperor Nero was also involved in the persecution of Christians. Nero had caused a great

Although various factors that spurred the spread of Christianity, Constantine and his imperial support ensured the dominance of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Without Constantine, Christianity would have remained in a far corner of the empire, stuck in the tiny region of Judaea. It would not have become the dominant religion of Rome, and most certainly not of the world. One way that Constantine benefitted the spread of Christianity was simply due to his position as the emperor. Most people followed their, and found his way of life to be the ideal; his influence encouraged people to embrace Christianity.

Secondly, the power of the Emperors allowed the Roman Empire to impact on the religion. Almost from the outset, the Roman Empire was a autocracy. The Emperors had absolute power over the citizens. This meant that Emperors could essentially decide the fate of Christianity. The first major persecution of Christianity, under

Indeed, the Romans initially perceived Christianity as a challenge to the legitimacy of the political and social order of their empire rather than as a support for it. Later, by the fourth century C.E., as Christianity grew in strength despite official hostility and as the Roman Empire began to weaken, a powerful, mutually beneficial alliance of the Christian Church and the Roman state was formed. This became a model for subsequent European history . The spread of christianity was because of the rulers justify the war as forcible conversation, trade along eurasian routes and silk road and elite and kings groups convert as a fundamental

The roman people wanted nothing more than to kill of Christianity for good but yet it was growing faster than any other religion in the whole Empire. The Romans could not understand why Christianity was growing so fast and it began to aggravate them to no end. Christianity grew rapidly because people were drawn to the message of Jesus Christ. The message of Jesus Christ was a life changing message and that other religions could not provide.

These famous lines of the Christian Bible describe the first mention of a Roman Emperor and would be remembered throughout history with the birth of Jesus Christ ,the symbol of christianity. Though his life was short and he was crucified at an extremely young age, Jesus developed a cult following due to his presumed miracles and of his preaching of eternal peace and everlasting life. His crucifixion resulted in the spreading of his faith throughout the Roman empire and in the beginning of the end of traditional Roman religion. Ironically enough it was the Romanization of Europe that allowed the Christian faith to easily spread. By the death of Christ, the whole Roman empire was connected with well constructed roads and inns which allowed the prophets to spread their message easily and safely.

“Under Caesar’ Sword,” a report funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, is the very first systematic global study of Christians’ response to persecution. For three years, 14 scholars studied religious persecution and the responses to abuse of religious freedom in more than 30 countries, the Catholic News Agency details.

Christians went from being persecuted to dominating Rome rather quickly. In a world where separation between church and state does not exist, a Christian becoming the sole emperor of Rome symbolized a huge turning point in history. The power switched and the Pagans in turn became persecuted. Christians rose up and took control of all aspects of Roman society. The Pagan past was destroyed, banned, or forgotten about. Those Christians that did not agree with how things were being run either left the empire and became monks or formed their own sect. All of Rome changed.

Throughout these early years of 64 through 451, the church and Christians were suffering greatly from persecution. However, though these acts of persecution were unbearably horrible, the trails and suffering caused Christianity to spread rapidly as men and women began to seek freedom. As Christianity spread, as did Christian literature; books and writings, including the New Testament canon started to have influence on the culture. During this time, as the popularity of