The Influence Of The Spread Of Christianity In Rome

In the Roman Civilization where the prevalent worship of Roman gods were impersonal and did not provide a moral base or a message of hope, in the fourth century Christianity was formed, born as a movement within Judaism. Christianity emphasized the personal relationship between God and people, slowly spread through the Roman Empire until ultimately dominating the western culture. Three of the several factors that aided to the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire were: the central beliefs and value of Christianity, prominent figures, and Christianity appeal to women. Christianity offered hope to many, for it was the time of grace and freedom, the time to rebuild the future and

Henry, M. (2003). I am the truth: toward a philosophy of Christianity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

The roads ended up reaching all the way to Modern Day Egypt and Northwestern Europe. Document 4a explains Rome’s need for good roads. “Roads meant that orders, troops, and supplies could be sent quickly throughout the empire.” Rome was able to be quick and efficient in war because they chose to develop their geography to their advantage. Document 4b shows the intelligent way. Romans built their roads. They made three layers: large stones, small stones, and cobble, making it curved, with ditches on either side for drainage, to prevent

One of the most influential things the Romans did for Britain was build roads. When the Romans established in Britain they built lots of high-quality straight roads. The main roads that the Romans built were from London to York (via Lincoln), London to Wroxeter (a village in Shropshire), London to Dover and Exeter to York via Bath, Cirencester and Lincoln. The new roads meant that it was much easier and simpler for the emperors to control their empire. This was because they could send messages and orders quickly. The roads helped Romans to trade with each other. They also provided people with a much easier option than to walk. The roads were mainly built by Roman soldiers as the authorities could guarantee that the Roman soldiers would do the best they could for the sake of Rome. The Roman roads were used a lot but many had to walk as chariots and horses were expensive.

While expanding their empires, the Han and Rome each created thousands of miles of roads. These roads helped move armies and connect

One of the things the Romans were famous for was their road system. There is a reason for the quote “All roads lead to Rome” (Doc.3) because it is definitely true. For example the Romans had over 85,000 km. of roads across their empire (Doc.3). There were three main uses of the Roman roads.

For the roads were carried straight through the country without wavering, and were paved with quarried stone, and made solid with masses of tightly packed sand. Hollows were filled up and bridges were built across whatever wintry streams or ravines cut the roads. And both sides were an equal and parallel height with the result that the road for its entire course had a level and beautiful appearance.” The Romans took great pride in their roads and all other projects because they had a great sense of nationalism. They really cared about their country being the best in everyway and most beautiful.

This could only be done if travel was easy, which required good roads connecting every part of the empire with the capital. These roads were not exclusively for military use and the progress of travel was increased for all, this included the travel of Christian missionaries. Another extremely important factor which contributed to the spread of the Christian faith was the creation of a universal language- this came in the form of Greek. The result was that the movement of ideas was no longer restricted by the language barrier.

As history tells, all roads in Europe were connected to Rome. Meaning, Rome’s roads had to be in great quality. Document 6 describes very well, the conditions of roads during second century BCE. “For the roads were carried straight through the country without wavering and were paved with quarried stone, and made solid with masses of tightly packed sand.” mentions a government official. He also mentioned the great bridges that were built saying, “...both sides were an equal and parallel height with the results that the road for its entire course had a level and beautiful appearance.”

How did Christianity become the official religion in Rome? Around the years 123-185 C.E, Rome was a polytheistic empire. Romans had their gods and some foreign ones they adopted. The supreme deity for the Roman empire was Isis, an Egyptian goddess. She demanded complete devotion of her followers. Romans accepted the traditions and religions of the people that came to their lands, but they also had to worship the Roman gods. This was the turning point between the Romans and a religion that arose called Christianity. Christianity started with the leadership of Jesus of Nazareth who was believed to be the son of the Christian God. Christians started to be persecuted in the Roman empire due to their monotheistic belief. They only worshipped one god, the one they referred to as the one True God, the maker of all. Christians were not only hated by the Roman empire but by the Pagans, an anti-Christian group that attacked Christianity, as well. Christians were persecuted, tortured, killed, and dehumanized due to their faith; however, their devotion to their faith, teachings, and miracles changed the hearts and perspectives of many until it became the official religion of the Roman empire at the end of the 4th century C.E.

The Jewish community started Christianity, but Christianity later spread and convert from all over the Greco-Roman world were attracted by this religion during the progress of the first century CE. Ideas, traditions, ways of worship and traditions were brought along by the new convert of Christianity and it was adopted by their faith. This is through art because Christians who were once pagans of the Roman Empire stick to their artistic heritage when they became followers of Jesus Christ. Roman artistic forms and motifs and also Roman architecture were being used by this new convert to express their new faith. In further explanation, we’ll see how Roman art influenced the developing art of early Christians.

The rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, was by far not a simple one. The Roman Empire was generally quite tolerant in the treatment of other religions. So why did they persecute the Christians, and how did this all begin? These persecutions mainly started in 64 A.D when a great fire broke out under the rule of Emperor Nero. In order to deflect the public 's opinion on him, he blamed the Christians and this blame then allowed, and paved way for the aggressive persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire for the next two centuries. After Nero, the first imperial persecutor, then comes in the age of Trajan (98-117 A.D.). After receiving a letter from Pliny the Younger, the governor of Bithynia in the north of Asia Minor, to the Emperor Trajan, tells us about the view and executions of Christians in his province. This primary source holds to be very valuable when researching the relationship the Pagan Romans had with the Christians. All throughout the history of the Roman Empire, Christians have been persecuted and treated terribly due to the view of them as mysterious or “unknown”. The view of the Christians was mainly due to the ethnocentrism that went on in Rome during this time. Persecution was inevitable for these Christians and went on for centuries. The accusations they received were that they were atheists, cannibals, practiced incest, and all together these accusations showed how misunderstood the Christians really were. As a result of Trajan’s laws on the

Christianity helped lead to the fall of the Roman Empire because there was a change in religion. The Roman Empire through all of its ages was pagan. This religion was polytheistic which means more than one god. Therefore the pagan religion was focused on many gods. Most of these gods are widely known, such as, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, Juno and Mars. Christianity is monotheistic which means one god. Christianity is based on Jesus Christ. The change from worshipping many gods to one god created many conflicts and difficulties.

Roads in the Roman Empire were probably so important, they were most likely needed for daily life. If the Roman Empire didn’t have their paved stone roads they would have to use dirt paths. This