The Rise of Christianity in Ancient Rome
Religion had always been a very important aspect in Roman society. Often, religious and political positions went hand in hand with many priests holding high political positions. Romans also adopted the religious and mythological gods and figures of the Greeks.
While Romans accepted and tolerated some religions, they persecuted others. Christianity began in the Roman Empire. The founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, was killed by Roman officials in the province of Judea after being charged with sedition.
Soon after, Christ's followers began spreading Christ's message throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. They refused to participate in traditional Roman religious activities.
After a massive fire burned much of Rome in 64 CE, the Emperor Nero blamed the fire on the city's Christian community. Some claimed that Nero started the fire to clear room for a new palace. That is unproven, but Christians were an easy group to scapegoat. They were seen as outsiders by most traditional Romans. Many Christians were arrested and executed, and some were even thrown to the lions at the Colosseum.
Despite the widespread persecution of Christians, Christianity grew rapidly. The religion mostly appealed to the poor in Rome. Many were drawn to the religion’s belief in salvation and that if you lived a good life you would go to heaven.
Rome’s paganistic religion believed that heaven was only for gods and that everyone else would spend eternity in the underworld. People were also drawn to Christianity because the religion believed in equality, and that everyone was equal without hierarchy or caste.
Christianity's spread among the poor and soldiers was eventually tolerated. Under the emperor Trajan, Christians would no longer be prosecuted. Progress was slow and occurred in patches at various times during the empire. The Roman Empire became so vast that it grew to tolerate the different people who became part of it.
During one of his battles, Emperor Constantine had a vision of Christ and was directed to fight with Christian standards. The victory in this battle resulted in Constantine’s new faith in Christianity. He would convert to Christianity in 312 CE and declare that Christians and Pagans should be allowed to worship freely.
It would take over a hundred years before Christianity was adopted by emperors and protected. However, paganism remained and continued to pose a challenge to the rising Christian faith.