Transcript The Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

The Rise of Christianity in
Rome & the Causes for the
Decline of Rome
Chapter 6
Societal Problems at Heart
of Rome's Decline (9:55)
The Beginnings of
Christianity in Rome

Paul (Saul) the Apostle spreads Christianity



Apostle – person who teaches and spreads the word of
Jesus
Peter the Apostle spread Christianity throughout
Palestine and Syria
Three ways Paul helped spread Christianity
1. Wrote information letters to believers
2. Pax Romana road system made it easy to spread
the word
3. Declared the Christian religion was open to
anybody
5 Reasons Christianity
Spread in the Roman World
1. Invited all people to worship
2. Gave hope to people who were poor
3. Appealed to followers that were against
Roman rule
4. Offered a one on one relationship with a
God that cares about you
5. Promised eternal life after death
Persecution of the
Christians
 Christians were in
violation of Roman law
 Emperor Nero 64
(C.E.) – blames
Christians
 Apostles Peter and
Paul were put to death
 Martyrs – people
willing to sacrifice their
lives for the sake of a
belief
http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/christ5.jpg
Constantine (3:00)
Constantine and
Christianity
 Emperor Constantine
prayed for help in an
unmatched battle
 Placed crosses on all
his men's shields and
victoriously won
• Edict of Milan –
declared end to
persecution of
Christians
http://www.prompterinc.com/Photographs/Rome1/Rome1/Rome-25-Constantine.jpg
Constantine’s
Contributions
 Generously gave gold
and protection to the
Christian church
 Built many churches
throughout the Roman
Empire
 Constantine’s
successor, Theodosius
made Christianity
official religion in 380
C.E.
http://www.indembassyhavana.cu/culture/culture-religions-christianity.gif
The Early Christian
Church
 The Christian Church
hierarchy
- From bottom to top…
4. Christian followers
3. Local priests – minister
the people
2. Bishops – a priest that
supervised the local
churches
1. Pope – supervised the
Bishops
http://www.santasusanna.org/images/Pope-Saint-Euletherius.jpg
The 4 Causes

for the Decline
of Rome
Rome declined slowly
from
C.E. 200 – C.E. 500
 1.
POLITICAL INSTABILITY
- Rulers spent to much
money and wasted
troops
The 4 Causes for the
Decline of Rome
 2.
ECONOMIC DECLINE
 Constant warfare
interrupted trade and
the supply of crops
 Inflation – rise in prices
 3.
UNSUCCESSFUL
REFORMS
 Diocletian and
Constantine forced
families to one job
 Set a maximum limit on
food prices
The 4 Causes
for the Decline
of Rome
 4.
BARBARIAN
INVASIONS
 Visigoths and Chief
Alaric invade Rome
 Huns and their chief
Attila, plundered and
spread disease
 Vandals and their
chief Odoacer seized
complete control
A Proud Empire Collapses