The Rise of Christian Rome

I. Christianity and Empire

A.     Monotheism--the belief that one supreme being is responsible for the creation of mankind. Judaism and its offspring, Christianity, are but two varieties of monotheism that began in the Middle East.

1.      Zoroasterism--founded by Persian man named Zoroaster. Zoroasterism is thought to be the oldest “revealed” religion (that is, a supreme being appeared before Zoroaster and told him to found religion). Zoroaster lived between 1500 and 1000BCE, it is though

a)       It is also thought that the other regional monotheistic religions borrowed heavily from Zoroasterism, including the concept of God and Satan, virgin birth, messiah (christos, in Greek)

B.      Judaism--if Genesis is to be believed, god revealed himself to Abraham. God is named Jehovah or Yaweh. Judaism developed a number of practices that set them apart from their neighbors, particularly in regard to diet (the various kosher prohibitions against consuming pork, shellfish, mixing preparation areas for meat and dairy products, etc.) and the bris milah, or male circumcision. While Jewish theology proved somewhat attractive to religious converts, the dietary restrictions and the circumcision requirement inhibited its popularity.

C.      Christianity--or Judaism lite; similar theology with fewer dietary restrictions and no circumcision requirement helped it become more popular than Judaism.

1. The Career of Jesus--Christianity hold that a man named Jesus, from Nazareth, was the son of the one true God. Christians accept this as the gospel truth (pun intended). Most early Christians accepted this as well; but after that, beliefs diverged wildly, often with tragic results after Christianity became entrenched within the governmental power structure, as we will see throughout much of the rest of the course.

2.      The Messiah--a number of men within a couple of hundred years either side of the supposed time of Jesus called themselves the Messiah (Christos, the Christ); some even led rebellions against the Romans and ruling class Jews like Herod.

3.      The Jewish Connection--Christianity borrowed heavily from Judaism, and lays claim to its inheritance (Jesus, Christians claim, is the Messiah that the Jews were awaiting), and spread earliest among the Jewish diaspora.

4.      Persecution of Christians--while early Christians were sometimes persecuted, that persecution was not systematic; Roman’s tended to tolerate different religious practices, as long as the religion and its belief system did not constitute a threat to Roman political control.

5.      Constantine--this emperor’s deathbed conversion ensured that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

a)      Moved seat of government east to a city he had build, which he humbly named Constantinople; eventually the Empire split in two, and then slowly disintegrated.

6. Rome remained the location of the Bishop of Rome, who claimed descent from the first of Jesus disciples, Peter, the “rock” of the church--and therefore, supremacy in religious matters--but whose alleged supremacy was ignored by the bishops of churches in the east.

B. Diocletian and the Third Century Crisis

1. The Third Century Crisis--from 235-284CE witnesses another period of severe political upheaval in Rome, coupled with growing unrest along the frontiers--particularly in the north, led to a state of civil war  and anarchy. More than twenty men attempted to rule as emperor in this period, some for only a few  months.

2 Diocletian--pulled the empire back from the brink of disaster. He halted inflation by setting state prices for many goods,  and restricted the professions people could move into by decreeing that sons had to follow the professions of their fathers.

3. Constantine--when Diocletian resigned in 305CE, there was again a power struggle, which Constantine eventually won in 312CE. Christianity was a growing power in the empire, and Constantine credited his victory to the Christian god's intercession. With the Edict of Milan, Constantine ended the persecution of Christians, and on his deathbed, he himself converted to the previously despised religion. 

C.  Rise of Christianity--After the death of Jesus of Nazareth, it was left to his followers--"apostles" and  "disciples"--to carry on his work. Initially remaining a sect within Judaism, conversions there lagged, because Jesus did not fulfill the role that many Jews had expected the Messiah to fill.

2.  Saul of Tarsus--his Christian conversion experience led him to change his name to Paul. Paul's frustration with the refusal of Jews to accept that Jesus was the Messiah (who Jews believed would lead them to power in the region), led him to begin to proselytize to non-Jews (gentiles). Paul's tireless missionary work led to the conversion of a number of "gentiles," and the spread of Christianity throughout southwest Asia, northern Africa, and even into Europe.

3. Christianity as a threat to Roman order--Roman elites largely saw Christianity as a threat to Roman social order, largely because of the insistence of Christians not to worship the Roman emperor, or to take part in other parts of the Roman civic religion. This made Christianity an outlaw cult, and to some instances of Christians being killed because of their insistence to adhere to their religion. While Christians were persecuted, they were not constantly persecuted. The level of persecution has been said to be just enough to maintain their "otherness," but not enough to really affect the number of adherents to the religion.

4. Battle of Milvian Bridge--One of the innovations that staved off the crisis of the third century was the creation by Diocletian of the Tetrarchy, which was designed to ward off the problems of succession that plagued Rome throughout its history.

a. Tetrarchy--was established by Diocletian in 293 C.E., and lasted until Constantine overthrew the sytem in 313. The Roman Empire was so large then that it was divided into separate parts for ease of administration. The two most influential rulers, who in Diocletian's plan were suppose to rule together, were called Augusti (singular Augustus), and they were joined by two junior rulers, the Caesars. Ideally, when the Augusti died or retired, they would be succeeded by the Caesars, who would in turn choose their own new Caesars. The short period this scheme worked gives us the clue that feelings were easily bruised if someone felt passed over.

b. Constantine v. Maxentius--Maxentius became Caesar in the west, and in fact overpowered his Augustus, Severus. Constantine saw Maxentius as a roadblock to his own ambitions, and when other political leaders proved incapable of defeating him, Constantine took on the task himself.

c. Constantine's vision--we are not really sure what exactly spurred Constantine's conversion. One story holds that he had a dream, where an angel visited him and told him of his impending victory; another says that he saw a vision in the sky that he should paint the symbol of Christianity on the shields of his soldiers to guarantee victory. What we do know is that Constantine prevailed, and that although he did not become baptized until he was on his deathbed, from that point forward he favored Christianity, and with his influence, much of the Roman Empire was converted, as well.