The Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity

Birth of Jesus  ca. 7-4 B.C. Peter and Paul killed in Rome 64 A.D.
Persecution of Christians

Emperor Nero (64-67 AD)

The Ideal of Martyrdom

Polycarp of Smyrna

Saint Perpetua

Religions in the Mediterranean ca. 400

Christianity, a proselytizing religion

(Map of the Spread of Christianity to ca. 400)

San Paolo fuori le Mura (St. Paul outside the Walls) Rome
Emperor Diocletian  284-305 A.D. Edicts of Diocletian forbidding Christian worship 303-305 A.D.

Emperor Constantine  306-337 A.D.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge, October 28, 312

Edict of Toleration for Christians 313 A.D.

To celebrate and memorialize his victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine had an Arch erected in Rome next to the Colosseum