Christianity in the Pax Romana

Christianity in the Pax Romana

- A new religion in the empire
- Christianity: roots
- It all begins with Jesus.....

• Most of what we know of Jesus comes from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• "Gospel" means "good news"

Who's Jesus?

- Jesus was a Jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from the other "Messiahs"

- Jesus taught God's personal relationship to each human being

- Message of love

More Roots

- Jesus' followers believed he was the "Messiah" who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the Kingdom of God

- Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God; both human and divine 

- Jesus was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, though his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven

- The 12 followers of Jesus who attempted to spread the word of his teachings were known as apostles 

Start Spreading the News

- Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus 

- Paul talked of "predestination" which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned 

- Paul was well-traveled, he helped find churches in many places, and he kept in touch with these new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus)

From outlaw to cult to actual religion 

- "A reading from the letter of Paul to the....."

• Romans
• Corinthians 
• Ephesians 
• Philippians  
• Colossians 
• Thessalonians 
• Hebrews 

Emperors Attempt Reform

Emperors Attempt Reform

- In A.D. 284, Diocletian, a strong-willed army leader, become the new emperor
- He divided the empire into the Greek-speaking East (Greece, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt) and the Latin-speaking West (Italy, Gaul, Britain, and Spain)
- When he retired in AD 305 his plans for succession failed
- Civil War broke out immediately
- Constantine gained control of the western part of the empire in AD 312
- He moved the capitol from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium (what is now called Turkey)
- Constantinople: the city of Constantine

The Western Empire Crumbles

- Around AD 370, all that changed when a fierce group of Mongol nomads from central Asia, the Huns, moved into the region and began destroying all in their paths
- Romans called all invaders "barbarians" (a term that they used to refer to non-Romans)
- In 444, they united for the first time under a powerful chieftain named Attila
- The last Roman emperor, a 14-year-old boy named Romulus Augustus

The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire

- The end of the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180) marked the end of two centuries of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana
- Hostile tribes outside the boundaries of the empire and pirates on the Mediterranean Sea disrupted trade
- The economy soon suffered from inflation, a drastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices
- Eventually, serious food shortages and disease spread, and the population declined
- Over time Roman soldiers in general had become less disciplined and loyal
- To defend against the increasing threats to the empire, the government began to recruit mercenaries, foreign soldiers who fought for money

Emperors Attempt Reform