Day 25: Rise of Christianity & Fall of Rome Unit 3

Judaism in Roman World Judea conquered in 63 BC by Pompey Had to pay tribute to Romans Not willing to adopt polytheism Zealots  try to overthrow Romans, re-est. Kingdom of Israel, BC Romans sack Jerusalem in response, destroy Second Temple Revolt in 130s, AD, Jews banned from Jerusalem Some Jews do not fight, wait for Messiah to come to restore order to kingdom and bring peace

Jesus of Nazareth History: 1 st 4 books of New Testament Christian Bible: Made of Books of Hebrew Bible and NT Jesus: Born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth Carpentry, study Jewish prophetic writings Traveled through Judea, gathers disciples Defend poor/oppressed, miracles of healing Instruct people to repent of sins, seek God’s forgiveness Love God above all else, love others as yourself Practice humility, mercy, charity Popular w/people, feared by authorities: arrested, tried, sentenced to death

Spread of Christianity After Jesus’s death, disciples spread message of salvation 12 Apostles: earliest Christian missionaries Paul: formerly “Saul” persecuted Christians Conversion, became Christian Traveled throughout eastern Mediterranean to convert Gentiles Est. Churches, wrote NT letters, new doctrines

Roman Christianity Message of love, eternal life no matter how poor By 300, 10% Romans were Christian Local officials fear Christians conspiring Arrest, kill many martyrs (die for faith) Large-scale Roman persecution rare AD Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity AD Edict of Milan: made Chr. legal in empire Chr. grows to majority 391 Theodosius outlaws non-Chr. sacrifices/ceremonies

Early Christianity Early churches=communities Eucharist: ceremony of Jesus' last supper (bread & wine) Baptism: ceremony of admittance to faith Priests: leader, laity: congregation of Church Bishop: authority over Priests in cities Patriarchs: heads of largest/oldest congregations, authority over bishops***** Pope: seen as Peter’s (founder of Roman Church) spiritual heirs

Empire Weakens No strong leader after Good Emperors, civil war Military dictators, , all but 1 die violently Economic Issues: robbery, piracy, raised taxes on the poor, inflation

Diocletian Reform Emperor, 284 Changed empire to absolute monarchy Divided empire in 2 (east, west) He ruled East, co-emp ruled West Both had assistants (Caesars) Rigid order, life was regulated Sons follow trades/social position of fathers Peasants permanently tied to land they farmed Increased army, defense of empire

Constantine 305 Diocletian and co-emp retire Civil war for 7 years 312 Constantine (son of a Caesar) proclaimed emperor Continued state control over society Supported Christianity Built new capital: Constantinople In east, richer half, better defended

Invasion and Fall 300s-400s problems worsen Huns (nomads from Centr. Asia), 370s Create empire in Eurasia Attack Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals Attila (mid 400s leader) attacked Gaul Romans ally w/ Visigoths, defeat Huns 451 Western Rome weakened Germanic tribes rule western provinces, including Italy 476, Barbarian commander Odoacer overthrows last western emperor Eastern half remains, west falls