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

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 ChristiansEdict of Milan – declared end to persecution of Christians

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.

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

The 4Causes for the Decline of Rome  Rome declined slowly from C.E. 200 – C.E. 500  1.  1. POLITICAL INSTABILITY - Rulers spent to much money and wasted troops

The 4Causes 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 4Causes 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