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Christianity seems to have been both ignored and tolerated until the third century, when there began to be concerns about the loyalty of Christians and the risk that Christianity posed to the good government of the empire.
The real concern was that the Christian Church seemed to have become a powerful state within a state. It passed and enforced its own laws against Christians, kept its own treasury, and Christians appeared to owe allegiance to the bishops ahead of their Roman governors.
There were troubling examples of treasonous behaviour by some of the Christians, that served to alienate the emperors and to justify some form of persecution before the Christians got out of hand. On the day of a public festival, Marcellus the centurion threw away his arms, and the ensigns of his office, and exclaimed with a loud voice that he would obey none but Jesus Christ the eternal King, and that he renounced forever the use of carnal weapons and the service of an idolatrous master. The soldiers, as soon as they recovered from their astonishment, secured the person of Marcellus. By his own confession, he was condemned and beheaded for the crime of desertion. Examples of such a nature are more akin to martial or even civil law than religious persecution.
In 303 CE, Galerius and Diocletian decided, for what they saw as the good of the empire, to institute the Great Persecution of Christianity. Diocletian abdicated in 305 CE, after which persecution ended in the West, but it continued until 311 in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThe Romans were ever alert to revolution within their empire. A usual sign of a plot was when people started taking secret oaths and binding themselves with activity which would incur the death penalty to stop participants turning state evidence.
The sight of Christians having meetings in private houses instead of going up to the temple like honest folk, and taking oaths drinking blood and eating human flest alarmed the Romans that this presaged a political plot. They reacted accordingly. A couple of letters from Plimy the Younger, governor of Bythinia, to empror Trajan are very illustrative of this.
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What did the Romans build that helped spread Christianity?
They built the Vatican.
What are the factors involved in the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire before 400 AD?
The spread of Christianity was possible because of stability and unification of Mediterranean achieved by Romans.
Did christianity spread or decline under Roman rules?
It could not decline from nothing - it did not exist until after much of what was to become the Roman empire was already under Roman rule. It spread, particularly after the Romans accepted Christianity under Constantine
What person introduced monotheistic religion to the Romans?
It was Jesus Christ via the missionary work of the apostles. Christianity was the monotheistic religion which spread in the Roman Empire.
Why did StPaul travel?
St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.St. Paul traveled to spread the teachings of Christianity and to attract converts.
Was chrisianity invented by the Romans?
No, Christianity wasn't invented by Romans. It was sent to Jesus by God and Jeasus spread Christianity.
What did the Romans build that helped spread Christianity?
They built the Vatican.
What are the factors involved in the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire before 400 AD?
The spread of Christianity was possible because of stability and unification of Mediterranean achieved by Romans.
Who were not contributing to the spread of Christianity throughout the roman empire?
The Romans who remained pagans did not contribute to the spread of Christianity Neither did Julian, who was the only pagan emperor in the Later Roman Empire
What contributions did Romans malt to religion?
Christianity is the contribution of the Romans to religion. Christianity spread around the Roman Empire and eventually became state religion. Both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity originally developed in the Roman Empire.
Why did the Romans try to stop the spread of Christianity?
The Romans did not try to stop the spread of Christianity. There were alternations between periods of toleration and periods of persecution. Some Roman emperors thought that Christianity was a threat to the Roman state because many bureaucrats and soldiers converted to Christianity. The Romans saw their state as being interlinked with Roman Religion. The persecutions were aimed mainly at the civil service and the Christian clergy, rather than Christianity as such. The last and worse persecution, the Great Persecution, failed because it was difficult to implement, because of the resistance of the Christians and because it undermined the stability of the empire. After that, the emperors endorsed Christianity, favored it over other religions and promoted it. Eventually, Christianity became the state religion of the empire. With imperial support, the spread of Christianity accelerated.
Did christianity spread or decline under Roman rules?
It could not decline from nothing - it did not exist until after much of what was to become the Roman empire was already under Roman rule. It spread, particularly after the Romans accepted Christianity under Constantine
How did rome help Christianity spread?
Early Christian concept of God (Jesus) had a lot in common with one of the Roman gods. For this reasons the Romans didn't have a problem with the Christians. When the Roman Emporer Constantinople Converted to Christianity it opened a big path for the spread of Christianity.
Did Rome help spread Christianity?
Early Christian concept of God (Jesus) had a lot in common with one of the Roman gods. For this reasons the Romans didn't have a problem with the Christians. When the Roman Emporer Constantinople Converted to Christianity it opened a big path for the spread of Christianity.
Why did the Romans fear the spread of Christianity?
The Roman government feared the spread of Christianity because the Romans thought that if people who became Christians would stop worshipping the Roman gods. Early Christians also refused to pay homage to the Roman Emperor as divine, which was seen as challenging the Roman government.
The romans were another advanced civilization in Euorope List some things given to us by the romans?
The Romans played a large role in the spread of Christianity in Europe. The Romans advanced civilization paved the way for democratic ideals.
Why did American missionaries want to Christianize the Philippines?
One answer is that the Spaniards were fervent Christians and Christianity, at its very heart, is a missionary religion. The Jews brought Christianity to the Romans, and the Romans brought Christianity to the Spanish. The Spanish then brought it to the Philippines. Christianity is the greatest news that men have ever gotten, the very basis of it is to be spread and propagated.
