Christianity
The Beginnings of Christianity
Christianity started in the Roman territory of Judea around 30 AD when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by Roman officials and was rumored to resurrect from the dead. After his death, the religion should have ended, but because of his determined followers, the fatih spread to Rome. the most famout apostle, Paul, was a Roman citizen and was a great help in introducing the faith to the empire.Persecution
Christians in the second century faced great persecution under multiple rulers. It all started under the rule of Marcus Aurelius (165-180 AD) and continued with all his successors. The third century saw the height of Christian persecution. The authorities had great toleration for the persecution and continud to worship their main gods from thier mythology. The Great Persecution of 303 AD was enacted by Diocletian. He recognized that Christianity had taken too much power in his empire and made multiple efforts to decrease Christian numbers, or even exterminate them. He did not succeed.Constantine
In 312, Constatine had a vision of Christ before he went into battle. He swore if he won the battle, and therefore become emperor, he would make the empire's official religion Christianity. He won the battle and did as he promised. He gave Christians the freedoms that the pagan Roman's had, held the Edict of Milan with all the bishops of the faith, and baptized himself as a Christian. Since then the empire stayed Christian, and today the city of Rome is the capital for the Catholic Church.