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The impact of roman religion on Christianity
The impact of roman religion on Christianity
Spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire
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There are certain traits the Roman Empire possessed which contributed greatly to the growth of Christianity. The Roman Empire, most importantly, united a great variety and cultures and people into what became one nation; the resulting unity and communication between so many peoples eased the spread of Christianity all over the world. Of the Roman emperors, even the extremely rude ones assisted in spreading the Christian faith; not despite, but relieved by their pursuit Christianity grew rapidly. Finally, the oppressed and broken nature of the plebeians made them very liable to and eager of the Christian message.
The unity and ease of travel between many different people which the Roman Empire provided greatly aided in the sharing of the Christian message. The Roman Empire is the prototype for domination; many hundreds of peoples were under its control. Roads led from Rome to every part of its territory. Travel wasn’t impossible for these people. This communication made it possible for disciples to spread the Christian message all over the ancient world. If the Roman Empire had not e...
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” –Marcus Garvey. The U.S. is a combination of many cultures and influences over the centuries and because of this we are alike to many of them. We could name many of these influences: the Greeks, the Chinese Dynasties but the Romans were particularly like us. We might see them as barbaric is some ways but the reality is that the U.S. takes pages from many areas of the Romans, and comparisons could be drawn between both of us. Examples include government, our religions, and in some ways entertainment. The U.S. is much like the old Roman Empire was more than a millennium ago
...eligious practices. Christianity affected not only the Roman Empire but many other countries as well, altering their practices and making way for worship in the present day.
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
In 509 B.C. the Romans declared themselves a republic, free from rule of the Etruscan kings. (“The Rise of…”) From that point on, the Roman’s form of government would never include the title of “king”, in fear that a single person would gain absolute power. The republic included a dictator (in emergencies), the senate, two consuls, and several other positions. (Bishop) Although the goal of creating a republic was to have a government that represented the wishes of its people, the Roman senate consisted of men of wealth or power, leaving most of the plebeians, or common people, out of the picture. Many of the emperors’ policies strengthened the power of the government, and therefore weakened the power of the plebeians. By the end of Sulla’s rule in 78 B.C., grain prices had risen substantially and there was large gap between the rich and poor. (“The Rise of…”) When Julius Caesar took power, he initiated several reforms that were much needed at the time. Caesar spent large volumes of money on entertaining the citizens, while expanding citizenship to people of conquered lands and lessening the power of the senate. His policies threatened the method of income of senators and around 60 senators, in the name of saving the republic, murdered Julius Caesar at a senate hearing in 44 B.C. Civil war then erupted in Rome and lasted over a decade. At the end of the blood brawl, it was Octavian who emerged victorious; he would be the first Roman Emperor and would be known as Augustus. (Morey) Although the “Liberators” (Julius Caesar’s assassins), might not have realized it, the day that Julius Caesar died was the same day that the republic died; t...
Christianity developed with Jesus of Nazareth (6 BCE- 29 CE). He was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He practiced Christianity from 26 CE to 29 CE. He was the Son of God and the Redeemer of all Mankind. The Romans viewed him as someone “rocking the boat” with what was already a nation of the religiously obsessed. Eventually h...
“He is said to have been tall of stature… except that towards the end.” What was it that really led to the fall of the Roman Republic? There are a lot of different factors to consider when trying to determine what caused the collapse. By examining The Rubicon, The Life of Julius Caesar, and some accompanying handouts from class, this paper will discuss how the Roman Republic did not collapse because of one factor. The collapse of the Roman Republic was like that of a game of Jenga. Factors were pulled out of the Republican system just like a game of Jenga until the Republic could not stand anymore.
In the mid-200s, B.C., Rome and Carthage were wealthy, sophisticated, powerful civilizations and their governments were both republics ("Phoenician Civilization - New World Encyclopedia," n.d.). Originally, Rome and Carthage were governed by kingships, but they eventually moved away from monarchies and developed into aristocratic republics. Rome continued to adapt and developed into a democratic republic, while the Carthage aristocracy was not willing to change or share for that matter.
The religious tolerance and cultural acceptance Rome demonstrated during its conquest which kept its inhabitants reasonably happy allowed the seeds of Christianity to be sewn into the empire. Eventually Christianity grew and became the official religion of the empire and ultimately created a culture of disloyalty to the government and apathy to earthly troubles. The economy built on cheap labor and sustainable farming practices left the country out to dry when both of these resources dried up and could no longer support the empire. And Rome’s vast empire became in itself too large to maintain and what was once a small fortified empire grew into a massive and vulnerable one. Ancient Rome is one of history 's great civilizations but it’s inability to overcome it’s own, mostly internal, problems was eventually too much for it to
The era of the Pax Romana – though still a period of time filled with civil war and conquests in an attempt to expand the empire – was an overall period of stability for Roman society. During this time the Roman people knew their Emperor was an unwavering political powerhouse with an ability to run the Empire efficiently. In addition to having an efficient political leader, Rome had a strong military force stable enough to protect them from outside forces. The security of the Pax Romana period allowed Romans to focus on politics, culture, and technology providing them the opportunity to progress and flourish as a society.
Bainton, Roland H. "The Christian Roman Empire." The Horizon History of Christianity. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co. Inc., 1964. 100-106.
Another factor, which many scholars believe to be the single most important in the spread of Christianity, is the Pax Romana. This saw a period of over two hundred years, between 30 b.c. and a.d. 193, in which there was almost total world peace, Antoninus Pius wrote in circa 150 a.d., " Wars have so far vanished as to be regarded as legendary events of the past". This peace brought great prosperity to the vast Roman Empire as money was not being spent on costly wars and so materialism became prominent, another consequence was that people now had more time to think about issues such as religion. Another benefit of the Pax Romana was that frontiers were removed and so early missionaries could travel between countries within the Empire with ease, "A man can travel from one country to another although it was his nature land" (Pius). Also, because of a "considerable civil service" (Frend) to police the roads, there was a great decrease in the amount of bandits on the main roads and so the missionaries travel was a great deal safer.
There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one interweaved with the other. Many even blame the initiation of Christianity in 337 AD by Constantine the Great as the definitive cause while others blame it on increases in unemployment, inflation, military expenditure and slave labour while others blame it on the ethical issues such the decline in morals, the lack of discipline of the armies and the political corruption within the Empire. Three major contributions that led to the collapse of the once great empire were: the heavy military spending in order to expand the Empire, the over-reliance on slave labour which led to an increase in unemployment, and the political corruption and abuse of power by the Praetorian Guard leading to the unfair selection of many disreputable emperors and the assassination of those not favoured by the Guard.
as we can see the roman did infact synthesised both roman and greek along with improving them and making innovations that are still being used today. and thanks to the christian church we have many temples standing after more than two centuries.
There are many similarities and differences between Classical Roman and Early Christian Art. What particularly stands out to me is how much these two cultures have in common when it comes to their art and architecture. Romans were geniuses when it came to engineering and we can see that in the monuments they left behind. Many early Christian architectural styles and ideas were adopted straight from the Romans. Their communities became organized geographically much like those of the Roman provincial governments. Christian cultural styles derived straight from Roman visual traditions. Early Christian art features the adoption of Roman art forms for Christian purposes. Their art also featured recycling of images and sculpture to be used as early representations of Christ.
Prior to the expansion of the Roman empire after the Second Punic War, the average Roman citizen seemed to be focused on service to the state, particularly through political and military service. Religiously Romans were focused on state supported deities that were associated with the founding and ideals of Rome. In the social aspects of Roman life, they were focused on the family, headed by the father, who supremely ruled and was revered in a fashion similar to the structure of the citizens and the state (Morey, 1901a). As they incorporated more foreign realms they would often take aspects of those societies and incorporated them into their own lives. Though aspects of many regions made their way into Rome, the most influential of them was Greek culture and society.