Apostle Vs Nero Essay

Christianity started off with only a few followers, but has grown into the most practiced religion in the world. About 2,000 years ago a man by the name of Jesus was born into the Roman ruled city of Jerusalem. Jesus was raised in a community of Jewish followers, and followed the Jewish law himself. Jesus believed that he was the messiah, the savior whom profits predicted would one day bring peace to the people of Israel. The Romans and and Jewish leaders felt threatened by Jesus because he thought he was the messiah. Jesus would then be crucified by the Romans. Christianity was able to take hold in the ancient world and flourish because of Christianity 's belief in equality, Rome’s biased

Based upon the other documents, the textbook should be rewritten. The textbooks all corroborate the persecution of Christians in Rome. The textbook lacks a definitive explanation for the persecution and an in-depth explanation of what the followers of Jesus endured. Documents B and C, while not flawless themselves, provide information that the textbook does not have. Document B describes how the Christians were preyed upon by the Roman people. In Tacitus account of Roman history, Christians were burnt, eaten by animals, and crucified. Document C details why the Romans were persecuting the Christians. According to the Theologian professor, the reason for Christian persecution in Rome was because the Romans did not understand Christian rituals.

Throughout Lost to the West, Lars Brownworth emphasizes the historical significance of the Byzantine Empire by arguing that it facilitated the continuation of the Roman Empire in the face of the Dark Ages not only by preserving the rapidly deteriorating culture of Western Rome but by fundamentally influencing the future of western society. This assertion is first introduced with Emperor Diocletian, the innovative ruler who irreversibly altered the fate of the Roman Empire. Emerging as an unlikely savior after years of civil strife and economic calamity, Diocletian, a Dalmatian soldier, ascended the throne by force and quickly made a crucial realization; the territory of Rome was far too substantial for a single man to rule (Brownworth 2-3). Subsequently, he resolved to divide the

Nero came to the throne at the age of 17, because the death of Agrippina’s son, but as soon as the event was made public, Nero went to the courtyard, on high gaud himself, between the hours of 6 and 7 o’clock(not sure if it was am or pm), because the omens were so disastrous that no earlier time of the day was judged properly(N.S. Gill). Some of the good things that Nero did as an emperor were, that he reduced taxes, he gave impoverished senators better pay, and Suetonius says Nero devied a method of forgery prevention, and he replaced public banquetes with grain distribution(N.S. Gill; AncientHistory, Nero).

Due to the mass hysteria the blame quickly fell to the rich Jews. It is stated that, “Jews throughout the world were reviled and accused in all lands of having caused it [the plague] through the poison which they are said to have put into the water and the well” (Document 7). The nation was in need of answers so when the Jews were pointed out as a scapegoat all of Europe followed. Though sadly the blame was not the worst thing to befall the Jewish people. In Document 7 it is stated that, “On Saturday - that was St. Valentine’s Day - they burnt the Jews on a wooden platform in their cemetery. There were about two thousand of them. Those who wanted to baptize themselves were spared.” The people of Europe burnt all of those Jewish people because there was a slight possibility that they could have caused the plague. They all quickly turned there sanity aside and murdered over 2,000 people. Mass hysteria was played a great roll in the downfall of Europe during the bubonic

There were many reasons as to why the Roman Empire collapsed. The Roman Empire did not collapse all at once. Rome was split in two and the western half was the first to Collapse which was in 476 A.D./C.E. The eastern half managed to thrive and survive for about 1,000 more years before it collapsed in 1453. Some of the main reasons the Roman Empire collapsed is the rise of Christianity, the Germanic barbarians attacking Rome, and political/military difficulties.

The views on Christianity throughout Rome changed immensely from the early years of the empire through the fourth century. For a while, Christians were looked at as a threat to many because of their belief in monotheism. Nero and his followers persecuted and punished the lower class and women who followed Christianity as well as use them as political scapegoats. As time went on, the tolerance for Christianity in Rome grew and Christianity gained acceptance. By the fourth century, Christianity was the official religion in Rome. Christianity in Rome, illegal during the early years of the empire, gained appeal to the women and lower class of Rome eventually gaining favor due to Flavius Theodosius and Constantine’s beliefs and sympathy (Lunn-Rockliffe).

In Shakespeare’s play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” there are many uses of prophets, omens, and natural phenomenon to display rising tensions among characters and to show signs of destiny. This results in casualties for several characters, but for others, there is a sign of hope and good luck. Many of them have their futures in their hands, but incorrect choices made their outcome take a wrong turn. Two characters that can control their own future are Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus. One character that has his fate predetermined by his actions and attitude is Cassius. Unfortunately, their lives were in vain since their deaths did not affect Rome in any way.

During the early Pax Romana, Christianity, emerged and it spread rapidly in the Roman Empire. The founder of Christianity was Jesus who used parables with moral lessons to communicate his ideas. Jesus emphasized mercy, sympathy for the poor and helpless, morality, forgiveness, and service to others. Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome because of its unifying force and the fact that it appealed to all classes in society. The humble, poor and oppressed found comfort in his message of love, equality, human dignity, and promise for a better life. It can be seen that Christianity had the most significant changes in Roman society compared to the other religions. Christianity improved the social, cultural and political way

Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece were very powerful and influential forces around the time that Christianity had began to spread. In Rome’s society, people followed under an emperor, who had strict rules about religion and the type of beliefs one should have. At the time, Rome’s official religion was pagan, but later converted to Christian. Ancient Greece had different religious beliefs than those that Christianity consisted of, but these countries were both powerful and helpful in spreading this new religion. Greece and Rome were impactful on Christian doctrine as well as helping this religion thrive and continue to expand to new areas. With these type of factors in mind, this paper will answer the question “How did Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome impact Christianity?”.

Moss, C. (2013). How persecuted were early Christians? In C. R. Moss (Author), The myth of persecution: How early Christians invented a Story of Martyrdom (pp. 127-162). New York: HarperOne.

Because Christians faced daily persecution anyway, martyrdom was a way for them to take back their lives and their fates, allowing them to decide when they died and by whose hands. Martyrdom, unlike standard death or murder, gave Christians the power to decide their own destinies; they were given the choice to either follow the Roman government or to stand with God, instead. If they went against what their government told them to do, they knew the consequences would be harsh and painful; however, even though the punishments were severe, they also knew that they had decided their death. One of the most striking examples of an ancient Christian taking his or her life back and demanding control is Vibia Perpetua, who spent the vast majority of her life under the thumb of either her father or her husband. She never had the chance to make strong, independent decisions about her own life, regardless of the fact that she grew up educated and was constantly exposed to

The existence of Christianity enumerates almost 20 centuries and for this period it made a long way in development and expansion. The Christianity was born in Palestine in the 1st century AD and spread to various corners of the world.

Even though many people now associate Rome with the Catholic Church and the beginning of Christianity, this Mediterranean epicenter used to be the center of conflict with the Christians. Because of the differing views, the Roman government was unwilling to allow Christianity to thrive in Rome and systematically denied them their religious right. The early Christians throughout the Roman Empire feared the government and the laws because of the persecution that lasted for centuries. While the Roman Empire fixated their attention on their worldly lives, Christians focused on what is to come after death. Two examples of the different views of the Romans and early Christians are Marcus Cato by Plutarch and the Gospel According to Matthew. In these separate works, the differences of their attitudes, actions, and beliefs on human

The Edict of Milan (313) was a milestone document promising “to give both to Christians and to all others free facility to follow the religion which each may desire”. Although on the surface it appears that the Edict of Milan was a genuine attempt to give equality before the law to Christians, who were severely persecuted under the previous Emperor Diocletian (r. 284- 305), in reality, a number of political, social and ideological influences on Emperors Constantine (r. 306- 337) and Licinius (r. 308- 324) reveal further motivations for the creation of the edict; primarily among these factors- their political cunning.