One of the most widespread religions known today started to spread throughout the Roman Empire. That religion is Christianity. Many different people had many different opinions of it. One person who had a very strongly negative opinion of Christianity was Pliny the Younger. Pliny was the governor of Pontus/Bithynia from the years 111-113 AD (Tristano). In contrast to that, Licinius and Constantine helped the Christians gain more freedom and they were not opposed to Christianity. Finally, Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea had an opinion on this matter, and on Constantine (Tristano). All of them had different opinions and different reasons for believing what they did about Christianity at the time. As previously mentioned, Pliny did not have …show more content…
The Edict of Milan did a few things, but most importantly being establishing freedom of worship (Tristano). Because of the Edict of Milan, Christians were now able to practice their religion freely. The Edict of Milan states, “so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred” (Edict of Milan). It also states, “we thought to arrange that no one whatsoever should be denied the opportunity to give his heart to the observance of the Christian religion, of that religion which he thinks should be best for himself” (Edict of Milan). This is starking contrast to the thoughts of previous Romans, especially Pliny and having Christians persecuted. A motivation behind the Edict of Milan can be to gain more followers, because now they would also have the Christians on their side. The Edict states, “We thought fit to commend these things most fully to your care that you may know that we have given…” (Edict of Milan). I think that the beginning of that quote shows that it was made so people would know that they wrote it and they are trying to show that they care, which is why I thought it was made to gain more followers. Another quote goes on to say, “the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times” (Edict of Milan). I think that is another hint of why it was made, so the Romans would be …show more content…
During Pliny’s time, Christians were being persecuted and heavily looked down upon. Fast forward to Eusebius’s time, the ruler at the time, Constantine, was Christian, and fought for Christians to have religious freedom, and won. All of the documents referred to in this paper had different perspectives. The first two, Pliny and the Edict of Milan were both Roman documents. Although they were both Roman, they both had different perspectives. Pliny was not for Christianity and wanted to get rid of Christians, while the Edict of Milan was made to save the Christians and help keep them safe. Finally, Eusebius was Christian, so of course he was pro-Christian. But he was also pro-Constantine. In my opinion, I think that Constantine did create the Edict of Milan as a way to get the Christians on his side. Me being a Catholic Christian, I think that he did have a very important role in history freeing the Christians, whether it was just for political gains or it was actually what he believed in, he was a crucial part in history. That being said, I think he was another Roman general, not just “another” Roman general though, a very important Roman
Many historians hail him as a good emperor because of his positive contributions to the Church. Before Constantine's reign the church was underground and was hardly recognized as a legitimate religion, in fact Christians were recognized as cannibals (because of the ordinance of the Lord's supper) or atheists because they didn't believe in Paganism. Christianity started off small, it was an offshoot of Judaism, but it slowly became bigger and bigger and when Constantine came to power it was the second biggest religion in the Roman empire. Christianity became so popular, even Constantine himself converted making the religion the religion of the state. This made Christianity very popular, suddenly high class people and the wealthy started converting,
Contrary to what Diocletian expected, however, the pagans defended their fellow Romans, leading to a remarkable period of religious unity and acceptance amongst the citizens of the Roman Empire (7-8). To this end, the failure of Diocletian’s Christian persecution was a significant factor leading to the eventual domination of Christianity in western society due to the fact that it precipitated the empire’s growing toleration of Christian
The bible tells us of a man known as Pontius Pilate. At the time, he was a cruel Roman governor of Judea under emperor Tiberius. He is widely know as the man who gave the final \order for the crucifixion of Jesus. The governor is looked at as both good and bad. In fact, many scholars think that he was possibly the first ever Christian.
Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont in 1095 was a call to crusade given outdoors to the nobles, commoners and church leaders of the Western European Christians (the Franks). The people were moved by this speech and it changed history, launching the first crusade to capture Jerusalem from the Muslim Turks. After hearing Pope Urban II’s speech, thousands of Western European Christians were moved to embark on the dangerous journey and fight in the crusade. I believe the main reasons they were moved and persuaded to fight was; 1) they felt it was their Christian duty, 2) Pope Urban promised them absolution for their sins and 3) they felt compelled to defend Christianity, their holy land and the Eastern Christians.
Constantine the Great is one of the most prominent figures of the ancient world who has dramatically influenced the history of the modern world. Constantine’s triumph of political dominance of his time, led to the success of Christianity rising as the dominant religion in the Roman word, and perhaps the modern world. Constantine was the son of Helena and Constantius. In 289 AD, the western emperor chose Constantius to serve him. Constantius and Galerius were promoted to Caesar and eventually to Augusti.
Once Constantine became Emperor, he created freedom of Religion. Constantine was an influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan, partially because he had converted to Christianity a year before the Edict of Milan was signed and agreed to. The Edict of Milan was a document, created in 313, that granted tolerance toward Christianity. The document had benefits for Christians, which legalized their
Fulcher's claim that European Christians should have been protected from Muslim occupation and fierce persecution. As the Roman Realm disintegrated and the papacy lost power and power, moves in governmental issues and religions started. The papacy, under the direction of Pope Urban II, started the battle for more power and power. Amid the time preceding the Main Campaign, the Christian confidence "overwhelmed and directed regular day to day existence to a degree that can appear to be practically unfathomable to a present day eyewitness receptive to the states of mind and biases progressively secularized contemporary society. This religious enthusiasm sustained the "mind-boggling uneasiness: the threat of wrongdoing".
Justinian chose to enforce Christianity as the official religion of the Byzantine Empire, hence unifying society through the belief in Jesus Christ. This differs from ancient Rome where there was no official religion enforced. Justinian built the Hagia Sophia, an incredible and “exceedingly beautiful” (Document 4) church in Constantinople. This helped enforce the religion into people’s daily lives because everybody who walked into the church believed in God because it was universally understood “[that] by the influence of God...this work has been perfected” (Document 4). Because the architecture and vibes inside the church were so strong, people began to believe in the religion and create a different culture than ancient Rome.
The Byzantines had a major impact on Christianity. " The Byzantines withstood years of siege by the Arabs hitherto considered irresistible, and in doing so … saved Western Civilization." (A Short History of Byzantium, Document A). There were early attacks on Constantinople that the Byzantines were able to hold off.
As centuries went on, more Roman emperors began to accept Christianity. Constantine, who incorporated into it several Greek philosophies, finally legalized it in 313 C.E. Christianity also connected the Romans and “barbarians”, leading it to become a highly positive change in the Roman
The Edict of Milan granted tolerance of Christianity along with other religions. He declared that Sunday would be the holy day and used to recognize the Christian martyrs. The same legal rights as pagan feasts were applied (Conversion of Constantine). Constantine also became the patron and protector of the church. By 380 A.D., most Romans had converted to Christianity causing Flavius Theodosius to declare the religion the official religion of Rome (History of Christianity in
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
Bishops gained a lot of power with control of church memberships, finances, and the selection of priests. In 590, “Gregory the Great was named Bishop of Rome…and named himself ‘Pope’ and the ‘Head of the Universal Church.’” He was the key to asserting papal primacy and started the requirement of confession and penance. He also worked to convert the pagan kings, hoping more people would follow in their footsteps. With the belief that Constantine left his crown to the papacy, the future Popes had the power to crown the emperor acting as god’s representative.
Furthermore Eusebius states that Tertullian’s wrote a report defending Christians. When the report of this Doctrine reached Tiberius he passed the information
Augustine of Hippo was a Christian philosopher who played a big part and impacted Christianity greatly. Augustine helped Christianity by helping the Church by finding answers to questions that could have damaged the Church if they went unanswered. He explained to the Church original sin, the Trinity, and clarified the concept of predestination. Augustine was the bishop in the city of Hippo located in North Africa. He was the son of the famous Saint Monica, but despite his mother being a devout Christian his father believed in paganism.