Lecture 12 - The Rise of Christianity and the Fall of the Roman West !Chronology 4 BCE - 30 CE" " Life of Jesus Christ!303 - 313 CE" " The Great Persecution!313 CE" " " Edict of Milan!378 CE" " " Battle of Adrianople!384 CE" " " Christianity becomes official religion of empire!410 CE" " " Visigoths sack Rome!451-453 CE" " Huns invade France and Italy!455 CE" " " Vandals sack Rome!476 CE" " " Traditional "fall" date of Roman West!!Lecture Questions Why did the Roman Empire persecute Christians?!How did the Roman Empire's adoption of Christianity change the religion?!What were some of the factors that led to the fall of the Roman West?!!Judea from the Babylonian Captivity to Roman Province neo-babylonian sack of Jerusalem !•babylonian captivity !•cyrus I of persia (messiah)!•revolt of the maccabees (167-160 BCE) and religious toleration!•140 BCE - Maccadbees establish Hasmonian dynasty (independent from Seleucids 129 BCE)!•63 BCE - becomes client-state of Rome via Pompey's conquest of Seleucid Kingdom!•37 BCE - Herodian dynasty established (still a client-state)!•6 CE - Judea becomes a Roman province !•!Roman Judea in the time of Jesus Christ Roman provincial governor!•Jewish client kings (Herodian)!•Jewish religious sects !•Sadducees!◦Pharisees!◦Zealots!◦Essenes!◦continuing concept of messiah !•!Jesus of Nazareth sources !•Gospels!◦Roman authors!◦pacifist!•Christ = "anointed" !•Hebrew "Messiah"!◦the Sanhedrin!•Pontius Pilatus !•Prefect of Judea, 26-36 CE!◦Romans and the cross!•!The Spread of Christianity Apostle - "one who is sent out"!•Simon Peter (d. ca. 64 CE)!•Paul (Saul) of Tarsu (d. ca. 64 CE)!•!Beliefs monotheistic !•divinity of jesus (messiah)!•potential for positive/negative afterlife!•belief in hebrew bible (old testament)!•eschatology ("second coming") and the kingdom of god!•!Values and Practices pacifism and nonviolnece!•egalitarianism / brotherhood / sisterhood!•communism / shared property!•house churches!•meeting in most of their houses !◦houses are not connected to other houses!◦different beliefs since there is no over arching hierarchies!◦agape meals!•eating together using the model of the last supper!◦spirit of christ met when eating bread and wine!◦sacraments!•baptism !◦!Roman Suspicions and Critiques antisocial behavior!•atheism?!•"obstinacy" (pertinacia)!•cannibalism!•incest ("brother/sister")!•!Religion and the Roman State princeps = pontifex maximus!•chief priest of the empire!◦pax deorum!•emperor seeing over correct worship!◦peace of the gods!◦religious worship is conducted properly!◦roman gods (olympic gods) will support the empire since it is going correctly in terms of ◦religious worship!imperial cult!•worship of the emperor as either someone divine in lifetime or someone who becomes ◦divine after death!!Early Persecution and Martyrdom Nero and the Christians (64 CE)!•beginning of the first persecution of war!◦cause -> great fire in Rome !◦Nero himself started the fire from many sources !◦Nero was trying to build a new palace!◦set fire in poor district in Rome and blame it on the Christians!◦Jewish Revolt (66-70 CE) and "Parting of the Ways"!•Local Persecutions (Bithynia 112 CE, Lyon 177 CE, Carthage 180 CE)!•one in modern souther france and north africa!◦continuity!◦Christianity and the Imperial Cult in Third Century Crisis!•where imperial persecutions started!◦emperors declared out of the frontiers!◦many unrest in the roman empire !◦emperors try to put rome back on its right footing!◦reestablish on the original roman tradition!‣try to make people show loyalty as emperors!‣need all the support they can get!‣Matyr - "witness"!•Christians are placed in the area !◦roman authorities allow animals attack them!◦killed by gladiators!◦become a recruiting tool for the christians!◦successful recruitment -> seemed that people are okay being labeled that they are gonna ◦get killed!the reason is that they envision that they are gonna go to heaven anyways!◦new genre developed in religion!◦reasons for christian success!•2nd and 3rd centuries!◦very open to non elites which is to the poor, oppressed, women, and slaves!◦offers an opportunity and community that welcomes them!◦can't forget the positive afterlife available to christians!◦people recognize benefits if you are a poor person!◦Christian offers medical assistance to people that needed food and health and other ‣forms of help!!Diocletian and the Great Persecution, 303 - 313 CE Diocletian the Problem0solver!•the Dominate!◦tetrarchy!◦price edict!◦reestablishing Roman religious conformity, state power!•"the immortal gods themsleves will favor and be at peace with the Roman name... if we have •seen to it that all subject to our rule entirely lead a pious, religious, peaceable and chaste life in every respect" - edict from damascus !persecuted elite !•senators !◦bishops!◦!Constantine the Christian Emperor (306-337 CE) goal -> to have successful successions of emperor •dispute for the throne!•Battle of Melvin Bridge!•Edict of Milan (313 CE) !•legalizes christinanity!◦basically turns back the clock on the great persuction!◦said whatever christians had before!◦get back property and open church!◦Constantinople and a united empire!•united the east and west !◦new east capital -> constatinpoe!◦ The Empire and Orthodoxy diversity of early Christian belief!•council of Nicaea (325 CE)!•argue about the trinity !◦precedent and later councils!•orthodoxy - "right belief"!•heresy - "choice"!• Theodosius I Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363 CE)!•was an emperor!◦last non-christian emperor of the Roman east!◦fashioned himself as a philosopher!◦try polytheistic religions!◦died the assassinate Persians!◦last effort of traditional Roman practices!◦Theodosian Edicts (380 and 392 CE)!•makes it Christian as the official religion of the empire!◦persecute of polytheistic traditions of the Roman!◦katholikos - "Catholic"!•pagani - "pagans"!•!The Germanic Migrations/Invasions goals?!•foederati - "allies"!•the Battle of Adrianople, 378 CE!•Alaric and Stilicho!•Visigothic sack of Rome, 410