The first century defines the division between the pre- and post-Christian eras. Christianity was born and spread in a turbulent historical period and it began exactly at the peak of one of the world’s largest empires, the Roman Empire.
During the first century Christian communities were formed by the apostles in many urban centers inside and outside of the Empire. In Greco-Roman culture of antiquity people claimed ethnic identity from ancestors; you were literally born into your customs and beliefs. Conversion (moving from one religion to another) was not common. Christianity taught that ancestry and bloodlines were no longer relevant, and so became a religion available to all pagan nations of the 1st century. After the 3rd century the growth of Christian community had managed to become so great that it influenced and dictated the fate of the empire itself. During the first three centuries Christians also left extensive physical evidence, not only of their presence but also of their ideas and practices. One example is in the Eastern Roman empire, at Dura-Europos (today Syria). There has been unearthed the earliest known (231 AD) Church house adapted for Christian worship.
But the first three centuries are also known in the history of the church as a period of persecution called The Age of Martyrdom, in which the pagan Roman Empire did not allow Christians to practice their (monotheistic) faith.
The first martyr according to tradition is saint Stephen martyred in Jerusalem, also many other persecutions have occurred outside the borders of Roman Empire, but it is this empire that has left great marks in the history of early Christians and while trying to erase Christianity ended up changing its own fate.
Apostles Peter and Paul before the Emperor Nero
Apostles Peter and Paul before the Emperor Nero
By tradition, Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) was the first Roman official to persecute Christians. He blamed the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD.He is traditionally known for the martyring of the great Apostles Peter and Paul.
The decision of a “legal” persecution of Christians began during the reign of emperor Domitian (83-96 AD). After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Domitian’s father, Vespasian (69-79 AD), had ordered the Jews to continue paying the Temple tax, now sending it to Rome as war reparations, but no one enforced this until the reign of Domitian. In seeking out tax evaders among Jews, his officials became aware of the Christians who worshipped the same God but were not Jews and thus not responsible for the tax. This began the tax oppression for the early Christians
St. Ignatius of Antioch martyred by lions
St. Ignatius of Antioch martyred by lions
Moreover the Romans started the “Imperial Cult” with the deification of Julius Caesar after his death (44 BC). Emperor Octavian created Imperial temples that both honored Caesar and the imperial family. The Imperial Cult served as propaganda and brought in funds from the sale of priesthoods. Jews had been granted exemption from “traditional cults” by Julius Caesar as a reward for his Jewish mercenaries. Christians, however, did not have this privilege. Instead Christians were charged with the crime of atheism. Their refusal to appease the gods by sacrificing to them was perceived as a threat to the prosperity of the Empire, which was equivalent to treason. Christians were executed in the arenas, often being mauled and eaten by lions and other wild animals that were utilized in the games by specially-trained animal hunters. An Example of a Christian martyred by lions is Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch (2nd century)
Another saint from the second century is the great theologian St. Justin martyr. His well-known work “The First Apology”, where he passionately defends the morality of the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman emperor, Antoninus, to abandon the persecution of the Church. Justin wrote to Emperor Antoninus Pius and described the believers: “We formerly rejoiced in uncleanness of life, but now love only chastity; before we used the magic arts, but now dedicate ourselves to the true and unbegotten God; before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need; before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause.”
Saint Justin was martyred during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius in 165 AD
End of 3rd century and beginning of 4th marks the last great wave of persecutions, the emperor Diocletian, tolerant of Christians for almost twenty years, suddenly decrees in 303 AD that all churches are to be destroyed, all sacred texts and precious liturgical vessels confiscated, and meetings for worship forbidden. It is the beginning of a brief period known in Christian history as the Great Persecution. Many historians give the explanation for this sudden decree related to a belief, fueled by Diocletian’s energetically pagan co-emperor Galerius, that the traditional virtues of Rome are threatened by Christianity. The persecution escalated in late 303 AD with the arrest of all Christian clergy but the prisons cannot accommodate them, and many were released. In 304 AD all citizens of the empire were ordered to sacrifice to the Roman gods on pain of death. This persecution is only carried out consistently in the east, where Diocletian and Galerius rule. In Spain, Gaul (Modern day France) and Britain, ruled by Constantius, who resisted the persecution but still let it happen. His son Constantine the Great took over the Western Roman Empire after him and ended the persecutions. The Edict of Milan was issued in 313 AD by Constantine, granting Christianity the right to legally assemble without fear of arrest or persecution. Emperor Constantine the Great became Christian at the end of his life thus becoming the first Christian emperor, starting a new era in the history of the coming centuries.
St Justin Martyr is from first Apology chapter XIV
Peppard, Michael. The World’s Oldest Church: Bible, Art, And Ritual At Dura-Europos, Syria. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016
Map Source: https://salaamone.wordpress.com/evolution-of-christiainity/expansion-of-christianity/
