• Early Romans worshipped nature spirits when under Etruscan rule
• thought of spirits as dieties
• Romans adapted much of Greek religion; identifying Greek dieties with their own
• gov. expected Romans to worship emperor as chief priest-this started with Augustus
• people allowed to worship freely; a variety of religions existed

Judaism and the Empire

• Augustus turned kingdom of Judah into Roman province of Judea
• Romans treated Jews cruelly
• Romans took Jerusalem and killed thousands of Jews
• Romans banned Jews from living in Jerusalem
• Jews forced to flee and live in scattered communities in Middle East
• Jews studied Torah, rabbis created Talmud, set up academies

• Jesus traveled and preached new message to Jews  
• Jesus wanted people not to sin and practice kindness
• Many Roman officials felt that Jesus could endanger Roman rule by winning over its citizens
• Roman gov., Pontius Pilate, arrested Jesus and had him crucified

• deliverer chosen by god 

• a group

• followers

• Disciples said Jesus had risen from dead and appeared to them
• Jews and non-Jews who accepted Jesus's message were called Christians
• Paul aided Christianity's spread especially among non-Jews
• Paul traveled and wrote stories about Jesus- became part of New Testament
• Peter, another apostle, came to Rome and founded a church in that city

• C. refused to honor the emperor as a god and rejected military service-Romans accused them of treason
• officials killed Christians who they thought were causing trouble
• Romans threw Christian martyrs into stadiums
• persecution kept people from becoming Christians-scared
• C. had to compete with other religions (polytheistic and Judaism)
• C. although small in number, gained major strength in cities throughout Roman Empire

• people who chose to die rather than give up their beliefs 

• Gen. Constantine ordered soldiers to pain cross on shields
• credited victory to Christian god
• Constantine was protector of Christianity
• Edict of Milan- all groups free to worship as they please
• Constantine attended mtgs. of Christian leaders and ordered churches to be built in Rome and Jerusalem
• missionary and gov. support- Christianity grew in size and power across Roman Empire

• Emp.  Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Emp.
• needed to be unified so church would not divide
• Church Father wrote books describing Christian teachings
• Augustine wrote about how he converted to Christianity in Confessions
• church organized as hierarchy
• priests-bishops-patriarchs-pope
• division of church; Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church (did not accept pope)

• oversaw diocese 

• bishops of 5 leading cities- Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem 

• regarded by Western Christians as the head of all churches; Eastern Orthodox Church did not accept this