1. Religion and the Roman Empire
Ms. Carmelitano

2. Early Religion
Numina: Powerful spirits or divine forces worshiped by the earliest Romans
Believed to live in everything
Lares: Guardian spirits of each family
Names were given to them and honored through rituals

3. Later Gods and Goddesses
Adopted the Greek Gods and Goddesses
Changed the names to “Roman” names

4. Religion and the Government
Religion was linked to the government
Deities were symbols of the state
Romans were expected to honor them in shrines in their homes but also in public ceremonies at the temples

5. Rise of Christanity As the empire grew, so did a new religion
It was born out of Judaism
Roman power spread to Judea, where the Jews were living in 63 BCE
6 AD Judea became a province
The Jews believed that they would again be enslaved under a non-Jewish king

7. Jesus of Nazareth Estimate birth 6-4 BCE Born in Bethlehem, Judea
There is little historic information about his life
The majority of information about his life is found in:
The Bible and the Gospels
The first four books of the New Testament of the Christian Bible
Jesus was raised in Nazareth in Northern Judea
He became a carpenter

8. Jesus’ Teachings Rise out of Judaism
By age 30 he began public ministry
He preached for 3 years
He began preaching a new Monotheistic religion: Christianity
The Ten Commandments was the foundation for religious law
Belief: good people would live in an eternal kingdom after death, wicked would be punished for their sins
The Torah is the Old Testament to the Christian Bible
DIFFERENCE: Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah became Christians, those who did not, remained Jewish

9. Death of Jesus 29 AD Jesus visited Jerusalem
People flocked calling him the Messiah or king – the one who would rescue the Jews
Roman governor, Pontius Pilate accused Jesus of defying the authority of Rome
He was not the Roman King
He was sentenced to crucifixion
a common punishment for opponents to Rome
His body was placed in a tomb
Gospels preach that three days later his body was gone, and a newly living Jesus was appearing to his followers

10. Jewish Rebellion 66 AD a group of Jews rebelled against Rome 132 AD
70 AD Romans destroyed the temple complex
All that was left was the western wall – which is the holiest place for Jews to worship today
Half a million Jews were killed in the rebellion until the Romans won in 73 AD
132 AD
Another rebellion, half a million again were killed
Many Jews were driven from their homeland in the Diaspora:
The time when Jews were driven into exile from their homeland
This facilitated a further spread of the religion

11. The Movement Grows Gospels were written by disciples or pupils
12 men, later called apostles
These people helped to spread the message of Christianity
They traveled around the Roman Empire, teaching of Jesus, and the Monotheistic Religion

12. Christianity Spreads
Followers spread the ideas and teachings of Jesus outside of the Roman empire
The Apostle Paul
Never met Jesus
At first and enemy to Christianity
Believed he had vision of Jesus
Spread the word of his teachings

13. Pax Romana Safe roads, common language Made trade safe and easy
Made the spread of ideas easy as well
This allowed for the religion to spread quickly and easily

15. Becoming a world Religion
Three million Christians by the third century AD
People converted because Christianity:
Embraced all people – men and women, enslaved, poor, nobles
Gave hope to powerless
Appealed to those who disliked the extravagance of Rome
Offered personal relationship with God
Promised eternal life after death

16. Constantine 312 AD He Reported seeing an image of a cross
Constantine was a Roman Emperor fighting for leadership of Rome
He Reported seeing an image of a cross
symbol of Christianity
He put symbol on shields, troops won
At the battle of Milivian Bridge
313 AD announced an end to persecution of Christians
EDICT OF MILAN
380 AD
Emperor Theodosius made it official religion of empire

17. Early Church Roman hierarchy Priest: lead a small group
Bishop: priest who supervised many churches
Peter was first Bishop of Rome
Pope: leader of whole church
Peter was the first Pope
Bishop of Rome was leader of church

18. Holy Book: Bible
Old Testament: The Jewish Torah – first part of the Christian Bible
New Testament : Second part of the Christian Bible
Compilation of four Gospels believed to have been originally written by the apostles
325 CE Constantine wrote the Nicene Creed defining basic beliefs