Rome

Rise of Christianity

• Jesus spent 3 years teaching
• Jesus was killed by Roman leaders
• Jesus's followers believed he was the messiah
• Christianity evolved from a cult to a religion
• With priests, bishops, and a pope
• Christians are monotheistic
• Romans were polytheistic
• Christianity appealed to the poor
• Some Roman leaders became Christians
• 313 AD Constantine had a battlefield conversion
• Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky
• Everyone painted a cross on their shields
• Constantine won the battle 2 lifted the prosecution law
• The Edict of Milan was the approval of the Empire

Decline of the Roman Empire

• Had problems in 180 AD
• Economic and military decline
• Risky to do trade
• Taxes were to high
• Food supply was dropping
• The empire was divided into two
• Greek - speaking East
• Latin - speaking West
• 324 AD : Constantine became emperor over both halves of the empire
• Named the capital Constantinople
• After he died the empire was divided again
• The Roman Empire ended in 476 AD