ways in which Christianity spread through ancient Rome

There are certain ways through which we will see how, in ancient Rome, people started embracing Christianity into their lives. Given below are the 5 ways in which Christianity spread through ancient Rome:

1. Citizens spread the word about Christianity.

First, all missionaries like Paul’s travelled to spread Christianity amongst people; however, this was only limited to people talking about it with their friends, family, and neighbours.

An important question to be asked is: How did Christianity go from a small sect in a corner of the Roman Empire in the first century to the religion that the emperor converted to in the early fourth century? The real reason that led to the spread of Christianity was due to the Roman Empire’s political unification and extensive road system, along with the belief among many Christians that the religion was something anyone could adopt, regardless of their regional or religious background.

2. Early on, Christianity coexisted with ‘Paganism’

In the 2nd century, the Roman Empire stretched into Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. One of the important reasons Christianity spread throughout this vast empire was because many people viewed the new religion as something they could easily adopt. They weren’t required to change their existing cultural and religious practices, per se.

Most people in the Roman Empire worshipped multiple gods at once during the 1st and 2nd centuries. It was seen that many people adopted Christianity by adding Jesus to the group of gods they already worshipped.

3. Early Christians Didn’t Present Themselves as an Exclusive Club

Christianity also received acceptance and popularity amongst the masses, as it was a religion that could be followed by anyone, irrespective of the region they came from or the religion they followed prior to this. Though this was debated by some Christians, missionaries like Paul preached that a person didn’t have to obey Jewish laws around circumcision and kosher food practices in order to become a Christian.

In addition, the translation of Christian gospels from their original Aramaic to Greek made them accessible to more people in the Roman Empire. Unlike Aramaic, a regional language spoken in Judea, Greek was spoken throughout the Roman Empire.

4. Early persecution wasn’t widespread.

Emperors like Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251, and Valerian, who ruled from 253 to 260, launched campaigns to promote traditional Roman values and customs, like sacrificing animals to pagan gods. However, Decius’s campaign didn’t target Christians as such, but rather anyone who wasn’t practicing pagan sacrifice. But Valerian’s campaign directly targeted Christians.

After this, the Great Persecution targeted Christians. It started in 303 CE, under the Emperor Diocletian, which led to the deaths of many Christian religious leaders and the seizure of Christian property.

5. An Emperor Converted and Officially Recognised the Faith

However, after the Great Persecution, we see how, in 312 CE, Emperor Constantine became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. A year later, he helped enact the Edict of Milan, which ended government persecution of Christians and made Christianity a recognised, legal religion within the empire.

Constantine’s rule wasn’t an immediate shift in the Roman Empire from pagan to Christian. Christianity did continue to spread throughout the territories of the Western Roman Empire after its fall in 476 CE. It became the dominant religion in Rome and the European regions over which the Roman Empire ruled in the following centuries.

Christianity in the Roman Empire: In the Judea province, Christianity developed out of Jewish tradition in the first century CE. It then spread throughout the Roman Empire, eventually becoming its official religion. Soon after, Christ’s followers began spreading Christ’s message throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. Originally, Christianity was a small, unorganized sect that promised personal salvation after death. Eventually, Christianity gained followers not only from Jewish communities but from throughout the Roman world. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, receiving legal status in 313 CE. Now, Christians could openly practice their religion. In 380 CE, Christianity gained more acceptance when it became the official religion of the Roman Empire.