Spread of Christianity in Rome
In early Rome, Christianity spread across the Empire in the first five to six hundred years after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The spread was as a result of various events across the Empire. Before the spread, Christians would be persecuted; some of the early persecution included those incited by Nero in 64. These persecutions were just local ones, and according to the lecture on (Spread of Christianity), they were too infrequent to weaken Christianity, and therefore, this did not attach its growth. Because the Roman Emperors saw no changes in the spread of Christianity as it continued to grow, they had no choice but to support the growing large number of Christians. The spread was now supported by the government that had already tried to eradicate them, and this was one reason Christianity continued to spread. In 313CE, a law was passed by Constantine who ordered that Christianity was recognized in the Roman Empire
In 392 CE, Theodosius I announced that Christianity was recognized as a state religion (Spread of Christianity Lecture). Additionally, after making Christianity a state religion, he also ordered that pagan gods’ worship was illegal in Rome. This increased the strength of Christianity, and it saw its spread even further across the Roman emperor. Because the religion was growing, those who presided over masses were given titles; they could be referred to as priests or bishops. As time went by, the bishops became the head of their communities, and they were responsible for solving disputes regarding doctrines and practices (Spread of Christianity Lecture). Bishops would then become leaders supervising regions; further, bishops who were seen to have a lot of influences were given priorities of preaching in the cities of Rome where Christianity had developed such cities included Rome, Alexandria, and Milan.
According to the lecture (Spread of Christianity), some saw it better to exercise their Christianity freedom by emulating Jesus Christ. To do saw, they withdrew from the corrupt world, and they went to the deserts as well as the mountains. In their practices copy, Jesus struggles they could occasionally do asceticism, which included logging and eating f herbs. Symeon the Stylite was one of the people who practiced asceticism, and he became famous because he was able to stay for 37 years on a small pillar in Syria. Between 390-459CE, more stylites followed his ways; this enabled the spread of Christianity in various parts of Rome (Spread of Christianity Lecture).
The spread of Christianity in Rome enhanced school for Christian literature study, and as explained in the lecture on (Spread of Christianity), St Jerome studied there. His education enabled him to translate the bible in 347-420A.D; he translated it from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. Translating the Bible into other languages would enable more people to be able to read and understand the bible, and could have been a way that Christianity further spread, “his Vulgata became the official edition of the bible in the Western church” (Spread of Christianity lecture). St Ambrose was a Bishop in Milan in 330- 397A.D, and his work was to protect the church against the power of the states (Spread of Christianity, Lecture).
In conclusion, although Christianity dominated the Rome Empire, it did not just appear; there were struggles to see it spread through. One of the driving factors for the spread of Christianity in Rome was Constantine’s conversion, who declared that Christianity was not illegal in Rome. Since the announcement, Christianity continued to grow, with priests’ bishops and also asceticism. The early fathers such as Ambrose and Jerome played a part in making sure that Christianity continued to grow in the Empire.
Athen and Roman Republican demise
Athens was becoming powerful, and its power made Sparta worry, and it was because of the war between Sparta and Athen, which saw the end of classical Athen leadership. The Spartans were in fear that the increased power of the Athen would lure their interests and their allies (Hunt, 104). Spartan allies, Corinth and Megara, persuaded Sparta to attack Athens; they threatened to join the Athenians if Sparta could not attack them. Sparta went to Athenian, warning them to stop mistreating their allies, but since the Athens could not heed to the warnings, there was no choice but to invade the Athenians (Hunt, 104). The Peloponnesian war began between Sparta and Athens, and it was the longest war, it was between 431-404 B.C.E. The war began because the Spartan believed that their Peloponnesian League was being destroyed by the Athens navy, which was too powerful. The war continued for long with Sparta gaining help from their allies, and towards the end, Athens surrendered to their enemies. The defeat in this war weakened the democracy of this nation, thus leading to its eventual demise. By 400, B.C.E Athen was fearful of Sparta, and they were even much worried about democracy and if it would survive (Hunt, 108).
The Roman Republic had also become a powerful republican. Unlike Classical Athen, who was forced to fall by another nation, in Rome, the civil war was the major cause of the demise of its Republic. According to the lecture notes (End of Rome Republican), there were unrests in some of their territories, which made them get leadership from a man who did not know the military. Gaius Marias changed the system of recruiting military, as he included all of them, even those who had no properties; it was between 157, 186 B.C. the choosing of the military leaders in Rome was somewhat reckless since, after Marias, Sulla took over in leading the war of Mithridates in the 88 B.C ( End of Roman Republican Lecture). Sulla returned to Rome in 83b.c, where he was involved in the creation of civil war, where all Marius followers were crushed. This weakened Rome and brought if closer to its demise. In 82 B.C, Sulla came to Rome and declared him a dictator, he got the position with violence, and the Senate was in the circumstances of the unofficial one, and they had no way out. Massive bribery was used to secure products, and this corrupt government was among the causes of Roman demise (End of Republican Lecture).
Magnus was the other young person the senate turned to after Sulla’s death; he was asked to lead them to issues threatening Roman Republican, this was between 106 and 48B.C.E. He involved the slaves in the battle, and more than six thousand slaves were killed in the battle, which left him weakened, which contributed to the end of the Roman Republican. According to the lecture (End of Rome Republican), between 60-53B.C., there came a ruling group of three, and they were called Triumvirate. This group of commanders collapsed after Crassus was defeated. This left Rome with only two strong military commanders who would go against each other in the quest for power in later years; this political unrest saw the nearing of the end of the Rome Republican. This is because Caesar was named a dictator for ten years, and he brought civil war, claiming that it was not enough, he wanted more, and he was later assassinated (End of Rome Republican Lecture). This political heat contributed to the end of Rome Republican towards the end of Rome Republican.