Free Sample Essays > European History
What was the most influential event to affect history or modern day
courage of the mistreated Christians inspired loyalty in Roman citizens. Since the Roman religion did not provide a moral base or message of hope and Christianity did, this was even more of a confirmation that Christianity was the way to go. In earlier times when Christianity was first introduced the Greco-Roman paganism perspective was that the Christians were exposed atheists in relation to the gods and traitors to the political order of the Roman Empire. (Chidester, 87)
By the end of the fourth century, the Christian religion had achieved unprecedented power in the Roman Empire. (Chidester, 141) Christianity now had an influence on almost every aspect of a Roman’s life. They are fully involved in the devotions and teachings of Jesus Christ and God. But there was a man named Diocletian, who didn’t want Christianity to go any farther because he felt that the arguments of Caesar Galerius were legit, he wanted restoration and preservation of the traditional Roman order, so he ordered suppression on the Christians. This was called the “Great Persecution”, it was the most serious of them all, but had little success because Christianity was already too established. They had 8-10 percent of the population following them. (Novak, 141)
In conclusion, the Empire of Rome fell because of the rise of Christianity. The Romans spent their money on Godly possessions rather than earthly or war possessions. They spent money on building beautiful architectural structures where they could worship God rather than spending money to build more roads, a bigger aqueduct, or more money for the wars in Eastern Europe. The last is the rulers were very strict on their interpretations and if you didn’t agree then you would be put to death. This is very controversial because if someone was a great warrior or even Senator, then you would still be put to death and then the military or Senate would lose a good man because of interpretations of different people.