CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Introduction

II. The Origins of Christianity: Rome and the Jews

A. Jesus of Nazareth

B. The Spread of Christianity

III. The Crisis of the Later Roman Empire

A. Imperial Efforts at Reform from Septimius

Severus to Diocletian

B. The Age of Constantine

IV. The Final Division of the Empire and the

Decline of the West

V. The Evolution of the Western Church

(A.D. 306–529)

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CHAPTER 6

THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY AND THE

DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

T

he triumphal expansion of the early Roman

Empire brought with it the seeds of change.

Judaea, one of the poorer, more remote places

annexed by the Romans, gave birth to Chris-

tianity, a religion that, after three centuries of sporadic

persecution and relative obscurity, became the empire’s

dominant faith. Meanwhile, as Christianity grew, the

empire fell into decline. The cause of that decline was

not Christianity but a generalized crisis whose basic

outlines had become apparent by the end of the second

century. Put simply, the empire had expanded beyond

the limits imposed by its economic resources. The em-

perors of the third and fourth centuries tried in various

ways to reverse the process of economic and social de-

cay, but gradually, the western and eastern halves of the

empire grew further apart. The west, pressured by Ger-

manic invaders and weakened by a stagnant economy,

disintegrated. The Greek-speaking east, richer and un-

troubled by Germans, survived until 1453.

The Origins of Christianity:

Rome and the Jews

The breakup of the Hasmonaean dynasty, as the descen-

dants of the Maccabees were known, resulted in a pro-

tracted, messy civil war in which the various contenders

were supported by outside forces. Rome, in the person

of Pompey, became involved in 66–64 B.C. as part of the

effort to defeat Mithridates and capitalize on the col-

lapse of the Seleucid Empire. The consequent spread of

Roman influence in the Middle East alarmed Parthia, the

successor of the Persian Empire, and aroused the interest

of Cleopatra, who opposed Roman policy in the region

even as she seduced Caesar and Antony. The situation

was further complicated by the religious struggle be-

tween Jewish Sadducees and Pharisees (see chapter 3).

Eventually, a Roman client, Herod “the Great”

(73–4 B.C.), emerged supreme and imposed an interval

of much-needed peace. Though an Arab by birth,

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