How Romans Persecuted and Embraced Jesus

Throughout the first centuries of the Common Era, the Roman Empire had a complex and shifting relationship with the new faith of Christianity. Emperor Trajan and other Roman leaders initially dismissed Christianity as just another strange Eastern cult, an offshoot of Judaism. However, as Christianity began to grow in size and perceived threat, it suffered waves of virulent persecution under imperial authority. Christians' refusal to participate in civic religious rituals was seen as dangerous and subversive to the Roman social order.

Notable early martyrs like Ignatius of Antioch faced execution in the Roman judicial system, sometimes by means as brutal as being thrown to the lions. Yet rather than quelling the new religion, martyrdom stories only seemed to inspire more converts and further the spread of Christianity.

Christianity had emerged from Judaism in Judea, a region under Roman control. Jesus, a Jew claimed by his followers to be the prophesied Messiah, was crucified under the authority of Herod and the Romans. His followers believed he then rose from the dead, in fulfillment of messianic prophecies. Led by figures like Paul, an early convert, the Jesus movement spread beyond Judea and throughout the Empire.

Christianity's monotheism and concept of a new covenant clashed with traditional Roman religion and values. Over time, however, as the religion continued to spread, Roman attitudes slowly became more tolerant under some emperors. Christianity eventually transitioned from marginalized sect to the very center of imperial politics and culture when Emperor Constantine himself converted in the 4th century, even as the Western Empire went into decline. The history of Roman interactions with Christianity is therefore one of initial hostility and persecution eventually transforming into imperial acceptance, and finally dominance at the highest levels of Roman society.