Did the setting of the Roman Empire make a difference to the way that early Christian texts defined or, more precisely, invented the religion of Christianity? If so, are traces of this difference perceptible in the writings of early Christians? The scholarship assembled here, generally speaking,...
Learn about early Christianity in the Roman Empire, including the religion's spread. Explore why Christianity in Rome went from persecuted group to...
Such a protective figure was no doubt appealing to the Early Christians, who were persecuted heavily before the Edict of Milan in 313 CE. With such syncretic imagery too, the reference to Christ could easily be overlooked by a Roman who was accustomed to seeing the Kriophoros in art. ...
It is recorded that in 180 C.E. Twelve Christians of African origin were martyred in Sicilli (Sicily) for refusing to perform a sacrifice to the Roman Emperor Commodus (aka Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus). The most significant record of Christian martyrdom, however, is that of Mar...
Christians who had once been pagans of the Roman Empire didn't give up their artistic heritage when they became believers in Jesus. In fact, they made good use of Roman artistic forms and motifs, as well as Roman architecture, to express and deepen their new faith. In this lesson, we'...
During the earliest Christian period, Christianity was illegal. Christians could have their property seized or could be murdered in gruesome ways, including being crucified, fed to lions, or having their skin removed. As such, Christian art had to be kept secret.View...
[129] However, the key characteristics I have just adumbrated are a useful distillation of the central features of magic in the early Roman Empire, at least for most of its inhabitants (there were, of course, variations within some groups, notably Jews, and later Christians, who, in ...
At the beginning of the fourth century, the early Christian author Lactantius blamed the suffering of Christians in the Roman Empire on evil spirits possessing the bodies of the persecutors: Notes 1. Lactantius,Divinae Institutiones22 (PL6.633A–623B):Non enim ipsi homines persequuntur, qui...
During the earliest Christian period, Christianity was illegal. Christians could have their property seized or could be murdered in gruesome ways, including being crucified, fed to lions, or having their skin removed. As such, Christian art had to be kept secret.View...
Early Christian art, architecture, painting, and sculpture from the beginnings of Christianity until about the early 6th century, particularly the art of Italy and the western Mediterranean. (Early Christian art in the eastern part of the Roman Empire is