Persecution

• Epidemic disease spreads throughout empire
• Too hard to defend against barbarians
• emperors began to lose power. stayed in power for 2 1/2 years
• Having armies is expensive
• Too many poverty stricken citizens
• 284-Diocletian's reforms
• Increase size of army 400,000
• 1/3 bigger then Augustus
• Ask new people to join their army they concquered 
• Roman territories made smaller
• 20,000 officials in government (10x more then augustus)
• In 300 Ad 60 million people in Empire
• 7 million people are Christians
• Father in heaven loves you helped the poor in Roman Empire
• Diocletian ruled from 284-305 
• He at first didn't care
• He realized the probs it could cause so he devised a plan to persecute Christians
• Diocletian reconstructed empire.
• What was the way Diocletion persecute?

• What were specefics Diocletiion on how Diocletion persecutes Christians?

• What is the connection between Constatine and Christianity?

Constantine not only accepted Christianity by issueing the Edict of Milan to stop the persecution of Christians and also issue complete freedom to worship throughout the entire Roman Empire. Constantine not only just allowed freedom throughout the empire to let them worship, but he took it farther and started to favor Christianity. This lead to Christianity to be the religion throughout the entire empire. The exact instance where Constantine became Christian is unknown to us, although what we do know is that of his own story. He said that during the battles that he fought to bring him to power, he would display the sign of the cross of Jesus. His reasoning for this was that one day he had seen a cross hovering above the sun with the words written on it, "Conquer by this sign!." The only power that Constantine had in his mind was the one God whom the Christians worshiped. He was a Christian so he could not have looked at himself and expected himself to be a god, but that did not stop the bishops themselves to displayed reverence for him. In a speech before the emperor Constantine's friend a biographer Bishop Eusebius of Causarea made a point by point parallel between Constantine as ruler of Rome and Christ himself as ruler of the universe.

• What else is Constatine known for?