Student Essay on Life as an Early Christian in the Roman Empire

Life as an Early Christian in the Roman Empire

Essay

I lived in the western part of the Roman Empire during the time where Christianity flourished. Christianity was made the official religion in A.D. 392 by the Emperor Theodosius. It became as important to us as it was in the eastern part of the empire, but before it was official Christians didn't have it too good. My father was a martyr who died for Christianity rather than giving up his beliefs. He believed Christianity was the only true faith. He also refused to honor the emperor as a god and rejected the military service. This was why the Romans disliked him so much and the Romans threw him into a stadium where he was killed by a wild beast in front of a cheering crowd. Now that Christianity became the official religion and old Hellenistic and Roman religions were banned us Christians have it a lot better. My family and I mostly value the works of Augustine, who was a scholar who wrote the first autobiography and explained how he converted to Christianity. Our church is organized in a hierarchy. The pope leads all the churches, the patricians who were the heads of the large cities, then bishops control the dioceses, and the priests control a church. It was pretty good for us Christians after Christianity became the official religion. Christianity will spread and grow even more later on.