The Roman emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117) in the Vatican. By the time that Trajan was the Roman Emperor, around 100 AD, Christianity was definitely illegal. We have some letters written by Pliny, the governor [...]
An early Christian house church at Dura Europos, in Syria (200s AD) Christian persecution pauses During the forty years between 261 AD and 303 AD, the Roman government did not officially [...]
Nicholas hands the purses through the window to the poor girls (Chartres Cathedral, about 1200 AD) St. Nicholas is a Christian saint who is one source for the idea of Santa Claus. According [...]
A Nestorian cross on a tombstone from Kazakhstan (1300s AD) In 428 AD, when Pulcheria and Eudocia were running the Roman Empire, a bishop named Nestorius became the Patriarch of Constantinople. That's like being the Pope but for people [...]
Historical Jesus: One of the earliest drawings of Jesus - here he is healing a man who was paralyzed. Now he gets up and carries his own bed. (Dura Europos, Syria, [...]
Montanus and Montanism: This is the amphitheater in ancient Carthage where Romans killed Christians during the Decian persecution. What was Montanism? Montanism was a Christian heresy. A man named Montanus [...]
Catholic priests celebrating Christian Mass The central Christian ritual The central part of Christian life in antiquity and the Middle Ages was the Christian Mass. That was when you went to church and the priest went through a [...]
Pieter Brueghel, Carnival (Mardi Gras) on the left and Lent on the right First there was Lent In the later Roman Empire, around 300 AD, people began fasting for Lent, for the forty [...]
Manichaean painting (Turfan, western China, ca. 900s AD) - Who were the Manichaeans? The prophet Mani in the Sassanian Empire In the 300s and 400s AD many Christians turned to believing in [...]
History of Lent: February, in the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1400s AD) Why do we call it Lent? Lent was originally a Germanic word for the season of Spring [...]
