Christenverfolgungen im Römischen Reich. Elemente eines imperialen Niedergangs

Abstract

Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire: Elements of an imperial decline

The following seminar-paper aims to examine how the persecution of Christians in the early centuries of the Christian era relates to the decline to the Roman Empire. It gives an overview of the period from Nero’s persecutions in 64 AD to the legalization of Christianism in 313 AD, or the end of the civil wars between Constantine and his rivals Maxentius, Maximinus Daia and Licinius around 324 AD respectively. It puts a special emphasis on the essential characteristics of what is called an “empire”.