In the early days of Christianity, the Roman Empire did everything it could to destroy the Church. They were unsuccessful, and the spread of Christianity continued under persecution and eventually spread so far that even the emperor of Rome was converted. Although it seems that the Roman Empire hurt Christianity, it could have actually helped, as communication and travel in Rome made preaching and ministry easier. 

The first martyr was Saint Stephen who wasn’t killed by the Romans but by the Jews in 34 AD. This was witnessed by a man named Saul, later called Paul of Tarsus. He was a Jew from Asia Minor and frequently persecuted Christains. On his way to Damascus to find Christains, he was knocked from his horse by a bright light and a voice saying, “Why persecutest thou me?” After this stunning revelation Paul lived in the desert for three years to think and pray, and then returned to Damascus to preach Christ. Former allies of Paul turned against him for this, and he changed his name to Paul instead of Saul. 

After being met with a violent response in Jerusalem, he traveled to Asia Minor to preach to the Gentiles. Paul became a leading figure in the Church and said that the Law of Moses served its purpose, and Christains do not need to keep Jewish law. He continued his missionary trips over 13,000 miles, during which he was frequently arrested. Paul wrote many letters known as “Epistles” to different communities of Christains or individual people. These “Epistles” now compose a large part of the New Testament books of the Bible. Paul was finally martyred for Christ during Nero’s persecution in Rome in 67 AD. 

By the 2nd Century AD, there weren’t as many empire-wide planned killings of Christains, but local ones continued. There was even a statement written by Emperor Trajan that ordered citizens to not investigate Christains, but to only kill them if they admitted to being faithful. That was until the Great Persecution of Diocletian from 303-305 AD during which the eastern part of the Empire was hit particularly hard. After Diocletian stepped down as emperor the persecutions became lighter. In 306 AD, Constantine became the first Christian emperor. He was converted after putting the cross on his soldier’s shields, then winning a great victory. In 313 AD, Constantine implemented the Edict of Milan and Edict of Toleration, stopping all persecutions of Christains and even returned stolen land to Christains.