The birth of Jesus would probably have been forgotten – if it wasn’t for a plague
When a terrifying Ebola-like pandemic struck the Roman empire, Christianity offered solutions that the old ways didn’t
If the New Testament is to be believed, Jesus managed to fit a great deal into his short life. But despite all his wise words, good deeds and miracles – not to mention the promise of everlasting life – Christ was nothing more than the leader of an obscure sect of Judaism when the Romans crucified him in AD33.
The Bible informs us that Jesus had 120 followers on the morning of his ascension to heaven. Peter’s preaching swelled the number to 3,000 by the end of the day – but this exponential growth did not continue.
After the Jews in Palestine failed to convert en masse, Jesus’s followers turned their attention to Gentiles. They made some headway, but the vast majority of people across the empire continued praying to the Roman gods.
There were about 150,000 Christians scattered across the empire in AD200, according to Bart D Ehrman, author of The Triumph of Christianity. This works out to 0.25% of the population – similar to the proportion of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK today.
Then, towards the end of the third century, something remarkable happened. The number of Christian burials in Rome’s catacombs increased rapidly. So did the frequency of Christian first names in papyrus documents preserved by arid desert conditions in Egypt. Christianity was becoming a mass phenomenon. By AD300 there were approximately 3 million Christians in the Roman empire.
In 312, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Sunday became the day of rest. Public money was used to build churches, including the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem and the Old St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Then, in 380, Christianity became the empire’s official faith.
The Plague of Cyprian was first reported in Egypt in 249. The pandemic hit Rome in 251 and lasted for at least the next two decades. Some historians argue that it caused the period of political instability and economic disruption known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which nearly caused the empire to collapse. For other historians, the Cyprian plague was just one aspect of this ancient polycrisis.
We cannot be sure about the pathogen’s identity. Bishop Cyprian of Carthage, who gave his name to the pandemic, described symptoms including high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Based on this account, a viral haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola is the most likely candidate. According to one chronicle, at its height the pandemic killed 5,000 people a day in the capital. Alexandria’s population is estimated to have dropped from about 500,000 to 190,000. Even accounting for exaggeration, it was clearly a terrifying pandemic.
If the New Testament is to be believed, Jesus managed to fit a great deal into his short life. But despite all his wise words, good deeds and miracles – not to mention the promise of everlasting life – Christ was nothing more than the leader of an obscure sect of Judaism when the Romans crucified him in AD33.
The Bible informs us that Jesus had 120 followers on the morning of his ascension to heaven. Peter’s preaching swelled the number to 3,000 by the end of the day – but this exponential growth did not continue.
After the Jews in Palestine failed to convert en masse, Jesus’s followers turned their attention to Gentiles. They made some headway, but the vast majority of people across the empire continued praying to the Roman gods.
There were about 150,000 Christians scattered across the empire in AD200, according to Bart D Ehrman, author of The Triumph of Christianity. This works out to 0.25% of the population – similar to the proportion of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK today.
Then, towards the end of the third century, something remarkable happened. The number of Christian burials in Rome’s catacombs increased rapidly. So did the frequency of Christian first names in papyrus documents preserved by arid desert conditions in Egypt. Christianity was becoming a mass phenomenon. By AD300 there were approximately 3 million Christians in the Roman empire.
In 312, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Sunday became the day of rest. Public money was used to build churches, including the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem and the Old St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Then, in 380, Christianity became the empire’s official faith.
The Plague of Cyprian was first reported in Egypt in 249. The pandemic hit Rome in 251 and lasted for at least the next two decades. Some historians argue that it caused the period of political instability and economic disruption known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which nearly caused the empire to collapse. For other historians, the Cyprian plague was just one aspect of this ancient polycrisis.
We cannot be sure about the pathogen’s identity. Bishop Cyprian of Carthage, who gave his name to the pandemic, described symptoms including high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Based on this account, a viral haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola is the most likely candidate. According to one chronicle, at its height the pandemic killed 5,000 people a day in the capital. Alexandria’s population is estimated to have dropped from about 500,000 to 190,000. Even accounting for exaggeration, it was clearly a terrifying pandemic.
Skudeneshavn 26. desember 2024
Jan Marton Jensen
Jan Marton Jensen
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