Ideas · c. 33–65 CE
Christianity spreads beyond Judea
Antioch (Antakya, Türkiye)
After Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, around 33 CE, his followers formed communities that spread quickly to Damascus and Antioch, where, according to the Book of Acts, they were first called Christians. From the mid-40s to the mid-50s CE the apostle Paul travelled through Cyprus, Asia Minor and Greece, founding churches among non-Jews, before dying in Rome around 64–65 CE, about the time Nero blamed the city's Christians for the Great Fire of 64.
Why it mattered
Opening the movement to non-Jews turned a small Jewish sect into a religion that could travel along the Roman Empire's roads and sea lanes, and from there around the world.
Related
- The world in 1 BCE: The Augustan World chapter
- Birth of Jesus previous moment · c. 6–4 BCE
- Buddhism reaches China next moment · 1st–2nd century CE