How Did Christianity Affect Roman Virtue

Christianity 's Affect on Roman Virtue "What?!" "You only killed eight men?! You 're out of the family!!" Although life in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire wasn 't this drastic, Roman virtue and morals were taken very seriously. "These include tenacity, duty, courage, and especially discipline" (Spielvogel, 89). Romans valued highly the honor of one 's family and the amount of courage one exhibits in battle. This fact is evident, as one can see in Rome 's history, because men with a history of military achievement held almost every official position. The rise of Christianity in the second, third, and fourth centuries, however, had an impact on the alteration of the idea of Roman virtue. Christianity and its teachings appealed to many Romans for various reasons, and it was this appeal that allowed Christianity to grow and take over the lives of Romans in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine became the first Christian emperor.

The rise in popularity of the Christian religion was at its peak in the fourth century.
Christianity promoted the beliefs of "loving ones neighbor" and frowned on murder, stating that one would not gain salvation by committing a wrong against another. Christian beliefs challenged the idea of anyone having absolute power other than the one God, Jesus Christ. The rise of Christianity throughout the second, third and fourth centuries had quite an impact on the alteration of traditional Roman virtue, but did not completely destroy those virtues. The Crusades, and fighting in the name of God allowed one to prove one 's bravery and to gain honor and respect, thus preserving a modified version of the once so cherished Roman virtues. These virtues were altered by Christianity 's growth, yes, but not completely