The Empire, the Land, and the Exodus: A Study of How the Roman Empire Literally Shaped Christianity: 1 C.E. - 280 C.E.

Abstract

This paper explores the factors and trends involved in the movement of Christian communities from Palestine into Asia Minor and regions west of the Aegean Sea. Because the first generation of Christians generally continued to identify themselves as Jewish, this paper looks into the factors that affected the Jewish community with the perspective that a large portion of the early Christians were still members of the Jewish community. Roman land control policies, taxation, and continuous loss and division of land all but pushed many Jews out of the region while the peace of Augustus led many more to depart more voluntarily. It was the culmination of all these factors that led to Jewish emigration from the Palestinian region. The paper will begin with a brief history of the birth of Christianity and the Jewish-Roman relationship in Palestine, followed by a discussion of factors that led to emigration from Palestine, and then end with an analysis of the locations of the Christian communities.