In his book Octavius published in 197 AD, Minucius Felix describes a Christian rite mistaken for a cannibalistic ritual, whereby the partakers allegedly butcher an infant, drink its blood and devour its limbs. It was understood through this ritual cannibalism and “by this victim, they are pledged together.” By “they,” Felix is referring to Christians. The ritual itself is based on misconstrued accounts of an actual Christian rite known as The Eucharist, the ritual commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples. Furthermore, Felix details that Christian worship “ought to be rooted out and execrated” while referring to Jesus as “a man punished by extreme suffering for his wickedness” and his followers as “wicked men.”
Moreover, the Certificate of Having Sacrificed to the Gods written in 250 AD illustrates that during Emperor Decius’ two years of reign, people suspected of following Christianity were obliged to sacrifice to clear themselves. Following this sacrifice, they are given a certificate as proof of “cleanliness” before the state. For nearly three centuries after its founding, Christianity was deemed immoral worship, while its followers were persecuted and misunderstood by the state and the public.
However, during the reign of Emperor Constantine between 306 and 337 AD, Christianity in the Roman Empire starts to see welcoming changes. Eusebius’ account of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity recounts how the Emperor saw a “trophy of a cross of light in the heavens.” Later seeing this vision again in his dream, Constantine also saw Christ, commanding him to use this sign “as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.” After this, the Emperor used the Chi-Rho sign, formed by the letter X intersecting P after the first two letters in Christ’s name in Greek, as part of his military standard. This acceptance of Christ signified the growing tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire, foreshadowing its subsequent Christianization.
During the reign of Theodosius I, Christianity was made the Roman Empire’s official religion in 380 AD. To systematize this, The Codex Theodosianus was published in 438 AD, giving Christians certain privileges. For instance, one of the laws reads, “The privileges which are bestowed for the cultivation of religion must be given only to followers of the Catholic faith…heretics…be subjected to various fines.” Following Constantine’s conversion around 312 AD, once deemed wicked, Christianity became an official religion of the Empire in merely 60 years, resulting in greater privileges for previously victimized Christians.