Rise of Christianity
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2026
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How did a persecuted minority religion rise to be embraced and enforced by mighty Roman Emperors?
Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Peter Heather to chart the dramatic rise of Christianity, exploring how Emperors such as Constantine the Great were forced to hide their true religions and the suppression of paganism across the world.
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Council of Nicea
Watch this episode on our NEW YouTube channel: @TheAncientsPodcast
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Tudorburg forest? |
| 0:04.0 | What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? |
| 0:07.0 | Or what made Alexander truly great? |
| 0:10.0 | With a subscription to history hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. |
| 0:17.0 | You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week, |
| 0:22.9 | covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. |
| 0:26.5 | Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe. |
| 0:30.0 | Hello, I just want to say a quick message. |
| 0:31.9 | Welcome back. |
| 0:32.7 | We are kicking off 2026 on the ancients with a bang, because we're talking about the rise of Christianity. |
| 0:39.3 | And guys, we've got so many episodes already lined up for you over the coming months. |
| 0:43.5 | We're going to be covering everything from Alexander the Great Neanderthals, early popes, ancient |
| 0:48.5 | Egypt, Hadrian's Wall, Jericho, Korea, Arabia, India, Sabretooth Tigers, Ice Age, and so much more. That's all to come. |
| 0:58.5 | We're so excited. We are prepped and primed to make 2026 the biggest ever for the ancients, |
| 1:05.4 | and we want you along with us for the ride for as long as you can. So exciting, lots to get into, and let's kick it off |
| 1:13.2 | with this episode today, The Rise of Christianity. It's the Year 300 in the Roman Empire. Christianity is a small, fragmented religious |
| 1:33.0 | minority and about to face the harshest persecution in its history. But fast forward 100 |
| 1:39.8 | years, and the emperors are Christian, pagan temples are closing, and bishops are political |
| 1:46.3 | heavyweights. How did this happen? How did an empire that once hunted Christians come to |
| 1:52.6 | embrace them? Today we're tackling one of the most dramatic religious and political |
| 1:57.7 | transformations in world history, the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. |
| 2:03.6 | To help us unpack this extraordinary story, we're joined once again by historian Peter Heather, |
... |
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