Describe the historical origins and spread of Christianity within the Roman Empire, from a small Jewish sect to the empire's official religion, taught as history.
Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish teacher active in Roman-occupied Judea in the 20s and 30s CE. According to the Gospels, his teachings and growing following drew the attention of Roman authorities, and he was crucified under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate around 30-33 CE -- crucifixion being a standard Roman method of execution used against people seen as threats to public order. After his death, his followers, including Paul of Tarsus, a former persecutor of Christians who became one of the new faith's most active missionaries, spread its teachings around the Mediterranean, often traveling along the very Roman roads and trade routes built to hold the empire together.
Early Christians faced periodic persecution, since Roman civic life expected at least symbolic participation in state religious rituals, which many Christians refused on religious grounds -- Roman authorities often treated this refusal as a political threat rather than simply a private belief. Notable persecutions occurred under emperors including Nero, who blamed Christians for a devastating fire in Rome in 64 CE. The turning point came under Emperor Constantine, who legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313 CE after reportedly experiencing a vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312 CE); by 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius had made Christianity the empire's official state religion. In roughly 350 years, Christianity moved from a small, sometimes-persecuted movement to the official religion of the same empire that had once executed its founder.
Mastery looks like: They can trace Christianity's change in legal status from persecuted minority to official religion using specific dates and emperors.
Common stumbles: Skipping directly from "Jesus was crucified" to "Christianity became the state religion" without any of the roughly 350 years of spread and persecution between.