Around 50 CE, a small group of travellers began to preach that a Jewish man, crucified by the Romans, had risen from the dead. Teaching love, forgiveness and eternal life, this new faith quickly gained followers. By the early fourth century, it was thriving, and over the next hundred years, it exploded, spreading across the entire Roman Empire before becoming its official religion. What enabled it to take such a strong hold so quickly and so steadfastly? Dan is joined by author, broadcaster and historian Professor Alice Roberts to examine how Christianity out-organised and outlasted the Roman Empire. Alice's new book is called 'Domination: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity' 0:00 - The Birth and Rise of Christianity 1:16 - Introducing Professor Alice Roberts 1:51 - Why Did Christianity Become So Globally Massive? 2:43 - The Roman Empire’s Other Cults and Religions 4:00 - Christianity's Minority Status in the 4th Century 5:01 - An Urban Phenomenon: Organisation in Roman Cities 6:25 - Evolutionary Biology and the Spread of Religion 9:42 - Monotheism and the Roman Imperial Cult 10:33 - The Church as a Roman Collegium (Membership Club) 13:59 - The Top-Down Conversion: Goths and Military Allegiances 15:38 - Bishops and the Alexandria Grain Business Produced by Mariana Des Forges, James Hickmann and McKenna Fernandez, edited by Matthew Wilson & the channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. You can find more Dan Snow's History Hit on the audio podcast here: https://podfollow.com/dan-snows-history-hit/view Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. #DanSnowsHistoryHit #HistoryPodcast #AncientRome