After the Roman takeover, the empire begins growing rapidly, making the division of the Roman empire into east and west vital. In the west there were three people claiming to be Augustus, leading to the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE where a man by the name of Constantine wins. Constantine has a vision of the first two letters of Christ and is told “in this sign you shall conquer.” Jesus comes and explains Constantine’s vision to him in a dream and as a result he decideds to become Christian and make it the religion of his empire. This leads Constantine to set up Christianity in order to unite his empire. In 313 CE Christianity is legalized in the Edict of Milan and begins a westward expansion throughout Jerusalem.
In 324 CE Constantine’s mother, Helena, came to Jerusalem to rededicate the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, making it the new axis mundi. Then, in 391 CE, Theodosius establishes Christianity as the state religion and Justinian’s built the Nea Church while expanding the city. Now Jerusalem was a center for both Judaism and Christianity, so both Jewish and Christian pilgrimages were being made to Jerusalem. This led to many similarities beginning to be seen among the myths of the Temple and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
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