I am reading Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations for school and he made a passing reference to Christianity, which surprised me because I didn’t think that Christianity was widely known in the time of Marcus Aurelius.
So how widely known was Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire and do we know what the general public consensus was on it?
Christianity at the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was growing. The church was also experiencing change as prominent leaders preached different views. Christianity was becoming known but would not face empire wide persecution until the reign of Decius in the third century. For some general reference Christians accounted for approximately 10% of the Roman population by 300, according to some estimates. This is around 120 years after Marcus Aurelius but it is a decent frame of reference.