The 4th century, consisting of the years from 301 to 400, was a time of great change for Rome and for the Church. In 312, the Edict of Milan was issued, legalizing Christian worship. In 325, the Council of Nicea was held, strengthening the dogmatic foundation of the church and the ties between the Emperor and the ecclesiastic hierarchy.
Rome lost its status as the capital of the Empire when emperor Constantine announced that Constantinople was the new capital. It did regain this status for the Western Empire later in the century, but it was no longer the main city of an empire covering most of the world as the Romans knew it.
The first Roman churches in the modern sense of the world – buldings erected specifically for the worship of God – were built, replacing the older house churches in private homes.
Churches[]
Churches built or rebuilt in the 4th century are:
- Santi Quattro Coronati (314)
- San Pietro in Vaticano (324)
- San Giovanni in Laterano (324)
- Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (325)
- Santa Susanna (330)
- San Marco (336)
- Sant'Anastasia (early 4th century)
- Santa Costanza (early 4th century)
- Santa Maria in Trastevere (early 4th century)
- Santi Nereo e Achilleo (before 377)
- San Lorenzo in Damaso (380)
- San Paolo fuori le Mura (386)
- Santi Giovanni e Paolo (398)
- San Sisto Vecchio (late 4th century)
- San Clemente
- San Lorenzo in Lucina
- Santi Marcellino e Pietro
- Santa Pudenziana
- San Sebastiano fuori le Mura
- San Vitale (400)
- San Marcello al Corso (probably late 4th century)