Learn More About the Ancient Roads Series
Overview
A compelling six-hour television series, Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine, takes viewers on an exciting and visually stunning journey to the beautiful and important historical places where Christianity was born and grew from a small movement called “The Way” to its place as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Today, Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with over 2 billion followers.
We travel with host Jonathan Phillips on a journey into the fascinating world of the early Christians and meet experts who have devoted their lives to the study of this important historical period. We explore the triumphs and tribulations of the faith’s long struggle, reliving its pivotal moments at the actual locations where those events unfolded – from Judea where Jesus preached, through the places where Paul the Apostle traveled to make the God of one nation into the God of all peoples, through the great persecutions that the early Christians faced and finally to Rome, where Roman Emperor Constantine the Great embraced the faith as his own.
Episode Breakdown
BIRTH of a FAITH
Hour one begins its journey in Bethlehem and travels throughout the Holy Land. With the Gospels as our guide, we join our host Jonathan Phillips as he traces the incredible journey of Jesus from his birth, ministry, passion and resurrection.
The GREAT MISSIONARY
In hour two we meet the man whose transformation is one of the most compelling in history, the Apostle Paul. We journey with Jonathan as he traces Paul’s bold quest to bring the Christian message to Asia and Europe, a quest which would see him imprisoned, beaten and on the brink of death.
AGE of the APOSTLES
We travel with Jonathan Phillips on Paul's third and final Missionary journey as the Apostolics Age comes to an end. We witness how the remaining apostles, except for John, are martyred for their unwavering beliefs. In Rome, Paul and the Apostle Peter, will both meet their fate in the hands of one of the cruelest tyrants in history.
From APOCALYPSE to HERESIES
In hour four, the city of Jerusalem will be rocked by war. Then we travel to Patmos Island where John was exiled, and visit the cave where John wrote the enigmatic book of the New Testament, Revelation. We witness the crucial battle where powerful heretics claiming social knowledge of Jesus threatened to distort, divide and even destroy the Christian faith.
PAGANS and the CULT of MARTYRS
We travel to North Africa and tell the story of Perpetua, a young Christian martyr, whose extraordinary story still resonates today. We will go to places where Christians faced unimaginable violence because of their pagan temples, emperor cult, and vicious tortures.
CONSTANTINE
In the last hour, we see how Rome exterted its fullest effort to eradicate Christianity. But both emperors and empires had fallen exhausted, while the faith grew stronger. It would be the conversion of one man that would fully transform the fortunes of the Christian Faith. He is known as Constantine The Great. This is his incredible story.