You do remember the Hebrews and Jerusalem, Christ and the Romans right Aussie... You do remember people like Alexander The Great right?
Man has been at war; man against man, tribe against tribe, nation against nation forever and a day right?
Why do you think The Holy Lands are called the Holy lands in the West?
Roman (63 B.C. — 324 A.D.)
c.30-33 Death and resurrection of Jesus66 Jewish rebellion ignites war with Rome; Christians flee city
70 Roman army led by Titus destroys Jerusalem and Jewish Temple132—135 Bar Kokhba leads second Jewish revolt
135Emperor Hadrian conquers Jerusalem and renames it "Aelia Capitolina"; Jews are expelled from city; pagan temple built over site of Jesus ' tomb313Edict of Milan ends persecution of Christians
The Byzantine Period (324-638)324 Constantine becomes sole ruler of Roman Empire and decides to shift capital from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople)
325 Eusebius publishes Church History; Macanus, bishop of Jerusalem, attends Council of Nicaea
326 Constantine orders construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; excavation uncovers tomb of Christ and supposedly pieces of the Crossc. 326-328 Queen Helena visits Palestine and builds churches 333 "Bordeaux Pilgrim" visits Palestine and keeps a travel diary
335Church of the Holy Sepulcher is dedicated for worship337 Constantine dies; Eusebius publishes Life of Constantine
339 Dedication of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehemc.348 —387 Cyril is bishop of Jerusalem
362—365 Emperor Julian "the Apostate" tries to reestablish pagan worship and promises to rebuild Jewish Temple
373 Melania the Elder and Rufinus found monastic communities on the Mount of Olives
384—386 Jerome and Paula establish monastery in Bethlehem
384—387 Egeria travels in the East and keeps a detailed account of her trip
391 Emperor Theodosius the Great outlaws paganism, making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empirec. 400 Rabbis in Tiberias compile Jerusalem Talmud
405 Euthymius, a monk from Armenia, settles in the Judean desert
410 Visigoths sack Rome
443 Empress Eudocia is banished and settles in Jerusalem, improving the city and its walls451 Council of Chalcedon defines two natures of Christ; Jerusalem becomes the fifth patriarchate (with Constantinople, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch)
516 Sabas and monks of Palestine gather to support Chalcedon
527—565 Byzantine Palestine reaches its height during the reign of Emperor Justinian
555—558 Cyril of Scythopolis writes biographies of the monks of Palestine
614 Persians sack Jerusalem630 Emperor Heraclius invades Persia & recovers the True Cross, returning it to Jerusalem
Early Arab (638-1099)
639 Jerusalem surrenders to Muslim Caliph Umar Oh dear quite a history right.... seems Rome Conquered the Holy Lands and made it part of Rome. Which became the centre of Christianity in Europe... you know the POPE and all that.
When along came the Muslims and conquered Jerusalem a major Roman city and heart of Christianity.
A few hundred years later a POPE thought it was time to take it back.