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==Historical Criticism==
Given the above, one of the ironic trends during the ''Pax Romana'' was that Christianity was widely persecuted throughout the Roman empire. Because Although the spread of the ''[[w:Roman Empire|Imperium Romanum]]'' was associated with the idea of ''Pax Romana'', the ''Pax Romana'' in its turn was also associated with the compulsory recognition of the [[w:Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Roman emperor cult]], in spite of all the religious tolerance which we know the Romans to have exercised.<ref>Jürgen Moltmann, R. A. Wilson. ''The crucified God: the cross of Christ as the foundation and criticism of Christian theology.'' Fortress Press, 1993. p.136.</ref>In spite of this however the overriding trend was the growth and mission of the Church of Christ, and its ultimate victory as the Roman Empire was eventually Christianized.
Also, despite the term the period was not without armed conflict, as Emperors frequently had to quell rebellions. Both border skirmishes and Roman wars of conquest also happened during this period. Trajan embarked on a series of campaigns against the Parthians during his reign and Marcus Aurelius spent almost the entire last decade of his rule fighting against the Germanic tribes. Nonetheless the interior of the Empire remained largely untouched by warfare. The ''Pax Romana'' was an era of relative tranquility in which Rome endured neither major civil wars, such as the [[w:Crisis of the Third Century|perpetual bloodshed of the third century AD]], nor serious invasions, or killings, such as those of the [[w:Second Punic War|Second Punic War]] three centuries prior.
