Jesus Christ was teaching Jews how to be poor so Roman conquerers won't be able
to collect taxes and finance the conquesring army to stay there.
Similar strategy Gandhi used in India recently against Brits.
It worked.
Christianity started to spread in other Roman colonies.
Romans first tried to exterminate them.
They were "thrown to lions in arenas, crucified all the way along roads,
and still their numbers grew.
Last step Romans took is when Constantine I assembled First Nicaea Council,
where they composed Bible, and gave newly created Church authority to
slowly reshape Christianity for the purpose of Roman rule.
It was so successful that Europe had 1000 years of Dark Ages,
and Christianity ruled pretty well, more or less.
At least always had big influence in world's politics.
That influence was sometimes so "wrong" that Protestants in Germany
and Anglicans in Britany permanently separated from Roman Catholic Church.
(Roman Catholics separated from the rest of Christians 1054 AD for other reasons.
One was to establish Pope as "God on Earth": Supreme authority and Errorless.)
Vandals ruined Rome, but you can see where was later the Holy Roman Empire.
In all that, Church still never abandoned ancient knowledge that the Earth was sphere.
Static, in the center of Heavens, but since everything on Earth tends to the center,
it all compresses it into sphere.
Virtually every scholar, even during Dark Ages, knew the Earth is sphere
and could calculate diameter, area, volume.
Later, for Renaissance, Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo and others were showing that
GeoCentrism (EgoCentrism) is not real, Sun is much bigger than Earth and other planets,
Bruno was burnt, Galileo almost burnt, and so on.
Force could always keep truth hidden for some time, but never forever.
Heliocentric system couldn't be distorted any more and hidden from ordinary people.
Few people are trying to revert history back to GeoCentrism (and Church rule),
and even go step further, introducing Flat Earth as consequence of
Rowbotham's deception in 19th century, but people are less amd less superstitious.
They want to KNOW.
Belief and Dogma is not enough any more.