International rule the government in Rome, Italy, exercised after 27
B.C. when the Republic of Rome died and the Roman Empire was born.
The reasons for the fall of the republic are not anymore clearly
demonstrable than those surrounding the later fall of the empire.
They were the product of a complicated interaction of numerous
components that included: changes in the values, wealth, and
education of the upper classes; innovations in finances,
agriculture, and commerce; expansion of the senate; enormous
increases in citizenship; unrest among the classes; problems in
maintaining order in the districts in and around Rome, and
difficulty in recruiting sufficient personnel for the army. The
major factor in its demise seems to have been political. The senate
lost political control of the state, and into that vacuum Julius
Caesar stepped with ambitions of control that the senate found
intolerable. His declaration of himself in early 44 B.C. as
perpetual dictator provoked his assassination on the Ides of March
by a group of senatorial assassins led by Brutus and Cassius.
Caesar's generals, Antony and Lepidus along with Caesar's heir
Octavian, formed a temporary ruling triumvirate. They defeated
Caesar's assassins in the battle at Philippi in 42 B.C. This finally
resulted in the exclusion of Lepidus and the division of the empire
into the West, controlled by Octavian, and the East, controlled by
Antony. Antony's military failure against the Parthians led to his
excessive reliance on Egyptian resources and created a
correspondingly inordinate influence of Egypt's Queen Cleopatra on
the Roman ruler. Octavian was able to use Antony's reliance on Egypt
against him, persuading the senate that Antony wanted to make
Alexandria the capital of the empire. The two led their armies
against each other in 31 B.C. at Actium in Greece, resulting in the
defeat of Antony and the eventual suicide of both Antony and
Cleopatra. Octavian became sole ruler and in 27 B.C. took the name:
Augustus Caesar. The republic bcame the empire, and Octavian became
what Julius had only dreamed of becoming—the first emperor of Rome.
Augustus was extremely efficient as an administrator and corrected
many of the problems that plagued the old republic. He, unlike
Julius, treated the senate with respect and gained theirs in return.
He, as the adopted son of the previous ruler, inherited the
affection of his army. The relationship proved so popular that,
after Augustus, every emperor had to be either the real son or the
adopted son of the previous emperor to command the allegiance of the
army and of the people of the empire. Augustus reduced the senate
gradually from 1,000 to 600 and made membership in it hereditary,
although he reserved the privilege of nominating new senators.
A major achievement involved sharing power over the empire's
provinces. Senatorial provinces were created, over which the senate
had jurisdiction and to which they appointed governors or
proconsuls. These were peaceful provinces requiring no unusual
military presence. Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was made proconsul
over the southern Grecian province of Achaia in A.D. 51 during the
time Paul was in Corinth (Acts 18:12). Imperial provinces were
controlled by the emperor. He appointed procurators over these
potentially volatile areas, where the Roman legions or armies were
stationed. Pontius Pilate was such a procurator or governor over
Judea (Luke 3:1). Augustus inaugurated an extensive
program of social, religious, and moral reform. Special benefits
were given to those couples who agreed to have children. Adultery,
which previously was widely condoned, was made a public crime
entailing severe penalties. Traditional religion was stressed, and
82 pagan temples were renovated. Many ancient cults were revived,
further accentuating the time-honored view that the peace and
prosperity of the republic was dependent upon the proper observance
of religious duty. Augustus became pontifex maximus in 12 B.C.,
establishing him as both political and religious head of state.
An extensive building program was undertaken. Augustus added another
forum to the already existing Roman Forum and Forum of (Julius)
Caesar. The forum served as a judicial, religious, and commercial
center for the city, containing basilicas, temples, and porticoes.
Later, other fora were built by Vespasian, Nerva, and Trajan, all of
them just north of the old Roman Forum. The great variety of other
new structures included theaters, libraries, temples, baths,
basilicas, arches, and warehouses. For entertainment purposes, the
first permanent amphitheater in Rome's history was built. Extensive
water systems were constructed that included artificial lakes,
canals, aqueducts, and flood control. The sewage system was
renovated. A police force of 3,000 men was created along with a
fire-fighting force that numbered 7,000. The first
several emperors ruled at the time of the beginning of the Christian
movement in the Roman Empire. Jesus was born during the reign of
Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) and conducted His ministry during the
reign of Augustus's successor, Tiberius (A.D. 14-37; compare Luke
3:1). The latter's image was stamped on a silver denarius that Jesus
referred to in a discussion about taxation (Luke 20:20-26). In about
A.D. 18, Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, built his
capital on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and named it
Tiberias after the emperor. Tiberius was an extremely able military
commander and a good administrator, leaving a large surplus in the
treasury when he died. He followed Augustus's example of not
expanding the borders of the empire and thus avoiding war. The pax
Romana (peace of Rome) which Augustus had inaugurated was preserved,
providing easy, safe travel throughout the empire. Paul undoubtedly
referred to this in Galatians 4:4 when he wrote: “In the fullness of
time God sent forth his Son” (author's italics). Tiberius was never
popular with the senate and chose to leave Rome at the first
opportunity, choosing after A.D. 26, to rule the empire from his
self-imposed seclusion on the Isle of Capri. In this year Pontius
Pilate was appointed governor of Judea, a post he held until A.D.
36, just prior to the death of Tiberius in A.D. 37.
Tiberius was succeeded by his mentally unbalanced grandnephew, Gaius
(Caligula), who proved to be a disaster. During his reign (A.D.
37-41) and that of his successor, his aging uncle Claudius (A.D.
41-54), most of the ministry of the apostle Paul took place.
Claudius is reported to have expelled Jews from Rome who were
creating disturbances at the instigation of Christ (compare Acts
18:2). Initially, his contemporaries viewed Claudius as inept, but
he proved to have considerable hidden talents of administration and
turned out to be one of Rome's more proficient emperors. He was
responsible for the conquest of southern Britain in A.D. 43-47,
although it took another 30 years to subjugate northern Britain and
Wales. His fourth wife, Agrippina, is mentioned on a recently
discovered sarcophagus in the Goliath family cemetery on the western
edge of Jericho. She poisoned Claudius in A.D. 54 to speed up the
succession of Nero, her son by a previous marriage. Nero
(A.D. 54-68) was in some respects worse than Caligula. He was a man
without moral scruples or interest in the Roman populace except for
exploitation of them. Both Paul and Peter seem to have been martyred
during Nero's reign, perhaps in connection with the burning of Rome
by Nero in A.D. 64, an event that he blamed on Christians. The Roman
historian Tacitus wrote that when the fire subsided, only four of
Rome's fourteen districts remained intact. Yet Paul wrote, “All the
saints greet you, especially those of the emperor's household,”
(Philippians 4:22 NRSV). Nero's hedonism and utter irresponsibility
led inevitably to his death. The revolt of Galba, one of his
generals, led to Nero's suicide. Galba, Otho, and
Vitellius, three successive emperor-generals, died within the year
of civil war (A.D. 68-69) that followed Nero's death. Vitellius's
successor was Vespasian, one of the commanders who had taken Britain
for Claudius and who was in Judea squelching the first Jewish
revolt. He was declared emperor by the Syrian and Danube legions and
returned to Rome to assume the post, leaving his son Titus to finish
the destruction of Jerusalem with its holy Temple in the next year
(A.D. 70). This event was prophesied by Jesus toward the end of His
life when He said: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
then know that its desolation has come near” (Luke 21:20 NRSV).
The aristocratic Julio-Claudian dynasties that had reigned until the
death of Nero were happily replaced by the Flavian dynasty, which
issued from the rural middle class of Italy and reflected a more
modest and responsible approach to the use of power. Vespasian's
reign (A.D. 69-79) was succeeded by the brief tenure of his son
Titus (A.D. 79-81), who at his death gave way to the rule of his
brother Domitian (A.D. 81-96). The fourth century historian Eusebius
reported that the apostle John was exiled to Patmos (compare
Revelation 1:9) in the reign of Domitian. Eusebius also claimed that
in Nerva's reign the senate took away Domitian's honors and freed
exiles to return home, thus letting John return to Ephesus.
Nerva's reign was brief, lasting little more than a year (A.D.
96-98). He was succeeded by Trajan (A.D. 98-117), who bathed the
empire red in the blood of Christians. His persecution was more
severe than that instituted by Domitian. Irenaeus wrote in the
second century that John died in Ephesus in the reign of Trajan. The
persecution of the church, depicted in the Revelation of John,
probably reflects the ones initiated by Trajan and Domitian. Trajan,
the adopted son of Nerva, was the first emperor of provincial
origin. His family roots were in the area of Seville, Spain. Marcus
Aurelius, a later emperor of Spanish descent (A.D. 161-180), also
persecuted the church. Trajan adopted Hadrian, his
nephew by marriage, who succeeded him (A.D. 117-138) and quickly
abandoned his predecessor's only partially successful attempts to
conquer the East. More than half of Hadrian's reign was spent in
traveling throughout the empire and involving himself deeply in the
administration of the provinces, an activity for which he was
especially talented. He left evidence of his propensity for building
all over the Mediterranean world including the arch at the entrance
to the precincts of the Athenian temple of Jupiter, the Ecce Homo
Arch in Jerusalem, his villa near Rome, and the magnificent Pantheon
in Rome, whose perfectly preserved construction continually awes the
visitor. Hadrian will be best remembered by those of the
Judaeo-Christian tradition, however, because of his attempt to
hellenize Jerusalem by changing the name of the city to Aelia
Capitolina, by erecting a temple to himself and Zeus on the site of
the previous Temple of Solomon, and by prohibiting circumcision. The
brutal way in which he put down the unavoidable revolt from A.D.
132-135 was consistent with Hadrian's declaration of himself as
another Antiochus Ephiphanes (the second century B.C. hellenizer
who, while king of Syria, also dehysecrated the Jewish Temple and
precipitated the Maccabean Revolt). See Intertestamental History.
The success of the Roman Empire depended upon the ability of the
legions to keep peace throughout the world. Pax Romana was the key
to prosperity and success. Greek and Latin were universal languages;
nevertheless, most of the conquered countries retained their own
languages as well, including Celtic, Germanic, Semitic, Hamihytic,
and Berber. Not since that time has the world been able to so
effectively communicate in common languages. If the Mediterranean
Sea is included, the Roman Empire was roughly the size of the
continental United States, reaching from Britain to Arabia and from
Germany to Morocco. One could go from one end of the Mediterranean
to the other by boat in three weeks. Less effectively, one could
travel 90 miles a day on the fine network of roads that interlaced
the empire, including the Appian Way and the Egnatian Way.
The quality of the Greco-Roman culture disseminated by Rome was
strongest in the areas bordering the Mediterranean and weakest in
those farthest removed from major routes of communication. The most
effective resistance to the culture was, as might be expected, among
the eastern countries such as Egypt, Syrian, Mesopotamia, and the
Levant (Syria-Palestine) which had the longest history of
civilization. Western Europe, with a comparatively recent and
uncivilized history, was no opposition and was soon thoroughly and
permanently immersed in the phenomenon of western civilization.
Education in the empire was the prerogative of the wealthy. The poor
had neither the time, the money, nor the need for an education that
was designed to prepare the upper classes for positions of public
service. The goal of education was to master the spoken word.
Successful civic life was tied to proficiency in the language.
Oratory was indispensable. Grammar and rhetoric were the primary
subjects of study with emphasis on style over content. Among Latin
authors, Virgil, Terence, Sallust, and Cicero were studied most
while Homer, Thucydides, Demosthenes, and the Attic tragedians were
the favorite Greek writers. In the beginning of the
empire, religion was diverse and almost chaotic. Both politicians
and philosophers attempted to bring the same order to religion that
they achieved in other aspects of Roman life. The Roman emperor was
the head of the state religion, which included worship of the
emperor and the traditional gods of Rome. The emperor functioned as
semidivine while alive and as a god after his death. John may refer
to emperor worship in Pergamum, where the first Asian temple to a
Roman emperor was erected, in his references to the place “where
Satan's throne is” (perhaps meaning the altar of Zeus; Revelation
2:13 NRSV). Mystery religions such as Mithraism, and the worship of
Cybele and Isis were abundant. Philosophical systems, such as
Epicureanism and Stoicism, functioned virtually as religions for
agnostic intellectuals. Judaism, with its monotheistic emphasis, and
Christianity, with its Judaistic origin and equally high code of
ethics and morals, were anomalies. The inevitable clash between
Judeo-Christians and the Romans was a clash between monotheism and
polytheism, between morality and immorality. John McRay
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