- begins the Pax Romana - a period of peace and prosperity
- Built roads, aqueducts (brought water to the cities)
- set up civil service to take care of roads, the grain supply, even a postal service
- augustus dies age 76 in A.D. 14, and passed power to....
Tiberius but first, a word about Jesus and paul
From jesus to christianity
- jesus was a roman citizen and a practicing Jew
- at 30, he began his ministry(A.D 31-33), preaching to the poor (and there were lots of ern) in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders
- statement like "my kingdom is not of this world" made the romans (and the Jews) nervous, and they began to plan his execution
- the governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate (prompted by jewish high priests), sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion
The word spreads about the risen Jesus
- Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and message
- He travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe even Spain and Britain
- He writes letters to many of those he spoke to - these epistles are a part of the New Testament
- If not for the efforts of Paul, it is likely that Jesus remains an obscure preacher, instead of the central figure of the world's largest religion
Caligula - good start
- in addition to being Germanicus' son he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great-nephew-putting him next in line for emperor
- he started off well: granting bonuses to those in the military, declaring treason trials a thing of the past, and made government spending a matter of public record
- all in all, the first seven months of Caligula's reign were "completely blissful" (according to the historian Philo)...then...
Bad finish for Caligula
- he began to fight with the Senate
- he claimed to be a god, and had statues displayed in many places - including the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (sacrilege)
- other examples of cruelty and insanity: he sleep with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest (at least that's what his critics said)
- assassinated by his own aides, AD41 (aged 28)
next in line: Claudius
- Ostracized by his family because of his disabilities(limp, slight deafness, possible speech impediment- thought to be cerebral palsy or polio), he was the last adult male in his family when Caligula was killed
- He rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts; he renovated the Circus Maximus
- Had an awful marriage to Messaline, who was quite often unfaithful to him, even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius though a coup - so Claudius had them killed
Meanwhile - religious troubles
- Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
- Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
- AD 66; a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for on wall)
- The Western wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines
0half a million Jews died in the rebellion
Persecution of Christians
- Romans were harsh toward those who would not worship the emperor
- Especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
- Often used for "entertainend" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions, etc)
- Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly - by AD 200, around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians
No comments:
Post a Comment