OVERVIEW
Rome was a city in Italy founded in 753 BC on seven hills that were about fifteen miles from the mouth of the Tiber River. Rome was not mentioned in the Bible in the Old Testament. However, it was very important to the stories in the New Testament. There are nine obvious references to Rome in the New Testament (Acts 2:10, 18:2, 19:21, 23:11, 28:14, 16, Romans 1:7, 15; and 2 Timothy 1:17). The Apostle Paul also traveled there and wrote a letter to the Christians in Rome. Because of this, Rome is important to know about for people who study the Bible.
HISTORY
About two thousand years before the birth of Christ, Indo-European migrants moved into Europe and settled in the Italian peninsula. One group settled around the mouth of the Tiber River. A vigorous and more cultured group, the Etruscans from Asia Minor, settled in central Italy. When Rome began in the eighth century BC, the population of the Italian peninsula was very diverse. The people who settled near the Tiber River spoke Latin and were farmers. The scattered groups formed communities in order to defend themselves against outside raids. They built stockades on the hills to protect their families and flocks while fighting off the raiders. Because of these stockades, Rome emerged as a dominant center with its focal point in the hills. Traditionally, most people believed that there were exactly seven hills. However, there were more than seven hills, although some are simply flat-topped slopes. The Tiber River winds in a large S-curve between these hills. At one point, the river divided to form an island where it was shallow enough to cross the river. The town that began there was linked by roads. There were roads north to the Etruscans, south to the Greeks, west to the coast, and inland to the tribal areas in the mountains. Most of the knowledge about the early Roman Empire is based largely on archaeological evidence from the remains of the simple forts and burial sites in this one small area.
Rome developed politically in a remarkable fashion over the next thousand years. The original chiefs of the earliest tribes, who made up the earliest “senate,” were eventually replaced by the Etruscan kings who trained the people in discipline and obedience. They also constructed numerous works. They drained the forum area and made it a social, commercial, industrial, and political center. They also built a temple for their gods Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva as a common shrine for all people. When the kings became too oppressive, the Latin population rebelled and expelled the kings.
The Roman republic was established in 510 BC. This establishment marked the beginning of Rome’s remarkable expansion to become a world empire. The population, which was now spread out over the hills and valleys, united and solved political problems without bloodshed. The term republic does not mean that Rome was some kind of democracy. Instead, the ancient families dominated the senate and they made up a small aristocracy. This arrangement was very useful for Rome at that time. The small city-state soon broke out of its confined area, conquered the Etruscans, and dominated the Greek cities in the south. The Romans then looked to expand their territory even farther. In 273 BC they made a treaty with the Ptolemies of Egypt. Before long, they expanded into North Africa, overcame the Carthaginians, pressed on into Spain, and developed plans to conquer parts of the Middle East as well. Rome’s many conquests brought enormous wealth.
Because of the geographical changes, there were social changes in Italy. During the second century BC, rich landowners bought out the small independent farmers, who then had to move to Rome without land and without any jobs. Huge, overcrowded tenement houses appeared, which became creeping slums. Alongside this poverty there was evidence of vast wealth from Rome’s conquests in foreign lands. In the capital, many fine buildings appeared. Pompey, who conquered and organized the East, did much to adorn the great capital city.
The next stage in Rome’s political development came when the senate, the main government in the republic, was not able to control its more radical and violent members. As their political ambitions increased, aspiring leaders sought to gain popular support by granting privileges to the people without any type of agreement from other members of the senate. Civil strife broke out and remained for the last century of the republic. Military victories beyond Rome also gave power to the generals. In the civil wars that followed, governmental questions were decided by the power of the sword. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Antony, and Octavian were the real political forces in the land.
By 27 BC, Octavian emerged as the supreme leader and he was given the title Augustus. Ideally, a dual government was supposed to exist between the senate and Augustus, who was the emperor. However, the senate was very weak and it allowed the emperor to become the virtual ruler of Rome. As a result, Roman peace reigned at home and abroad until well into the second century A.D. The Roman emperors (Caesars) during the first century AD reigned during the period of Jesus’ ministry and the beginnings of the early church, and several of them are mentioned in the New Testament. This includes Augustus (Luke 2:1), Tiberius (3:1), Claudius (Acts 11:28 and 18:2), and Nero, who is referred to without being explicitly named (25:10-12, 27:24 and 2 Timothy 4:16-17).
The city of Rome was the capital of the Empire and the home of the emperor, senators, administrators, military personnel, and priests. Augustus, the first of the emperors, gave peace to Rome after a century of war and made sure that the city was restored and adorned. He boasted that he found Rome built out of bricks and left it built out of marble. His efforts at restoring Rome’s ancient religions also led to the building of many temples. On the Palatine hill, Augustus united several houses that were already there into a royal palace. A new temple for Apollo, surrounded by buildings in which the emperor housed a large library, was also built near the palace. The palace itself overlooked an imposing group of new marble buildings in the valley below. This included a business hall, a senate house, a temple of “the divine Julius,” a marble speaker’s platform, the forum of Caesar, and the forum of Augustus. Later emperors added to this splendor. Beyond the central forum area, the palaces of Tiberius and Caligula, various baths, arches, theaters, the Circus Maximus, and the Circus Nero were built. The whole area was enclosed by a wall built outside the old fort of Servius. Several aqueducts brought water into the city, and significant roads from north, south, east, and west converged on the central city area.
ROME’S MILITARY PRESENCE IN PALESTINE
With the military intervention of Pompey in the internal affairs of Judea in 63 BC, Rome established its presence in Palestine. The census ordered by Augustus Caesar, which affected the eastern provinces as well as the rest of the Roman Empire (Luke 2:1-2), was a vivid reminder of Rome’s awesome power. There are many examples of Rome’s military presence in the pages of the Gospels and Acts (Mark 15:16, Luke 3:14, 7:1-8 and Acts 5:37).
In the New Testament period, service in the military was open to all Roman citizens. A professional volunteer army had replaced a military that selected people at random. The permanent standing army was made up of soldiers recruited from the ranks of citizens. Experienced officers commanded these groups of soldiers. Additional forces were raised and trained outside of Italy. For people who served in the military for twenty-five years, the Empire granted their families citizenship.
In the various provinces, supreme military command was given to the provincial governor or prefect. At the time of Jesus’ ministry, Pontius Pilate was the prefect of Judea. In Caesarea Maritime, the administration center for Judea, Roman soldiers were stationed in case the governor needed their services. When riots and disorders were anticipated, particularly at the great Jewish festivals, the governor would take up residence in Jerusalem, about sixty miles to the south. The governor would be accompanied by a large group of troops (Luke 13:1).
Augustus established an army that was large enough to defend and control the Empire. In 15 BC, there were 28 legions, each composed of about 5,000 foot soldiers. There were also 128 bodyguards who rode on horseback. After three legions of soldiers were destroyed in uprisings by fierce Germanic tribes in AD 9, the number of legions remained at 25 for some time. That suggests a standing army of about 125,000 soldiers in the first century.
Augustus was also responsible for establishing a permanent additional army, almost the same size as the legionary army. The additional forces included both cavalry and infantry. The cavalry was organized into squadrons, and the infantry was organized into cohorts of one thousand soldiers under the command of a military tribune (Acts 21:31-33). When the apostle Paul was in Jerusalem, the tribune was Claudius Lysias, a man who purchased his Roman citizenship, allowing him to become a military commander (22:28 and 23:26). To send Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea, Claudius could delegate a military escort of two hundred soldiers commanded by two centurions, plus seventy mounted guards (23:23), without seriously weakening the strength of the fortress.
A cohort was made up of either ten or five “centuries,” units consisting of one hundred men under the command of a centurion whose duties resembled those of a modern army captain. Cornelius (Acts 10:1) was a Roman centurion assigned to one of the cohorts in Judea. Paul was sent to Rome in the custody of another centurion, Julius, who belonged to the Augustan cohort (27:1). The term “Augustan” was a title of honor sometimes bestowed on additional troops. Julius was evidently a legionary centurion who maintained a communication service between the emperor and his armies in the province. He had a number of soldiers under his command on the voyage to Rome (27:3), and when he arrived, he handed his prisoner over to the commander of the courier corps (Acts 28:16). Probably all of the Roman centurions mentioned in the Gospels or Acts were officers assigned to an auxiliary cohort (Matthew 8:5, Mark 15:39 and Luke 7:2).
CHRISTIANS IN ROME
Paul was escorted to Rome in March of AD 59. He found that the Christian church had already been established there. Indeed, he had already communicated with the Christians in his letter to the Romans early in AD 57. There was a pretty large Jewish colony in Rome in the first century AD. These people were descendants of the large number of Jewish slaves brought to the city by Pompey after the capture of Jerusalem in 63 BC. The emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in AD 49, possibly when Jesus was proclaimed as the Messiah in the synagogue. Who the preachers were is not known, but they were probably Christian travelers and traders. Paul’s letter to the Romans was his explanation of Jesus’ work to the Gentile churches that had come into existence independently of him. His first known contact with the people of Rome was when he met Priscilla and Aquila at Corinth (Acts 18:2). This couple was expelled from Rome in the time of Claudius. Later, Paul hoped to visit Rome (19:21) on his way to Spain (Romans 15:24). In his closing, he mentioned a considerable circle of Christians in Rome (Romans 16). The references to households in several places (16:5, 16:10-11, 16:14-15) suggests that these were house churches of the Roman Christian church. During his captivity, Paul was a prisoner of Roman authorities, but he was able to meet the local leaders of the Jews, explain his experiences to them, and explain the gospel to them in person (Acts 28:16-31).
In the book of Revelation, Rome is given a sinister significance. By the end of the first century AD, Rome had already drunk the “blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6), a reference to early martyrs.
When?
When was Rome founded? According to tradition, Rome was founded around 753 BC.
Where?
Where did Rome begin? The early beginnings of Rome were on seven hills that were close to the mouth of the Tiber River.
Who?
Who were some of the key emperors of Rome? There were many emperors who ruled Rome. However, some of the emperors mentioned in the Bible include Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero.
What?
What was a governor for Rome called? Rome would appoint governors who were called prefects. Pontius Pilate was a prefect for Rome in Judea during Jesus’ life.
How?
How did Rome get people to join the military? Rome offered people citizenship in the Empire if they would serve in the military for twenty-five years.
Why?
Why is Rome important for Bible readers? Rome is important for people who read the Bible because the Romans were in command of Palestine during the life of Jesus. Also, Paul traveled to Rome and wrote a letter to the Christians there, which is a very important book of the Bible.
Aqueduct
Asia Minor
Caesar
Caesarea
Corinth
Egypt
Jerusalem
Judea
Palestine
Augustus
Claudius
Claudius Lysias
Cornelius
Jesus
Julius
Nero
Paul
Pontius Pilate
Priscilla and Aquila
Tiberius
FUN FACTS
In Romans 16, Paul greets 26 people by name. These are all people Paul seems to know, or at least know of. And yet he says he has never been to Rome (Romans 1:13)!
This indicates how freely people traveled in those days. The Roman army had built good roads, and the Roman navy made the seas safe from pirates, so people could get around pretty easily. As the proverb put it, “All roads lead to Rome.”