Roman Empire
Summary
The Roman Empire was the vast political and military dominion that governed the Mediterranean world during the New Testament period, providing the context for Christ's birth, ministry, and the spread of early Christianity.
☩Rome and the Jews
The first significant contact between Rome and the Jews occurred when Judas Maccabaeus sent an embassy seeking alliance against the Syrian government around 161 BC. In 63 BC, Pompey took Jerusalem, and from this time the Jews were practically under Roman government. Herod the Great was made king by Antony in 40 BC and confirmed by Augustus in 30 BC. After Archelaus was banished in AD 6, Judea became a Roman province governed by procurators residing at Caesarea. This arrangement continued until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
☩Extent and Administration
At its height, the Roman Empire's boundaries were the Atlantic on the west, the Euphrates on the east, African deserts and Arabian deserts on the south, and the British Channel, Rhine, Danube, and Black Sea on the north. Augustus divided the provinces into imperial and senatorial: retaining in his own hands those requiring military presence and committing peaceful provinces to the senate. New Testament writers correctly designate governors of senatorial provinces as 'proconsuls' and governors of imperial provinces as 'governors.'
☩Providence for Christianity
The condition of the Roman Empire when Christianity appeared illustrates Paul's expression that 'the fullness of time had come.' The general peace within the empire, the formation of military roads, suppression of piracy, spread of the Latin and Greek languages, and external unity offered unprecedented facilities for spreading a world-wide religion. The tendency of Roman despotism to reduce all subjects to equality broke down privileged races and national religions, familiarizing people with the truth that God 'made of one blood all nations.'
Related Verses10 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Roman Empire," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Roman Empire," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Roman Empire," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 4.George Morrish, "Roman Empire," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).