Romulus and Remus, thrown in infancy into the Tiber River, saved and suckled by a she-wolf and a woodpecker, both sacred in Roman myth, until they were found and reared by the herdsman Faustulus. They became men of renown and founders of the city of Rome seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Virgil’s Aeneid names one Aeneas, a Trojan warrior of sword and shield, as founder of the city. Whether Rome’s founding is according to romantic myth, or to the reality of historical events, traditionally it is accepted that Rome was founded in 753 B.C. The small Latin settlements in the Tiber Valley established a common meeting place, the Forum, around which the city of Rome grew. There is the history of Rome, and entwined therein is the history of the Roman Empire. The Empire, properly so called, extends over a period of rather more than five hundred years, viz., from the battle of Actium, B.C. 31, when Caesar Augustus became the ruler of the Roman world, to the abdication of Augustulus, A.D. 476. The empire, however, in the sense of the dominion of Rome over a large number of conquered nation, was in full force and had reached wide limits some time before the monarchy of Augustus was established.
     The history of Rome extends from the time of its founding, through the period of the republic in 509 B.C., then the establishment of the empire in 31 B.C., to the final eclipse of the Empire in the West. We assume not the role of giving an account of the history of Rome and the Empire, but merely to set forth a few of the more essential facts, more in particular to the relation Rome had to the Bible and God’s people.
     Rome and the empire were for a millennium. In less than four hundred years (509 B.C.—133 B.C.) Rome became the dominant power in the Mediterranean world. Its boundaries would extend control over all of Italy and eventually created an empire that stretched from England to North Africa and from the Atlantic Ocean to Arabia, and as far as the Euphrates. Before New Testament times the power of Rome had spread over most of the ancient world.
     Although Rome itself may have been founded some seven centuries before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, little of that ancient nation relates to the Bible. The first reference to Rome in Hebrew Scripture is 1 Maccabees 1:10 (Apocrypha). The Old Testament makes no reference to Rome other than in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams and Daniel’s prophecies of the nations that would arise and fall from the time of Babylon and to the establishing the everlasting kingdom of God. God’s eternal kingdom was to be in “the days of these kings” (Daniel 2:44). “These kings” that Daniel spoke of were the Caesar’s of the Roman Empire.
     The Roman Republic was established in 509 B.C. Political equality, guarding of the fundamental human rights, sharing of political power, complex bodies of laws were written down and finally codified in the sixth century (Code of Justinian). The Republic was strong, but problems would arise that would weaken and cause its death. The rich gained control of the lands, small farmers, landless and idle, migrated to the cities, corruption in government, unrest and dissatisfaction of aging army veterans, wars of conquest and high taxes were some of the problems that weakened the republic. The masses: slaves, sullen and disgruntled war veterans, the unemployed, the poor, rebellions on the frontiers and myriads of other problems were too great for the republic to deal with successfully. An evil and contentious spirit pervaded the land. There were to be changes.
     With the advent of civil war there came period of Rome’s history that is more familiar with Bible readers. Two men of soldiery fame come to the fore in Rome’s history: Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, or Pompey the Great. These two forged the nation into a dominating world power for the next three hundred years. Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) lead military expedi-tions that controlled all of Northern Italy and Southern France. Pompey (106-48 B.C.) spread his armies through Italy and the Mediterranean world. However, our interest is not so much in Julius Caesar, historically the better known of the two, and from whom the later rulers of the Empire took their titles as The Caesars. It was Pompey who had a day with Israel and the Jews.
     In the year 66 B.C. Pompey arrived in the East to take command of the Roman armies. At this time there was a state of conflict in the nation of Israel. Two brothers, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, challenged each other for the power to rule the Hebrew nation. Neither could command an advantage. Each of the brothers sought alliances with other nations to tip the balance of power to himself. Pompey was ready to enter into their affairs. Yet, rather than Pompey aligning himself with either brother, his interest was in expanding the borders and powers of Rome. Rome would be master of all its domains. Siege and conquest followed. The walls of Jerusalem came down, Roman legionaries streamed through the city. Massacres followed. This was the year 63 B.C. when Jerusalem lost its national independence and became a Roman province. Israel was to be a subject nation for the next two thousand years. In A.D. 1948 the United Nations, as a major consequence of millennial heresies and the Nazi Holocaust, took the land from the Arabs and a new nation of Israel was established.
     With the opening of the New Testament, it is obvious to the careful reader that Rome was in the land of Israel. Jesus was born in the reign of Caesar Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.; Luke 2:1-8). It was in the reign of Tiberius Caesar (A.D. 14-37) that Daniel’s prophecy of the establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom would occur (Daniel 2:44; Acts 2). It was also Tiberius who appointed Pontius Pilate as procurator of Judea and who consented to the death of Jesus Christ. In the reign of Claudius Caesar (A.D. 41-54) a great famine spread over the world and Christian brethren sent aid to hungry souls in Judea (Acts 11:27-30). In the reign of Claudius all Jews were banished from Rome (Acts 18:1). The epistles of Paul frequently speak of Rome and its power. The entire New Testament period was under the repressive reign of Rome.
     There was much unrest in the troubled land of Israel. Conflict between Christianity and the Empire was inevitable. Christianity challenged almost everything for which Rome stood. The Romans looked upon the deification of the emperor as necessary to the existence of the state. The Christian looked only to God the Father and God the Son as divine. As Jewish resentment and opposition mounted, so also grew persecutions against them. Zealous Jews, Zealots of the New Testament, clamored and schemed to restore liberty and independence of the Jewish nation. Theudas in A.D. 44 (Acts 5:36) and “the Egyptian” in A.D. 53 (Acts 21:38) had led unsuccessful revolts in guerrilla warfare against the occupation forces of Rome. Restoration of their independence was not to be.
     Nero Caesar, one of the most wicked of the Caesars, ruled the empire (A.D. 54-68). He began his rule well, under the guidance of the philosopher Seneca. However, in spirit Nero was an actor and wished to play the monarch in a grand manner. This he did. In his bloody reign, in the year A.D. 66, there was an uprising in Caesarea. Jewish zealots mobilized armies against Roman rule and consequently 20,000 of them were slaughtered in other places. Nero Caesar ordered Vespasian to quell the rebellion (A.D. 67). He lay siege to Jerusalem in A.D. 69. For a while Jerusalem successfully resisted his forces. Vespasian was recalled to Rome as emperor and trusted the siege to his son Titus who was destined to be numbered with the Caesars. Titus breached the walls  of the city, completely enslaving the Jews. Jerusalem fell on 7 September 70. The Temple was destroyed, as Jesus had prophesied, with not one stone left upon another (Matthew 24). Titus celebrated a triumph in 71, which is commemorated on the surviving Arch of Titus at Rome.
     The second great persecution of the Christians was by Caesar Domitian (A.D. 81-96). He is remembered as the persecutor, ranking along with Nero. His persecution burned itself ineradicably into the memory of history. This intense persecution brought forth the Apostle John’s letters to the seven churches of Asia, urging them to faithfulness in times of fierce persecutions (Revelation 2 & 3).
     A surprising change was effected in the fourth century in the dubious conversion of Flavius Valerius Constantinus I, Constantine the Great (A.D. 306-337). He was the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. His alleged conversion initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state. Constantine established religious toleration for Christianity in the Roman Empire. The Edict of Milan in 313 granted all persons freedom to worship whatever deity they pleased, assured Christians of legal rights (including the right to organize churches), and directed the prompt return to Christians of confiscated property. Rather than this decrees advancing the cause of Christ’s kingdom, many untaught and unconverted pagans were “pressed into the church,” bringing superstitions and false doctrines with them which became a part of the apostatizing church. From this time the persecuted church became the persecuting when it became yoked with the state.
     Rome reached its peak of prosperity and good government during the second century. Even then, there were signals of distress flashing through the empire. Political unrest, economic hardship, expensive wars, high taxes, multitudes of unemployed living off the tax payers, there to enjoy tax supported bread and games. These matters ate at the heart of the empire. Unrestrained, irresponsible legions pillaged the countryside, stripping and carrying off or destroying vast amounts of wealth. People on the frontiers were carving out separate states for themselves. There was the threat of the hungry barbarians standing at her borders. Invasions, incursions, pillage, and Rome was unable to deal with them as she had in earlier days.
     In 372 the Huns crossed the Volga and marched toward Rome. In 406 Alaric crossed the Rhine and Roman defenses fell. He sacked Rome in 410. The Huns under Attila ravaged the empire. He brought his people from the East into Gaul and invaded Italy in 452. The years 455-472 saw a succession of weak puppet rulers mismanaging the affairs of the once proud empire. The Vandals captured Rome in June 455. For a fortnight they occupied the city and systematically plundered, carrying off many valuable works of art. Their name has remained a synonym for willful desecration or destruction. On 4 September 476, another Germanic chieftain, Odovacar (Odoacer), deposed the last emperor, Romuls Augustulus, and set himself up as the first barbarian king of Italy. The Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, survived until the Middle Ages.—10726 Hwy. 59 W., Burlison, TN 38015