How Did Judea View Rome As The Evil Empire?

Jewish relations with Rome were less than ideal and the continued jabs from the Roman Empire, specifically, the crazed behavior from Emperor Caligula, did nothing but make them worse. The taxes that were imposed upon the Judeans were just one of the malicious acts of the Romans, they also took over the appointment of the High Priest which infuriated the Jews, and demonstrated no respect for the Temple or Judaism, which eventually led to the revolt. While no one can blame the Jews, in retrospect, it was considered to be most likely a huge mistake (Jewish Virtual Library, n.d.). The consequences were many for the Jews as a result of the Jewish Revolt, including the mass murder of thousands of Jewish people, slavery, destruction of the Temple,

Upon their return to Palestine after their release from exile, the Jews were struggling to “maintain their religious and social identity” (Wenham & Walton, 2011, p. 7) and found themselves in the midst of great military powers, first the Greeks, and then the Romans. Their influences on the Jews were remarkable. This essay will examine the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD by describing a typical Greco-Roman city, then discuss the various levels of Roman administrative structure, explain where local authority resided in the cities/villages of 1st-century Palestine, and finally support with Scripture the structure of authority within the Gospels and Acts.

Tacitus failed to accurately describe Germania’s vast origin and attitude toward expansion. The analogy, German expansive forces was like pressure held back by the Roman bottle, which burst leading to German invasions of Rome was used by Georges Duby. This analogy, I felt, was a very interesting representation of how barbarians invaded Rome. I also found the influence that Christianity had compelling. Pope Leo was able to stop the invasion of Attila the Hun, which leads me to ask just how powerful was Christianity during the fall of Rome? Also, according to the reading, Rome ignored the barbarian power. How did Rome fail to see the power of Germania? Was this due to bad leadership? If so, would Rome have fallen if it had better leaders? In

Coming off of that, we can tell how first century Jews viewed the interaction between religion and government. Roman government felt

When the third triumvirate divided the Roman Empire after Caesar's death, Marcus Antonius was given domain over the eastern provinces. Foreseeing a future of warfare, Marcus Antonius intelligently appointed Lucius Verus to rule the eastern provinces alongside him. When the Parthian invasion occurred Marcus Antonius insured that he contributed his best generals and armies to recover his lost territories. The recovery was extremely successful that Marcus crowned a new vassel and conquered Mesopotamia which was also Parthian territory. One success led to another as Marcus and his son severely defeated the Marcomanni and the Quadi gaining Danubian provinces during the Marcomannic wars. Unfortunately, Lucius Verus died during these wars but that

Expanding out from Titus, Josephus is quick to praise the power and abilities of the Romans in general, even recounting their “natural mildness,” (Wars3.346). He approves of their skills in war-mongering, writing, “ I shall describe the good order of the Romans in war, and the discipline of their legions,” and their kindheartedness towards the Jews even in wartime. “The Romans,” he explains to “seditious” Jews resisting the Roman siege, “who had no relation to [the Temple], had a reverence for their sacred rites and places, although they belonged to their enemies, and had till now kept their hands off from meddling with them; while such as were brought up under them, and, if they be preserved, will be the only people that will reap the benefit

The church in Rome was composed of both Jews and Gentiles, and both parties had different views about the Roman government. In Jewish theology, they believed that the Messiah would deliver them form the clutches of a tyrannical government (Roman Government). The gentiles on the other hand, had a less zealous distrust for the Roman government, for they didn't feel oppressed by the government before Christ came, because they weren’t Jewish and didn't believe that the Messiah would deliver them from an oppressive Government. When Paul wrote to the Jewish Romans, I could imagine that the Jewish pre-supposition about Christ delivering them from the Roman government was a bit challenging for them, especially when Paul told them to obey the authority of the Roman government. Like the Founding fathers, the Jews thought a revolution would be wonderful thing but why wasn't it? And why must they respect governmental authority if Gods Authority is greater?

There is no question that throughout the history of Rome its rulers sought to expand its empire. Even long after the period of Jewish-Roman conflict, when Rome had dramatically decreased its holdings due to the Goths, Justinian still sought to expand Rome to the point of bankrupting the falling empire. Power, therefore, is a visible cause of all conflicts between Rome and their subjects. In terms of the Jewish-Roman rebellions, however, taxation, is arguably a deeper cause. Appian of Alexandria, a Roman historian, explained that the taxes on the Jewish subjects surpassed those of the other Roman subjects in other territories.[15] His discussion of these taxes directly follows an explanation of the period with which these taxes were

Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, people of all parts of the society saw many changes. A few of the changes that they experienced were the changes in how the different emperors ruled, the dividing of the empire, economic stability and growth, and the expansion of the empire. One of the greatest changes that the people saw was the change in religion. Due to changes with the empire’s most dominant and profound religion, there was much controversy over the course of many years. Once the people of the Roman Empire came to accept all of the changes that had occurred over the many years of its existence, the empire came to persevere more than ever.

As history teaches, the Roman Empire was a great and solid empire. From the time of its birth to its fall the Roman Empire was known and remembered for its greatness. Yet through all of that, somehow, someway it fell apart. It became the million dollar question that almost everyone was asking themselves. How and why did the Roman Empire fall? The answer to that question is inconsistency and the lack of good leadership.

The Roman Empire was a massive empire that eventually collapsed over time. In 455 C.E the Roman Empire was its last straw. Rome's transition from a republic to an empire made it increase dramatically. This, of course, led to many other problems that caused the Roman Empire to decline and fall. The Roman empire did not depend on one thing for its decline but three major events. The Roman empire fell because of the rise of Christianity, economic trouble, and weak military.

Al Stewart once said look to the past and remember no empire rises that sooner or later won't fall. He was basically saying that everything that rises up will inevitably fall sooner or later. All throughout history empires have fallen many different reasons. To start off, one of the main reasons an empire usually falls is due to a weak and corrupt government. An example of this would be the many Roman emperors that were assassinated during their reign due to power hungry fools among the senate and council.

This was a rather challenging question and I think you did a very good job in addressing it. I too chose the same questions and I do think that your make a strong point that he was revered as a hero. I am not sure that his subtleness had much effect on people’s feelings of accepting the change. I think that because of what he had done for the empire by ending the civil war, and leading the empire towards prosperity, Romans would’ve overlooked or probably even support this shift of power.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

In the time Paul was writing to the Romans there was conflict between the Gentiles and the Jews. Many of today’s scholars have presented a number of likely reasons as to why Paul may have written the book of Romans. One of these believed reasons was for him to address the continued power struggle between the Gentiles and the Jews. In the book of Romans, Paul encourages unity as people of God and begs the Jews and Gentiles to have peace and love with not only each other but with everyone in the world.