Page 46 - Advanced Bible Geography ebook

extensive systems of aqueducts and roads, as well as the construction of large monuments, palaces, and
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public facilities. Eventually internal moral corruption plagued the empire to the extent that in the 5
century AD, surrounding barbarian kingdoms began to conquer and control portions of the kingdom
until it finally dissolved into the Byzantine Empire and moved into the Dark Ages. Eventually, internal
moral corruption plagued the empire and led to its downfall. By the 5th century AD, surrounding
barbarian kingdoms began to conquer and control portions of the kingdom. The Roman Empire gave
way to what is called the “Byzantine” era. The Dark Ages soon followed in Europe. The last vestiges of
the Byzantine Empire were destroyed in 1453 and all evidence of the once-massive Roman Empire
slowly disappeared.

The Roman road was the bloodstream of the empire. Merchants paid taxes to Rome on all their
transactions and they needed roads to carry their goods to an ever-widening market across the empire.

Legionnaires marching upon them swiftly gaining access to the battles throughout the country. The
roads funded and facilitated Roman expansion. But God used Rome to be a part of spreading the Gospel
to the known world. As persecution came to Jerusalem, believers walked down these roads in swift
retreat. A new kind of soldier was traversing the roads of Rome: onward Christian soldiers! The roads
were used to quickly disseminate the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire.

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