Page 151 - Biblical Backgrounds

Roman government structure in the 1 century:
st

The Roman Empire had been a republic until the rise of Julius Caesar. His reign as dictator, which was
absolute, was cut short as he was murdered. Augustus rose to power and was crowned emperor. Keep
in mind that the rise of an emperor caused major political changes in the empire. Many reorganizations
happened as a result of the establishment of new emperors in the first century. The Roman Senate still
existed but was ended under the power of the emperor Justinian at the end of the fourth Century AD.
NT Wright explains that during this transition from the Republic to the Empire, there were many civil
wars. Octavian (Augustus) would eventually defeat Anthony and focus the empire on social and
economic stability. 198 There was major restructuring and personnel changes across the empire as well.

Roman religion and social life:

Roman religion and social life have been described
in other sections sufficiently. To restate certain
important points, the deities were often derivative
of Greek deities. They were simply renamed,
though a few, such as Apollos, continued without
a name change. The Parthenon was an ancient
Roman temple. It was destroyed and rebuilt in the
reign of Hadrian in 126 AD. Socially, there were
various classes present. There were senators,
businessmen, soldiers, government workers, and
salves. A slave could be a terrible position or one
of honor in that culture. The slave of a prominent family or individual would be given the respect due to
the family when acting for their master. Slavery made up almost 30% of the population of Rome,
according to NT Wright. 199 Many Roman soldiers were offered land at the end of their service. So the
cities Rome founded around the empire
were often created in order to fulfill this
promise. The added benefit was the
creation of a pro-Roman community in the
foreign lands.

Some have debated whether the imperial
cult saw Caesar as a God or whether the
view was that he became one after death.
The reality seems to be that originally, the
view was that the emperor became a god
after death. Later, the view changed. This
change is demonstrated in the writing of

198 N.T. Wright and Michael F Bird, The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and
Theology of the First Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 147.
199 Ibid., p. 148.

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