Page 181 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

Finally, Christianity fulfilled the human need to belong. Christians formed communities bound to one another in which people could express their love by helping each other and offering assistance to the poor, the sick, widows, and orphans. Christianity satisfied the need to belong in a way that the huge, impersonal, and remote Roman Empire could never do.
Christianity proved attractive to all classes. The promise of eternal life was for all—rich, poor, aristo- crats, slaves, men, and women. As Paul stated in his Epistle to the Colossians: “And [you] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”17 Although it did not call for revolution or social upheaval, Christianity emphasized a sense of spiritual equality for all people.
WOMEN AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY First-century Christian communities had allowed both men and women to play significant roles, often as preachers for the community. By the second century, however, men had gained con- trol of church organization and relegated women to
secondary roles. Women, as Paul had argued, should be subject to men.
Nevertheless, many women found that Christian- ity offered them new roles and new forms of compan- ionship with other women. Christian women fostered the new religion in their own homes and preached their convictions to other people in their towns and villages. Many also died for their faith. Perpetua was an aristocratic woman who converted to Christianity. Her pagan family begged her to renounce her new faith, but she refused. Arrested by the Roman author- ities, she chose instead to die for her faith and was one of a group of Christians who were slaugh- tered by wild beasts in the arena at Carthage on March 7, 203.
THE FAILURE OF PERSECUTION As the Christian church became more organized, some emperors in the third century responded with more systematic persecutions, but their schemes failed to work. The last great perse- cution was by Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century. But even he had to admit what had become apparent in the course of the third century: Christian- ity had become too strong to be eradicated by force.
Chapter Summary
The Roman republic had cre- ated one of the largest empires in antiquity, but its republican insti- tutions had proved inadequate for the task of ruling an empire. After a series of bloody civil wars, Augustus created a new order that began the Roman Empire. Although he never declared the republic dead and continued to
give the senate a role in governing, most political power remained in the hands of the princeps, or chief citizen, as Augustus called himself. Significantly, the army swore loyalty to him, and the res- toration of peace soon made the new political order acceptable to most people in the empire.
Augustus established the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which lasted until 68. In 69, Vespasian, a successful general, founded the Fla- vian dynasty after a year of civil war. This dynasty began to openly use the title of imperator, or emperor. In the second cen- tury, five “good emperors” maintained a period of peace and
prosperity when trade flourished and the provinces were governed efficiently. Within their empire, the Romans were responsible for a remarkable series of achievements that were bequeathed to the future.
These achievements were fundamental to the development of Western civilization, a civilization that would arise for the most part in the lands in Europe conquered by the Romans, where Roman culture and political ideals were gradually spread. The Romance languages of today (French, Italian, Spanish, Portu- guese, and Romanian) are based on Latin. Western practices of impartial justice and trial by jury owe much to Roman law. As great builders, the Romans left monuments to their skills throughout Europe, some of which, including aqueducts and roads, are still in use today. Other monuments provided models for public buildings in the West for hundreds of years. Aspects of Roman administrative practices survived in the Western world for centuries. The Romans also preserved the intellectual heritage of the Greco-Roman world of antiquity.
By the third century, however, the Roman world was suffering an era of decline. Generals fought each other in civil wars.
Chapter Summary • 143
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