Rome

VIEW:28 DATA:01-04-2020

strength; power
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


ROME.—The beginnings of Rome are shrouded in obscurity. The city was situated on the left bank of the Tiber, about 18 miles from its mouth. The original Rome was built on one hill only, the Palatine, but the neighbouring hills were successively included, and about the middle of the sixth century b.c., according to tradition, a wall was built to enclose the enlarged city. The whole circuit of this wall was about 5 miles, and it was pierced by nineteen gates. Within these was a large area of vacant spaces, which were gradually built on later, and at the beginning of the Empire (roughly middle of 1st cent. b.c.) not only was the city congested with buildings, but large areas without the wall were also covered with houses. The Roman Forum, an open space measuring over 300 ft. in length, and about 150 ft. in breadth, was the centre of political, legal, and commercial life. At one end was the rostra or platform, from which speeches were delivered to the public; at the other end were shops. It was flanked by the senate-house and law-courts. On the top of the Capitoline Hill was the Capitolium, or great temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, and on the Palatine Hill the principal residence of the Emperor, and the Temple of Apollo, containing the public libraries, Greek and Latin. In the Imperial period four additional fora were built, devoted entirely to legal, literary, and religious purposes—the Forum Iulium begun by Julius Cæsar, the Forum Augustum built by Augustus, the Forum Transitorium completed by Nerva, and the Forum Traiani built by Trajan—the most splendid work of Imperial times. Various estimates of the population of Rome in the time of Christ have been given: 2,000,000 seems not unlikely. All nationalities in the Empire were represented—among them many Jews, who were expelled by Claudius in a.d. 50, but returned at his death four years later. The slave population was very large.
The Romans began as one of the members of the Latin league, of which, having become presidents, they eventually became masters. After conquering Latium they were inevitably brought into conflict with the other races of Italy, over most of which they were sovereign about the middle of the 3rd cent. b.c. The extension of Roman territory steadily continued until, in the time of Christ, it included, roughly, Europe (except the British Isles, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Russia), the whole of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and the north-west of Africa.
The Roman State was at first ruled by kings, but these gave place to two rulers, known later as consuls. Their powers were gradually circumscribed by the devolution of some of their duties on other magistrates. The period of steady accession of territory was coincident with a bitter struggle between the patrician and the plebeian classes, both of which comprised free citizens. The contest between the orders lasted for about two centuries, and at the end of that period all the offices of State were equally open to both. This was not, however, the establishment of a real democracy, but the beginning of a struggle between the governing class and the mass of the people, which eventually brought the Republic to an end. The civil wars, which during the last century of its existence had almost destroyed it, had shown clearly that peace could be reached only under the rule of one man. The need of the time was satisfied by Augustus, who ruled as autocrat under constitutional forms: the appearance of a republic was retained, but the reality was gone, and the appearance itself gradually disappeared also. For the city of Rome the Empire was a time of luxury and idleness, but the provinces entered upon an era of progressive prosperity. The Emperor was responsible for the government of all provinces where an army was necessary (for instance, Syria), and governed these by paid deputies of his own. The older and more settled provinces were governed by officials appointed by the senate, but the Emperor had his financial interests attended to by procurators of his own even in these. Under the Empire the provinces were much more protected against the rapacity and cruelty of governors than in Republican times. The Emperors themselves stood for just as well as efficient administration, and most of them gave a noble example by strenuous devotion to administrative business.
The resident Romans in any province consisted of (1) the officials connected with the Government, who were generally changed annually; (2) members of the great financial companies and lesser business men, whose interests kept them there; (3) citizens of coloniœ (or military settlements), which were really parts of Rome itself set down in the provinces; (4) soldiers of the garrison and their officers; (5) distinguished natives of the province, who, for services rendered to the Roman State, were individually gifted with the citizenship. Such must have been one of the ancestors of St. Paul. The honour was not conferred on all the inhabitants of the Empire till 212 a.d., and in NT times those who possessed it constituted the aristocracy of the communities in which they lived.
The Romans have left a great legacy to the world. As administrators, lawyers, soldiers, engineers, architects, and builders they have never been surpassed. In literature they depended mainly on the Greeks, as in sculpture, music, painting, and medicine. In the arts they never attained more than a respectable standard.
A. Souter.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Paul's first visit was between the restoration by Augustus, whose boast was "he had found the city of brick and left it of marble" (Suet., Aug. 28), and that by Nero after its conflagration. His residence was near the "barrack" (praetorium) attached to the imperial palace on the Palatine (Php_1:13). (See PALACE.) Modern Rome lies N. of ancient Rome, covering the Campus Martius, or "plain" to the N. of the seven hills; the latter (Rev_17:9), the nucleus of the old city, stand on the left bank. On the opposite side of the Tiber is the higher ridge, Janiculum, also the Vatican. The Mamertine prison where legend makes Peter and Paul to have been fellow prisoners for nine months is still under the church of Giuseppe dei Falegnani; but see 2Ti_4:11. (See PETER.)
The chapel on the Ostian road marks the legendary site of the two parting for martyrdom. The church of Paolo alle Tre Fontane on the Ostian road is the alleged site of Paul's martyrdom. The church of Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum is that of Peter's martyrdom. The chapel "Domine quo Vadis?" on the Appian road marks where Peter in the legend met the Lord, as he was fleeing from martyrdom. (See PETER.) The bodies of the two apostles first lay in the catacombs ("cemeteries" or sleeping places: Eusebius, H. E. ii. 25); then Paul's body was buried by the Ostian road, Peter's beneath the dome of the famous basilica called after him (Caius, in Eusebius, H. E. ii. 25). All this is mere tradition.
Real sites are the Colosseum and Nero's gardens in the Vatican near to Peter's; in them Christians wrapped in beasts' skins were torn by dogs, or clothed in inflammable stuffs were burnt as torches during the midnight games! Others were crucified (Tacitus, Annals xv. 44). The catacombs, "subterranean galleries" (whether sand pits or excavations originally is uncertain), from eight to ten feet, high, and four to six wide extending for miles, near the Appian and Nomentane ways, were used by the early Christians as places of refuge, worship, and burial. The oldest inscription is A.D. 71; thence to A.D. 300 less than thirty Christian inscriptions are known bearing dates, 4,000 undated are considered anterior to Constantine.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Rome. The famous capital of the ancient world, is situated on the Tiber, at a distance of about 15 miles from its mouth. The "seven hills," Rev_17:9, which formed the nucleus of the ancient city, stand on the left bank. On the opposite side of the river rises the far higher side of the Janiculum. Here, from very early times, was a fortress, with a suburb beneath it, extending to the river. Modern Rome lies to the north of the ancient city, covering, with its principal portion, the plain to the north of the seven hills, once known as the Campus Martius, and on the opposite bank, extending over the low ground beneath the Vatican, to the north of the ancient Janiculum. Rome is not mentioned in the Bible except in the books of Maccabees and in three books of the New Testament, namely, the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, and the Second Epistle to Timothy.
Jewish inhabitants. ? The conquests of Pompey seem to have given rise to the first settlement of Jews at Rome. The Jewish king, Aristobulus, and his son formed part of Pompey's triumph, and many Jewish captives and immigrants were brought to Rome at that time. A special district was assigned to them, not on the site of the modern Ghetto, between the Capitol and the island of the Tiber, but across the Tiber. Many of these Jews were made freedmen. Julius Caesar showed them some kindness; they were favored also by Augustus, and by Tiberius, during the latter part of his reign. It is chiefly in connection with St. Paul's history that Rome comes before us in the Bible. In illustration of that history, it may be useful to give some account of Rome in the time of Nero, the "Caesar" to whom St. Paul appealed, and in whose reign, he suffered martyrdom.
The city in Paul's time. ? The city at that time must be imagined as a large and irregular mass of buildings unprotected by an outer wall. It had long outgrown the old Servian wall; but the limits of the suburbs cannot be exactly defined. Neither the nature of the buildings nor the configuration of the ground was such as to give a striking appearance to the city viewed from without. "Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor camyanile," and the hills, never lofty or imposing, would present, when covered with the buildings and streets of a huge city, a confused appearance, like the hills of modern London, to which they have sometimes been compared.
The visit of St. Paul lies between two famous epochs in the history of the city, namely, its restoration by Augustus and its restoration by Nero. The boast of Augustus is well known, "that he found the city of brick, and left it of marble." Some parts of the city, especially the Forum and Campus Martius, must have presented a magnificent appearance, of which Niebur's "Lectures on Roman History," ii. 177, will give a general idea; but many of the principal buildings which attract the attention of modern travellers in ancient Rome were not yet built. The streets were generally narrow and winding, flanked by densely crowded lodging-houses, (insulae), of enormous height. Augustus found it necessary to limit their height to 70 feet.
St. Paul's first visit to Rome took place before the Neronian conflagration, but even after the restoration of the city which followed upon that event, many of the old evils continued. The population of the city has been variously estimated. Probably, Gibbon's estimate of 1,200,000 is nearest to the truth. One half of the population consisted, in all probability, of slaves. The larger part of the remainder consisted of pauper citizens supported, in idleness, by the miserable system of public gratuities. There appears to have been no middle class, and no free industrial population. Side by side with the wretched classes just mentioned was the comparatively small body of the wealthy nobility, of whose luxury and profligacy, we learn so much from the heathen writers of the time.
Such was the population which St. Paul would find at Rome at the time of his visit. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that he was detained at Rome for "two whole years," "dwelling in his own hired house with a soldier that kept him," Act_28:16; Act_28:30, to whom apparently, according to Roman custom, he was bound with a chain. Act_28:20; Eph_6:20; Phm_1:13. Here he preached to all that came to him, no man forbidding him. Act_28:30-31. It is generally believed that on his "appeal to Caesar" he was acquitted, and after some time spent in freedom, was a second time imprisoned at Rome.
Five of Paul's Epistles, namely, those to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, that to Philemon, and the Second Epistle to Timothy, were, in all probability, written from Rome, the latter, shortly before his death; 2Ti_4:6; the others during his first imprisonment. It is universally believed that he suffered martyrdom at Rome.
The localities in and about Rome especially connected with the life of Paul are ?
(1) The Appian Way, by which he approached Rome. Act_28:15. See Appii Forum.
(2) "The palace," or "Caesar's court." (praetorium). Phm_1:13. This may mean either the great camp of the Praetorian guards, which Tiberius established outside the walls on the northeast of the city, or, as seems more probable, a barrack attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine. There is no sufficient proof that the word "praetorium" was ever used to designate the emperors palace, though it is used for the official residence of a Roman governor. Joh_18:28; Act_23:35. The mention of "Caesar's household," Php_4:22, confirms the notion that St. Paul's residence was in the immediate neighborhood of the emperor's house on the Palatine.
(3) The connection of other localities at home with St. Paul's name rests only on traditions of more or less probability. We may mention especially ?
(4) The Mamertine prison, of Tullianum, built by Ancus Martius near the Forum. It still exists beneath the church of St. Giuseppe dei Falegnami. It is said that St. Peter and St. Paul were fellow prisoners here for nine months. This is not the place to discuss the question whether St. Peter was ever at Rome. It may be sufficient to state that though there is no evidence of such a visit in the New Testament, unless Babylon in 1Pe_5:13 is a mystical name for Rome, yet early testimony and the universal belief of the early Church seems sufficient to establish the fact of his having suffered martyrdom there. See Peter. The story, however, of the imprisonment in the Mamertine prison seems inconsistent with 2Ti_4:11.
(5) The chapel on the Ostian road which marks the spot where the two apostles are said to, have separated on their way to martyrdom.
(6)The supposed scene of St. Paul's martyrdom, namely, the church of St. Paolo alle tre fontane on the Ostian road. To these may be added ?
(7) The supposed scene of St. Peter's martyrdom, namely, the church of St. Pietro in Montorio, on the Janiculum.
(8) The chapel Domine que Vadis, on the Aypian road; the scene of the beautiful legend of our Lord's appearance to St. Peter, as he was escaping from martyrdom.
(9) The places where the bodies of the two apostles, after having been deposited first in the catacombs, are supposed to have been finally buried ? that of St. Paul by the Ostian road, that of St. Peter beneath the dome of the famous Basilica which bears his name. We may add, as sites unquestionably connected with the Roman Christians of the apostolic age ?
(10) The gardens of Nero in the Vatican. Not far from the spot where St. Peter's now stands. Here Christians, wrapped in the skins of beasts, were torn to pieces by dogs, or, clothed in inflammable robes, were burnt to serve as torches, during the midnight games. Others were crucified.
(11) The Catacombs. These subterranean galleries, commonly from 8 to 10 feet in height and from 4 to 6 in width, and extending for miles, especially in the neighborhood of the old Appian and Nomentan Ways, were unquestionably used as places of refuge, of worship and of burial by the early Christians. The earliest dated inscription in the catacombs is A.D. 71.
Nothing is known of the first founder of the Christian Church at Rome. Christianity may, perhaps, have been introduced into the city not long after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, by the "strangers of Rome, who were then at Jerusalem, Act_2:10. It is clear that there were many Christians at Rome before St. Paul visited the city. Rom_1:8; Rom_1:13; Rom_1:15; Rom_15:20. The names of twenty-four Christians at Rome are given in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans. Linus, who is mentioned 2Ti_4:21, and Clement, Php_4:3, are supposed to have succeeded St. Peter as bishops of Rome.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

Within a hundred years of the rise of Greek power under Alexander the Great (334-331 BC), Rome had begun to overrun colonies of the Greek Empire and form them into outlying provinces of Rome. Rome first came into prominence in the affairs of Palestine when the Roman general Pompey seized control of Jerusalem and brought Judea under Roman control (63 BC).
The Roman Empire
After the assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC), Rome went through a disastrous time of civil war, political confusion and social turmoil. Thousands of people were poor and unable to find work. There was little law and order, corruption was widespread, and ambitious army commanders were constantly plotting for more power.
Out of this instability and tension there arose a leader who was able firstly to control and then to correct the disorders. In 27 BC he took the name Caesar Augustus and became the first ruler of what became known as the Roman Empire (Luk_2:1). The people held him in such honour that rulers of the Roman Empire after him took his name Caesar as the title of the Emperor (Luk_3:1; Luk_20:22; Act_17:7; Act_25:11; Act_25:25).

There was a widespread feeling of gratitude to Augustus for the peace and order that he brought, and people began praising him as if he were a god. This marked the beginning of Emperor worship, which developed into the official religion of the Empire. The Romans tolerated other religions, provided they had first been registered with the government. But the law still required all people to carry out acts of worship to the Emperor’s image, even though they may have belonged to some other (registered) religion.
The Romans did not force Jews to obey this law, as they knew that Jews would not bow to any idol. Christians also refused to worship before the Emperor’s image, but as long as the Roman officials thought that Christianity was merely a sect within the Jewish religion, they took no action against the Christians. However, once they knew that Christianity was a new religion, different from Judaism and therefore outside Roman law, they persecuted the Christians cruelly.
One of the severest outbreaks of persecution occurred after the great fire of Rome (AD 64), which the Emperor Nero blamed on the Christians. At the same time the Romans were becoming increasingly impatient with the Jews, particularly the Jerusalem Jews, who were angry at Rome’s mismanagement of their affairs. A Jewish political group known as the Zealots (or Patriots) were so opposed to Roman rule that they were prepared to fight against it (see ZEALOT). The outcome was that the Romans came and, after overcoming stubborn Jewish resistance, destroyed Jerusalem without mercy (AD 70). The fall of Jerusalem marked not only the downfall of the Jewish nation, but also the end of Judaism’s dominance as a religious force.
By this time the Roman Empire extended over much of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It lasted for at least another three hundred years, but then began to fall apart. Finally, in AD 476, Rome itself was overthrown by the Germans.
Provinces of the Empire
From the days of the Empire’s beginnings, Rome’s plan was to place a Roman governor in charge of each province of the territory it seized. A series of events in AD 37 resulted in a different arrangement for the province of Judea (which included the region commonly known as Samaria). The ruler over Judea was not a Roman but a Palestinian (Herod the Great) who had persuaded Rome to appoint him ‘king’ of Judea. He was not a sovereign king, for he was under the overall control of Rome (see HEROD).
In BC 4, Herod the Great died and his son Archelaus succeeded him. Archelaus was so cruel and unjust that in AD 6 the Jews of Judea asked Rome to remove him and rule them directly through their own officials. From that time on, Judea was ruled by Roman governors (or procurators). The only exception to this was a period of about three years from AD 41 to 44, when Herod Agrippa I was governor over almost the entire region once ruled by his grandfather, Herod the Great (Act_12:1-4; Act_12:20-23).
Roman governors of Judea mentioned in the Bible are Pontius Pilate (AD 26-36; Luk_3:1; Luk_13:1; Luk_23:1; Luk_23:6; Luk_23:24; Joh_18:29-38; Joh_19:38), Felix (AD 52-59; Act_23:26; Act_23:33; Act_24:25) and Porcius Festus (AD 59-62; Act_25:1-5; Act_25:13-14; Act_26:24). Caesarea, a city built on the Mediterranean coast by Herod the Great, was the administrative centre for the province of Judea. The governor usually went to Jerusalem during Jewish festivals to help maintain law and order in the city (Act_23:33; Act_25:1-6; cf. Mat_27:1-2; Mar_14:1-2).
Since the possibility always existed that riots could break out in the provinces, governors were ready to act as soon as any sign of rebellion appeared (Joh_11:48-50; Act_17:6-9; Act_19:40; Act_21:31-36). They were also responsible for the administration of justice and the collection of taxes (Luk_2:1; Act_19:38; Act_25:9-10; Rom_13:1-7). Administrators in some of the provinces were called proconsuls (Act_13:7; Act_18:12; Act_19:38).
There was widespread travel throughout the Roman Empire. Government officials, businessmen and soldiers moved to all parts of the Empire, often settling in places that the Romans called colonies. These were towns established as centres of Roman life in the non-Roman world of the provinces, and their citizens had the privileges of Roman citizenship and self-government. Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Troas, Corinth and Philippi were all Roman colonies (Act_16:12). The Romans built an extensive system of roads to link these and other major towns to Rome and to each other.
Paul appreciated the stability that Roman rule produced and the advantages that the government’s development programs provided for the spread of Christianity (Rom_13:1-7; cf. 1Pe_2:13-17). Like the Romans he had a spirit of enterprise, a mind for planning and a vision for the world (Rom_15:19-20; 2Co_10:16; Col_1:6). He moved from province to province along the Roman roads, aiming to establish churches in the major towns. Once strong churches were established in these towns, the gospel would spread quickly into the regions round about (Act_13:14; Act_13:49; Act_14:1; Act_14:6-7; Act_14:20-21; Act_14:24; see MISSION). In particular, Paul saw the importance of having a strong church at the centre of the Empire (Act_19:21; Rom_1:9-13; Rom_15:14-15; Rom_15:23-24).
Roman citizenship
Originally a Roman citizen was a person who lived in Rome, where citizens enjoyed special privileges given them by the Emperor. Later, the Roman government extended this citizenship to people of other cities and provinces. They extended it also to people who had given outstanding service to the Empire, and even to those who could afford to buy it (Act_22:28 a). This citizenship passed on to the person’s children (Act_22:28 b). People did not have to be of Roman blood to be Roman citizens (Act_16:37; Php_3:5).
Those who were Roman citizens had rights not enjoyed by other citizens. They could not be beaten by local officials (Act_16:36-39; Act_22:25-29) and could not be executed without a verdict from a general meeting of the people. If they were not satisfied with the standard of justice they received, they could appeal direct to the Emperor (Act_25:10-12; Act_25:25-27; Act_26:32; Act_27:1-2; Act_28:16).
The city of Rome
Built on the famous ‘seven hills’ in 753 BC, Rome was one of the world’s great cities. In the era of the New Testament it had a population of more than one million. Included in this population were people of many nationalities, some of whom the Romans expelled if they thought they were going to become troublemakers (Act_18:2).
The Bible does not say how the church in Rome began. The church may have been formed partly by Romans who were converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and who took their new-found faith back to Rome (cf. Act_2:10; Act_2:14; Act_2:41). In addition, Christians from other parts of the Empire no doubt travelled to and from Rome or went there to live, and these might have had some part in founding the church there (Rom_16:1-16). Paul’s letter to the church in Rome makes it clear that at the time of writing he had not yet visited Rome (Rom_1:10-15; Rom_15:20-22; see ROMANS, LETTER TO THE).
Paul was at one time held prisoner in Rome for two years (Act_28:16; Act_28:20; Act_28:30). This was most likely the time during which he wrote the letters known to us as Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians (Eph_6:20; Php_1:13; Col_4:10; Philem 23). At the end of his two years imprisonment Paul almost certainly was released, though we cannot be sure of the details of his later movements.
After further travels Paul was arrested and taken to Rome as a prisoner once again, but this time he knew he had little chance of being released (2Ti_1:17; 2Ti_2:9; 2Ti_4:6-8). From Rome he wrote his last letter, a personal note to Timothy known to us as 2 Timothy. It seems that soon after writing the letter he was beheaded (about AD 62).
Possibly about this time Peter arrived in Rome, along with Silas (or Silvanus), his fellow worker. Using Silas as his secretary, Peter wrote a letter to the churches of the northern part of Asia Minor that he had helped to evangelize. In this letter (known to us as 1 Peter) he referred to Rome symbolically as Babylon (1Pe_5:12-13).
The reason for this use of Babylon as a name for Rome was that Rome, like Babylon of Old Testament times, was the clear expression of human rebellion against God. It was the embodiment of that spirit by which arrogant human beings, in the pride of their power and achievements, defy God and persecute his people (Revelation 17). The downfall of Babylon pictures more than the downfall of Rome. It pictures the final overthrow of the entire world system that people have built and organized in opposition to God and his people (Revelation 18).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

rōm.
I. DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION
1. Original Roman State
2. The Struggle between Patricians and Plebeians
3. The Senate and Magistrates
4. Underlying Principles
II. EXTENSION OF ROMAN SOVEREIGNTY
III. THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT
1. Imperial Authority
2. Three Classes of Citizens
IV. ROMAN RELIGION
1. Deities
2. Religious Decay
V. ROME AND THE JEWS
1. Judea under Roman Procurators and Governors
2. Jewish Proselytism
VI. ROME AND THE CHRISTIANS
1. Introduction of Christianity
2. Tolerance and Proscription
3. Persecution
LITERATURE
Rome (Latin and Italian, Roma; Ῥώμη, Rhṓmē): The capital of the Roman republic and empire, later the center of Lot Christendom, and since 1871 capital of the kingdom of Italy, is situated mainly on the left bank of the Tiber about 15 miles from the Mediterranean Sea in 41 degrees 53' 54 inches North latitude and 12 degrees 0' 12 inches longitude East of Greenwich.
It would be impossible in the limited space assigned to this article to give even a comprehensive outline of the ancient history of the Eternal City. It will suit the general purpose of the work to consider the relations of the Roman government and society with the Jews and Christians, and, in addition, to present a rapid survey of the earlier development of Roman institutions and power, so as to provide the necessary historical setting for the appreciation of the more essential subjects.

I. Development of the Republican Constitution.
1. Original Roman State:
The traditional chronology for the earliest period of Roman history is altogether unreliable, partly because the Gauls, in ravaging the city in 390 BC, destroyed the monuments which might have offered faithful testimony of the earlier period (Livy vi. 1). It is known that there was a settlement on the site of Rome before the traditional date of the founding (753 BC). The original Roman state was the product of the coalition of a number of adjacent clan-communities, whose names were perpetuated in the Roman genres, or groups of imaginary kindred, a historical survival which had lost all significance in the period of authentic history. The chieftains of the associated clans composed the primitive senate or council of elders, which exercised sovereign authority. But as is customary in the development of human society a military or monarchical regime succeeded the looser patriarchal or sacerdotal organs of authority. This second stage may be identified with the legendary rule of the Tarquins, which was probably a period of Etruscan domination. The confederacy of clans was welded into a homogeneous political entity, and society was organized for civic ends, upon a timocratic basis. The forum was drained and became a social, industrial and political center, and the Capitoline temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (Etruscan pseudo-Hellenic deities) was erected as a common shrine for all the people. But above all the Romans are indebted to these foreign kings for a training in discipline and obedience which was exemplified in the later conception of magisterial authority signified by the term imperium.
The prerogatives of the kings passed over to the consuls. The reduction of the tenure of power to a single year and the institution of the principle of colleagueship were the earliest checks to the abuse of unlimited authority. But the true cornerstone of Roman liberty was thought to be the lexicon Valeria, which provided that no citizen should be put to death by a magistrate without being allowed the right of appeal to the decision of the assembly of the people.

2. The Struggle Between Patricians and Plebeians:
A period of more than 150 years after the establishment of the republic was consumed chiefly by the struggle between the two classes or orders, the patricians and plebeians. The former were the descendants of the original clans and constituted the populus, or body-politic, in a more particular sense. The plebeians were descendants of former slaves and dependents, or of strangers who had been attracted to Rome by the obvious advantages for industry and trade. They enjoyed the franchise as members of the military assembly (comitia centuriata), but had no share in the magistracies or other civic honors and emoluments, and were excluded from the knowledge of the civil law which was handed down in the patrician families as an oral tradition.
The first step in the progress of the plebeians toward political equality was taken when they wrested from the patricians the privilege of choosing representatives from among themselves, the tribunes, whose function of bearing aid to oppressed plebeians was rendered effective by the right of veto (intercessio), by virtue of which any act of a magistrate could be arrested. The codification of the law in the Twelve Tables was a distinct advantage to the lower classes, because the evils which they had suffered were largely due to a harsh and abusive interpretation of legal institutions, the nature of which had been obscure (see ROMAN LAW). The abrogation, directly thereafter, of the prohibition of intermarriage between the classes resulted in their gradual intermingling.

3. The Senate and Magistrates:
The kings had reduced the senate to the position of a mere advising body. But under the republican regime it recovered in fact the authority of which it was deprived in theory. The controlling power of the senate is the most significant feature of the republican government, although it was recognized by no statute or other constitutional document. It was due in part to the diminution of the power of the magistrates, and in part to the manner in which the senators were chosen. The lessening of the authority of the magistrates was the result of the increase in their number, which led not only to the curtailment of the actual prerogative of each, but also to the contraction of their aggregate independent influence. The augmentation of the number of magistrates was made necessary by the territorial expansion of the state and the elaboration of administration. But it was partly the result of plebeian agitation. The events of 367 BC may serve as a suitable example to illustrate the action of these influences. For when the plebeians carried by storm the citadel of patrician exclusiveness in gaining admission to the consulship, the highest regular magistracy, the necessity for another magistrate with general competency afforded an opportunity for making a compensating concession to the patricians, and the praetorship was created, to which at first members of the old aristocracy were alone eligible. Under the fully developed constitution the regular magistracies were five in number, consulship, praetorship, aedileship, tribunate, and quaestorship, all of which were filled by annual elections.
Mention has been made of the manner of choosing the members of the senate as a factor in the development of the authority of the supreme council. At first the highest executive officers of the state exercised the right of selecting new members to maintain the senators at the normal number of three hundred. Later this function was transferred to the censors who were elected at intervals of five years. But custom and later statute ordained that the most distinguished citizens should be chosen, and in the Roman community the highest standard of distinction was service to the state, in other words, the holding of public magistracies. It followed, therefore, that the senate was in reality an assembly of all living ex-magistrates. The senate included, moreover, all the political wisdom and experience of the community, and so great was its prestige for these reasons, that, although the expression of its opinion (senatus consultum) was endowed by law with no compelling force, it inevitably guided the conduct of the consulting magistrate, who was practically its minister, rather than its president.
When the plebeians gained admission to the magistracies, the patriciate lost its political significance. But only the wealthier plebeian families were able to profit by this extension of privilege, inasmuch as a political career required freedom from gainful pursuits and also personal influence. These plebeian families readily coalesced with the patricians and formed a new aristocracy, which is called the nobilitas for the sake of distinction. It rested ultimately upon the foundation of wealth. The dignity conferred by the holding of public magistracies was its title to distinction. The senate was its organ. Rome was never a true democracy except in theory. During the whole period embraced between the final levelling of the old distinctions based upon blood (287 BC) and the beginning of the period of revolution (133 BC), the magistracies were occupied almost exclusively by the representatives of the comparatively limited number of families which constituted the aristocracy. These alone entered the senate through the doorway of the magistracies, and the data would almost justify us in asserting that the republican and senatorial government were substantially and chronologically identical.
The seeds of the political and social revolution were sown during the Second Punic War and the period which followed it. The prorogation of military authority established a dangerous precedent in violation of the spirit of the republic, so that Pub. Cornelius Scipio was really the forerunner of Marius, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. The stream of gold which found its way from the provinces to Rome was a bait to attract the cupidity of the less scrupulous senators, and led to the growth of the worst kind of professionalism in politics. The middle class of small farmers decayed for various reasons; the allurement of service in the rich but effete countries of the Orient attracted many. The cheapness of slaves made independent farming unprofitable and led to the increase in large estates; the cultivation of grain was partly displaced by that of the vine and olive, which were less suited to the habits and ability of the older class of farmers.
The more immediate cause of the revolution was the inability of the senate as a whole to control the conduct of its more radical or violent members. For as political ambition became more ardent with the increase in the material prizes to be gained, aspiring leaders turned their attention to the people, and sought to attain the fulfillment o.f their purposes by popular legislation setting at nought the concurrence of the senate, which custom had consecrated as a requisite preliminary for popular action. The loss of initiative by the senate meant the subversion of senatorial government. The senate possessed in the veto power of the tribunes a weapon for coercing unruly magistrates, for one of the ten tribunes could always be induced to interpose his veto to prohibit the passage of popular legislation. But this weapon was broken when Tib. Gracchus declared in 133 BC that a tribune who opposed the wishes of the people was no longer their representative, and sustained this assertion.

4. Underlying Principles:
It would be foreign to the purpose of the present article to trace the vicissitudes of the civil strife of the last century of the republic. A few words will suffice to suggest the general principles which lay beneath the surface of political and social phenomena. Attention has been called to the ominous development of the influence of military commanders and the increasing emphasis of popular favor. These were the most important tendencies throughout this period, and the coalition of the two was fatal to the supremacy of the senatorial government. Marius after winning unparalleled military glory formed a political alliance with Glaucia and Saturninus, the leaders of the popular faction in the city in 100 BC. This was a turning-point in the course of the revolution. But the importance of the sword soon outweighed that of the populace in the combination which was thus constituted. In the civil wars of Marius and Sulla constitutional questions were decided for the first time by superiority of military strength exclusively. Repeated appeals to brute force dulled the perception for constitutional restraints and the rights of minorities. The senate had already displayed signs of partial paralysis at the time of the Gracchi. How rapidly its debility must have increased as the sword cut off its most stalwart members! Its power expired in the proscriptions, or organized murder of political opponents. The popular party was nominally triumphant, but in theory the Roman state was still an urban commonwealth with a single political center. The franchise could be exercised only at Rome. It followed from this that the actual political assemblies were made up largely of the worthless element which was so numerous in the city, whose irrational instincts were guided and controlled by shrewd political leaders, particularly those who united in themselves military ability and the wiles of the demagogue. Sulla, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Antony, and lastly Octavian were in effect the ancient counterpart of the modern political ?boss.? When such men realized their ultimate power and inevitable rivalry, the ensuing struggle for supremacy and for the survival of the fittest formed the necessary process of elimination leading naturally to the establishment of the monarchy, which was in this case the rule of the last survivor. When Octavian received the title Augustus and the proconsular power (27 BC), the transformation was accomplished.

Literature.
The standard work on Roman political institutions is Mommsen and Marquardt, Handbuch der klassischen Altertumer. Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, Boston and London, 1901, offers a useful summary treatment of the subject.

II. Extension of Roman Sovereignty.
See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, I.

Literature.
Only the most important general works on Roman history can be mentioned: Ihne, Romische Geschichte (2nd edition), Leipzig, 1893-96, English translation, Longmans, London, 1871-82; Mommsen, History of Rome, English translation by Dickson, New York, 1874; Niebuhr, History of Rome, English translation by Hare and Thirlwall, Cambridge, 1831-32; Pais, Storia di Roma, Turin, 1898-99; Ferrero, Greatness and Decline of Rome, English translation by Zimmern, New York, 1909.

III. The Imperial Government.
1. Imperial Authority:
Augustus displayed considerable tact in blending his own mastery in the state with the old institutions of the republican constitution. His authority, legally, rested mainly upon the tribunician power, which he had probably received as early as 36 BC, but which was established on a better basis in 23 BC, and the proconsular prerogative (imperiurn proconsulare), conferred in 27 BC. By virtue of the first he was empowered to summon the senate or assemblies and could veto the action of almost any magistrate. The second title of authority conferred upon him the command of the military forces of the state and consequently the administration of the provinces where troops were stationed, besides a general supervision over the government of the other provinces. It follows that a distinction was made (27 BC) between the imperial provinces which were administered by the emperor's representatives (legati Augusti pro praetore) and the senatorial provinces where the republican machinery of administration was retained. The governors of the latter were called generally proconsuls (see PROVINCE). Mention is made of two proconsuls in the New Testament, Gallio in Achaia (Act_18:12) and Sergius Paulus in Cyprus (Act_13:7). It is instructive to compare the lenient and common-sense attitude of these trained Roman aristocrats with that of the turbulent local mobs who dealt with Paul in Asia Minor, Judea, or Greece (Tucker, Life in the Roman World of Nero and Paul, New York, 1910, 95).

2. Three Classes of Citizens:
Roman citizens were still divided into three classes socially, senatorial, equestrian, and plebeian, and the whole system of government harmonized with this triple division. The senatorial class was composed of descendants of senators and those upon whom the emperors conferred the latus clavus, or privilege of wearing the tunic with broad purple border, the sign of membership in this order. The quaestorship was still the door of admission to the senate. The qualifications for membership in the senate were the possession of senatorial rank and property of the value of not less than 1,000,000 sesterces ($45,000). Tiberius transferred the election of magistrates from the people to the senate, which was already practically a closed body. Under the empire senatus consulta received the force of law. Likewise the senate acquired judicial functions, sitting as a court of justice for trying important criminal cases and hearing appeals in civil cases from the senatorial provinces. The equestrian class was made up of those who possessed property of the value of 400,000 sesterces or more, and the privilege of wearing the narrow purple band on the tunic. With the knights the emperors filled many important financial and administrative positions in Italy and the provinces which were under their control.

IV. Roman Religion.
1. Deities:
(1) The Roman religion was originally more consistent than the Greek, because the deities as conceived by the unimaginative Latin genius were entirely without human character. They were the influences or forces which directed the visible phenomena of the physical world, whose favor was necessary to the material prosperity of mankind. It would be incongruous to assume the existence of a system of theological doctrines in the primitive period. Ethical considerations entered to only a limited extent into the attitude of the Romans toward their gods. Religion partook of the nature of a contract by which men pledged themselves to the scrupulous observance of certain sacrifices and other ceremonies, and in return deemed themselves entitled to expect the active support of the gods in bringing their projects to a fortunate conclusion. The Romans were naturally polytheists as a result of their conception of divinity. Since before the dawn of science there was no semblance of unity in the natural world, there could be no unity in heaven. There must be a controlling spirit over every important object or class of objects, every person, and every process of nature. The gods, therefore, were more numerous than mankind itself.
(2) At an early period the government became distinctly secular. The priests were the servants of the community for preserving the venerable aggregation of formulas and ceremonies, many of which lost at an early period such spirit as they once possessed. The magistrates were the true representatives of the community in its relationship with the deities both in seeking the divine will in the auspices and in performing the more important sacrifices.
(3) The Romans at first did not make statues of their gods. This was partly due to lack of skill, but mainly to the vagueness of their conceptions of the higher beings. Symbols sufficed to signify their existence, a spear, for instance, standing for Mars. The process of reducing the gods to human form was inaugurated when they came into contact with the Etruscans and Greeks. The Tarquins summoned Etruscan artisans and artists to Rome, who made from terra cotta cult statues and a pediment group for the Capitoline temple.
The types of the Greek deities had already been definitely established when the Hellenic influence in molding Roman culture became predominant. When the form of the Greek gods became familiar to the Romans in works of sculpture, they gradually supplanted those Roman deities with which they were nominally identified as a result of a real or fancied resemblance. See GREECE, RELIGION IN.
(4) The importation of new gods was a comparatively easy matter. Polytheism is by its nature tolerant because of its indefiniteness. The Romans could no more presume to have exhaustive knowledge of the gods than they could pretend to possess a comprehensive acquaintance with the universe. The number of their gods increased of necessity as human consciousness of natural phenomena expanded. Besides, it was customary to invite the gods of conquered cities to transfer their abode to Rome and favor the Romans in their undertakings. But the most productive source for religious expansion was the Sibylline Books. See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, V. This oracular work was brought to Rome from Cumae, a center of the cult of Apollo. It was consulted at times of crisis with a view to discover what special ceremonies would secure adequate divine aid. The forms of worship recommended by the Sibylline Books were exclusively Greek As early as the 5th century BC the cult of Apollo was introduced at Rome. Heracles and the Dioscuri found their way thither about the same time. Later Italian Diana was merged with Artemis, and the group of Ceres, Liber, and Libera were identified with foreign Demeter, Dionysus, and Persephone. Thus Roman religion became progressively Hellenized. By the close of the Second Punic War the greater gods of Greece had all found a home by the Tiber, and the myriad of petty local deities who found no counterpart in the celestial beings of Mt. Olympus fell into oblivion. Their memory was retained by the antiquarian lore of the priests alone. See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, III, 1.

2. Religious Decay:
Roman religion received with the engrafted branches of Greek religion the germs of rapid decay, for its Hellenization made Roman religion peculiarly susceptible to the attack of philosophy. The cultivated class in Greek society was already permeated with skepticism. The philosophers made the gods appear ridiculous. Greek philosophy gained a firm foothold in Rome in the 2nd century BC, and it became customary a little later to look upon Athens as a sort of university town where the sons of the aristocracy should be sent for the completion of their education in the schools of the philosophers. Thus at the termination of the republican era religious faith had departed from the upper classes largely, and during the turmoil of the civil wars even the external ceremonies were often abandoned and many temples fell into ruins. There had never been any intimate connection between formal religion and conduct, except when the faith of the gods was invoked to insure the fulfillment of sworn promises.
Augustus tried in every way to restore the old religion, rebuilding no fewer than 82 temples which lay in ruins at Rome. A revival of religious faith did occur under the empire, although its spirit was largely alien to that which had been displayed in the performance of the official cult. The people remained superstitious, even when the cultivated classes adopted a skeptical philosophy. The formal religion of the state no longer appealed to them, since it offered nothing to the emotions or hopes. On the other hand the sacramental, mysterious character of oriental religions inevitably attracted them. This is the reason why the religions of Egypt and Syria spread over the empire and exercised an immeasurable influence in the moral life of the people. The partial success of Judaism and the ultimate triumph of Christianity may be ascribed in part to the same causes.
In concluding we should bear in mind that the state dictated no system of theology, that the empire in the beginning presented the spectacle of a sort of religious chaos where all national cults were guaranteed protection, that Roman polytheism was naturally tolerant, and that the only form of religion which the state could not endure was one which was equivalent to an attack upon the system of polytheism as a whole, since this would imperil the welfare of the community by depriving the deities of the offerings and other services in return for which their favor could be expected.

Literature.
Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, III, 3, ?Das Sacralwesen?; Wissowa, Religion u. Kultus der Romer, Munich, 1902; Boissier, La religion romaine, Paris, 1884.

V. Rome and the Jews.
1. Judea Under Roman Procurators and Governors:
Judaea became a part of the province of Syria in 63 BC (Josephus, BJ, vii, 7), and Hyrcanus, brother of the last king, remained as high priest (archiereús kaí ethnárches; Josephus, Ant., XIV, iv, 4) invested with judicial as well as sacerdotal functions. But Antony and Octavius gave Palestine (40 BC) as a kingdom to Herod, surnamed the Great, although his rule did not become effective until 3 years later. His sovereignty was upheld by a Roman legion stationed at Jerusalem (Josephus, Ant., XV, iii, 7), and he was obliged to pay tribute to the Roman government and provide auxiliaries for the Roman army (Appian, Bell. Civ., v. 75). Herod built Caesarea in honor of Augustus (Josephus, Ant., XV, ix, 6), and the Roman procurators later made it the seat of government. At his death in 4 BC the kingdom was divided between his three surviving sons, the largest portion falling to Archelaus, who ruled Judea, Samaria and Idumaea with the title ethnarchēs (Josephus, Ant., XVII, xi, 4) until 6 AD, when he was deposed and his realm reduced to the position of a province. The administration by Roman procurators (see PROCURATOR), which was now established, was interrupted during the period 41-44 AD, when royal authority was exercised by Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, over the lands which had been embraced in the kingdom of his grandfather (Josephus, Ant., XIX, viii, 2), and, after 53 AD, Agrippa II ruled a considerable part of Palestine (Josephus, Ant., XX, vii, 1; viii, 4).
After the fall of Jerusalem and the termination of the great revolt in 70 AD, Palestine remained a separate province. Henceforth a legion (legio X Fretensis) was added to the military forces stationed in the land, which was encamped at the ruins of Jerusalem. Consequently, imperial governors of praetorian rank (legati Augusti pro praetore) took the place of the former procurators (Josephus, BJ, VII, i, 2, 3; Dio Cassius lv. 23).
Several treaties are recorded between the Romans and Jews as early as the time of the Maccabees (Josephus, Ant., XII, x, 6; XIII, ix, 2; viii, 5), and Jews are known to have been at Rome as early as 138 BC. They became very numerous in the capital after the return of Pompey who brought back many captives (see LIBERTINES). Cicero speaks of multitudes of Jews at Rome in 58 BC (Pro Flacco 28), and Caesar was very friendly toward them (Suetonius Caesar 84). Held in favor by Augustus, they recovered the privilege of collecting sums to send to the temple (Philo Legatio ad Caium 40). Agrippa offered 100 oxen in the temple when visiting Herod (Josephus, Ant., XVI, ii, 1), and Augustus established a daily offering of a bull and two lambs. Upon the whole the Roman government displayed noticeable consideration for the religious scruples of the Jews. They were exempted from military service and the duty of appearing in court on the Sabbath. Yet Tiberius repressed Jewish rites in Rome in 19 AD (Suetonius Tiberius 36) and Claudius expelled the Jews from the city in 49 AD (Suetonius Claudius 25); but in both instances repression was not of long duration.

2. Jewish Proselytism:
The Jews made themselves notorious in Rome in propagating their religion by means of proselytizing (Horace Satires i. 4, 142; i. 9, 69; Juvenal xiv. 96; Tacitus Hist. v. 5), and the literature of the Augustan age contains several references to the observation of the Sabbath (Tibullus i. 3; Ovid Ars amatoria i. 67, 415; Remedium amoris 219). Proselytes from among the Gentiles were not always required to observe all the prescriptions of the Law. The proselytes of the Gate (sebómenoi), as they were called, renounced idolatry and serious moral abuses and abstained from the blood and meat of suffocated animals. Among such proselytes may be included the centurion of Capernaum (Luk_7:5), the centurion Cornelius (Act_10:1), and the empress Poppea (Josephus, Ant., XX, viii, 11; Tacitus Ann. xvi. 6).
On ?proselytes of the Gate,? GJV4, III, 177, very properly corrects the error in HJP. These ?Gate? people were not proselytes at all; they refused to take the final step that carried them into Judaism - namely, circumcision (Ramsay, The Expositor, 1896, p. 200; Harnack, Expansion of Christianity, I, 11). See DEVOUT; PROSELYTES.
Notwithstanding the diffusion of Judaism by means of proselytism, the Jews themselves lived for the most part in isolation in the poorest parts of the city or suburbs, across the Tiber, near the Circus Maximus, or outside the Porta Capena. Inscriptions show that there were seven communities, each with its synagogue and council of elders presided over by a gerusiarch. Five cemeteries have been discovered with many Greek, a few Latin, but no Hebrew inscriptions.

Literature.
Ewald, The Hist of Israel, English translation by Smith, London, 1885; Renan, Hist of the People of Israel, English translation, Boston, 1896; Schurer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, English translation by MacPherson, New York.

VI. Rome and the Christians.
1. Introduction of Christianity:
The date of the introduction of Christianity into Rome cannot be determined. A Christian community existed at the time of the arrival of Paul (Act_28:15), to which he had addressed his Epistle a few years before (58 AD). It is commonly thought that the statement regarding the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius on account of the commotion excited among them by the agitation of Chrestus (Suetonius Claudius 25: Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit), probably in 49 AD, is proof of the diffusion of Christian teaching in Rome, on the ground that Chrestus is a colloquial, or mistaken, form of Christus. It has been suggested that the Christian faith was brought to the capital of the empire by some of the Romans who were converted at the time of Pentecost (Act_2:10, Act_2:41). It would be out of place to discuss here the grounds for the traditional belief that Peter was twice in Rome, once before 50 AD and again subsequent to the arrival of Paul, and that together the two apostles established the church there. Our present concern is with the attitude of the government and society toward Christianity, when once established. It may suffice, therefore, to remind the reader that Paul was permitted to preach freely while nominally in custody (Phi_1:13), and that as early as 64 AD the Christians were very numerous (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44: multitudo ingens).

2. Tolerance and Proscription:
At first the Christians were not distinguished from the Jews, but shared in the toleration, or even protection, which was usually conceded to Judaism as the national religion of one of the peoples embraced within the empire. Christianity was not legally proscribed until after its distinction from Judaism was clearly perceived. Two questions demand our attention: (1) When was Christianity recognized as distinct from Judaism? (2) When was the profession of Christianity declared a crime? These problems are of fundamental importance in the history of the church under the Roman empire.
(1) If we may accept the passage in Suetonius cited above (Claudius 25) as testimony on the vicissitudes of Christianity, we infer that at that time the Christians were confused with the Jews. The account of Pomponia Graecina, who was committed to the jurisdiction of her husband (Tacitus Ann. xiii. 32) for adherence to a foreign belief (superstitionis externae rea), is frequently cited as proof that as early as 57 AD Christianity had secured a convert in the aristocracy. The characterization of the evidence in this case by the contemporary authority from whom Tacitus has gleaned this incident would apply appropriately to the adherence to Judaism or several oriental religions from the point of view of Romans of that time; for Pomponia had lived in a very austere manner since 44 AD. Since there is some other evidence that Pomponia was a Christian, the indefinite account of the accusation against her as mentioned by Tacitus is partial proof that Christianity had not as yet been commonly recognized as a distinct religion (Marucchi, Elements d'archeologie chretienne I, 13). At the time of the great conflagration in 64 AD the populace knew of the Christians, and Nero charged them collectively with a plot to destroy the city (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44). The recognition of the distinctive character of Christianity had already taken place at this time. This was probably due in large measure to the circumstances of Paul's sojourn and trial in Rome and to the unprecedented number of converts made at that time. The empress Poppea, who was probably an adherent of Judaism (Josephus, Ant., XX, viii), may have enlightened the imperial court regarding the heresy of the Christians and their separation from the parent stock.
(2) In attempting to determine approximately the time at which Christianity was placed under the official ban of the imperial government, it will be convenient to adopt as starting-points certain incontestable dates between which the act of prosecution must have been issued. It is clear that at the time of the great conflagration (64 AD), the profession of Christianity was not a ground for criminal action. Paul had just been set at liberty by decree of the imperial court (compare 2Ti_4:17). Moreover, the charge against the Christians was a plot to burn the city, not adherence to a proscribed religion, and they were condemned, as it appears, for an attitude of hostility toward the human race (Tacitus Ann. xv. 44). While governor of Bithynia (circa 112 AD), Pliny the younger addressed Trajan in a celebrated letter (x.96) asking advice to guide his conduct in the trial of many persons who were accused as Christians, and inquiring particularly whether Christianity in itself was culpable, or only the faults which usually accompanied adherence to the new faith. The reply of the emperor makes quite plain the fundamental guilt at that time of adherence to Christianity, and it supposes a law already existing against it (x.97). It follows, therefore, that the law against Christianity which was the legal basis for persecution must have been issued between the conflagration in 64 AD and Pliny's administration of Bithynia.
We cannot define the time of this important act of legislation more closely with absolute certainty, although evidence is not wanting for the support of theories of more or less apparent probability. Tradition ascribes a general persecution to the reign of Domitian, which would imply that Christianity was already a forbidden religion at that time. Allusions in Revelation (as Rev_6:9), the references to recent calamities in Rome by Clement in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Ad Cor.), the condemnation of Acilius Glabrio (Dio Cassius lxvii. 13), a man of consular rank, together with the emperor's cousin Flavius Clemens (Dio Cassius, xiii) and Flavia Domitilla and many others on the charge of atheism and Jewish customs (95 AD), are cited as evidence for this persecution. The fact that a number of persons in Bithynia abandoned Christianity 20 years before the judicial investigation of Pliny (Pliny x. 96) is of some importance as corroborative evidence.
But there are grounds worthy of consideration for carrying the point of departure back of Domitian. The letter of Peter from Babylon (Rome ?) to the Christians in Asia Minor implies an impending persecution (1Pe_4:12-16). This was probably in the closing years of the reign of Nero. Allard cleverly observes (Histoire des persecutions, 61) that the mention of the Neronian persecution of the Christians apart from the description of the great fire in the work of Suetonius (Ner. 16), amid a number of acts of legislation, is evidence of a general enactment, which must have been adopted at the time of, or soon after, the proceedings which were instituted on the basis of the charge of arson. Upon the whole theory that the policy of the imperial government was definitely established under Nero carries with it considerable probability (compare Sulpitius Severus, Chron., ii. 41).

3. Persecution:
Although the original enactment has been lost the correspondence of Pliny and Trajan enables us to formulate the imperial policy in dealing with the Christians during the 2nd century. Adherence to Christianity was in itself culpable. But proceedings were not to be undertaken by magistrates on their own initiative; they were to proceed only from charges brought by voluntary accusers legally responsible for establishing the proof of their assertions. Informal and anonymous information must be rejected. Penitence shown in abjuring Christianity absolved the accused from the legal penalty of former guilt. The act of adoring the gods and the living emperor before their statues was sufficient proof of non-adherence to Christianity or of repentance.
The attitude of the imperial authorities in the 3rd century was less coherent. The problem became more complicated as Christianity grew. Persecution was directed more especially against the church as an organization, since it was believed to exert a dangerous power. About 202 AD, Septimius Severus issued a decree forbidding specifically conversion to Judaism or Christianity (Spartianus, Severus, 17), in which he departed from the method of procedure prescribed by Trajan (conquirendi non sunt), and commissioned the magistrates to proceed directly against suspected converts. At this time the Christians organized funerary associations for the possession of their cemeteries, substituting corporative for individual ownership, and it would appear that under Alexander Severus they openly held places of worship in Rome (Lampridius, Alexander Severus, 22, 49). The emperor Philip (244-49) is thought to have been a Christian at heart (Eusebius, HE, VI, 34). A period of comparative calm was interrupted by the persecution under Decius (250-51 AD), when the act of sacrifice was required as proof of non-adherence to Christianity. Several certificates testifying to the due performance of this rite have been preserved.
Under Valerian (257 AD) the Christian organizations were declared illegal and the cemeteries were sequestrated. But an edict in 260 AD restored this property (Eusebius, VII, 13). A short persecution under Aurelian (274 AD) broke the long period of calm which extended to the first edict of persecution of Diocletian (February 24, 303). The Christians seem to have gained a sort of prescriptive claim to exist, for Diocletian did not at first consider them guilty of a capital crime. He sought to crush their organization by ordering the cessation of assemblies, the destruction of churches and sacred books, and abjuration under pain of political and social degradation. (Lactantius, De Morte Persecutorum, x.11, 12, 13; Eusebius, VIII, 2; IX, 10). Later he ordered the arrest of all the clergy, who were to be put to death unless they renounced the faith (Eusebius, VIII, 6). Finally the requirement of an act of conformity in sacrificing to the gods was made general. This final persecution, continuing in an irregular way with varying degrees of severity, terminated with the defeat of Maxentius by Constantine (October 29, 312). The Edict of Milan issued by Constantine and Licinius the following year established toleration, the restoration of ecclesiastical property and the peace of the church. See ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY, III., IV., V.

Literature.
Allard, Histoire des persecutions, Paris, 1903; Le christianisme et l'empire romain, Paris, 1903; Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de l'eglise, Paris, 1907 (English translation); Marucchi, Elements d'archeologie chretienne, Paris, 1899-1902; Hardy, Christianity and the Roman Government, London, 1894; Renan, L'eglise chretienne, Paris, 1879; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, London, 1893.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Rome, the famous capital of the Western World, and the present residence of the Pope, stands on the River Tiber, about fifteen miles from, its mouth, in the plain of what is now called the Campagna, in lat. 41? 54′ N., long. 12? 28′ E. The country around the city is not a plain, but a sort of undulating table-land, crossed by hills, while it sinks towards the south-west to the marshes of Maremma, which coast the Mediterranean. In ancient geography the country, in the midst of which Rome lay, was termed Latium, which, in the earliest times, comprised within a space of about four geographical square miles the country lying between the Tiber and the Numicius, extending from the Alban Hills to the sea, having for its chief city Laurentum. Here, on the Palatine Hill, was the city of Rome founded, but it was extended, by degrees, so as to take in six other hills, at the foot of which ran deep valleys that, in early times, were in part overflowed with water, while the hill sides were covered with trees. The site occupied by modern Rome is not precisely the same as that which was at any period covered by the ancient city: the change of locality being towards the north-west, the city has partially retired from the celebrated hills. About two-thirds of the area within the walls (traced by Aurelian) are now desolate, consisting of ruins, gardens, and fields, with some churches, convents, and other scattered habitations. Originally the city was a square mile in circumference. The ground on which the modern city is built covers about one thousand acres, or one mile and a half square; its walls form a circuit of fifteen miles, and embrace an area of three thousand acres. Three of the seven hills are covered with buildings, but are only thinly inhabited. The greatest part of the population is now comprised within the limits of the Campus Martius. The ancient city, however, was more than treble the size of the modern, for it had very extensive suburbs beyond the walls. The population in 1836 consisted of 153,078, exclusive of Jews, who amount to 3700.
The connection of the Romans with Palestine caused Jews to settle at Rome in considerable numbers. On one occasion, in the reign of Tiberius, when the Jews were banished from the city by the emperor, for the misconduct of some members of their body, not fewer than four thousand enlisted in the Roman army which was then stationed in Sardinia. From Philo also it appears that the Jews in Rome were allowed the free use of their national worship, and generally the observance of their ancestral customs. Then, as now, the Jews lived in a part of the city appropriated to themselves, where with a zeal for which the nation had been sometime distinguished, they applied themselves with success to proselytizing. They appear, however, to have been a restless colony; for when, after their expulsion under Tiberius, numbers had returned to Rome, they were again expelled from the city by Claudius. It is probable that the Christians, as well as the Jews, properly so called, were included in this expulsion.
The question, Who founded the church at Rome? is one of some interest as between Catholic and Protestant. The former assigns the honor to Peter, and on this grounds an argument in favor of the claims of the papacy. There is, however, no sufficient reason for believing that Peter was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Rome
( ῾Ρώμη [in Greek, strength; but probably from Romulus, the founder], expressly mentioned in the Bible only in the books of the Maccabees, and in Act_18:2, etc.; Rom_1:7; Rom_1:15; 2Ti_1:17; see also “Babylon, “Revelations 14:8, etc.), the ancient capital of the Western world, and the present residence of the pope and capital of Italy. In the following brief account, we treat only of its ancient, and especially its Biblical, relations. SEE ROMAN EMPIRE.
I. General Description. — Rome lies on the river Tiber, about fifteen miles from its mouth, in the plain of what is now called the Campagna (Felix illa Campania, Pliny, Hist. Nat. 3, 6), in lat. 41° 54' N., long. 12° 28' E. The country around the city, however, is not altogether a plain, but a sort of undulating table land, crossed by hills, while it sinks towards the southwest to the marshes of Maremma, which coast the Mediterranean. In ancient geography, the country in the midst of which Rome lay was termed Latium, which, in the earliest times, comprised within a space of about four geographical square miles the country lying between the Tiber and the Numicius, extending from the Alban Hills to the sea, having for its chief city Laurentum. The “seven hills” (Revelations 17:9) which formed the nucleus of the ancient city stand on the left (eastern) bank. On the opposite side of the river rises the far higher ridge of the Janiculum. Here from very early times was a fortress, with a suburb beneath it extending to the river. Modern Rome lies to the north of the ancient city, covering with its principal portion the plain to the north of the seven hills, once known as the Campus Martius, and on the opposite bank extending over the low ground beneath the Vatican to the north of the ancient Janiculum.
The city of Rome was founded (B.C. 753) by Romulus and Remus, grandsons of Numitor, and sons of Rhea Sylvia, to whom, as the originators of the city, mythology ascribed a divine parentage. At first the city had three gates, according to a sacred usage. Founded on the Palatine Hill, it was extended, by degrees, so as to take in six other hills, at the foot of which ran deep valleys that in early times were in part overflowed with water, while the hillsides were covered with trees. In the course of the many years during which Rome was acquiring to herself the empire of the world, the city underwent great, numerous, and important changes. Under its first kings it must have presented a very different aspect from what it did after it had been beautified by Tarquint. The destruction of the city by the Gauls (A.U.C. 365) caused a thorough alteration in it; nor could the troubled times which ensued have been favorable to its being well restored. It was not till riches and artistic skill came into the city on the conquest of Philip of Macedon and Antiochus of Syria (A.U.C. 565) that there arose in Rome large, handsome stone houses.
The capture of Corinth conduced much to the adorning of the city, many fine specimens of art being transferred thence to the abode of the conquerors. As the power of Rome extended over the world, and her chief citizens went into the colonies to enrich themselves, so did the masterpieces of Grecian art flow towards the capital, together with some of the taste and skill to which they owed their birth. Augustus, however, it was who did most for embellishing the capital of the world, though there may be some sacrifice of truth in the pointed saying that he found Rome built of brick and left it marble. Subsequent emperors followed his example, till the place became the greatest repository of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural skill that the world has ever seen — a result to which even Nero's incendiarism indirectly conduced, as affording an occasion for the city's being rebuilt under the higher scientific influences of the times. The site occupied by modern Rome is not precisely the same as that which was at any period covered by the ancient city: the change of locality being towards the northwest, the city has partially retired from the celebrated hills. About two thirds of the area within the walls (traced by Aurelian) are now desolate, consisting of ruins, gardens, and fields, with some churches, convents, and other scattered habitations. Originally the city was four miles in circumference. In the time of Pliny the walls were nearly twenty miles in circuit; now they are from fourteen to fifteen miles around. Its original gates, three in number, had increased in the time of the elder Pliny to thirty-seven. Modern Rome has sixteen gates, some of which are, however, built up. Thirty-one great roads centered in Rome, which, issuing from the Forum, traversed Italy, ran through the provinces, and were terminated only by the boundary of the empire.
As a starting point, a gilt pillar (Milliarium Aureum) was set up by Augustus in the middle of the Forum. This curious monument, from which distances were reckoned, was discovered in 1823. Eight principal bridges led over the Tiber; of these three are still relics. The four districts into which Rome was divided in early times, Augustus increased to fourteen. Large open spaces were set apart in the city, called Campi, for assemblies of the people and martial exercises, as well as for games. Of nineteen which are mentioned, the Campus Martius was the principal. It was near the Tiber, whence it was called Tiberius. The epithet “Martins” was derived from the plain being consecrated to Mars, the god of war. In the later ages it was surrounded by several magnificent structures, and porticos were erected, under which, in bad weather, the citizens could go through their usual exercises. It was also adorned with statues and arches. The name of Forum was given to places where the people assembled for the transaction of business. The Fora were of two kinds fora venalia, “markets;” fora cicilia, “law-courts,” etc. Until the time of Julius Caesar there was but one of the latter kind, termed by way of distinction Forum Romanum, or simply Forum. It lay between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills; it was eight hundred feet wide, and adorned on all sides with porticos, shops, and other edifices, on the erection of which large sums had been expended, and the appearance of which was very imposing, especially as it was much enhanced by numerous statues. In the center of the Forum was the plain called the Curtian Lake, where Curtius is said to have cast himself into a chasm or gulf, which closed on him, and so he saved his country. On one side were the elevated seats, or suggestus, a sort of pulpit from which magistrates and orators addressed the people usually called rostra, because adorned with the beaks of ships which had been taken in a sea fight from the inhabitants of Antium. Near by was the part of the Forum called the Comitium, where were held the assemblies of the people called Comitia Curiata. The celebrated temple bearing the name of Capitol (of which there remain only a few vestiges) stood on the Capitoline Hill, the highest of the seven; it was square in form, each side extending about two hundred feet, and the ascent to it was by a flight of one hundred steps.
It was one of the oldest, largest, and grandest edifices in the city. Founded by Tarquinius Priscus, it was several times enlarged and embellished. Its gates were of brass, and it was adorned with costly gildings; whence it is termed “golden” and “glittering,” aurea, fulgens. It enclosed three structures, the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the center, the Temple of Minerva on the right, and the Temple of Juno on the left. The Capitol also comprehended some minor temples or chapels, and the Casa Romuli, or cottage of Romulus, covered with straw. Near the ascent to the Capitol was the asylum. We also mention the Basilicae, since some of them were afterwards turned to the purposes of Christian worship. They were originally buildings of great splendor, being appropriated to meetings of the senate, and to judicial purposes. Here counselors received their clients, and bankers transacted their business. The earliest churches, bearing the name of Basilicae, were erected under Constantine. He gave his own palace on the Coelian Hill as a site for a Christian temple. Next in antiquity was the Church of St. Peter, on the Vatican Hill, built A.D. 324, on the site and with the ruins of temples consecrated to Apollo and Mars. It stood about twelve centuries, at the end of which it was superseded by the modern church bearing the same name. The Circi were buildings oblong in shape, used for public games, races, and beast fights. The Theatra were edifices designed for dramatic exhibitions; the Amphitheatra (double theaters, buildings in an oval form) served for gladiatorial shows and the fighting of wild animals. That which was erected by the emperor Titus, and of which there still exists a splendid ruin, was called the Coliseum, from a colossal statue of Nero that stood near it.. With an excess of luxury, perfumed liquids were conveyed in secret tubes around these immense structures, and diffused over the spectators, sometimes from the statues which adorned the interior. In the arena which formed the center of the amphitheaters, the early Christians often endured martyrdom by being exposed to ravenous beasts. See Smith, Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v.; Parker, Archoeology of Rome (Lond. 1877, 6 vols. 8vo); Wood, Guide to Rome (Lond. 1875); Cokesly, Map of Anc. Rome (Lond. 1852).
II. Judaism in Rome. — The connection of the Romans with Palestine caused Jews to settle at Rome in considerable numbers. The Jewish king Aristobulus and his son formed part of Pompey's triumph, and many Jewish captives and emigrants were brought to Rome at that time. A special district was assigned to them (Josephus, Ant. 14, 10, 8), not on the site of the modern “Ghetto,” between the Capitol and the island of the Tiber, but across the Tiber (Philo, Leg. ad Caium, p. 568, ed. Mangey). From Philo also it appears that the Jews in Rome were allowed the free use of their national worship, and generally the observance of their ancestral customs. With a zeal for which the nation had been some time distinguished, they applied themselves with success to proselytizing (Dion Cass. 37, 17). Many of these Jews were made freedmen (Philo, loc. cit.). Julius Caesar showed them some kindness (Josephus, Ant. 14, 10, 8; Sueton. Caesar, 84). They were favored also by Augustus, and by Tiberius during the latter part of his reign (Philo, loc. cit.). On one occasion, in the reign of Tiberius, when the Jews were banished from the city by the emperor for the misconduct of some members of their body, not fewer than four thousand enlisted in the Roman army which was then stationed in Sardinia (Sueton. Tib. 36; Josephus, Ant. 18, 3, 4). Claudius “commanded all Jews to depart from Rome” (Act_18:2), on account of tumults connected, possibly, with the preaching of Christianity at Rome (Sueton. Claud. 25, “Judaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit”). This banishment cannot have been of long duration, for we find Jews residing at Rome apparently in considerable numbers at the time of Paul's visit (Act_28:17). The Roman biographer does not give the date of the expulsion by Claudius, but Orosius (7:6) mentions the ninth year of that emperor's reign (A.D. 50).
The precise occasion of this expulsion history does not afford us the means of determining. The cause here assigned for their expulsion is that they raised disturbances, an allegation which at first view does not seem to point to a religious, still less to a Christian, influence. Yet we must remember that the words bear the coloring of the mind of a heathen historian, who might easily be led to regard activity for the diffusion of Christian truth, and the debates to which that activity necessarily led, as a noxious disturbance of the peace of society. The Epicurean view of life could scarcely avoid describing religious agitations by terms ordinarily appropriated to martial pursuits. It must equally be borne in mind that the diffusion of the Gospel in Rome — then the very center and citadel of idolatry was no holiday task, but would call forth on the part of the disciples all the fiery energy of the Jewish character, and on the part of the pagans all the vehemence of passion which ensues from pride, arrogance, and hatred. Had the ordinary name of our Lord been employed by Suetonius, we should, for ourselves, have found little difficulty in understanding the words as intended to be applied to Jewish Christians. But the biographer uses the word Chrestus. The us is a mere Latin termination; but what are we to make of the root of the word — Chrest for Christ? Yet the change is in only one vowel, and Chrest might easily be used for Christ by a pagan writer. A slight difference in the pronunciation of the word as vocalized by a Roman and a Jew would easily cause the error.
We know that the Romans often did make the mispronunciation, calling Christ “Chrest” (Tertull. Apol. c. 3; Lactant. Inst. 4, 17; Just. Mart. Apol. c. 2). The point is important, and we therefore give a few details, the rather that Lardner has, under Claudius (1, 259), left the question undetermined. Now, in Tacitus (Annal. 15, 44) Jesus is unquestionably called Chrest in a passage where his followers are termed Christians. Lucian, too, in his Philopatris, so designates our Lord, playing on the word Chrestus (Χρηστός), which, in Greek, signifies “good.” These are his words: “since a Chrest [a good man] is found among the Gentiles also.” Tertullian (ut sup.) treats the difference as a case of ignorant mispronunciation, Christianus being wrongly pronounced Chrestianus. The mistake may have been the more readily introduced from the fact that, while Christ was a foreign word, Chrest was customary. Lips that had been used to Chrest would, therefore, rather continue the sound than change the vocalization. The term Chrest occurs on inscriptions (Heumann, Sylloge. diss. 1. 536), and epigrams in which the name appears may be found in Martial (7, 55; 9, 28). In the same author (11, 91) a diminutive from the word, namely, Chrestillus, may be found. The word assumed, also, a feminine form, Chresta, as found in an ancient inscription. Comp. also Martial (7, 55). There can therefore be little risk in asserting that Suetonius intended to indicate Jesus Christ by Chrestus; and we have already seen that the terms which he employs to describe the cause of the expulsion, though peculiar, are not irreconcilable with a reference on the part of the writer to Christians. The terms which Suetonius employs are accounted for, though they may not be altogether justified, by those passages in the Acts of the Apostles in which the collision between the Jews who had become Christians and those who adhered to the national faith is found to have occasioned serious disturbances (Kuinol, Act_18:2; Rorsal, De Christoper Errorum in Chrest. Comm. [Groning. 1717]). Both Suetonius and Luke, in mentioning the expulsion of the Jews, seem to have used the official term employed in the decree. The Jews were know to the Roman magistrate; and Christians, as being at first Jewish converts, would be confounded under the general name of Jews. But that the Christians as well as the Jews strictly so called were banished by Claudius appears certain from the book of Acts; and, independently of this evidence, seems very probable from the other authorities of which mention has been made. SEE CHRESTUS; SEE ROME, JEWS IN.
III. Christianity at Rome. — Nothing is known of the first founder of the Christian Church at Rome. Roman Catholics assign the honor to Peter, and on this ground an argument in favor of the claims of the papacy. There is, however, no sufficient reason for believing that Peter was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome (Ellendorf, Ist Petrus in Rom und Bischof der romischen Kirche gewesen? [Darmstadt, 1843]). SEE PETER. Christianity may, perhaps, have been introduced into the city, not long after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, by the “strangers of Rome” who were then at Jerusalem (Act_2:10). It is clear that there were many Christians at Rome before Paul visited the city (Rom_1:8; Rom_1:13; Rom_1:15; Rom_15:20). The names of twenty-four Christians at Rome are given in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans. For the difficult question whether the Roman Church consisted mainly of Jews or Gentiles, see Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 157; Alford, Proleg.; and especially Prof. Jowett, Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans, Galatians, and Thessalonians, 2:7-26. The view there adopted, that they were a Gentile Church, but with many Jewish converts, seems most in harmony with such passages as 1:5, 13; 11:13, and with the general tone of the epistle. SEE ROMANS, EPISTLE TO.
It may be useful to give some account of Rome in the time of Nero, the “Caesar” to whom Paul appealed, and in whose reign he suffered martyrdom (Eusebius, H.E. 2, 25).
1. The city at that time must be imagined as a large and irregular mass of buildings unprotected by an outer wall. It had long outgrown the old Servian wall (Dionys. Hal. Ant. Hom. 4, 13; ap. Merivale, Rom. Hist. 4, 497); but the limits of the suburbs cannot be exactly defined. Neither the nature of the buildings nor the configuration of the ground was such as to give a striking appearance to the city viewed from without. “Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor campanile” (Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 371; Merivale, Rom. Emp. 4, 512), and the hills, never lofty or imposing, would present, when covered with the buildings and streets of a huge city, a confused appearance like the hills of modern London, to which they have sometimes been compared. The visit of Paul lies between two famous epochs in the history of the city, viz. its restoration by Augustus and its restoration by Nero (Conybeare and Howson, 1, 13). Some parts of the city, especially the Forum and Campus Martius, must now have presented a magnificent appearance; but many of the principal buildings which attract the attention of modern travelers in ancient Rome were not vet built. The streets were generally narrow and winding, flanked by densely crowded lodging-houses (insuloe) of enormous height. Augustus found it necessary to limit their height to seventy feet (Strabo, 5, 235). Paul's first visit to Rome took place before the Neronian conflagration, but even after the restoration of the city, which followed upon that event, many of the old evils continued (Tacitus, Hist. 3, 71; Juvenal, Sat. 3, 193, 269). One half of the population consisted, in all probability, of slaves. The larger part of the remainder consisted of pauper citizens supported in idleness by the miserable system of public gratuities. There appears to have been no middle class and no free industrial population. Side by side with the wretched classes just mentioned was the comparatively small body of the wealthy nobility, of whose luxury and profligacy we hear so much in the heathen writers of the time. (See for calculations and proofs the works cited.)
Such was the population which Paul would find at Rome at the time of his visit. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that he was detained at Rome for “two whole years,” “dwelling in his own hired house with a soldier that kept him” (Act_28:16; Act_28:30), to whom apparently, according to Roman custom (Seneca, Ephesians 5; Act_12:6, quoted by Brotier, Ad Tac. Ann. 3, 22), he was bound with, a chain (Act_28:20; Eph_6:20; Php_1:13). Here he preached to all that came to him, no man forbidding him (Act_28:30-31). It is generally believed that on his “appeal, to Caesar” he was acquitted, and, after some time spent in freedom, was a second time imprisoned at Rome (for proofs, see Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, ch. 27, and Alford, Gr. Test. vol. 3, ch. 7). Five of his epistles, viz. those to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, that to Philemon, and the Second Epistle to Timothy, were, in all probability, written from Rome, the latter shortly before his death (2Ti_4:6), the others during his first imprisonment. SEE HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE. It is universally believed that he suffered martyrdom at Rome.
2. The localities in and about Rome especially connected with the life of Paul are —
(1) The Appian Way, by which he approached Rome (Act_28:15). SEE APPII FORUM.
(2) “The palace,” or “Cesar's court” (τὸ πραιτώριον, Php_1:13). This may mean either the great camp of the Praetorian guards which Tiberius established outside the walls on the northeast of the city (Tacitus, Ann. 4, 2; Suetonius, Tib. 37), or, as seems more probable, a barrack attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine (Wieseler, as quoted by Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, 2, 423). There is no sufficient proof that the word “praetorium” was ever used to designate the emperor's palace, though it is used for the official residence of a Roman governor (Joh_18:28; Act_23:35). The mention of “Caesar's household” (Php_4:22) confirms the notion that Paul's residence was in the immediate neighborhood of the emperor's house on the Palatine.
3. The connection of other localities at Rome with Paul's name rests only on traditions of more or less probability. We may mention especially —
(1) The Mamertine prison, or Tullianum, built by Ancus Marcius near the Forum (Liv. 1, 33), described by Sallust (Cat. 55). It still exists beneath the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami. Here it is said that Peter and Paul were fellow prisoners for nine months. This is not the place to discuss the question whether Peter was ever at Rome. It may be sufficient to state that though there is no evidence of such a visit in the New Test., unless Babylon in 1Pe_5:13 be a mystical name for Rome, yet early testimony (Dionysius, ap. Euseb. 2, 25) and the universal belief of the early Church seem sufficient to establish the fact of his having suffered martyrdom there. The story, however, of the imprisonment in the Mamertine prison seems inconsistent with 2 Timothy, especially 4:11.
(2) The chapel on the Ostian Roan which marks the spot where the two apostles are said to have separated on their way to martyrdom.
(3) The supposed scene of Paul's martyrdom, viz. the Church of San Paolo alle tre Fontane, on the Ostian Road. (See the notice of the Ostian Road in Caius, ap. Enseb. H.E. 2, 25.) To these may be added,
(4) The supposed scene of Peter's martyrdom, viz. the Church of San Pietro in Montorio, on the Janiculum.
(5) The chapel “Domine quo Vadis,” on the Appian Road, the scene of the beautiful legend of our Lord's appearance to Peter as he was escaping from martyrdom (Ambrose, Ep. 33).
(6) The places where the bodies of the two apostles, after having been deposited first in the Catacombs (κοιμητήρια) (Euseb. H.E. 2, 25), are supposed to have been finally buried — that of Paul by the Ostian Road, that of Peter beneath the dome of the famous basilica which bears his name (see Caius, ap. Euseb. H.E. 2, 25). All these and many other traditions will be found in the Annals of Baronius, under the last year of Nero. “Valueless as may be the historical testimony of each of these traditions singly, yet collectively they are of some importance as expressing the consciousness of the 3d and 4th centuries that there had been an early contest, or at least contrast, between the two apostles, which in the end was completely reconciled; and it is this feeling which gives a real interest to the outward forms in which it is brought before us — more or less, indeed, in all the south of Europe, but especially in Rome itself” (Stanley, Sermons and Essays, p. 101).
4. We must add, as sites unquestionably connected with the Roman Christians of the apostolic age
(1) The gardens of Nero in the Vatican, not far from the spot where St. Peter's now stands. Here Christians, wrapped in the skins of beasts, were
serve as torches during the midnight games. Others were crucified (Tacitus, 15, 44).
(2) The Catacombs. These subterranean galleries, commonly from eight to ten feet in height, and from four to six in width, and extending for miles, especially in the neighborhood of the old Appian and Nomentan ways, were unquestionably used as places of refuge, of worship, and of burial by the early Christians. It is impossible here to enter upon the difficult question of their origin, and their possible connection with the deep sand pits and subterranean works at Rome mentioned by classical writers. See the story of the murder of Asinius (Cicero, Pro Cluent. 13), and the account of the concealment offered to Nero before his death (Suetonius, Nero, 48). A more complete account of the Catacombs than any previously given may be found in G.B. de Rossi's Roma Sotteriana Christiana (1864 sq.). Some very interesting notices of this work, and descriptions of the Roman Catacombs, are given in Burgon's Letters from Rome, p. 120-258. “De Rossi finds his earliest dated inscription A.D. 71. From that date to A.D. 300 there are not known to exist so many as thirty Christian inscriptions bearing dates. Of undated inscriptions, however, about 4000 are referable to the period antecedent to the emperor Constantine” (Burgon, p. 148). SEE CATACOMBS. The lately exhumed foundations of the Church of St. Clement are confidently claimed as relics of the same age (Mullooly, Clement's Basilicta in Rome [Rome, 1873, 8vo]). SEE CLEMENT.
Linus (who is mentioned in 2Ti_4:21) and Clement (Php_4:3) are supposed to have succeeded Peter as bishops of Rome. SEE LINUS.
IV. Mystical Titles. — Rome, as being their tyrannical mistress, was an object of special hatred to the Jews, who therefore denominated her by the name of Babylon the state in whose dominions they had endured a long and heavy servitude (Schottgel, Hot. Heb. 1, 1125; Eisenmenger, Entdeckt. Judenth. 1, 1800). Accordingly Rome, under the name of Babylon, is set forth in the Apocalypse (Rev_14:8; Rev_16:19; Rev_17:5; Rev_18:2) as the center and representative of heathenism; while Jerusalem appears as the symbol of Judaism. In Rev_17:9 allusion is clearly made to the Septicollis, the seven-hilled city — “seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.” The description of this woman, in whom the profligacy of Rome is vividly personified, may be seen in Revelation 17. In ch. 13 Rome is pictured as a huge, unnatural beast, whose name or number “is the number of a man, and his number is χξ῍῎,” 666, not improbably Latinos, Λατείνος, Latin, Roman. This beast has been most variously interpreted. The several theories serve scarcely more than to display the ingenuity or the bigotry of their originators, and to destroy each other. Minter (De Occulto Urbis Romoe Nomine [Hafn. 1811]) thinks there is a reference to the secret name of Rome, the disclosure of which, it was thought, would be destructive to the state (Pliny, list. Nat. 3, 9; Macrobius, Sat. 3, 5; Plutarch, Quoest. Rom. c. 61; Servius, Ad AEn. 2, 293). Pliny's words occur in the midst of a long and picturesque account of Italy. Coming in the course of it to speak of Rome, he says, “the uttering of whose other name is accounted impious, and when it had been spoken by Valerius Soranus, who immediately suffered the penalty, it was blotted out with a faith no less excellent than beneficial.” He then proceeds to speak of the rites observed on the first of January, in connection with this belief, in honor of Diva Angerona, whose image appeared with her mouth bound and sealed up. This mystic name tradition reports to have been Valencia.
One of the most recent views of the name of the beast, from the pen of a Christian writer, we find in Hyponoia, or Thoughts on a Spiritual Understanding of the Apocalypse (Lond. 1844). “The number in question (666) is expressed in Greek by three letters of the alphabet: χ, six hundred; 10, sixty; ῍, six. Let us suppose these letters to be the initials of certain names, as it was common with the ancients in their inscriptions to indicate names of distinguished characters by initial letters, and sometimes by an additional letter, as C. Caius, Cn. Cneus. The Greek letter χ (ch) is the initial of Χριστός (Christ); the letter ξ is the initial of ξύλον (wood or tree); sometimes figuratively put in the New Test. for the cross. The last letter, ῍ is equivalent to σ and τ, but whether an s or an st, it is the initial of the word Satanas, Satan, or the adversary. Taking the first two names in the genitive, and the last in the nominative, we have the following appellation, name, or title: Χριστοῦ ξύλου σατανᾶς, ‘the adversary of the cross of Christ,' a character corresponding with that of certain enemies of the truth described by Paul (Php_3:19).” SEE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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