Roman Empire Research Paper

Life in Roman society reflected both the values and the accomplishments of the Roman people. These accomplishments were not limited to what the Romans themselves created. They were a practical people. They brilliantly incorporated the advancements of the Greeks into their culture and created an empire that allowed freedom of movement and freedom of thought. Life in the Roman Empire was unthinkable without some form of religion. Rome had its ancient gods and Greece had it gods. But the Romans found a way to merge the major deities. The important aspect of religion for the Roman was it served the empire and played a role in the peace they jealously protected. Non-Roman/Greek religion was tolerated if it did not detract from the interests of the

They concentrated on creating a system of jurisprudence for their realm and granting a high measure of freedom to those under their rule. The Romans were major benefactors of their own policies, for through them they improved their own civilization. Roads, aqueducts, and other construction projects throughout the empire did much to unite the diverse population. Romans themselves and their emperors was a superstitious people--not an uncommon trait among all commoners who believed in multiple gods at the time. Revering the gods was a direct result of a belief that the gods could benefit your cause or defeat you. By sacrificing animals and valuable objects, the Romans attempted to appease the gods who were inclined to a moody disposition. Hence, if something went wrong with the Empire, it was easy to blame the Christians who denied the reality of the many gods responsible for various elements of the universe gods of agriculture, sea, sky, and war. Beyond the language and philosophical thought lies the culture. We assume that the writings of the New Testament are free of contaminants from the social order--from immorality, greed, bad social customs, or corrupt politics. The more we know about the surrounding culture, the better prepared we are to understand the genius of the gospel and how it interacted with that culture. For example, slavery was practiced in

The largest, wealthiest, and most powerful cities in the empire had accepted Hellenistic or Roman culture. Understandably, Rome did not trust the leaders in cities which refused to imbibe the common culture. Some cities--but not all--were established by, or were heavily influenced by, Hellenism or the Roman way of life. Jews and Christians in the cities would have normally lived in tiny apartments, in the homes of their masters, or at the back of their ground-floor shops. Outwardly, they would have assimilated into society, and probably been indistinguishable in public. However, they would not have been present at temple ceremonies and would not have participated in the games or been seen at the brothels. To have done so would have been out of character for them. Like today's modern cities, Christians found every sort of vice and general display of pagan worship with its attendant debauchery. They would have been found among the pagans who were honest businessmen and decent folks. Some cities, like Philippi, were built as retirement locations for Roman soldiers and reflected more Roman ways. Other cities like Damascus continued to flourish as they had for centuries before the advent of the Romans and manifested their distinctive characteristics. Cities like Athens remained very Greek. Cities like Pergamum in Asia Minor were anxious to show allegiance to Rome. Others, like Jerusalem, were always on