Christianity AND ROME’S LEGACIES Old Religions New Testament MARK MAKES HIS MARK NOT SO SIMPLE TEMPLES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH christianity_FC.indd 1 3/6/17 3:32 PM 2 Religions in Rome The earliest Romans saw their gods as spirits or powerful forces of nature. These gods did not have personalities or emotions or act in any other way like human beings. However, as Rome began to build an empire, the Romans were exposed to new ideas. Through contact with the Greeks, the Romans’ idea of gods and goddesses changed. The Greeks believed in gods and god- desses who behaved very much like human beings. Their gods could be jeal- ous, angry, passionate, kind, foolish, or petty. The Romans borrowed this idea u THE ROMANS People did not go to and honey, burned honored their gods a temple to worship sweet-smelling from the Greeks. They even borrowed by building temples. the god. Rather, a incense, and sac- some of the Greek gods and goddesses. Inside each temple temple was where rificed animals to No longer were the Roman gods spir- was a statue of a priests made honor the god. god or goddess. offerings of cakes its or forces of nature. They were now divine and human at the same time. u UNTIL THE in private people 300s CE, the Roman were free to think u THE ROMANS wisdom. During festival day, priests ticular, no legal religion was a and say what they honored their gods Cerealia, Romans performed rituals work was allowed. state religion. wanted to. Over with more than 100 honored the god- and sacrifices Celebrations includ- The emperor was time, the emperor festivals every year. dess of grain, outside the temple ed feasting, music, the leader of the came to be seen as Quinquatria was Ceres. At Saturnalia, of the god being rest, and reflection. government and a god who must be a five-day festival honoring the god honored. People of the religion. worshipped. Those honoring Minerva, Saturn, gifts were did not have to Everyone had to who didn’t worship the goddess of exchanged. On a work, and in par- observe the Roman him could be pun- religion publicly. But ished by death. christianity_2-3_v2.indd 2 3/6/17 3:33 PM 3 Some Roman Gods and Goddesses Roman Greek Counterpart Role Jupiter or Jove Zeus Chief god Juno Hera Chief goddess Mars Ares God of war Venus Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty Mercury Hermes Messenger of the gods Apollo Apollo God of sun, music and poetry, healing r ROME WAS A r SOME ROMANS the god Mithras large empire with participated in mys- was associated people of many tery religions. These with loyalty to the Except for Earth, different cultures were secret groups emperor. all of the known and religions. For that required a planets are named the most part, the person to be ini- for Roman or Greek Romans allowed tiated, or taken gods and goddess- conquered peo- into the religion, es. Why do you ple to practice during a ceremony. think people named any religion they Mithraism was a planets after gods? chose, as long as mystery religion Why do you think they also publicly that began in Earth is not named took part in the Persia and spread for a god? Roman religion. to Rome. In Rome, THE ROMANS WERE A help or destroy very practical peo- them. Religion was ple. They believed not about how that religious you treated other observances were human beings. It a way of keeping was about making on the good side sure that the gods of the gods, who and goddesses had the power to treated you well. christianity_2-3_v2.indd 3 3/6/17 3:34 PM 4 The Jewish People Under Roman Rule In 63 BCE, the Roman Empire took control of Syria and Judaea, the ancient home- land of the Jewish people. There were still many Jews living in Judaea at the time. However, because of past conquests and exiles, there were also Jews living all over the Roman Empire. Thousands lived in the city of Rome. Syria and Egypt also had large Jewish populations. Unlike most of Rome’s conquered peoples, the Jews believed in one God. Thus, the Roman belief in many gods and goddesses directly clashed with their beliefs. As a result, they refused to worship Roman gods. Since they did not discourage others from worshipping Roman gods, they were allowed to practice Judaism in peace for many years. Over time, howev- er, conflicts about religion grew between u FROM 37 TO the required taxes left over, Herod the Jews and the Roman government. 4 BCE, King Herod to the Romans. As rebuilt the Temple the Great was a result, Rome let at Jerusalem, the local ruler of the Jews practice which had originally Judaea under the their religion in been destroyed by Romans. He was peace. With the tax the Babylonians in careful to deliver money that was about 586 BCE. r AFTER THE destruction of the temple in 70 CE, Jewish troops at the mountaintop fortress of Masada made a last stand. It took 15,000 Roman soldiers u IN 40 CE, THE their religion almost two years Roman Emperor caused the Jews to to defeat 1,000 Caligula insisted rebel against Rome Jewish fighters. that a statue of in 66 CE. Four years him be placed in later, Titus – who the Jewish Temple later became the at Jerusalem. emperor of Rome – Although he later crushed the revolt withdrew this and destroyed the demand, it and temple. other insults to christianity_4-5_v2.indd 4 3/6/17 3:35 PM 5 d JEWS REVOLTED limited to Judaea. and towns. It took again in 115 CE Jews living in the Romans two because of their Egypt, Cyprus, and years to put down treatment by the other parts of the this rebellion. Romans. This time empire attacked the revolt was not Roman soldiers HADRIAN r IN 132 CE, THE ancient writer Jerusalem. The Jews in Judaea reported that half Romans changed revolted against a million Jews had the name of the Romans for been killed. After Judaea to Syria- the third time. The the revolt was put Palaestina. Many Roman response down, the Emperor Jews moved to was more brutal Hadrian forced other parts of the than ever. One the Jews to leave empire. JESUS l AFTER THE END their message CE, when the third of the third Jewish outside of Judaea. Jewish revolt was revolt, missionaries Christianity had put down, it had from a new religion begun as a sect, become a separate called Christianity or division, of religion. began to carry Judaism. By 135 christianity_4-5_v2.indd 5 3/6/17 3:35 PM 6 The main source of information about Jesus and his teachings is the New Testament of the Bible, a text sacred to the followers of the Christian religion. According to the New Testament, Jesus didn’t preach rebellion against the Romans. In fact, he told people to pay their taxes to Rome. The New Testament says that Jesus reminded his followers of basic Jewish beliefs, such as believing in one God and following the Ten Commandments. He also told them that God loved them and would forgive them if they turned away from sin. He urged them to love God and to love one another. Christianity’s Beginnings The Roman rulers of Judaea were worried. A Jew named Jesus had been traveling around the prov- ince preaching in temples. He had started to attract crowds so large that sometimes he preached out- side. Some people were taking him seriously, and a group of disciples, or followers, began to travel u IN THE NEW and left lying by the with him. It wasn’t so much what Jesus said that Testament, Jesus side of the road. teaches by telling All those who pass bothered the Romans. It was what others began parables, simple him ignore him. to say about him. Some people called him the stories with lessons Finally, a stranger Messiah. For years, the Jews had been expecting about life. Jesus from Samaria – an used the parable of unfriendly land a messiah, or savior. They believed this messiah the Good Samaritan – stops to help. would free them from Roman rule, and the Romans to teach people Jesus said that were not about to allow that. Not all Jews believed what it meant to be the stranger who a good neighbor. stopped to help was Jesus was the Messiah, however, so he became a In the story, a man the good neighbor, source of conflict among the Jewish people. is robbed, beaten, or Good Samaritan. christianity_6-7.indd 6 3/6/17 3:36 PM 7 d SOME OF JESUS’S proclaiming that followers of Jesus d A JEW NAMED followers began Jesus was the called him Jesus Saul tried to stop to call themselves Messiah. They talk- Christ, meaning the apostles from apostles, which ed about Jesus’s Jesus the Messiah. saying that Jesus comes from a resurrection after Thus, the followers was the Messiah. Greek word mean- the Romans had of Jesus came Then one day, Saul ing “messenger.” crucified him. Many to be known as had a vision of Jesus They traveled to people joined the Christians and their that changed his different places in new religion. The religion was called mind. He became an the Roman Empire, Greek-speaking Christianity. apostle and began to preach that Jesus was the Messiah. Soon, he became known as Paul.