CHRISTIAN HISTORY Issue 124 Faith in the city How the early church flourished in urban centers UNITED IN DEATH A married Roman couple (and the god Cupid) adorn this marble family sarcophagus. senators (also wealthy), equestrians (business and mili- tary leadership), and plebeians (average working peo- ple and rank-and-file soldiers). • Slaves generally did the most menial work, though some worked as doctors or tutors to children of wealthy families. • The basic unit of Roman society was the family, and the father, called the paterfamilias, was its absolute head. He could even reject his own children from the family or sell them as slaves. • Women had no political rights. They could not vote, stand for office, or speak in public. As time wore on, wealthier women gained the right to own property and manage their own affairs; we catch glimpses in the New Testament of some who supported the early church. • Women were not supposed to appear in a civic capac- ity, but the interior of the home was considered to be the woman’s domain, and men generally did not interfere with household management. Did you know? LIFE IN A ROMAN CITY ION, 3RD CENTURY AD (PHOTO) / DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY G. DAGLI ORTI BRIDGEMAN IMAGES • Cities were noisy and crowded, with different T, OH, USA / JOHN L. SEVERANCE FUND BRIDGEMAN IMAGES WHAT DID ROMAN CITIES LOOK AND FEEL LIKE? trades practiced, restaurants and taverns available, and a wide selection of entertainment: circuses, WHEN IN ROME. chariot races, plays, athletic games. Many people • All citizens of the Roman Empire had more privi- emigrated from rural areas looking for jobs, which leges than non-Romans—think how Paul repeatedly they usually did not find. appealed to his privilege as a citizen. But they were • Great marble public buildings dominated the divided into social classes by wealth. At the top were cityscape. Streets were haphazardly laid out until the emperors, followed by patricians (wealthy nobility), after the great fire (64) of Nero’s reign. People lived in crowded, unsafe tenements called insulae; only the more spacious lower floors of an insula had running water and indoor plumb- ing. Affluent Romans lived in luxurious multiroom houses (domus). Both insulae and domus had shops or offices in front for con- ducting business. • Roman men enjoyed going to the free public baths in the middle of the day, the only place where different classes mixed freely. The baths had areas for exercise, food, and hot and cold bathing. Slaves attended wealthy bathers. • In the late 200s, Emperor Diocletian gave Rome a bath that covered over 30 acres and could accommodate up to 3,000 bathers. By the year 400, Rome supported over 900 baths. • All Romans joined in observing dinner at 4 p.m. after visiting the baths; a fam- PRIVATE OASIS A Roman domus had bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and maybe even a private ily would observe rituals to its particular PORTICO OF ROMAN VILLA NEAR ODEON, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE CARTHAGE (UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST, 1979), TUNISIA, CIVILIZAT SPOON WITH SAINT PAUL AS AN ATHLETE, 350-400 (SILVER, SILVER GILT AND NIELLO), ROMAN, (4TH CENTURY AD) / CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF AR thUndering legion inscriPtion— Wikimedia: grandmaster library—all built around a courtyard. gods at the meal. The wealthy reclined on SARCOPHAGUS OF A MARRIED COUPLE. DETAIL RELIEF. ABOUT 240 AD. ANCIENT ROME. / PHOTO © TARKER BRIDGEMAN IMAGES ITALY. POMPEII. HOUSE OF VETTI. DOMUS. 1ST CENTURY AD. PERISTYLE. / PHOTO © TARKER BRIDGEMAN IMAGES C H SARCOPHAGUS OF A MARRIED COUPLE. DETAIL RELIEF. ABOUT 240 AD. ANCIENT ROME. / PHOTO © TARKER / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES ITALY. POMPEII. HOUSE OF VETTI. DOMUS. 1ST CENTURY AD. PERISTYLE. / PHOTO © TARKER / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES PORTICO OF ROMAN VILLA NEAR ODEON, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF CARTHAGE (UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST, 1979), TUNISIA, ROMAN CIVILIZATION, 3RD CENTURY AD (PHOTO) / DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY / G. DAGLI ORTI / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES SPOON WITH SAINT PAUL AS AN ATHLETE, 350-400 (SILVER, SILVER GILT AND NIELLO), ROMAN, (4TH CENTURY AD) / CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, OH, USA / JOHN L. SEVERANCE FUND / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES THUNDERING LEGION INSCRIPtion— Wikimedia: GRANDMASTER Issue 124 Issue dering Legion,”afamedRoman unit. ON DUTY no no official church buildings and worshiped • For more than 150 years, Christians had EVANG death around 155. such feast shortly was afterfor Polycarp, his feasts to honor martyrs. Perhaps ate a meal.the Later this practicefirst developed into Scripture, prayed, gave alms to the poor, and gathered at the tomb, sangtieth (or fortieth) days afterpsalms, the death. They read death on the relative’s third, ninth, and thir society because they observed the • anniversarySome Romans of believed a Christians also were led accusations to cannibalism of a and incest. funeral Christian observance of the Eucharist and love feasts in the social and civic activities honoring pagan deities. tians, meant “against gods” or refusing to participate • Atheism, one of the leading charges against inChris Rome. Vesta the of temple oversaw virginsvestalthe and forming sacrificesstate; the for his wife, the flamines fices omens to decide if the gods were pleased; the and the priestesses: • The Roman state maintained collegesOF GODSANDCHRISTIANS of priests received amonthly allowance grain.) of mented rarely with meat, fish, and vegetables. (They dinner parties; the poor ate bread and threwgruel,andmulticourse lavish spices, exotic ate couches, supple helped the emperor in his religious duties; the the duties; religious his in emperor the helped E servedindividual the gods; Thisinscriptionhonorsthe“Thun LIZING PAGANS regina sacrorum regina augures , elected for life, studied , spent their lives per rex sacrorum rex - - ponti and - - - - few of these entries were taken. previous Did articles you know? from which a Abilene Christian contributed to University, guson, distinguished scholar residence in at andpastor Everett and freelanceFer writer, Gooch, MethodistJohn O. United retired inally owned the land. after Roman senator Pudens who orig not after a martyred Pudenziana Christian, in Rome but may be named, Prisca in Rome. The Church of Santa shrines, like San Clemente and Santa paganism by building churches on old • Once legal, Christianity often “baptized” severalproduced schisms. question of whether to readmit the duced lapsed a crisis for the church in the • 250s: the The numbers of those who with imperialfell directives. away pro Faced with persecution, some Christians complied rather rather than deliberate government policy. • Persecution often grew out of animosity tions in and 235 again between 250 and 258. 211 to 303, briefly interrupted by perseculocalized.A long peacefulperiod radic and, lastedin the first from two centuries, usually •Persecution in the Roman Empire wasspo could consume; the unbaptized departed. whichtheSupper, onlyLord’s the baptized The ship was open to all, including strangers. mainly in homes. The first part of wor an athlete. silver spoonshowstheapostlePaulas RUNNING HISRA RUSTI wealthy Roman’svillaoutsideCarthage. second C R E TR part of the service involved involved service the of part C H E AT CE Left: Below: Thiswasoncea - - This 4th-c. This 4th-c. - - - - 1 NEW! From ICCS Press: The SONGS ofAFRICA THE ETHIOPIAN CANTICLES Thomas C. Oden was a remarkable scholar and teacher whose long and varied life touched many areas of theology and spirituality. In his last years, Oden’s attention turned to African Christianity, and he began a project on the Ethiopian Canticles. The superb essays gathered in this volume represent some of the fruit of those labors. They shed new light on one of the earliest layers of historic Christianity, a living tradition in which liturgy, theology, and poetry coinhere in the vitality of faith. —Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture. THOMAS C. ODEN THOMAS C. ODEN CARE of SOULS The in th eCLASSIC REBIRTH of TRADITION ORTHODOXY THEOLOGY and PASTORAL CARE SIGNS of NEW LIFE in CHRISTIANITY ISBN 978-1-62428-060-3 214 pages softcover $99.95 Call 475-731-1523 or visit iccspress.com ICCS Press 616 Prospect Street New Haven, CT 06511 Letters to the editor Readers respond to Christian History PRAISE FROM OUR READERS INCARCERATED READERS Once again, a superb issue on the Catholic Reforma- RESPOND TO CH #123 tion. I think this is my favorite of the four Reformation I feel all alone and helpless issues because it contains information not usually pre- sometimes even though I sented. Thanks! Keep up the good work! Lord Bless! have Jesus and my Catholic —Tom Edmunds, Washington, NJ faith. Your magazine helped me feel less alone. I find There are many emails that I often delete before myself feeling that I’m the I even read. Not so with your daily email. I so enjoy only one suffering in prison, each article. I use Strong’s concordance often and to but your issue shows inmates now know it took 35 years to compile is nothing short of who had it a lot worse, and amazing! Such discipline!—Cindy Dingeldein some paid with their lives. This puts my suffering into perspec- Hi—I greatly enjoy your daily emails, and they are tive.—Kevin Owens, Florida City, FL good also for instructing my daughter. I would like to bring to your attention Helen Roseveare. She is worthy How happy I was to get issue 123. Everyone here [in the of an article.—C. J. McArthur prison] is reading the issue and loving it. We’ll keep you in our prayers. —Johnny L. Wooten, Lovelady, TX Always happy to hear from readers who enjoy what we are doing! Our new website design makes it easy to find great MORE WAR STORIES content any time you need it, including daily! And we’ve Once again you delivered a riveting and timely issue talked about doing an issue on medical missions; Roseveare [#121].