The Roman Empire was basically an attempt to assert law and order in an unruly world by a blend of diplomacy and force. Perhaps that is why Janus, her god of war, had two faces. In a jungle like world Rome discovered the secret that force without diplomacy or diplomacy without force are equally ineffectual. The empire was held together by the threat of armed might if all stratagems failed. As long as her legions stood firm Rome stood firm. When they wavered, as they did in her decadent days, her political expertise did not help her.
The Roman Legions
The Roman Empire, the fourth and final form of Gentile power, is described in Scripture as “a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet.” —Dan 7:1919Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; (Daniel 7:19). So it should not surprise us that from its earliest days Rome was a martial power, in constant conflict with her neighbors. The doors of the Temple of Janus were kept open as long as she was at war. They were seldom shut.
The legions were skilled soldiers. While they were in training for example, soldiers had to practice with heavy swords, so that when they went into battle their real swords would seem light. The Roman soldier’s training was constant—forced marches, sparse food, and the labor of building and destroying a camp every day. His physique was more like that of a beast than a man. Josephus’ account of the physical prowess of these brutes at the siege of Jerusalem is believable only because of what we know they did in other countries.
Obedience to their officers’ orders was instilled into Roman soldiers by dreadful punishments. Josephus wrote— “they are moreover hardened for war by fear; for their laws inflict capital punishment, not only on soldiers running away from the ranks, but for slothfulness and inactivity.” If anything this is an understatement. Their centurions gave the soldiers blows on their backs for routine breaches of discipline. Punishment escalated to death by stoning for desertion, mutiny, or sleeping on sentry duty. If a legion showed cowardice on the battlefield it was lined up and every tenth man slain. This was called decimating. Crassus decimated his legions in the wars with Spartacus just because their morale was low after several reverses.
Each Roman soldier was armed with trustworthy weapons, constantly improved with the state of the art. The legions were equipped for every kind of fighting. In siege warfare they were skilled in undermining walls or wrecking them with catapults, towers, and battering rams. In the open field their armies inspired dread.
When the commanding general of an enemy was captured, he was led in triumph to Rome and executed, no matter how gallantly he had led his men. When Corinth rebelled, its men were put to the sword, its women and children sold into slavery, and it was sacked and burned to the ground. Carthage and Jerusalem were not only destroyed but plowed over, and salt was worked into the furrows so their memory would be obliterated.
The Roman People
The standards of the legions bore the inscription—S.P.Q.R.—an abbreviation for “the Senate and the Roman People.” After all the legions were only a mirror image of the Roman people. What were they like, then, as a people? Because of the great duration of the Roman empire we can only generalize on their customs, or point out incidents at some point in their long history as a guide to the whole. But what can we say of a people who buried alive their Vestal Virgins for betraying an oath or who did the same to a Celtic man and woman and two Greeks to placate the gods after the battle of Cannae? In early times a father could kill his son for disobedience, or a master his slaves. They sold their own people into slavery for debt. At one point, half the population of Rome were slaves. When the people turned against the Emperor Nero, he was told that they wanted to put him to death in “the old way.” This meant impaling him on a fork through his neck, followed by scourging to death. He chose suicide. Less fortunate were condemned criminals. They might be crucified or tossed to lions in an arena to entertain the mob. Or they might be supplied to a stage manager to be tortured or put to death if a play called for violence.
Towering above all these crimes was the practice of forcing men to fight to the death as gladiators in the arenas. These games originated as “entertainment” following funerals, but soon spread into elaborate displays of wanton cruelty organized on a business basis on a huge scale. Gladiators were merchandise. They were bought and sold like commodities. They once revolted and led an uprising of 100,000 slaves. But in the end the legions crushed them. Crassus crucified 6,000 of them on both sides of the Appian Way between Rome and Capua. Before the games the gladiators were given a last meal in public, where they bewailed their fate while the populace sized up each man’s chances for victory and placed bets on them. The next day they marched before the Emperor and cried— “about to die we salute thee, Caesar!” The Emperor Augustus sponsored eight monster exhibitions in which nearly 10,000 gladiators fought. He was so proud of this that he included it in the list of his philanthropies to be published after his death. The brutality was such that even women fought each other in the arenas. Some gladiators fought wild beasts. When Titus dedicated the Colosseum in 80 A.D. 5,000 beasts were killed in one day. Later as many as 10,000 beasts were killed in one day. Eventually the empire was denuded of wild beasts, and they were imported from as far away as India. Not content with bloodshed on land, battles on sea were staged. Sometimes the Colosseum was flooded and sea battles to the death took place. Later on special arenas were built to allow maneuvering space for larger naval engagements. Sometimes battles were fought on lakes, which ran red with the blood of the poor wretches who fought—to the thunderous applause of those who watched the spectacles. Claudius staged a gala sea battle in 52 A.D. featuring two fleets and 10,000 men.
Carcopino draws this picture of the Roman amphitheater “revisiting the arenas of Rome after nearly two thousand years of Christianity, we feel as if we were descending into the hades of antiquity.”2 It was in these arenas that our brothers and sisters in Christ were torn to pieces by wild beasts.
Life in the Roman Empire
In a larger work than this it would be inequitable to recount Rome’s sins and ignore her strong points. In her glory days she was adept at manipulating the nations by a divide and conquer policy. She kept the peace with a minimum use of force—the velvet glove in iron fist approach. She bequeathed to the West the concept of administration, law and order. God set her in the world in the place of government as the fourth and last Gentile power. She was a terror to the criminal, and to those who rebelled against her. But here we will have to be content with acknowledging that she molded the laws of the Western world, and her governmental genius is admired to this day. Pilate’s conduct at the trial of Christ demonstrates how her governors could bend their principles if political expediency dictated it. The third division of the Book of Acts gives us an insight into the workings of her administrative machinery. At its greatest extent Rome held sway over 1,600,000 to 2,000,000 square miles of territory, depending on the inclusion or exclusion of lightly held areas.
Due to ignorance of sanitation, the grim reaper took a heavy toll of infants and children. Of the survivors, mortality varied with class and sex. The toll of childbirth lowered female life expectancy to 35-40 years. Physical exhaustion from hard labor wore people out before their time. Add to that men killed in action in the army and it is not surprising that the empire’s population did not expand much beyond 60,000,000 people. Most of these were vigorous, young survivors of the harsh life. Many were slaves.
The severity of life, the constant warfare on the Northern frontiers, bred sternness in the Roman soul. He believed that he alone had the iron will to rule a world like his. Not for him was the philosophy and science of the Greek, nor could the Greek theatre find roots in Rome. To show their disdain of philosophy the Senate interdicted it in 161 B.C.; Vespasian banished philosophers from Rome and excluded them from privileges throughout the empire.
The Roman was a practical man—a soldier—an engineer—a lawyer—a businessman. The empire was a businessman’s paradise, where goods moved free of customs duties. A well-organized stock exchange in the forum was the hub of the vast wheel. The spokes were the great influx of riches pouring into Rome principally from the plunder of the East by the legions. Rome’s ancient virtues tumbled in this golden shower. She was left with nothing to replace them. Stark materialism ruled a world with no hope beyond the grave.
In the great extremes of Roman life, we see a vain groping for values. It is important to note this for “the powers that be are ordained by God” —Rom. 13:11Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1)—and certainly Rome was. The great contrasts, the ever changing values of this last Gentile power make us think of Solomon’s words as he contemplated the world of his time. He too had luxury and wealth like Rome’s, but had to admit that all was vanity under the sun.
The Fall of Rome—From a Divine Viewpoint
In “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” the brilliant mind of the historian Gibbon analyzes Rome’s collapse from a purely human viewpoint. No doubt many of his conclusions are valid. Even so he is only aware of tributary reasons for what happened to Rome. He has no understanding of the source from which these flowed, for he has no insight into the mind of God. “They are of the world—therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God—he that knoweth God heareth us—he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1John 4:5, 65They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:5‑6).
One of the reasons for Rome’s fall can be traced to the carnage in her arenas. God has always severely punished any nation which practiced human sacrifice or wantonly took human life, for man is dear to him. He sent the Spaniards against the Indians of South America for that reason—the children of Israel against the seven nations in the land and the Romans against Carthage and the Gauls. In this light the fall of Rome may be partially traced to divine retribution for her gladiatorial combats. It matters little that these had ceased by the time Rome fell for “God requireth that which is past” —Ecc. 3:16—a principle which is unbending. And then there was her towering crime—the crucifixion of Christ. Since righteousness is giving to God what is His due and to the creature what is his due—Luke 10:27, 2827And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. (Luke 10:27‑28)—Rome failed both tests. To add to their sins the Romans worshipped their emperor—a corruptible man, instead of the incorruptible God.
The History of Man Claiming Divine Worship in the Gentile Empires From Babylon to Rome
When man convinces himself that he can run the world without reference to God, he has become his own god. It is only a step then to the worship of a man as God, since man requires an object. The germ of the idea is found in Nebuchadnezzar. He tried to force his subjects to fall down and worship the golden image he set up in the plain of Dura—a corruption of the dream God gave him. But God humbled him Dan 4:33-3733The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. 34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. (Daniel 4:33‑37)—turning him loose with the beasts until he honored “the king of heaven.” That expression means that God has left His earthly throne at Jerusalem and given the rule of the world over to the Gentiles, for which reason they are accountable to Him.
After Babylon the Medo-Persians were the next Gentile power. Their kings were autocratic, their subjects fawning, but they did not repeat Nebuchadnezzar’s sin for his example was not forgotten. But the practice of worshipping the ruling king as god was revived in the Western Gentile empires. Alexander the Great, who headed the first of these empires, demanded divine honors. These were reluctantly granted to him by his troops in a blend of cynicism and scorn. But in the last form of Western Gentile power, the Roman, emperor worship took firm root.
To reflect the ever-decreasing knowledge of God and His ways which this practice indicated, the metals in the image are of less and less value after Babylon, the head of gold. The Eastern empires are precious metals—the Western empires base metals. Worst of all the deterioration ends with an admixture of clay, an apt figure of populist social democracy today.
The Passing of World Power From the Coming Roman Empire to Israel
The gospels open with the Lord registered in a census of the Roman empire; the Acts ends with His great Apostle Paul in chains in the capital of that empire. But the Roman empire of the gospels and the Acts has passed away. God who gave Rome power also took it away from her. In the Middle Ages cows grazed in the Forum. Perhaps because the city is once more populous, she is called “the eternal city.” As to this God has His own thoughts. Unlike the three other Gentile powers of the image, Rome, the fourth and last, must rise again. That is because she must receive the cup of judgment for her sins. After Rome is judged it will be the mind of God to return to His original thought before He gave power to the Gentiles. That thought is the blessing of Israel in the world. He will re-establish His Temple in Jerusalem and exalt Israel above the nations of the world. Such a thought would have astonished Gibbon although God predicted it before he was born.
Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream—Dan 2:36-4536This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (Daniel 2:36‑45)—in such a way that the interpretation, in itself, is a prediction of coming events, for Daniel was a prophet. He tells us that a stone cut out without hands—(Christ)—hits the image—(at Armageddon)—on its feet—(the Roman empire, which supports the entire image of Gentile rule), and then that this stone becomes a mountain which fills the whole earth—(Christ’s millennial kingdom on the earth but exalted above it). Since the old Roman empire has passed away, God will restore it in a different form. It is His intention to raise it up for judgment on the earth, because it was on this earth that the power of Rome rose up against Christ.
This power under sentence of judgment—this Roman empire in modern form—is the West, and the seat of its power is Europe. The nucleus of this revived Roman empire can be seen in the European Economic Community states and their allies in the West. They will hand their power over to the first beast of Rev. 13, take his mark and worship his image. In worshipping the image of the beast the Gentiles will repeat the sin of Nebuchadnezzar, who set up the first image for man to worship. Although the beast of Rev. 13 is called “the first beast” in Scripture, Nebuchadnezzar was the first man who became a beast. By worshipping the beast the Gentile nations serve God notice that they do not want Him or His ways. So Christ comes out of heaven at Armageddon, destroys the beast and his followers, and terminates Gentile rule on the earth. With “the times of the Gentiles” ended, Christ sets up His kingdom over the earth for 1,000 glorious years. It will be administered by Christ and the Church from the heavenly city Jerusalem, but Mt. Zion, Jerusalem on earth, will become the seat of glory and government on the earth.
The Apostles knew that Messiah would establish this kingdom on earth, but were ignorant of how far away it was in time, or the role of the Church in it. So they asked the Lord— “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” This is how the Book of Acts opens—with this question. It could not be at that time. The Jews had rejected their King on earth, and He was about to return to heaven. Therefore they could not have an earthly kingdom at that time. Instead the rule of the Gentiles over the world must continue “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
The kingdom and the Church are the twin themes of Acts. The kingdom was a worldly consideration. Israel had forfeited it for a while due to unbelief, and God had given the rule of the world to the Gentiles. The Church, on the other hand, is heavenly. The preaching of the gospel is to bring many sons to glory, not to provide them with a promised land in this world. In spite of this the Church must still pass through this world, and it is a world opposed to God. Acts gives us the beginning of this struggle. In this outline we have attempted to recreate the world at the time the gospel was first preached. Acts is the record of the triumphs and setbacks of the gospel in a lost world which by its own choice had “No king but Caesar.”