Connection to Ancient Ruins

My visit to Rome was not only to witness centuries-old architecture like the Roman Forum and Colosseum, but to better understand the context of my faith, Christianity, nearly 2000 years ago.

It's good to remember that Jerusalem was under a new leader enforcing Roman rule when Christ was born. For Emperor Augustus deposed Herod Archelous, the Roman client king of Judea, and annexed the kingdom to the Roman Empire as the province of Judea in 6 BC. I was able to visit a statue of Augustus that stood only a few blocks down from my hotel, a copy of the original at the Vatican. The original statue is from 8 BC and represents the emperor guaranteeing a new political order.

Jews lived in Rome and many Roman citizens were introduced and became believers in Christ over the decades that followed. Fast forward 4 decades and we find that Jews were expelled from Rome by Claudius due to reasons of infighting and making life difficult for the emperor. Claudius died shortly after their expulsion in 54 AD and his successor Emperor Nero allowed the Jews to return. But after the great fire of 64, Nero blamed Christians for the tragedy and ordered their random persecution in order to divert personal criticism.

Persecution of Christians lasted until the year 313 when Constantine the Great and Licinius co-authored the Edict of Milan which formally gave tolerance and legal status to the religion of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. It is said that Constantine, a Christian, actively promoted Christianity and the age of overtly mistreating and persecuting of believers was over. I'm including a picture of the Arch of Constantine that was dedicated by the Senate in 315 to commemorate his victories and reign as emperor.

Christianity flourished over the next centuries as did the Roman Church. According to an internet source, "around 300 AD Christianity became the main Roman religion. By this time there were two capitals in the empire: in Rome and Constantinople (now Istanbul). When the western part of the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century Christianity still had a major influence in Europe. The bishops in Constantinople often disagreed with the popes of western Rome and, hence, in 1054 the church split into an eastern and a western branch. The eastern half became the Orthodox Church and the western half became the Roman Catholic Church."

Exterior remains of Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli 1100s AD

While visiting the ancient ruins in Rome, I was constantly thinking about those who were influential in the faith who trod the very ground I was on, and endured major events that influenced the direction of Christianity.

The Arc de Titus, for instance, was built to commemorate Titus' victories, including the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Titus, a military commander and emperor in 79 AD, led a procession through this arch as indicated in the relief images inscribed on the sides of the arch itself. The Colosseum where Christians suffered the fate of their belief and Luther's visit to Rome in the 1500s to challenge the direction of the Catholic church are events that also come to mind.

Arc de Titus celebrating the conquering of Jerusalem in 70 AD

References to Rome in the New Testament:

• Reference to Claudius ordering that all Jews leave Rome (Acts 18:2)
• Claudius died and Nero allowed Jews back in Rome in 54; as a result, Paul desired to visit Rome after confirmation from the Lord (Acts 23:11)

Acts 19:21 NIV

[21] After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also."

The Apostle Paul did go to Rome in the year 61 but, I’m sure, not in the way he initially envisioned. Paul was sent to Rome via boat as a prisoner based on unsubstantiated charges made against him in Jerusalem.

Acts 25:18-19 NIV

[18] When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. [19] Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.

Paul's letter to the Romans (or what we now know as the New Testament book of Romans) was written before he arrived in the city, so its citizens -- both Jews and Gentiles -- knew the purpose of his visit.

After arriving in Rome, Paul was allowed to live on his own for two full years under guarded watch. Here he met with citizens individually and in assemblies to share his testimony about the risen Christ. By the way, Paul was acquitted of charges that led him to Rome in 61 but, as evidence suggests, he was later beheaded upon Nero's orders in 68 along with other Christians who suffered a similar fate.