Monthly Archives: April 2024

The Birth of Christianity

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Byzantine Icon of Jesus from the Haghia Sophia.

In the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the traditional Greek religion was being undermined by many new mystery religions and cults. Greek philosophers either tried to explain their religion using logic and reason, or just became atheists. The Romans even continued the Greek religion, but changed the names of the gods and started the cult of the emperor. 

After the Jews were conquered by Alexander the Great, they returned to Israel, but shortly after were occupied by Rome. Some Jews never returned to Israel, instead settling in Egypt and Europe. The Jewish religious leaders taught that their messiah would be an earthly, political leader and would free them from Roman bondage. 

When the Jews arrived back in Israel, the only religious record they had left was the Law of Moses, which they strictly followed. The main Jewish religious leaders were the Scribes and the Sanhedrin, who were a group of Scribes and Priests, along with a group called the Elders. 

Nativity of Jesus.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem to his virgin mother Mary and spent His childhood in the Galilean town of Nazareth. Jesus first taught in the Temple at age 12, and started His public ministry around 30 AD when He baptized John the Baptist. Jesus gathered 12 of His most loyal followers to preach with Him, and taught them to spread the gospel and heal diseases. Jesus eventually grew a large following, many of them persuaded by His great miracles.

The Jewish religious leaders did not believe Jesus was the Son of God, so when He proclaimed Himself to be the Christ, they took it as blasphemy, which was punishable by death under their law. The High Priests paid one of Jesus’s unfaithful disciples, Judas Iscariot, to hand in Jesus to the authorities. Jesus stood in front of the Roman Provincial Governor, Pontius Pilot, who found him innocent of treason against Caesar, but to prevent a revolt sentenced him to death by crucifixion. 

Crucifiixion of Jesus.

Three days after His death, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples, instructing them to continue preaching the Gospel in other countries. After 40 days, Jesus ascended into heaven. His disciples preached that in order to receive salvation, you must repent of your sins, follow Jesus’s teachings, and be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity. 

The disciples wrote down Jesus’s life and teachings into the Gospel of the New Testament, which was written between 50 and 100 AD. The first Bibles were composed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The Book of Matthew was written for Jewish Christians, and Mark and Luke were directed towards Gentiles. John’s Gospel emphasized the divinity of Christ and repentance. Later, letters and books recorded by the Apostles Paul, James, Jude, and the Disciple Peter were added to the Bible.

Greek Icon of Saint Paul.

As Christianity spread, so did its enemies. First the Jews, then Romans, Greeks, and eventually other religions like Islam and heresies inside the Church. Many early Christians sacrificed their lives for the Holy faith. 

The Government, Laws, and Culture of Ancient Athens

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Draco of Athens.

In ancient Greece, Athens was the leading city-state. Although Sparta’s military was arguably the strongest, Athens had been developing all aspects of civilization. Athens had a unique government, laws, and entertainment. However, the people of Athens would soon be tested when the great Persian Empire attempted to invade the Greek mainland. 

In 621 BC, a man named Draco established a new justice system for the city of Athens. Before Draco, the families of murder victims or other violent crimes took it upon themselves to punish the perpetrator. Draco understood that families would still want to enact vengeance upon the person who harmed their loved one, but wished to create an unified justice and trial system. To attempt to satisfy the families, particularly harsh and heinous punishments were implemented. Later in 594 BC, Solon reformed Draco’s laws and lessened the severity of punishments. He also canceled all public or private debts, freed debt slaves in Athens, and changed the criteria for political participation from ancestry to wealth. Before Solon, only individuals born into certain families had a say in the government, but it was changed so the rich or property owners also had representation. 

The government of Athens consisted of the Assembly, the Council of Five Hundred, the courts, and the magistrates. All male citizens were members of the Assembly. However the Council of Five Hundred and the courts were made up of random men chosen from the citizen body. The magistrates were the highest authority in Athens and were either elected or chosen officials. A common punishment issued by the Athenian people was ostracism. This was the practice of exiling a citizen for 10 years if 6,000 or more citizens wrote his name on a pottery shard. There did not have to be concrete evidence that this person committed any sort of crime, but if 6,000 Athenians wanted him gone, he would be banished.

Athens, like many others of its day, was a slave society. The enslaved were former POWs, criminals, victims of slave raids, or debt slaves, before Solon’s reforms. Because slaves usually did all the manual labor, labor of any sort was looked down upon in society. To labor with one’s hands was to degrade oneself to the level of a slave. Therefore, it was not acceptable for a citizen to labor. Similarly, trade and commerce were also held in contempt. Merchants were seen as untrustworthy liars and were generally scolded by the populus. 

A career in the military was praised and encouraged in Athens, though not forced like in Sparta. Athens’ military might was especially impressive in regards to their navy. During the Persian Wars, the Athenian navy bested the Persian navy on numerous occasions, establishing themselves as the preeminent naval power of their time. 

Athens was an influential civilization in many ways. From becoming the first democracy to expanding navy warfare, it’s hard to deny the city’s historical reputation. Although at one point being the leading Greek city-state, long wars with Persia and Sparta would soon weaken Athens, ending their golden age.

Julius Caesar: Toward the Empire

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The Death of Julius Caesar - altARP
Assassination of Julius Caesar.

By 70 BC, Rome was gravitating toward an Empire instead of a Republic like how they had been traditionally for hundreds of years. Many influential Romans still wanted to preserve the Republic, including Sulla who implemented various reforms around 50-60 BC. After Sulla’s death, three prominent Roman men gained immense power. They were Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar and are known as the First Triumvirate.

Both Crassus and Popmpey became consuls, at that time one of the highest positions in Rome. The First Triumvirate started to get rid of Sulla’s laws and tried to undermine the power of the Senate and consolidate power in favor of an imperial system. Eventually, Caesar also took the office of consul, but more importantly he got large military commands. Crassus died in 53 BC, now leaving only Pompey and Julius Caesar in a power struggle for the most influential man in all of Rome. While Pompey was back home in Rome, Caesar continued to win countless military victories in Gaul and northern Europe, but key senators decided to support Pompey over Caesar, believing Caesar to be power hungry. 

The Senate boldly commanded that Julius Caesar disarm his army. Obviously, he refused as he had control of the most numerous soldiers. Caesar led his legions of men in a march on Rome. After a brief civil war between Caesar and Pompey and his supporters, Julius Caesar was victorious. Throughout a three-to-four-year period, he consolidated power, becoming dictator in 48 BC and dictator for life in 44 BC. In fear, the Senate honored Caesar and was promptly filled completely with his supporters. Not a brutal dictator, Julius Caesar was fair, had mercy on his enemies, and was generally beloved by the people. Some of his accomplishments include: creating a new calendar, granting citizenship to many people, and establishing colonies for veterans. 

There were some former Senators that resented Julius Caesar and even some of his associates and supporters that thought he had gained too much power. So in 44 BC, they assassinated Caesar who was  stabbed and was famously killed by his close friend Brutus. After Caesar’s death, the biggest question in Rome was the problem of the power gap that was left open. Two men would emerge into yet another power struggle: Marc Antony, a close associate of Julius Caesar and who was furious at the men responsible for killing him, and Octavian, a young ambitious man who was named heir to the throne by the Senate.