Why Study History

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Why Study History?
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• To know where we come from so as to better
  understand ourselves
• We are a product of our upbringing!
• To understand our world through the past
• To avoid making mistakes made in the past

3
The twenty-first century is calling for a type
of Christianity that was practiced during the
first few centuries of the Churchs history.
This means that the signs of the times call for
new age of holiness and martyrdom. In a sense
the Holy Spirit is moving the laity to put on a
repeat performance of what the earliest
Christians accomplished almost seventeen
centuries ago when they brought the pagan Roman
world literally to its knees.
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Christ was born into a Roman world . . .
Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem
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• Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem
  depicts an event as told by Jewish historian,
  Flavius Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities
  written in A.D. 93
• Alexander offered a sacrifice to God
• Book of Daniel declared that one of the Greeks
  should destroy the empire of the Persians
• Alexander supposed he was the one intended to do
  that

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Plato and Aristotle. A detail from Raphaels
School of Athens.
THE HELLENISTIC WORLDVIEW The common thread that
held diverse cultures together

• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
• Born in Macedon
• Studied in Athens under Plato
• Summoned back to his homeland by King Philip II
  of Macedon to tutor his son, Alexander (13)
• Plutarch wrote that Aristotle imparted to
  Alexander a knowledge of ethics, politics and
  philosophy secrets

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• Greek Philosophy contributed to the concept of
  unchanging truths in a manner that no other
  culture of the time had done
• Greek philosophy paved the way for Christian
  thought
• St. Thomas Aquinas proved that many aspects of
  Greek philosophy are entirely compatible with
  Christian teaching
• Principles such as an unmoved mover, the
  existence of objective truth, and the dignity of
  the human person as an eternal being, when human
  reason seeks true objective principles, it can
  align itself with Gods truth
• In todays moral relativism society, liberals
  call themselves progressive but their
  subjective beliefs have been proven irrational
  since the time of Christ
• Modern liberalism is in fact a regressive
  philosophy

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Brittania
Germania
Caspian Sea
Black Sea
RomeItalia
Asia
Athens
Carthage
Jerusalem
Africa
Red Sea
The Roman Empire A.D. 14
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• The Roman empire facilitated the rapid spread of
  Christianity
• The massive world of the Roman Empire was the
  backdrop for the life of Christ
• The Romans were warlike people, like conquerors
  such as Alexander the Great who had preceded them
• But, they ruled for way longer than their
  predecessors some historians say that the Roman
  Republic and Empire lasted more than one thousand
  years
• Rome had three tribes Latins, Sabines, and
  Etruscans
• These groups made up the towns that eventually
  led to the foundation of the city of Rome
• During 753-509 B.C. the king was the high priest,
  judge, and head of the government

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The Seleucid Empire was founded by Alexander's
general Seleucis. His descendents were generally
named either Seleucis or Antiochus. India and
much of the lands to the east of Persia revolted
and returned to local rulership on the death of
Alexander. The Ptolemaic Empire was founded by
Alexander's general Ptolemy, who took Alexander's
body with him to Egypt. The ruling men of his
line were all named Ptolemy and the women,
Cleopatra. Macedonia was claimed by members of
Alexander's family, who were all eventually
murdered. The land reverted to the status of a
small kingdom until it was taken by the
Romans. Much of Greece had been virtually
independent of Alexander even during his
lifetime. On the break-up of the Empire, Greek
cities started forming leagues for defense. Some
came under the contrrol of several of the
competing generals, and there was a rather
confused period which culminated in the take-over
by the Romans.
Alexander's Empire
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• The founding of Rome is surrounded by myths eg
• A She-wolf in the Tiber River found Romulus and
  Remus, two abandoned twins sons of the Alba Longa
  kings.
• Nursed by the wolf, and eventually taken in by a
  shepherd
• Once grown, established a city on top of one of
  the seven hills overlooking the Tiber
• During a petty argument, Romulus killed Remus,
  and made himself king (around 753 B.C.)
• This is considered the founding of Rome
• By 509 BC, the Romans replaced the monarchy with
  a republic

Romulus and Remus

• Now, there was Senate, two consuls and a group of
  assemblies
• During an emergency, the Romans could appoint
  someone dictator who could rule the city
  absolutely but only for 6 months max

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Marcus Antonius (c. January 14, 83 BC August
1, 30 BC)
known in English as Mark Antony a Roman
politician and general.

• He was an important supporter of Gaius Julius
  Caesar as a military commander and administrator.
  
• After Caesar's assassination, Antony allied with
  Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to form an
  official triumvirate which modern scholars have
  labelled the second triumvirate.
• The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement
  between Octavian and Antony turned to civil war
  in 31 BC.
• Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval
  Battle of Actium and then in a short land battle
  at Alexandria.
• He committed suicide, and his lover, Queen
  Cleopatra VII of Egypt, killed herself soon
  afterwards.

13
Spartacus (ca 120 BC1 ca. 70 BC, at the end
of the Third Servile War), according to Roman
historians, was a gladiator-slave who became the
alleged leader of an unsuccessful slave uprising
against the Roman Republic.

• Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events
  of the Third Servile War, and the historical
  accounts that survive of the war are sketchy and
  often contradictory.
• Spartacus' struggle, often perceived as the
  struggle of an oppressed people fighting for
  their freedom against a large powerful State, has
  found new meaning for modern writers since the
  19th century.
• The figure of Spartacus, and his rebellion, has
  become an inspiration to many modern literary and
  political writers, who have made the character of
  Spartacus an ancient/modern folk hero.

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• Augustus (September 23,63 BC August 19, AD 14),
  known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (English
  Octavian) prior to 27 BC, was the first and among
  the most important of the Roman Emperors.
• Although he preserved the outward form of the
  Roman Republic, he ruled as an autocrat for 41
  years, longer than any subsequent Emperor and
  his rule is the dividing line between the
  Republic and the Roman Empire.
• He ended a century of civil wars and gave Rome an
  era of peace, prosperity, and imperial greatness,
  known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace, which
  lasted for over 200 years.

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The Jews

• Monotheistic
• Special role in Gods plans to serve as his
  chosen people
• Realization of a personal God
• Historical suffering an oppression stimulated
  their expectation for a messiah
• Shunned immoral ways of the Gentiles (Greeks and
  Romans)
• Jewish world of Jesus - a crossroads of cultures
  under Hellenist, Latin, and traditional Jewish
  influence

• This Jewish culture is different to that in the
  Old Testament
• Influenced by Greek thought and ideas
• Jews were second class citizens to Romans
• Palestine during the life of Christ was rife with
  tension
• In AD 70 the temple was destroyed and the Jews
  were cast out of Jerusalem
• The Sadducees (wealthy elite with more Greek
  influence) and the Pharisees (progressive
  reforming group) were the Jewish leaders at this
  time

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• REFERENCES
• 1. The History of the Church, The Didache
  Series, Armenio, 2005/2006
• ISBN 1-890177-46-62
• 2. http//www.mathematicianspictures.com/POPE_JOHN
  _PAUL_PHOTO_PICTURES_TRIBUTE/index.htm (slide 3
  picture)
• 3. http//www.allposters.com/-sp/Alexander-th
  e-Great-in-the-Temple-of-Jerusalem-Posters_i174150
  9_.htm (slide 4 picture)
• http//www.newbanner.com/AboutPic/SOA.html (slide
  6 picture)
• http//www.roman-empire.net/maps/map-empire.html
  (slide 8 picture)
• http//www.drshirley.org/geog/geog15.html (slide
  10 map and facts)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus
  (slide 11 picture)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Antony (slide
  12 picture and text)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus (slide 13
  picture and text)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus (slide 14
  picture and text)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history
  (slide 15 pictures)