Rome in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

rom: I. DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION 1. Original Roman State 2. The Struggle between Patricians and Plebeians 3. The Senate and Magistrates 4. Underlying Principles II. EXTENSION OF ROMAN SOVEREIGNTY III. THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT 1. Imperial Authority 2. Three Classes of Citizens IV. ROMAN RELIGION 1. Deities 2. Religious Decay V. ROME AND THE JEWS 1. Judea under Roman Procurators and Governors 2. Jewish Proselytism VI. ROME AND THE CHRISTIANS 1. Introduction of Christianity 2. Tolerance and Proscription 3. Persecution LITERATURE Rome (Latin and Italian, Roma; Rhome): The capital of the Roman republic and empire, later the center of Lot Christendom, and since 1871 capital of the kingdom of Italy, is situated mainly on the left bank of the Tiber about 15 miles from the Mediterranean Sea in 41 degrees 53' 54 inches North latitude and 12 degrees 0' 12 inches longitude East of Greenwich. It would be impossible in the limited space assigned to this article to give even a comprehensive outline of the ancient history of the Eternal City. It will suit the general purpose of the work to consider the relations of the Roman government and society with the Jews and Christians, and, in addition, to present a rapid survey of the earlier development of Roman institutions and power, so as to provide the necessary historical setting for the appreciation of the more essential subjects. I. Development of the Republican Constitution. 1. Original Roman State: The traditional chronology for the earliest period of Roman history is altogether unreliable, partly because the Gauls, in ravaging the city in 390 BC, destroyed the monuments which might have offered faithful testimony of the earlier period (Livy vi.1). It is known that there was a settlement on the site of Rome before the traditional date of the founding (753 BC). The original Roman state was the product of the coalition of a number of adjacent clan-communities, whose names were perpetuated in the Roman genres, or groups of imaginary kindred, a historical survival which had lost all significance in the period of authentic history. The chieftains of the associated clans composed the primitive senate or council of elders, which exercised sovereign authority. But as is customary in the development of human society a military or monarchical regime succeeded the looser patriarchal or sacerdotal organs of authority. This second stage may be identified with the legendary rule of the Tarquins, which was probably a period of Etruscan domination. The confederacy of clans was welded...