Map of the Roman Empire
Map of the Roman Empire in New
Testament Times - Enlarge
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This map reveals the Roman Empire during the time shortly after the birth of Jesus, in 14 AD at the time of the death of Augustus. The order which prevailed in this extensive empire, the good military roads, and the use of Koine Greek as the general language of culture throughout the area were among the factors which multiplied the rapid spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:18-20 - "And Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world."
Luke 24:46-49 "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
The Boundaries of the Roman
Empire were:
North: The British Channel, the Rhine, the Danube, and
the Black Sea
South: The deserts of Africa, the cataracts of the
Nile, & the Arabian deserts
East: The Euphrates
West: The Atlantic
Romans 1:7 - To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Roman Empire in the Smith's Bible Dictionary
Roman Empire
2. Extent of the empire. --Cicero's description of the Greek
states and colonies as a "fringe on the skirts of barbarism" has
been well applied to the Roman dominions before the conquests of
Pompey and Caesar. The Roman empire was still confined to a narrow
strip encircling the Mediterranean Sea. Pompey added Asia Minor and
Syria. Caesar added Gaul. The generals of Augustus overran the
northwest Portion of Spain and the country between the Alps and the
Danube. The boundaries of the empire were now the Atlantic on the
west, the Euphrates on the east, the deserts of Africa, the
cataracts of the Nile and the Arabian deserts on the south, the
British Channel, the Rhine, the Danube and the Black Sea on the
north. The only subsequent conquests of importance were those of
Britain by Claudius and of Dacia by Trajan. The only independent
powers of importance were the Parthians on the east and the Germans
on the north. The population of the empire in the time of Augustus
has been calculated at 85,000,000.
3. The provinces. --The usual fate of a country
conquered by Rome was to be come a subject province, governed
directly from Rome by officers sent out for that purpose. Sometimes,
however, petty sovereigns were left in possession of a nominal
independence on the borders or within the natural limits of the
province. Augustus divided the provinces into two classes -- (1)
Imperial; (2) Senatorial; retaining in his own hands, for obvious
reasons, those provinces where the presence of a large military
force was necessary, and committing the peaceful and unarmed
provinces to the senate. The New Testament writers invariably
designate the governors of senatorial provinces by the correct title
anthupatoi, proconsuls. Ac 13:7; 18:12; 19:38 For the governor of an
imperial province, properly styled "legatus Caesaris," the word
hegemon (governor) is used in the New Testament. The provinces were
heavily taxed for the benefit of Rome and her citizens. They are
said to have been better governed under the empire than under the
commonwealth, and those of the emperor better than those of the
senate.
Full
Article
Roman Empire
in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
Roman Empire and Christianity
(2) Augustus.
Octavian (Augustus) proved the potent factor of the second
triumvirate. The field of Actiuim on September 2, 31 BC, decided the
fate of the old Roman republic. The commonwealth sank in exhaustion
after the protracted civil and internecine strife. It was a case of
the survival of the fittest. It was a great crisis in human history,
and a great man was at hand for the occasion. Octavian realized that
supreme power was the only possible solution. On his return to Rome
he began to do over again what Caesar had done--gather into his own
hands the reins of government. He succeeded with more caution and
shrewdness, and became the founder of the Roman empire, which
formally began on January 16, 27 BC, and was signalized by the
bestowal of the title AUGUSTUS (which see). Under republican forms
he ruled as emperor, controlling legislation, administration and the
armies. His policy was on the whole adhered to by the Julio-Claudian
line, the last of which was Nero (died 68 AD).
Full Article
Israel in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
1. Its position. --Its position on the map of the world--as the world was when the holy land first made its appearance in history--is a remarkable one. (a) It was on the very outpost-- an the extremist western edge of the East. On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if it had advanced as far as possible toward the west, separated there from by that which, when the time arrived proved to be no barrier, but the readiest medium of communication-the wide waters of the "great sea." Thus it was open to all the gradual influences of the rising communities of the West, while it was saved from the retrogression and decrepitude which have ultimately been the doom of all purely eastern states whose connections were limited to the East only. (b) There was, however, one channel, and but one, by which it could reach and be reached by the great Oriental empires. The rivals road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could approach one another --by which alone Egypt could get to Assyria and Assyria to lay along the broad hat strip of coast which formed the maritime portion of the holy land, and thence by the plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates. (c) After this the holy land became (like the Netherlands in Europe) the convenient arena on which in successive ages the hostile powers who contended for the empire of the East fought their battles.
Greece in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
The histories of Greece and Palestine are little connected with each other. In Ge 10:2-5 Moses mentions the descendants of Javan as peopling the isles of the Gentiles; and when the Hebrews came into contact with the Ionians of Asia Minor, and recognized them as the long-lost islanders of the western migration, it was natural that they should mark the similarity of sound between Javan and Iones. Accordingly the Old Testament word which is Grecia, in Authorized Versions Greece, Greeks, etc., is in Javan Da 8:21; Joe 3:6 the Hebrew, however, is sometimes regained. Isa 66:19; Eze 27;13 The Greeks and Hebrews met for the first time in the slave-market. The medium of communication seems to have been the Tyrian slave-merchants. About B.C. 800 Joel speaks of the Tyrians as, selling the children of Judah tot he Grecians, Joe 3:6 and in Ezek 27:13. the Greeks are mentioned as bartering their brazen vessels for slaves. Prophetical notice of Greece occurs in Da 8:21 etc., where the history of Alexander and his successors is rapidly sketched. Zechariah, Zec 9:13 foretells the triumphs of the Maccabees against the Greco-Syrian empire, while Isaiah looks forward to the conversion of the Greeks, amongst other Gentiles, through the instrumentality of Jewish missionaries. Isa 66:19 The name of the country, Greece occurs once in the New Testament, Ac 20:2 as opposed to Macedonia.
Asia in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
(orient). The passages in the New Testament where this word occurs are the following; Ac 2:9; 6:9; 16:6; 19:10,22,26,27; 20:4,16,18; 21:27; 27:2; Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:19; 2Co 1:8; 2Ti 1:15; 1Pe 1:1; Re 1:4,11 In all these it may be confidently stated that the word is used for a Roman province which embraced the western part of the peninsula of Asia Minor and of which Ephesus was the capital.
Italy in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Read Full Article)
1. This word is used in the New Testament, Ac 18:2; 27:1; Heb 13:24 in the usual sense of the period, i.e. in its true geographical sense, as denoting the whole natural peninsula between the Alps and the Straits of Messina.
The Bible Mentions "Rome" in many places:
Acts 23:11 - And the
night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer,
Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou
bear witness also at Rome.
2 Timothy
4:22 - The Lord Jesus Christ [be] with thy spirit. Grace
[be] with you. Amen. <[The second [epistle] unto Timotheus, ordained
the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians, was written from
Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second
time.]>
Acts 18:2
- And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come
from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had
commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto
them.
Colossians 4:18 - The salutation by the hand of me Paul.
Remember my bonds. Grace [be] with you. Amen. <[Written from
Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.]>
Ephesians
6:24 - Grace [be] with all them that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Amen. <[To [the] Ephesians written from
Rome, by Tychicus.]>
Philemon
1:25 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with your
spirit. Amen. <[Written from Rome to Philemon, by
Onesimus a servant.]>
Acts 2:10
- Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about
Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Acts 19:21
- After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when
he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem,
saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
Acts 28:16
- And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered
the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.
Romans 1:7
- To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to
be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Galatians
6:18 - Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be]
with your spirit. Amen. <[To [the] Galatians written from Rome.]>
Philippians 4:23 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be]
with you all. Amen. <[To [the] Philippians written from Rome,
by Epaphroditus.]>
Acts 28:14
- Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven
days: and so we went toward Rome.
Romans 1:15
- So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you
that are at Rome also.
2 Timothy
1:17 - But, when he was in Rome, he sought me
out very diligently, and found [me].