The last age, decreed by Fate, is come: And a new frame of all things does begin. A holy progeny from Heaven descends. Auspicious be his birth! which puts an end To the iron age! and from whence shall rise a golden state far glorious through the earth! – Virgil
LATEST ADDITIONS
11/8/12: The History of Rome, from its earliest period to the death of Vespasian “From all this it is clear, that the civilized nations of the present day have reason to thank Providence that their fate was not cast in ancient Rome; as the most defective of them confer more civil and substantial freedom, than was ever known to that haughty dictatoress of nations, Rome – the once imperial mistress of the world.” (1853)
Emperor Claudius Study Archive “Very little was to be expected from a ruler so unhappily constituted, and yet the policy which Claudius at first adopted in Judaea was singularly wise and opportune. Instead of sending a procurator, who with the best intentions would probably have added to the existing state of exasperation, Claudius fell back upon the methods of Augustus, and decided to manage Jewish affairs by means of a prince who understood the peculiarities of the people.”
Free Online Books:The Jews Under Roman Rule – William Douglas Morrison (1890 PDF) “It was no doubt believed in imperial circles that the people of Judaea would be appeased by the unwonted spectacle of a Roman officer perishing in obloquy at the scene of his misdeeds. The spirit of revolt, however, was not to be so easily allayed ; every day it was gaining a firmer hold upon the popular mind, and the enemies of Rome had now become too numerous and implacable to be satisfied with anything short of national independence. The Temple aristocracy, it is true, still held aloof from the ideas of the Zealots, but it had become a rotten and effete caste, ever ready to plunder the poor and helpless, and as the trial of St. Paul before Ananias shows, very brutal in the exercise of its powers.”
BOOKS ON FIRST CENTURY ROME
Marcus Aurelius Antonius (121-180) – Meditations (167)
Edward Conybeare: Roman Britain: Gallantry of Titus, Misgovernment of Nero – “Under Nero the unhappy Britons first realized what it was to be Roman provincials. Though Julius Caesar and Augustus had checked the grossest abuses of the Republican proconsulates, yet enough of the evil tradition remained to make those abuses flourish with renewed vigour under such a ruler as Nero. The state of things which ensued can only be paralleled with that so vividly described by Macaulay in his lurid picture of the oppression of Bengal under Warren Hastings.” | Enemies of Books
Thomas Cruttwell: A History of Roman Literature (1877) The Reigns of the Flavian Emperors_ (69-96 A.D.). – A new literary epoch–Marked by common characteristics–Decay of national genius
Cassius Dio: Roman History | Book 65 – Fall of Jerusalem “Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Jews reverence most. From that time forth it was ordered that the Jews who continued to observe their ancestral customs should pay an annual tribute of two denarii to Jupiter Capitoline. In consequence of this success both generals received the title of imperator “
Guglielmo Ferrero: Characters and Events of Roman History: From Caesar to Nero (1906) “In this story St. Paul is exactly the antithesis of Nero. The latter represents the atrocious selfishness of rich, peaceful, highly civilised epochs; the former, the ardent moral idealism which tries to react against the cardinal vices of power and wealth through universal self-sacrifice and asceticism. Neither of these men is to be comprehended without the other, because the moral doctrine of Paul is partly a reaction against, the violent folly for which Nero stood the symbol; but it certainly was not philosophical considerations of this kind that led the Roman authorities to rage against the Christians. The problem, I repeat, is insoluble. However this may be, the Christians were declared responsible for the fire; a great number were taken into custody, sentenced to death, executed in different ways, during the festivals that Nero offered to the people to appease them. Possibly Paul himself was one of the victims of this persecution.” “The armies of Gaul and Spain, for a long time irregularly paid, led by their officers, revolted. This act of energy sufficed. On the 9th of June, 68 A.D., abandoned by all the world, Nero was compelled to commit suicide. So the family of Julius Caesar disappears from history. After so much greatness, genius, and wisdom, the fall may seem petty and almost laughable. It is absurd to lose the Empire for the pleasure of singing in a theatre. And yet, bizarre as the end may seem, it was not the result of the vices, the follies, and the crimes of Nero alone. In his way, Nero himself was, like all members of his family, the victim of the contradictory situation of his times.”
Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – Chapter XVI | Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire “The vain and ambitious mind of Julian might aspire to restore the ancient glory of the Temple of Jerusalem. As the Christians were firmly persuaded that a sentence of everlasting destruction had been pronounced against the whole fabric of the Mosaic law, the Imperial sophist would have converted the success of his undertaking into a specious argument against the faith of prophecy and the truth of revelation. The Christians entertained a natural and pious expectation, that in this memorable contest, the honour of religion would be vindicated by some signal miracle.” “After the final destruction of the temple by the arms of Titus and Hadrian, a ploughshare was drawn over the consecrated ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction.”
Bernard Henderson – The Life and Principate of Emperor Nero (1903 PDF) “The verses (of Revelation) 17. 10, can be differently explained. Almost certainly Caesar is not the first, but Augustus, so we have “five fallen,” “one is,” “one is not yet come and is to continue a short space,” and ” the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven ” (certainly = Nero, cf. 13. 3 ; 17. 8). The list then is, on the two rival theories, (a) Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero = the five. Galba = he who is; Galba’s successor (naturally unknown ex hyp.) = the one to come, but he can only last a short time because the end is fast approaching, and besides the pseudo-Nero is already active. Nero again = the eighth. (b) Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero = the five. Vespasian = he who is. His successor is undefined because ” the writer did not like to say the reigning Emperor would be overthrown.” Nero again = the eighth. For the Domitian theory I fail to see any possibility of a satisfactory list at all.”
J.E. Lendon –Roman Siege and Sack of Jerusalem– “The siege of Jerusalem was probably the greatest single slaughter in ancient history. Not only was the city sacked and burned, but Titus gave directions that what remained should be wholly demolished, except for a stretch of wall and some high towers that were left as a symbol to the world of Roman strength — and as a warning to anyone who might again defy the fury of the Romans.”
William Douglas Morrison – The Jews Under Roman Rule (1890 PDF) “It was no doubt believed in imperial circles that the people of Judaea would be appeased by the unwonted spectacle of a Roman officer perishing in obloquy at the scene of his misdeeds. The spirit of revolt, however, was not to be so easily allayed ; every day it was gaining a firmer hold upon the popular mind, and the enemies of Rome had now become too numerous and implacable to be satisfied with anything short of national independence. The Temple aristocracy, it is true, still held aloof from the ideas of the Zealots, but it had become a rotten and effete caste, ever ready to plunder the poor and helpless, and as the trial of St. Paul before Ananias shows, very brutal in the exercise of its powers.”
P. Cornelius Tacitus – Annals (109, 1904 Edition) “The Romans then began to prepare for an assault. It seemed beneath them to await the result of famine. The army demanded the more perilous alternative, some prompted by courage, many by sheer ferocity and greed of gain. Titus himself had Rome with all its wealth and pleasures before his eyes. Jerusalem must fall at once, or it would delay his enjoyment of them. ” (PDF File Here)
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (the “Saxon Chronicle” contains the original and authentic testimony of contemporary writers to the most important transactions of our forefathers, both by sea and land, from their first arrival in this country to the year 1154) “We come now to a more cheering prospect; and behold a steady light reflected on the “Saxon Chronicle” by the “Ecclesiastical History” of Bede; a writer who, without the intervention of any legendary tale, truly deserves the title of Venerable” – “A.D. 71. This year Titus, son of Vespasian, slew in Jerusalem eleven hundred thousand Jews.”
Suetonius(69-122) Titus Vespasianus | Nero | Vespasian | De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius (The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius), written c. 110 CE “Percrebuerat oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore, Judea profecti rerum potirentur.” An ancient and constant tradition has obtained throughout all the East, that in the fates it was decreed, that, about that time, “some who should come from Judea would obtain the dominion of the world.”
