Christianity and the Roman Empire

Christianity, after much persecution, was eventually adopted by the Romans and became their country’s most prominent religion. Ever since the adoption of Christianity, Rome has maintained its dedication to the Christian religion –– to this day, 97.67% of all Italians are baptized with Catholic rites (Freedom). Why was Christianity so strongly grasped by the Romans? The answer to this question can be unveiled through analyzing the Roman culture and morals and comparing them to the culture and morals of early Christianity. The Roman population accepted Christianity with such vigor because it was structurally similar to the moral ideology of Rome; however, Christianity was different in that it gave an opportunity for the common individual to experience the type of honor that once was only held by traditional Roman heroes.

One of the structural similarities between the Roman and early Christian cultures is their commitment to honoring their ancestry. In the song, Onward Christian Soldiers, there is a phrase that says, “Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod” (Onward). This phrase shows the reverence that the Christians had for people who came before them. Honoring these saints later becomes a strong catholic tradition and many people today have alters for saints and believe that the saints protect their homes and bless them. This tradition of having alters for saints is similar to the Roman’s tradition of honoring their ancestry though the use of death masks (Togatus). The Romans kept these masks in their houses and deified their dead; these ancestors would later become known as the house gods. The Romans believed that their house gods performed a similar function to what Christians believed the saints did –– protecting and guiding their families. 

Family is the basic unit of human unity and unity was one of the strongest aspects of Roman culture. One example of this unity is when Caesar’s men all decided to follow him even if it meant treason to cross the Rubicon. Similarly, in the song Onward Christian Soldiers, we see that the early Christians also had this strong view of togetherness, “We are not divided; all one body we: one in hope and doctrine, one in charity” (Onward). While togetherness was definitely one of the strongest passions within the Roman empire, this group usually had a strong leader that guided them to attain a certain purpose. In the Roman empire, this leader could take on the form of Aeneas from the Aeneid who was destined to establish Rome or Caesar, who was mightily expanded the Roman empire. In comparison, the Christian leader took on the form of Jesus Christ. The idea of Romans following a leader without doubting can be compared to early Christians following Christ through their faith. Just as Aeneas’ troops left comfortable Carthage to follow him to Italy in the Aeneid (59-60), so too did Christ’s disciples leave behind their fishing to follow Christ (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Mathew 4:19). In essence, the Roman leader and Christ are very similar. This is exemplified in the image of Christ where he is portrayed in a painting as a Roman commander (Christ). This idea of Christ being a war general is furthermore seen in the lyrics of Onward Christian Soldier, “Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle, see his banners go!” (Onward). This view of Christ as a type of Roman leader, along with other similarities, made Christianity easier for Romans to adopt and later to maintain for long periods of time. 

The similarities between the Christian and Roman cultures are not the only reasons why Christianity was easily adopted by the Romans. While the similarities between the two cultures would make the transition from ancient Roman tradition to Christian tradition easier, people would need something more to encourage them to adopt it over their past beliefs. The driving point of accepting Christianity comes from its differences to ancient Roman tradition. One of these differences is the idea of what brings someone honor. To earn honor in ancient Rome, someone had to beautiful, physically strong, and intelligent. One of the most perfect examples of this is Aeneas. In the Aeneid, when Aeneas appears in front of Dido, he does not appear to her as a disheveled traveler, but Venus makes him beautiful so that all could recognize him for the hero he is (19). He is also powerful as seen when he battles and defeats Turnus (195-196). Finally, Aeneas is intelligent, for he is not easily fooled by the false appearances of the gods (12-13). In the Christian tradition, someone did not need to be strong, or beautiful, or even intelligent, but of sound heart and mind. This is especially evident in the beatitudes where Christ says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Mathew 5:11-12). In essence, Christ is saying even the lowliest of people, the ones who are insulted and persecuted, can be great. Christ even compares these people to prophets of old which shows that they too can attain noteworthy honor.

Gaining honor and power, even if one was considered weak, must have been a very appealing aspect of Christianity to the Romans. This appealing concept along with the many similarities between the Christian tradition and the Roman tradition made for a smooth adoption of Christianity for Romans. It may have taken years for Christianity to take hold in the Roman empire, but now it seems as if Rome will never let it go.

Works Cited

“Christ Treading on the Beasts.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 July 2019, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_treading_on_the_beasts.

“Crossing the Rubicon.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Rubicon.

“Freedom of Religion in Italy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Mar. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Italy.

“Jesus the Christ.” Jesus the Christ, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/images/jesus-christ-39623?lang=eng.

“Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onward,_Christian_Soldiers.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Hendrickson Publishers, 2014.

“Togatus Barberini.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togatus_Barberini.

Virgil, and Stanley Lombardo. The Essential Aeneid. Hackett Pub. Co., 2006.