Tomorrow is my birthday. I love birthdays, mine or anyone else’s. It’s thought that Ancient Romans were the first to celebrate birthdays for the average Joe. The Romans loved to celebrate life. They referred to the day of one’s birth as dies natalis, which translates quite literally to birthday. Birthday celebrations weren’t reserved just for people, either. Cities, buildings, and …
The Mountains Quake Before Him
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. ~Acts 16.26 I grew up in southern California. I remember several earthquakes, but none that were really serious. In college in Tulsa, I experienced my first tornado warning. I was terrified, but …
Familia Ante Omnia
The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ~Acts 16.14-15 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ~Acts 16:33 Familia Ante Omnia: Family Before All I …
Bad Blood in the Body
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ~Acts 16:13 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ~Philippians 4:2 When Paul …
Rage of the Dog Star
Malaria is one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. In 2017, 219 million cases of malaria claimed 435,000 lives. Malaria was no less brutal in the Roman Empire, where it was known as Roman Fever. Millions died in the first five or so centuries AD, and children, pregnant women, and the elderly were especially susceptible. In 2016, a British …
Think You Know Claudius?
His full name was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. He ruled from 41 to 54 AD. He had the pedigree to rule. He was the nephew of both Mark Antony and Tiberius, the uncle of Caligula, great-nephew of Augustus, and the great-great-grandnephew of Julius Caesar. He suffered from many physical ailments, possibly cerebral palsy, and was ridiculed by his own …
The Ancient Order of Tribunes
Sold into Freedom’s hero is Quintus, a military tribune. In Rome’s earliest history, all Roman citizens were contained in three tribes organized by Romulus (8th century BC). Each tribe was headed by a tribune. There was no standing army, so each tribe sent one commander when an army was mustered. In Imperial times, military tribunes were the six most senior …
So Falls the World
One of the most iconic symbols of Rome is the Colosseum–a huge amphitheater in the center of Rome that could hold 50- 80,000 spectators who came to watch sporting events and games, including gladiatorial battles, mock sea battles, animal hunts, dramas, re-enactments of famous battles, and executions. Seats were arranged in tiers that reflected the status levels of Roman society. …
Please Wait, Wait a Minute, Mister Postman
The Apostle Paul wrote almost half the New Testament—all in the form of letters. (Although volume-wise, his beloved physician Luke wrote more.) We might imagine a thoughtful Paul sitting in a chair at a table in a darkened room. A single candle illuminates his workspace, a quill is posed over a piece of parchment. But that’s not exactly the way …
All Roads Really Did Lead to Rome
One of the reasons Christianity spread so quickly in the first centuries after Jesus’s death and resurrection was the sophisticated and extensive Roman road system. Copies of the gospels as well as Paul’s letters—later to become Holy Scripture—were carried throughout the Empire on these roads. They were built to serve the military. As the famed Roman legions conquered new regions, …