Jesus vs the Roman Empire
Just when you think the internet can’t get any weirder, a new trend takes hold with more than a billion views that involves women asking their men this question: how often do you think about the Roman Empire?
The answers were equally surprising. Check out a few:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuNReqvYuQg
Many of the men queried say they think about the Roman Empire daily or at least several times a week.
Really? The Roman Empire? The thing that ended fifteen hundred years ago?
Apparently, many men find the Roman Empire completely and utterly captivating because of their cool gladiators, their weapons, their armies, their exceptional road building, amazing aqueducts, big buildings, all that real manly stuff. They seem to know quite a lot about it and can cite books and documentaries they have read or watched. Or they talk about the movie Gladiator, which my own husband has watched about four hundred times.
The trend got started by a guy who goes by the name Gaius Flavius on Instagram and then gravitated to TikTok where it blew up, as TikTok-y things tend to do. Even celebrities like Ryan Reynolds have gotten into the act, posting pictures of themselves “thinking” about the Roman Empire, beatific smiles on their faces.
Though not a man, I, too, have had an obsession with the Roman Empire from time to time. When I was writing Hammer of God, I did a bit of research into the Romans because it was pertinent to the story—so much of Europe in the eighth century, including the people, had been shaped by Rome. The landscape of the early Middle Ages still bore the scars of Rome. I also have done a fair amount of research on gladiators for my novel Forbidden, in which I wrote about gladiator combats in a future world heavily influenced by Rome. So, Rome has never been far from my mind, at least regarding my writing.
My current interest has come about for far darker reasons. I have long believed that we as a nation are going in the same direction the Roman Empire went before its fall. Political corruption, wasteful spending, an overextended military, soaring taxes, unchecked foreign invasion—so much of our world today resembles the last days of Rome. Roman rulers were so concerned about a popular uprising that they sought to anesthetize the increasingly restless masses with “bread and circuses”—sports, entertainment, free stuff—to distract them from their own corruption and excesses.
But it’s the cultural and moral decay that is the most worrying. As Rome waned, it became increasingly enamored with sexual depravity and gender confusion. The Emperor Elagabalus, for instance, was famously “gender-fluid,” dressed as a woman and engaged in the most bizarre sexual behavior—it’s no wonder you’ve never heard of him, or her, or they, or whatever. He even considered surgically altering his body to look more like a woman’s. The Emperor Commodus (of Gladiator fame) liked to wear women’s clothing, even when he fought in gladiator matches. The Emperor Tiberius was an infamous pedophile who victimized and corrupted his young nephew Caligula, whose own proclivity leaned toward incest. Roman bathhouses were known havens of sexual deviance.
Sound familiar?
Still, at the time of Jesus, around 30 AD, the Roman Empire was at the height of its power and looked more or less invincible. Rome was the world. By contrast, Israel, known as Judea, was a tiny, occupied territory, not even a country. Jesus was a poor itinerant preacher, wandering around Galilee with a few friends, amassing large crowds of peasants and the ire of the Jewish religious elites.
Nothing could compete with Rome’s power or authority. Even the Jewish religious leaders didn’t dare oppose Rome. Herod, the “Jewish” ruler, bowed to Rome. When Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect in charge of Judea, questioned Jesus about his kingdom, Jesus told him, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate did not feel the least bit threatened by Jesus.
Yet today, the Roman Empire is gone. And Jesus is King. The only reason we know the name Pontius Pilate is because of Jesus.
So maybe the question shouldn’t be, “How often do you think of the Roman Empire?” But, “How often do you think of Jesus?”
Here are some things to consider:
Around 313 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, which later became the official religion of the former Roman Empire. The Church of Rome is still a dominant force in the world today. Meanwhile, the pagan religion of the Romans has been dead for centuries. Jupiter, Mars, and Venus are now mere planets.
According to the Pew Research Center, Christianity is now practiced in 232 countries and territories. There are estimated to be 2.4 billion Christians worldwide, making it the largest religion on the planet. At its peak, the Roman Empire was about half the size of the United States, with about 60 million inhabitants.
Christianity has been around for two thousand years and is still going strong. The Roman Empire lasted about a thousand years, from its beginnings as a republic in 625 BC until it fell in 476 AD.
While we have borrowed some aspects of the Roman style of government, the American Constitution owes much more to Judeo-Christian influence than to Roman law, based upon the inalienable rights of man endowed by his Creator. The Founding Fathers were deeply influenced by Christian principles and considered them essential to establishing a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Rome’s legacy has been mostly about art and architecture—beautiful buildings, some of which still stand, roads, aqueducts, and feats of engineering unparalleled in ancient times. It is also remembered for slavery, crucifixions, murders, cruelty, savage wars, civil strife, and the ruination of nations. In all the movies made about Rome, the Romans are rarely the good guys.
Jesus’ legacy has been saved souls and restored hearts. Christianity led to the creation of hospitals, charities, the abolitionist movement, and scientific inquiry. That is not to say there aren’t plenty of examples of Christians behaving badly, often in His name. But by and large, the name of Jesus has endured because He has remained as He always is and forever will be—Our Glorious Savior. Lord of All.
So the question remains: how often do you think about Jesus?
Gina Detwiler is the author of the award-winning Forlorn Series, The Ultimate Bible Character Guide and the Ultimate Bible Character Devotional. She also co-authored with Priscilla Shirer the best-selling middle-grade fantasy series, The Prince Warriors. Find out more at www.ginadetwiler.com
