21 April 753 B.C. Roman Annalist, Titus Livius, gives this date
as the founding of Rome.
The
oldest settlement was 17 miles from the mouth of the Tiber River on a cluster
of 7 hills.
Initially,
Rome was ruled by Latin kings. By 600 BC, Etruscans from northwestern Italy
took control. By 509 BC, the Romans
revolted and broke Etruscan hegemony.
They established a Roman republic with two elected Consuls, elected
annually, and assisted by elected administrators. The election process kept accountability
close to the people. In 387 BC, Gauls
invaded Rome. As a result, the Romans
determined they would never allow that to happen again and they took up the
sword. They united into a confederation.
As a result, they stood inviolate for 8 centuries.
The
Republic ended in 27 BC when Caesar Augustus fleeted up (after internal
transformations). There were 1 million
people in Rome by the time of St. Paul.
For
the first 200 years, the Pax Romana prevailed
and the Roman Empire extended from Spain to the upper headwaters of the
Tigris-Euphrates (west to east) and from the sub-Saharan deserts of Africa to
the northern islands of England (south to north).
The
church at Rome started without apostolic involvement insofar as can be
known. Paul and Peter did not found the
church.
By
58ish AD, perhaps 57 AD, Paul wrote his infamous Epistle to the Romans. He
would ultimately travel there, under adverse conditions, and would be
imprisoned there 60-62ish AD. Upon
release, Paul engaged in further missionary activity, was later imprisoned in
Rome, and died there c.67-68 AD.
Several
Caesar oppressed Christian Churchmen until Constantine the Great issued his
Edict of Milan in 313, legitimated the Christian religion. Before Constantine,
during the persecutions, Christians in Rome frequented the catacombs. There were about 40 churches in Rome in
313.
Constantine
moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, rather weakening the city and
taking talent with him.
In
410, Visigoths raided the city.
In
476, the Ostrogoths raided the city.
By
Gregory the Great’s time (590-600ish), the great city was a backwater and
desolate. He stepped into the leadership
vacuum, earning praise for his work.
In
847, Pope Leo IV built a defensive wall around St. Peter’s. About this time, the term “Pope” began to be
reserved for just the bishop of Rome.
Previously, other bishops were called “Papa.” (They still are in the East).
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