Influence and Rule of the Roman Empire 

"All roads lead to Rome" was a popular expression based on how the Roman Empire turned dirt paths into a highway system that connected people and places in a way never seen before. There were even highway markers, so you knew where you were in Spain, France, Germany, or other countries in the Empire. Rome’s famous Appian Way is synonymous with a well-built major highway.

Rome was a magnificent destination, referred to as the Greatest City in All the World, the Capital of the World, the Mistress of the Western World, the Mistress of Empire, the Imperial City, and the Eternal City.

The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. The era of classical Roman civilization began in 27 BCE. The western empire collapsed in 476 CE, and the eastern empire lasted until 1453. The first two centuries of the Empire were called Pax Romana, Latin for Roman Peace, a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity.

The Roman Empire left a legacy, with many advancements still in use today. In architecture, they gave us the arch, vault, and dome. Their style is a basis for Romanesque, Renaissance, and Neoclassical architecture, influencing Islamic architecture. Some Roman structures still stand today due to their sophisticated methods of making cement and concrete. Their society encompassed diverse peoples while creating a shared identity. Public monuments and communal spaces were open to all. Latin and Greek were the main languages, but the Empire was deliberately multilingual. Roman and Greek art had a major impact on the Italian Renaissance. The rediscovery of classical science and technology contributed to the Scientific Renaissance and Scientific Revolution. Many modern legal systems descend from Roman law, including the early United States and modern democratic republics. The Empire's adoption of Christianity formed medieval Christendom. Due to the Roman Empire’s extent and endurance, its institutions and culture had a lasting influence on language, religion, art, architecture, literature, philosophy, law, and government.

The founders of America used classical models for landmarks in Washington, D.C. and applied Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism as models for the Constitution.

Rome, largely through military might, unified part of the world under a well-run central government, enhancing and improving many civilizations. A succession of Greek-cultural and Roman political victories had consolidated the Mediterranean lands into one empire, with one language and one culture, and had made the Western world ready for one God. There were many advantages to being a Roman citizen and part of the Roman Empire. But the conquered people were not citizens, and some, like the Jews, wanted to be an independent nation and rule themselves.

In the times of Jesus, there were only two great world powers – the Roman Empire in the West and the Han Empire in the East. There were miles of roads built by Rome. The friendly relations of Herod with the Roman rulers made the world safe for Jews to travel. Socially, a talented individual could ascend to a higher class, but people were generally content with their social rank and did not view class distinctions as unjust. Women enjoyed more freedom than in Palestine.

A central government needs taxes for income. In 8 BCE, Caesar Augustus declared a census for all inhabitants of the Roman Empire to exact better taxation. Palestine was delayed a year, and Jesus was born the day before Joseph went to register.

Jesus’ fondest memories of travel were to the cities of Rome, Alexandria, and Damascus. Jesus stayed in Rome for six months as part of his Mediterranean travels with an Indian businessman, Gonod, and his son, Ganid. In Rome, Jesus enjoyed affectionate and uplifting contact with over five hundred mortals and gained knowledge of the different races of mankind.

Rome was ripe for Christianity. They had a representative government, and their culture brought to the whole Western world a new tolerance for strange languages, peoples, and even religions. They had a rich inheritance of great accomplishments in philosophy, art, literature, and political progress but needed something to satisfy their spiritual longings. It was the one missing piece.

The Romans were a great people. Roman law was dignified and worthy of great respect. They could govern the Occident because they could govern themselves. They were born attorneys, and many were trained as lawyers. The Romans were politically devoted and consecrated, honest, and dedicated to their ideals. Roman education instilled unshakable loyalty. Their Stoic background appealed to "nature and conscience." Their character provided an ideal soil for the reception and growth of Christianity. It was easy for these Greco-Romans to become just as spiritually devoted to an institutional church as they were politically devoted to the state. Christianity revealed an intimate concept of one God, and they embraced it readily.

The Roman Empire amalgamated an unprecedented unity: political rule from the Romans, a unity of culture and learning from the Greeks, and a unity of religious thought and practice from Christianity. Rome, for the first time in history, provided the means for different nations and races to accept one religion. Yet the most effective factor proved to be the way believers lived lives of service and even the way they died for their faith during times of harsh persecution. The new word they introduced into their language was "unselfishness."

Much of the early persecution of Christians in Rome was due to a misunderstanding of the preaching of a new kingdom, an unfortunate choice of words when in Rome. Political rivalry was not tolerated; religion was.

During the first century, Christianity took root and rapidly spread. Christianity adopted the emperor; later, he adopted Christianity. It was a time of religious liberty and open-mindedness, largely gained through travel. The second century provided the most prolific increase in Christianity in all the world’s history.

The teachings of Jesus are a mighty power, especially when one remembers that love is the most powerful force in the universe. Twelve common laborers of a crucified carpenter set in motion those teachings that conquered the Roman world in three hundred years and then triumphed over the barbarians who overthrew Rome. Today, materialistic sociologists take surveys of a community, produce statistics, and leave the people no better, and perhaps worse, after realizing it was their tax dollars that just paid for an impotent report. Two thousand years ago, unlearned Galileans surveyed Jesus, giving his life as a spiritual contribution to man’s inner experience, and then went out and turned the whole Roman Empire upside down.

The fall of the Roman Empire offers valuable insights into the consequences of internal degeneration and external pressures. It was marked by the loss of a higher culture to barbarian invaders. As T.S. Eliot observed, once such cultural heights are lost, recovery takes centuries, and the results often fall short of their former glory.

Rome's adoption of Christianity, though a cultural necessity, failed to halt its moral and social decline. While the Roman Empire survived long enough to allow Christianity to survive its collapse, the original teachings of Jesus were heavily altered by Hellenized interpretations. These compromises diluted the transformative power of his message. Had Jesus's unadulterated teachings been preserved and disseminated, the trajectory of Western civilization might have been profoundly altered, providing a foundation for a more spiritually aligned society.

Rome's collapse was the result of numerous factors, including the rapid expansion of its territory without the moral or administrative capacity to sustain such growth. Internal degeneration, such as the decline in moral values, a corrupt and indifferent political elite, and a burdensome taxation system exacerbated the situation. Rome's government also implemented sudden, liberalizing reforms without adequate foresight, destabilizing social norms and hastening the empire's decline.

Historians frequently point to factors like the erosion of "civic virtue," a dwindling army, economic mismanagement, and incompetent leadership as causes of Rome's fall. In addition, Rome’s unchecked expansion led to governance structures that were unfit for the challenges of its vast and diverse empire, ultimately collapsing under both internal corruption and external pressures.

This historical context parallels modern challenges in democratic societies. Rapid globalization and internal divisions threaten governance systems today, much as they did in Rome. The survival of democracy depends on intelligent, morally fit, and technically competent leadership. Without addressing these challenges, modern democracies may follow the same path as Rome, succumbing to internal decay and external pressures.