IT is well, in considering the might and power of Rome in the zenith of her imperial authority in the world, to go back in our minds to the beginnings of her history, and to remember that all her greatness and worldwide domination were achieved, at the most, in a space of 750 years.
There is a singular parallel in the record of our own land: we should have to go back to the days of Edward I., and know what England was then, and compare it in regard to conquest and progress with the days in which we live, to get anything like an idea of what was the advance of the power of Rome and the manner in which she had imposed her iron will upon other nations, during the centuries previous to the coming into the world of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And whatever we may think about the method adopted by Rome to accomplish her military purposes, and however cruel and intolerant she may have been in conflict with her foes, yet we cannot read the remarkable story without an assured conviction that century after century God made even the wrath of men to praise Him, and eventually so marvelously focused events, as to make the period of the advent of Christ a crisis in the world’s history such as had never been known before. We are anticipating much we may have to say about the preceding ages, but it is to us a marvel to know that for hundreds and hundreds of years Rome had never been at peace, the battle flag had never been furled. The mighty legions had marched victoriously throughout the then known world, and the appearance of her fearful eagles in the vanguard of her conquering armies had sent terror for generations into the hearts of myriads of the inhabitants of far distant provinces: but after seven centuries of such conflict Augustus, as if in preparation for the coming of the Lord, entered the city and kept high festival to announce that their enemies had been subdued, and that Rome was at peace with all the world.
Writers of the period tell of his triumphal reception during the month of August, 29 B.C., and how on the 11Th of January of that year he had closed the Temple of Janus, the god of war, as an indication of the profound peace throughout the Roman Empire. Think of this time, and contrast it with the events of well-nigh 750 years before, when it is said Romulus yoked a bullock and a heifer to a plough and made a furrow round the Palatine Hill, and thereby indicated that this should be the limits of the city. Visitors to Rome now can form some idea of what that meant, and are better able to estimate the change that had transpired when, amidst its mighty palaces, temples, and monuments, Augustus and his invincible forces re-entered Rome in 29 B.C.