Augustus & Christ

     One of my academic specialties is the interrelation between Christianity and Classical Culture/the Roman Empire.  One of the more intriguing aspects of this was the idea that Augustus prepared the world for the coming of Christ by bringing it, i.e. the Ancient Mediterranean world, unity and peace--making it fit for the coming of the savior. The Roman Empire was actually part of God's plan for salvation. To say this is theologically daring is an understatement, and there were others who considered Roman rule (and Classical Culture generally) as diabolical.  Still, we find echoes of the positive view of the divine role of Rome in texts used to this day.

     In the Roman Martyrology for Christmas Day we read:

   

 v in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;

v the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;

v the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;

v the whole world being at peace, in the sixth age of the world,

v Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary, being made flesh.

            In an orthodox hymn for Christmas, the parallel between the reign of Augustus and the coming of Christ is laid out in detail: 

When Augustus ruled alone upon the earth

the many kingdoms of men came to an end,

And when Thou was made man of the pure virgin

the many gods of idolatry were destroyed.

  

The cities of the world passed under one single rule,

and the nations came to believe in one sovereign godhead.

 

The peoples were enrolled by decree of Caesar,

and the faithful enrolled in the name of the godhead

when Thou our God was made man.

 

Great is Thy mercy O Lord

glory to Thee.

Here is a great painting, The Age of Augustus, the Birth of Christ, about 1852–1854 by Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824 - 1904)  The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 85.PA.226

At the apex of this theatrically arranged study, Augustus Caesar sits in front of the Temple of Janus and touches the shoulder of a man personifying Rome. Surrounding him are scholars and statesmen while foreign tribes gather below. The Nativity scene in the foreground illustrates the coincidental moment of world peace under Augustus when Christ was born.

What I did for a living was, quite frankly, often brilliantly good fun!