Leading up to the time of Christ’s birth, there was a general search for the true faith, with many people ridiculing the traditional pagan religions. Various new religions came to replace the traditional Greek and Roman ones, and there was an ongoing interest in moral philosophy. The teachings of Socrates and Plato and Stoicism still persisted for centuries until the time of Christ, as well as different versions of older philosophies like Neo-Pythagoreanism. 

Meanwhile, the Jewish people were looking for their messiah, who was prophesied hundreds of years earlier. The Jews had strict laws about their religion, and scribes were experts on the law and were extremely influential at the time of Christ. The scribes had developed out of the Babylonian captivity and had been powerful ever since then. The Hebrews also had something known as the Sanhedrin, which was a particular group of priests, scribes, and pious Jews numbering about 6,000 during Christ’s lifetime. They paid strict fidelity to ritual observance and laws. When Jesus started his ministry, there were followers of Him called “Zealots” who sought violent revolution against Rome, but were angered at Jesus after they found out that Christ’s kingdom was not a political one. 

Jesus started his public teachings at age 30 and had twelve close disciples following Him. He delivered many public sermons and healings, with one of the most famous of these being the 

Sermon on the Mount (The Beatitudes). Because He proclaimed Himself the Son of God, Jesus was greatly opposed by the enraged chief priests and Pharisees. Eventually, He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Apostles, and delivered to Roman governor Pontius Pilate to be punished. Pilate found no fault in Him, but nevertheless ordered Christ to be crucified for fear of a revolt if Pilate did not go through with their demands. After His crucifixion, Jesus miraculously rose from the dead on the third day. 

The Christian faith was established, and was met with immediate persecution by the Jews and Romans. Jesus’ disciples and Apostles preached His message across the Mediterranean and the Roman Empire. Four Gospels were composed telling of Jesus’ life and ministry and a number of other books were written that make up the “New Testament.” Christianity first rose among the Jews, with entrance into the faith by baptism. Later it reached all peoples of the world, including non-Jews known as Gentiles. Despite the fierce resistance, Christianity spread widely, with the teaching that those who repent and serve God are promised eternal life. 

The Oresteia Trilogy” is the three plays of “Agamemnon,” “The Libation Bearers,” and “The Eumenides,” all written by Greek playwright Aeschylus. In these works, and in most of ancient Greek literature, the same basic theme prevails: the concept and ethics of revenge. 

“The Eumenides” was the third and final play of the trilogy. Eumenides were monstrous beings from the underworld, and it was explained in this poem that Greeks referred to them as “eumenides” while Romans referred to them as “furies” as they were described in previous plays. Greatly feared by the population, the furies were described as “goddesses of hate” by Apollo. The Olympian gods had long-standing animosity with the gods of the underworld. Oretes was lured outside the city of Athens, which was safe and was caught by the furies. The furies claimed Orestes was without hope and would be taken to the underworld for justice. Thankfully for him, Orestes was being protected by Apollo. The goddess Athena assembled a court in the underworld for Orestes’ trial, but she stated that she could not save Orestes. Going on she proclaimed that without the furies, there would be murder in families because of the lack of retribution handed down by the furies. 

Eventually, the furies consented to the trial but quarreled with Apollo over whose system of justice is sovereign. The jury was made of citizens of Athens and was divided, and the vote came down to Athena’s ballot. Orestes was finally set free, although this angered the furies who vowed revenge on Athens, but were later compelled by Athena to not destroy the city. Athena predicted prosperity and military victory for Athens, and the citizens pledged loyalty to her. The city’s religion triumphed over the underworld, making the jury the source of justice in Athens. The conflict between the gods of the underworld and the Olympian gods was eventually settled because the people of Athens promised to offer sacrifice to the Olympian gods, the gods of the hearth, and the underworld gods. Also, the city gained autonomy by means of its sacrifices and jury system. 

During the reign of Augustus Caesar from 14-180 AD, there was little turmoil and general peace, earning his rule the name “Pax Romana” or Roman peace. Augustus created a large standing army at all times, a different approach from earlier eras when there was only a standing army during times of war. Conquering Egypt with 60 legions, Augustus still kept 28 in service. The plan was to instantly obliterate anyone who decided to attack Rome. Following the reign of Augustus, there was stability at some times, with there being some good emperors but also some horrible emperors who took the throne during the second century. 

Augustus had complete power over Rome and was feared. However, he was not known as especially brutal and was still generally considered to be a great emperor. He managed to acquire massive amounts of troops because of conscription. Augustus died towards the end of the first century with no male heir, so his wife’s son Tiberius, was named emperor. 

Tiberius had a mostly uneventful reign (14-37) yet power became even more centralized to the emperor under his leadership. From 37-41 AD, Caligula ruled over the Roman Empire. He was insane, cruel, and believed himself to be a god. This theme of the emperor being divine would continue with later emperors. The people of Rome hated this and such emperors would usually end up getting assassinated. For instance, Caligula even made a temple to himself and was murdered by the Praetorian guard because of this. 

After Caligula’s reign, Claudius took the throne and inherited an awful situation, with Rome being in massive debt and rebellion breaking out across the empire. Claudius turned out to be a competent emperor and saved Rome from these troubles. One of the most infamous Roman rulers ever, Nero, ruled from 54-68 and was apparently said to have been sane and sensible during his first five years as emperor. In the second half of his reign, Nero was known for tyranny and especially mass killings of Christains. His most heinous crimes include murdering his own mother for annoying him, burning the bodies of Christains to light his garden, and lighting the city of Rome on fire for an unknown reason. Obviously, Nero was despised by the people who caused a rebellion, leading Nero to commit suicide. The rule from Tiberus to Nero is known as the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. 

A large power gap was left after Nero’s death and in 69 AD is remembered as “The Year of the Four Emperors.” Eventually Vespasian took power ruling for 10 years and his sons continued what is known as the Flavian Dynasty. Under Vespasian, Rome stabilized, continuing the cycle of the situation getting out of control under an incompetent emperor and then being saved by a good emperor. Some notable events during the Flavian Dynasty include: the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD under Vespasian and the Colosseum in Rome being constructed in 80 AD under Vespasian’s son Titus. Roman art and engineering flourished during this time as impressive aqueducts were built and many works of art were made, being almost completely copied off of Greek art.