Purchase your DVD today: https://coldwatermedia.com/products-page/ancient/rome-if-you-want-to

CAESAR AUGUSTUS

The watershed of Roman history -- the point at which the character of Rome transitioned from merely an extension of Greek culture and politics to the true Roman Empire -- happened during the reign of Caesar Augustus. During the reign of Augustus, the Roman world of the New Testament comes into being.

Caesar Augustus whose name was Octavian became one of the most powerful and important rulers in all of Rome if not the entire history of the world. The more he tried to turn attention away from himself to the glory of Rome, the more Rome glorified him. And the harder he worked to restore the "glory days" of the old Roman republic, the more Rome turned to him as their supreme ruler and emperor.

The result was a permanent change from Roman Republic to Roman Empire. Not that that was a bad thing under Octavian's rule. He considered himself the "second founder" of Rome, and thus carefully selected the name "Augustus" (meaning "venerable") to be conveyed upon him by the senate in 27 BC, when he went through the motions of resigning his power, only to have the senate convey ultimate rule back to him. Under his "venerable" leadership, Rome really was reborn.

He brought an end to civil war and instituted the "Peace of Rome," or the "Pax Romana" throughout the entire empire. Being a shrewd politician, he instituted a public welfare program that effectively fed the poor and stabilized the workforce. He stimulated free trade both inside the empire and with its allies. He began an extensive building program in the city of Rome, and ordered construction of quality roads that would bring trade from the provinces into the city, and the city's influence out to the provinces. He glorified Rome over himself, and lived an austere and humble life, at least by the extravagant standards the Romans were used to from its politicians.

Augustus also encouraged a great spirituality among Rome's citizens, which at first revolved around Rome's pantheon of deities, but -- out of the people's sheer admiration -- developed into worship of the emperor himself. Caesar Augustus was considered to be the son of a god and was granted the ultimate title, "the father of his country" in 2 BC. In the eyes of the average Roman he was quite literally thought of as their savior. He consolidated Rome's influence by placing tenaciously loyal governors and regional rulers in power -- guys like Herod the Great in Roman Judea -- and funded regional building projects and even entirely new Roman cities in the outlying provinces in order to extend the Empire's glory and influence.

Another move initiated by Caesar Augustus was that of the Roman census -- making an accurate count of Rome's population and that of its holdings in order to levy taxes for the benefit of the entire Roman empire. Now he initiated three such registrations, and they're so highly thought of that they rank #8 on one Roman historian's list of the 35 greatest achievements of Caesar Augustus. Now the great significance here, of course, is that one of these three registrations -- probably the second one -- is mentioned in the New Testament:

"Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth" (Luke 2:1).

This is where two of the most influential lives in ancient history intersect. First, the life of Caesar Augustus, proclaimed by Rome to be "the son of a god," who produced a world where Roman power reigned supreme. Second, the life of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in the tiny Judean village of Bethlehem. Jesus of Nazareth went on to challenge, transform, and outlive the influence of the entire Roman Empire in ways that Augustus could not, in his wildest dreams, ever have imagined.