Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
When in Rome, do as the Romans do (Medieval Latin: Sī fuerīs Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; sī fuerīs alibī, vīvitō sīcut ibī), often shortened to when in Rome..., is a proverb attributed to Saint Ambrose. [1] [2] The proverb means that it is best to follow the traditions or customs of a place being visited.
As the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire, expanded, it came to include people from a variety of cultures, and religions. The worship of an ever increasing number of deities was tolerated and accepted. The government, and the Romans in general, tended to be tolerant towards most religions and religious practices. [1]
A. N. Sherwin-White records that serious discussion of the reasons for Roman persecution of Christians began in 1890 when it produced "20 years of controversy" and three main opinions: first, there was the theory held by most French and Belgian scholars that "there was a general enactment, precisely formulated and valid for the whole empire, which forbade the practice of the Christian religion.
That year, Decius made it a capital offence to refuse to make sacrifices to Roman Gods, although it did not outlaw Christian worship and may not have targeted Christians specifically. [83] Valerian pursued similar policies later that decade. These were followed by a 40-year period of tolerance known as the "little peace of the Church ...
Their refusal to worship the Roman gods or to pay homage to the emperor as divine resulted at times in persecution and martyrdom. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Church Father Tertullian , for instance, attempted to argue that Christianity was not inherently treasonous, and that Christians could offer their own form of prayer for the well-being of the ...
Roman Emperor Diocletian launched the bloodiest campaign against Christians that the empire had witnessed. The persecution ended in 311 with the death of Diocletian. The persecution ultimately had not turned the tide on the growth of the religion, [6] and because of the rapid growth, Christians accounted for 56.5% of the Roman population by 350 ...
The Roman Empire expanded to include different peoples and cultures; in principle, Rome followed the same inclusionist policies that had recognised Latin, Etruscan and other Italian peoples, cults and deities as Roman. Those who acknowledged Rome's hegemony retained their own cult and religious calendars, independent of Roman religious law. [168]
The Crisis of the Third Century (AD 235–284), was a period of heavy barbarian invasions and migrations into Roman territory. [4]: 19, 22 According to Peter Brown, imperial Rome's system of government was an easy–going system which governed indirectly through the regional, local elites, and was not built to survive the strain of continuous invasions and civil wars.