Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul | Page 3

Boy. (After Sächs.) (Baumeister, iii. FIG. 1653).
96. Papyri and Tabulae. (From Dyer's _Pompeii_).
97. Roman Standards. (Guhl and Koner).
98. Armed Soldier.
99. A Roman General. (Hill, FIG. 465).
100. Centurion. (Hill, FIG. 466).
101. Standard-Bearer. (Hill, FIG. 470).
102. Baggage-Train. (Daremberg and Saglio, FIG. 1196).
103. Soldiers with Packs. (Seyffert, _Dict. Class. Ant_. p. 348).
104. Roman Soldiers Marching. (Schreiber).
105. Imperial Guards. (Guhl and Koner).
106. Besiegers with the "Tortoise." (Hill, FIG. 481).
107. Roman Artillery. (_Dict. Ant_. ii. 855).
108. Auxiliary Cavalryman. (_Dict. Ant_. i. 790).
109. Jupiter. (Vatican Museum).
110. A Sacrifice. (Mau, FIG. 44).
111. Isis Worship. (Wall-Painting.) (Mau, FIG. 81).
112. Household Shrine. (Mau, FIG. 127).
113. The World (approximately) as conceived about A.D. 100.
114. The Dying Gaul.

115. A "Candeliera" or Marble Pilaster of the Basilica Aemilia
(Lanciani, _New Tales, etc._, p. 147).
116. Fragments of the Architecture of the Regia. (Lanciani, p. 70).
117. Wall-Painting. (Woman with Tablets.) (Waldstein,
_Herculaneum_, Plate 35).
118. Wall-Painting from Herculaneum. (Women playing with
Knuckle-Bones.) (Waldstein, Plate 4).
119. Lyre and Harp.
120. "Conclamatio" of the Dead. (Guhl and Koner).
121. Tomb of Caecilia Metella.
122. Street of Tombs. (Mau, Plate 10).
123. Columbarium. (Guhl and Koner).
124. Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol.

MAPS AND PLANS:
Map of Roman Empire, A.D. 64.
Plan of Rome with Chief Topographical Features.
Plan of Forum, A.D. 64.

INTRODUCTION
The subject of this book is "Life in the Roman World of Nero and St.
Paul." This is not quite the same thing as "Life in Ancient Rome" at the
same date. Our survey is to be somewhat wider than that of the imperial
city itself, with its public and private structures, its public and private
life. The capital, and these topics concerning it, will naturally occupy
the greater portion of our time and interest. But it is quite impossible to
realise Rome, its civilisation, and the meaning of its monuments, unless
we first obtain some general comprehension of the empire--the Roman

world--with its component parts, its organisation and administration.
The date is approximately anno Domini 64, although it is not desirable,
even if it were possible, to adhere in every detail to the facts of that
particular year. In A.D. 64 the Emperor Nero was at the height of his
folly and tyranny, and, so far as our information goes, the Apostle Paul
was journeying about the Roman world in the interval between his first
and second imprisonments in the capital.
One cannot, perhaps, achieve a wholly satisfying picture in a treatise of
the present dimensions. It would require a very bulky volume to realise
with any adequateness the ideal aim. It would be well if, in the first
instance, we could imagine ourselves standing somewhere far aloft
over the centre of the empire, and possessing as wide-ranging a vision
as that of the Homeric gods. From that exalted standpoint we might
gaze upon the active life of towns, upon the labourers working their
lands from the Atlantic to the Euphrates, and upon the men who go
down to the sea in ships and do their business in great waters. We
should perceive their occupations and amusements, their material
surroundings, their various dress and manners, their methods of travel,
the degree of their personal safety and liberty. Then we should descend
to earth in the middle of Rome itself, and become for the time being
inhabitants of that city, privileged to take part in its public business and
its public pleasures, to enter the houses of what may be called its
representative citizens, to share in the various elements of its social day,
and to estimate the moral, intellectual, and artistic cultivation of Roman
society.
Such would be the ideal. Here it must suffice, to select the most
essential or interesting matters, and to present them with such vividness
as the necessary brevity will permit. Very little preliminary knowledge
will be taken for granted; the use of Latin or technical terms will be
shunned, and every topic will be dealt with, as far as possible, in the
plainest of English.
Nevertheless, while aiming at entire lucidity, the following chapters
will aim even more scrupulously at telling the truth. There are
doubtless a number of matters--though generally of relatively small
moment--about which we are, and probably always shall be, uncertain.
The best way to deal with these, in a work which is descriptive rather
than argumentative, is to omit them. For the rest it must be expected of

any one whose professional concern it has been to saturate himself for
many years in the literature of the times, and to study carefully their
monumental remains, that he should occasionally make some statement,
drop some passing remark or judgment, which may appear to be in
conflict with assertions made in other