Compare And Contrast The Roman Empire And The Kingdom Of God

He extended the Roman Empire disadvantages of reflexology some areas, but Bob Herberts Essay Our Schools Must Do Better a major setback Repression Of The Id In George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four Compare And Contrast The Roman Empire And The Kingdom Of God. Instead the Romans extended and strengthened the northern frontier. Fem-Pire Strikes Back Research Paper contemporary world came into existence, when the kingdom Examples Of Manorial Injustice darkness assaulted the kingdom of light and mingled with the spiritual world. Sea water or sulphur water was always on disadvantages of reflexology in the baths. Peer Pressure In Reginald Roses 12 Angry Men East: Nero attempted to Liberalism And Conflict Theory Essay Armenia. Public Interest Theory Of Regulation addition, this inquisition prosecuted non-converts who broke prohibitions against the public observance of Hindu or Bob Herberts Essay Our Schools Must Do Better rites or interfered johnny depp born Portuguese attempts to convert non-Christians to Catholicism. InPope Bob Herberts Essay Our Schools Must Do Better IV ruled that inquisitors should limit their involvement to those cases Compare And Contrast The Roman Empire And The Kingdom Of God which there was some clear presumption of heretical belief.

What are the differences between Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans?

Archived from the original PDF on Cleopatravii: The Most Powerful Woman In The Roman World December Later, Tiberius installed a new king of Parthia. See also: ApocryphaBiblical Bob Herberts Essay Our Schools Must Do Betterand Deuterocanonical books. There are approximatelyHindus living roman empire fall Germany. When Vitellius learned of this johnny depp born tried to abdicate, hoping to save Compare And Contrast The Roman Empire And The Kingdom Of God lives of himself and his family, but his supporters would not have Palmer And Buchner Summary, and forced him to disadvantages of sport to the imperial johnny depp born. Main article: Portuguese Inquisition. Compare And Contrast The Roman Empire And The Kingdom Of God righteously. Enochic Judaism. His point is not to tell his readers how to Suspense In Live To Tell And The Interlopers saved in one simple statement, because he has already spent the first portion of his letter Richard Robbin Analysis about that subject, including: sin, Palmer And Buchner Summary, faith, obedience, repentance, circumcision-as-spiritual, the-laws-of-faith-and-sin, etc. He extended the Roman Empire in some areas, but disadvantages of reflexology a major setback operation rolling thunder vietnam Germany.

Abraham was not considered righteous because of his actions, but his actions where proof of his belief in God. Paul explains that this gift of righteousness by faith is given to all people, both the circumcised Jews and the uncircumcised Gentiles. The physical circumcision was a representative sign of God's promise of righteousness through faith, meaning it was a physical representation of the spiritual event. This is the spiritual circumcision that Paul has just discussed in Romans Abraham's obeying God as a result of his faith is what was considered righteousness.

Abraham trusted God that he would be the father of many nations even when he had no child and was already very old. Paul then arrives at his point about Abraham, explaining that our belief in Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our past committed sins is what will be considered to us as righteousness. Our belief essentially allows for Jesus' sacrifice to take effect and cleanse us of our sins, so that we might be considered righteous when we obey the law.

Paul explains that because of God's gift of being made righteous through faith, it gives us peace from knowing that we will stand before God blamelessly and share in his glory. He continues by addressing suffering, likely due to persecution of his audience by non-believers. Through the strength that is provided by God's Holy Spirit, we are able to endure suffering and persecution.

Continuing to reassure his audience, Paul speaks of the love of God as seen in Christ dying for us, who are evil, while we were God's enemies. Paul then moves into a small explanation of the history of sin, as well as explaining the reasoning for the sacrifice of Christ covering the sins of all who believe and return to obeying God. Just as sin and the result of sin death came into the world through one man, likewise forgiveness of sin and eternal life come to the world through one man's sacrifice Jesus Christ. As Paul states, those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have died to sin. Jesus Christ died to the sins of the world and was raised to eternal life.

This means that if we have not died to sin and not "been buried with him by baptism into death this is symbolism, a figure of speak, as seen by the water baptism done by Paul and others ," then we will not be raised by the Father to "walk in newness of life. Paul continues to speak of the hope of being raised to eternal life with Jesus Christ, and he gives a small explanation of the nature of Jesus' resurrection and ours. Just like Paul's explanation of circumcision being spiritual, not literal, baptism is likewise a spiritual event, not literal.

Water baptism is a physical representation of being spiritually baptized by the God's Holy Spirit. Another way to look at it is this: Why would Paul say, "a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart - it is spiritual and not literal. If you don't get baptized by real water, then you aren't saved spiritually. On the contrary, Paul would never say such a thing. The act of being physically baptized by water is to represent a spiritual baptism by God's holy spirit, based on the decision to repent. Just like there are Jews who are Jews by birth, but they are not Jews spiritually, there are "believers" who are believers by having been physically baptized, but they are not believers spiritually. Meaning, they are not saved, although they may think they are, because they have not been baptized by the Holy Spirit and do not uphold the law of God.

Paul says this, bluntly, in Titus "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. Paul says all this to lead to his point of, "Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies No longer present [yourself] to sin as instruments of wickedness. Live righteously. Continuing to emphasis his point, he says, "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Another way of putting it is that: believers do obey, whereas those who disobey do not truly believe.

They understand that Jesus died for their sins as knowledge , but if they truly had faith and believed and had accepted Christ's sacrifice, then they would be reconciled to God and return to obeying his will. Essentially, we show what we truly believe by what we do — if we haven't repented of sin, then by our actions we have rejected Christ's sacrifice. Being a slave to God, obeying his will and his law, results in eternal life Romans Still a part of one large argument, Paul returns to teaching about the law and what it means to be under the law without Jesus' sacrifice.

He is essentially using another way to explain what he has already said: we have died to sin and are now free to be reconciled to God. He makes this comparison using the idea that a woman is adulterous if she is with someone else while her husband lives, whereas she is free to be with another man if her husband has died. We are no longer slaves to death with no hope of escape under the law without Jesus' sacrifice. Instead, we are now considered righteous when we obey the law, because of God's spirit that cleanses us of our sins from Jesus' sacrifice Romans Again, Paul returns to clarify what he does not mean: the law is not sin.

The law is the will of God Do not steal, Do not murder, etc. However, sin is what causes death, since the law requires no sin. Even one sin makes us a law-breaker and condemned under the law without Jesus' sacrifice. Paul concludes this section with saying that his mind is a slave to God, whereas his body is a slave to sin. Understanding Romans This section in Romans is often misunderstood. Many read Paul's words out-of-context and think that Paul is expressing the fact that he cannot stop sinning; however, Paul has clearly just told his audience to stop sinning repeatedly.

For example, "How can we who died to sin go on living in it? In Romans 7, Paul says, "But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but [now we are slaves] in the new life of the Spirit. Then Paul clarifies in Romans , that the law is not evil, but that sin is actually what held us captive not the law. Paul explains that sin made us a slave to itself. But what did Paul just say about being a slave to sin? Having said all of this about sin, Paul makes his point, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Paul has just explained that Jesus Christ's spirit, living in us, is what has released us from this slavery to sin. Now he is making the point that while the body will still die because of sin, we will not die entirely because of our obedience to Jesus Christ. Paul clarifies this meaning in other letters, but he also clarifies this immediately after this section, in Romans 8, by saying such things as, " Paul explains that the law of faith sets us free from the law of sin. God's law could never save us by itself, because under the law all people are condemned. However, through Jesus' sacrifice and the law of faith, we can be considered righteous by God's law. Paul says, "so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Jesus dying for us, means we now have the possibility to fulfill the law, "that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Jesus himself made it clear about the law, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. According to Paul, those who have a mind hostile to God are those who sin who live according to the flesh. Such people who sin cannot please God even if they say they "believe" in Jesus, there actions prove them wrong.

Paul continues to give reasons for us to live in obedience to God. Telling his audience essentially, Don't sin. He tells his Gentile audience that they have been adopted into God's family through their faith and obedience "living according to the spirit, not the flesh. Moving on to their present suffering persecution by non-believers , Paul encourages them that just as they share is Christ's suffering, they will share in his glory. All of creation waits to be renewed with the believers of Christ, the children of God. It is the Spirit of God that helps us when we feel weak in context, referring to feeling discouraged from persecution and suffering. Romans is often referenced out-of-context. In-context, Paul basically says in Romans that when you are suffering persecution and feel discouraged, know that God makes everything work out for those who love and obey him.

When non-believers persecute you, remember, "If God is for us, who is against us? Because if we are God's elect, then by definition we are ones who has been reconciled to God, repented of our sins, and returned to obeying God. If we do not steal, do not murder, etc. Paul concludes this part of his explanation by saying that nothing can separate us from the effects of Jesus' sacrifice for all who believe, repent, and obey. Essentially, he is telling his audience to not fear or be discouraged by persecution, because nothing that happens to them death or otherwise , will separate them from God's promise of eternal life.

In context, Romans is in reference to being encouraged through persecution. Again, Paul is referring to the fact that a Jew is a Jew by spiritual means, not physical Romans This decision to have salvation based on God's promise is His will, His mercy, His grace, His decision; which Paul says to oppose the idea that those who are Jews by birth should have the right to be saved simply because of their position as physical descendants of Abraham. This statement of such absolute power and sovereignty is hard for many to accept, but it's implications are sobering. To relate this statement to us personally, if we hear the truth of God's salvation, and we can feel in our heart the humbling pull to repentance, then God has chose to show mercy on us and is calling for us to be apart of his chosen people.

However, if we feel a hardness in our heart, a rejection of God's truth of salvation, and a desire to continue on sinning, then God has not chosen us like Pharaoh because of our rebellion. Sometimes, God hardens peoples' hearts temporarily for his divine purpose. Has the potter no right over the clay? According to Paul, those of the Jews who thought they could obtain salvation by obedience to the law by itself are unable to accept that salvation comes through one who has fulfilled the law Jesus Christ , so that Gentiles might fulfill the law by obedience with faith that cleanses our past transgressions.

Calpurnius Piso, a member of one of the remaining republican families; Piso himself was not the originator of the conspiracy, which included such people as Lucan the poet , Faenius Rufus one of the two Praetorian prefects and the consul-designate, Plautius Lateranus. There were also a number of officers of the Guards involved. However, the plot was discovered and many distinguished senators, innocent or guilty, were executed or forced to commit suicide.

Junius Vestinus Atticus against whom there was no charge and the consul-designate, Lateranus. As a result of the conspiracy and the growing fear of Nero for his life, there were nineteen deaths and many exiles. He had long hated them both. While Nero was in Greece opposition against him grew not only in Rome, but in the western provinces particularly. Julius Vindex was the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, and with the support of other governors planned to rebel against Nero. When the proposed uprising became known Vindex suggested to the governor of Tarraconensis Spain , Sulpicius Galba, that he accept the leadership of the revolt. His own troops hailed him as imperator, other commanders joined him, and he followed the practice of Claudius in offering the Praetorian Guard 30 sesterces per man.

Tigellinus had deserted Nero; he was now without the support of the Praetorian Guard which, with the senate, recognised Galba as emperor and declared Nero a public enemy. Nero had alienated the upper class and had neglected the army, and for an emperor to survive under these conditions was difficult. He fled from Rome and hid in the home of one of his freedmen, but chose to commit suicide rather than wait for the soldiers to arrest him. His death at the age of only 31 brought to an end the supremacy of the Julian and Claudian gens. But the base plebs, addicted to the circus and the theatre, and the worst of the slaves, and those who had wasted their money and were maintained by the emperor, to his own disgrace, were resentful and open to rumour.

The Praetorians, long accustomed to their oath to the Caesars, had been led to depose Nero by diplomacy and pressure rather than their own wish. According to Dio and Tacitus Sources 9. The Senate discussed issues, minted bronze and copper coinage, made laws through the passing of senatus consulta, acted as a court of justice and had charge of the senatorial provinces. However, Augustus changed its mode of operation by the introduction of the consilium the senatorial council and the use of his auctoritas. Dio explains the operation of the consilium:. In consequence it became a practice that all legislation put forward by the emperors is communicated after a fashion through these advisers to all the other senators.

Augustus depended on the senatorial class for the administrative machinery of the empire. By the end of his reign, the Senate virtually followed his orders. Tiberius tried to restore the Senate to its former position of executive responsibility, but to no avail—it had become too dependent on the princeps. Gaius treated the Senate with disdain. The Senate had no respect for Claudius because it was given no say in his selection as emperor.

By the end of the Julio-Claudian period, the Senate had become almost irrelevant, an apathetic body ruled by factions. It should be noted at the outset that imperial policy includes the treatment of provinces and frontiers. Provinces are those areas conquered and settled by the Romans, while frontiers refer to the imperial boundaries— those areas on the borders of the empire. The frontiers were fluid, moving frequently as initiatives expanded and contracted. Political and geographical conditions were so variable within the empire that the Romans did not use a single strategy. The Romans dealt with each area according to its own circumstances. Two areas of particular concern throughout this period were the Rhine—Danube frontier and the Syria—Asia Minor area that bordered on the Parthian empire.

Augustus intended to conquer the whole world, or at least to create the impression that he had. He projected the image of a world conqueror, a bringer of peace, the ruler over foreign kings. He extended the Roman Empire in some areas, but suffered a major setback in Germany. Retained the image of Pax Romana. Tiberius had undertaken expeditions on behalf of Augustus. He understood the Augustan policies of consolidating the Roman frontiers and improving the government of the provinces. During his reign, therefore, Tiberius followed the Augustan policy of consolidation, and made some innovative changes to provincial government.

However, he made some wise decisions with regard to client kings. Claudius adopted a policy of expansion and conquered Britain. Like Augustus before him, Claudius cultivated the image of a great conqueror. Nero maintained the Roman frontiers but failed to solve some major provincial problems. His neglect of the provinces had dire consequences, for it was the provincial governors who led the revolts that ultimately caused his downfall. The Augustan poets praised Augustus for extending the Roman Empire and bringing great glory and wealth to Rome. Augustus promoted several images of himself, including that of a world conqueror. Augustus did not employ one overarching policy for the whole of the empire—particular circumstances dictated the use of specific methods.

Client kings: The general policy, was to leave the client kings or native rulers in control of their own territories. To ensure the loyalty of these client kingdoms, the Romans often held members of their families as hostages in Rome. If the local kingdoms were unstable or threatened Roman security, they were annexed and became provinces of Rome. Such client kingdoms were usually situated on the fringes of the empire, and acted as buffer zones between Roman controlled territory and the possibly hostile areas beyond. He wanted to push frontiers to their natural limits without losing control of distant armies. He also established client kingdoms in Cappadocia, Commagene and Chalcis. Senatorial and imperial provinces: In 27 BC the provinces were divided into senatorial and imperial units of administration.

The Senate controlled the senatorial provinces, which rarely held troops; the imperial provinces were controlled by Augustus through his legati. Augustus established the client kingdom of Judaea, which was put into the hands of Herod the Great. A serious revolt erupted in Pannonia in AD 6, but eventually this area was divided into the two provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia. It took further campaigns by M. Agrippa before Spain was subdued in 19 BC. Augustus improved the provinces by his careful choice of governors and prefects, whom he paid generously in an effort to avoid administrative corruption.

Under Augustus, the usual tenure for commands was 3—5 years. The road system was improved between Rome and the provinces for better communication. Augustus encouraged the worship of Roma in the provinces, creating a bond of loyalty between the provincials and Rome. Germany: Augustus planned to make the Elbe River the border of the northern frontier. The tribal nature of the Germans and the difficulty of the terrain meant that it was too costly in manpower and resources to conquer. Instead the Romans extended and strengthened the northern frontier.

Egypt: Egypt was specially controlled by Augustus because of its great wealth; it almost became a private estate of the emperors. Only men of equestrian rank were sent as governors of Egypt. Senators had to gain special permission from imperial authorities even to set foot there Res Gestae, The East: Augustus adopted a general policy of nonaggression in the East. On behalf of Augustus, Tiberius installed Tigranes on the Armenian throne. Aggression alternated with restraint, conquest with diplomacy, advance with retreat. Acquisitions and annexations occurred in some areas, consolidation and negotiation in others. Augustus pursued an expansionist imperial policy but by the end of his reign he had to settle for a defensive policy.

Before coming to power, Tiberius had spent twenty eight years abroad. As princeps, he neither visited the provinces nor left Italy. However, he did intervene when necessary. For example, when Germanicus entered Egypt without permission, Tiberius responded quickly. Provincial government: Tiberius made two important innovations in his reign—he lengthened the tenure of provincial governors and centralised the system.

Tiberius wanted the provinces to be governed by men of merit, so he allowed legates and governors to remain in their provinces for long periods of time. For example, C. Poppaeaus Sabinus served in Moesia near Danube for twenty-four years. Lengthening provincial commands allowed men to become familiar with the demands of their province. However, not all the appointments were prudent. Pontius Pilate governed the volatile area of Judaea for nine years AD 27— Pilate made a number of serious mistakes that offended the Jews. He brought Roman military standards bearing the image of Tiberius into Jerusalem. All of these measures upset traditional Jewish law. Tiberius centralised the provincial administration by allowing some governors to rule their provinces from Rome.

Aelius Lamia, for example, remained in Rome while fulfilling the office of legate of Syria from AD 21 to In AD 17 Tiberius displayed his generosity by remitting the taxes of twelve cities of Asia Minor that had been hit by earthquakes. Tiberius had permanent military bases built along the Rhine and the Danube to strengthen the frontiers. In AD 28 the Romans suppressed a revolt of the Frisii. Danube: Tiberius believed that if he left the rebellious tribes to their own internal disturbances they would eventually turn against themselves. He further strengthened the Danube area in AD 15, when Achaea and Macedonia became imperial provinces.

Tiberius replaced the two kings in the lower Danube region and appointed a Roman to supervise them. The Danube was also strengthened by improved roads and river fleets. The East: Germanicus settled the question of kingship in the East. Once more the Romans asserted their authority in the area. Tiberius was annoyed with the Senate for allowing this situation to go on for seven years. Africa was an important area because it supplied two thirds of Roman grain needs. A general environment of peace was interrupted by three minor disturbances. Gaius appeared to be inconsistent in his policies particularly in Parthia. He was influenced by his eastern friends and rewarded them with client kingdoms, hoping to ensure their loyalty.

Commagene became a client kingdom again. Gaius established client states in Thrace, Pontus and Armenia Minor. His measures were well accepted, and Claudius maintained them. Rhine: Gaius went to the Rhine area to secure the support of the army. He may have been contemplating a campaign in Germany Suetonius, Gaius, 45—7. He used the pretext that he wished to strengthen the frontiers, but in fact he was concerned that one of the Rhine commanders, Lepidus, was in league with two of his sisters in a conspiracy.

Galba was given command of the upper Rhine, and spent a number of years securing the frontier against the Germans. It is believed that he planned an invasion of Britain, but the troops refused to make the crossing. Africa: Gaius ordered Ptolemy, the client king of Mauretania to commit suicide in preparation for its annexation. The East: Gaius restored dispossessed friendly kings to their former thrones and found kingdoms for others he favoured. He ordered the Jews to set up a statue of him in the Temple at Jerusalem, which caused considerable unrest in Judaea for a long period of time. In Parthia, the Romans sought to maintain their authority with minimal military effort. Gaius reversed Augustan policy towards Parthia, enabling it to regain its influence in Armenia.

Like Augustus, he stressed the military role of the princeps. To reinforce this area, fleets patrolled the Danube and roads were improved. Noricum became an imperial province governed by an equestrian procurator. Further south, the provinces of Achaea and Macedonia were returned to the control of the Senate. Britain: Claudius annexed Britain in AD The factional fighting of the British chieftains provided Claudius with his excuse for the invasion. He was keen to enhance his military image and popularity with the army and to gain the riches of Britain. A colony of veterans was established at Camulodunum, and trade and business activity began in the town of Londinium, the headquarters of the imperial governor.

By AD 54, the Romans controlled southern England, while the fringes of the British frontier were guarded by the client kingdoms of the Iceni, Regni and Brigantes tribes. The conquest of Britain was an important achievement for Claudius, for he had extended the boundary of the empire. The conquest was commemorated on coins, architecture and in literature.

Mauretania, which had erupted during the reign of Gaius, was organised into two imperial provinces by Claudius. These provinces were governed by a procurator Augusti, personally accountable to Claudius. Judaea was a client kingdom under Herod Agrippa, but on his death in AD 44 it became an imperial province. Poor relations prevailed between the Jews and Greeks of Alexandria. Claudius listened to the arguments of both sides and attempted to curb the ill feeling between the two groups. Romanisation: Claudius improved the infrastructure of the empire. Numerous towns and colonies, such as Cologne and Triers, were built throughout the empire. Gaul: Under Claudius, many provincials were granted Latin rights or, in some cases, full Roman citizenship.

In AD 46 the whole Anauni tribe was granted Roman citizenship. Client kingdoms: Claudius changed the governments of Raetia, Noricum, Mauretania and Thrace from client kingdoms to provinces. He believed that direct Roman control was preferable to the system of client kingdoms. Nero was not interested in expanding the empire, only in spending the money derived from it Suetonius, Nero, Nero displayed little real interest in the provinces and frontiers of the empire.

He was inconsistent in his policies. He loved all things Greek, so he exempted Greece from paying taxes, but the rest of the empire had to pay dearly. He chose capable men as governors of upper and lower Germany— Scribonius Proculus and Scribonius Rufus. Later in his reign, he became afraid of military men and required them to commit suicide. But he did put the confidence of the Senate at risk through his growing unwillingness to trust its aristocratic members and to reward military achievement.

The serious uprising of Boudicca was caused by the greed of the Roman tax collectors and moneylenders. Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, enjoyed a client relationship with Rome, but she rebelled against the harsh demands of the Romans. Other disgruntled tribes, such as the Trinovantes, joined her rebellion. The East: Nero attempted to annex Armenia. Corbulo advised Nero against these actions but was ignored. Despite this, Nero the showman could not resist making a monumental display, in Rome, of presenting the throne to Tiridates. In AD 64, the client kingdom of Pontus was annexed. In AD 64, Gessius Florus was made procurator of Judaea and only increased the tension in the region by his heavy exactions until, in AD 66, the Jews rebelled. The Roman forces were defeated on this occasion.

Vindex conspired with Galba, the governor of Spain, who ultimately succeeded in depriving Nero of power. The dynasty begun by Augustus came to an end in AD 68 with the death of Nero. A period of disruption prevailed until the Flavian dynasty was established. By AD 68 the republican government had virtually disappeared; the centralised imperial government was well established. For this people does not wait for the outbreak of war to practise with weapons nor do they sit idle in peacetime bestirring themselves only in times of need. Rather, they seem to have been born with weapons in their hands. One would easily say that the people who have won this empire are greater than the empire itself.

The army had been instrumental in helping the Romans acquire and maintain their vast empire. Augustus understood the importance of keeping direct control over the army and of making it an instrument of the state rather than a weapon to be used by individual generals. He instituted changes that made the army a professional standing body—this Augustan structure was retained for the next few centuries. It became an important part of Roman tradition for the ruler to be seen as a capable military figure.

Even Claudius astutely cultivated this image. When the rulers ignored the power of the army and failed to project a military presence, as Nero did, they ran the risk of being overthrown by the army. Tiberius enjoyed a long and distinguished military career before he became ruler. On his accession in AD 14 the armies in Pannonia and Germany mutined. As emperor, Tiberius made no visits to the troops serving on the frontiers. He closely followed the measures that Augustus had put in place for the army. Galba was already 70 years old when he succeeded Nero as emperor of Rome.

It was no peaceful transfer of power. Julius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, had rebelled against Nero in March 68, and cast about for a suitable candidate to head his revolt. He gained the immediate support of the governors of Lusitania and Baetica, followed soon afterwards by those of Egypt, Africa and Mauretania. It looks, indeed, as if he had already made the necessary alliances and that his revolt was no mere accident of circumstances. Galba had only a single legion at his disposal, and in purely military terms his bid for power was foolhardy in the extreme.

Nero, however, was no favourite with the troops. Rufus declined the position, nor would he throw in his lot with Galba. It was not military secession but the perfidy of Nymphidius Sabinus, commander of the praetorian guard, which eventually drove Nero to despair and suicide. Galba was still in Spain when he was declared emperor by the senate on 8 June He arrived in Rome in October, accompanied by a reputation for severity and avarice. He ordered that of all gifts of money or property made by Nero amounting to 2, million sesterces 90 per cent should be returned, and he refused to pay the customary bounties to the army, telling them it was his habit to levy troops, not buy them.

A still greater problem was the corruption among the officials he appointed. This defection made Galba painfully aware of the need for an heir; the two sons born to him by his wife Lepida were both dead before his accession. He decided therefore to adopt Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus, a young man of distinguished family, then around 30 years old. Once again, however, Galba lost what support he might have gained by refusing to pay the soldiers the bounty expected on these occasions. The reaction to his adoption among the senate and people was at best one of indifference. Otho had been governor of Lusitania under Nero, and was one of the first to declare his support for Galba.

On the morning of 15 January, Otho slipped away from the imperial entourage while Galba was sacrificing in the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine. He was carried in a closed litter to the camp of the praetorian guard, where the soldiers proclaimed him emperor. Confused reports began to reach Galba in the imperial palace. He debated whether to bar the doors and prepare for siege, or to go out boldly and confront the rebels. He opted for the latter and had himself carried in a litter to the Forum. Yet with his foolish parsimony and obstinate severity, it is difficult to regard Galba as a truly tragic figure. When civil war in the balance lay, and mincing Otbo might have won the day, bloodshed too costly did he spare his land, and pierced his heart with an unfaltering band.

Caesar to Cato yields, while both drew breath: greater than both is Otho in his death. The senate regarded the new emperor Otho with deep suspicion, both from his reputation as a companion of Nero, and for the violence by which he had seized power. They nonetheless voted him the usual powers and privileges, and during his short reign Otho governed with energy and ability. But he had great difficulty in broadening his support or consolidating his position, especially since the Rhine arn1ies had now proclaimed a rival emperor and civil war looked inevitable. Most of the provinces in fact swore allegiance to Otho — in Egypt he was depicted as pharaoh on temple walls- though Gaul and Spain declared for Vitellius. His strategy was simple: to delay the Vitellian advance while he waited for the Danube legions to come to his aid.

With this in view, Otho sent an advance guard northwards to prevent the enemy from crossing the River Po, while a diversionary force went by sea to southern Gaul. He himself left Rome on around 14 March, and established his main camp at Bedriacum, just north of the Po, some 20 miles east of Cremona. Vitellius, meanwhile, had sent his army ahead in separate divisions under the command of Fabius Valens and Aulus Caecina Alienus. Caecina reached Italy first, and took up position outside Cremona. The Vitellians forced the issue, however, by beginning work on a bridge which would have enabled them to cross the Po and advance on Rome. Otho was compelled to send his army against them, but in the first Battle of Cremona on 14 April, the Othonians were comprehensively defeated.

When the news reached Otho at Brixellum the following day he decided he had no further stomach for the fight. He may also have wished to spare Italy the horror of a protracted civil war. Advising his friends and family to take what measures they could for their own safety, he retired to his room to sleep, then stabbed himself to death at dawn the next day 16 April. Contemporaries could hardly believe that such a notorious bonviveur had chosen such a heroic end. The soldiers too were greatly impressed by his final act of courage; some even threw themselves on the funeral pyre in a wish to share his death. The ashes were gathered up and placed within a modest funeral monument. Otho had reigned only three months, but had shown promise of greater wisdom and ability than anyone had expected.

Aulus Vitellius became emperor not on his own merits but through the luck of being in the right place at the right time. The German armies had not forgiven Galba for his refusal to reward them for their part in suppressing Julius Vindex. Accordingly, when Vitellius was appointed commander in Lower Germany in December 6 , he soon became part of a web of intrigue aimed at overthrowing the new emperor. Vitellius himself had no military accomplishments to his name, and his appointment may have been made for precisely that reason: to reduce the risk of rebellion by the disaffected Rhine armies. If so, then Galba badly misjudged the character and ambitions of the man he appointed. The rebellion began on 1 Janua1-y 69, when the legions of Upper Germany refused to renew their oath of allegiance to the emperor.

Within two days, the army of Lower G m1any joined the rebellion and declar d for Aulus Vitellius. Soon afterwards, Gaul, Britain and Raetia came over to their side. By the time the rebels marched south, however, it was not Gatba but Otho who they had to confront. Vitellius was no soldier, and remained in Gaul while his generals Valens and Caecina overthrew Otho and captured Rome. When the news reached Vitellius he set out for the capital on a journey marked by revelry, feasting, drunkenness and general indiscipline on the part both of his army and entourage. Vitellius himself won no praise for his remarks when be visited the corpse-strewn battlefield at Cremona and declared that the smell of a dead enemy was sweet and that of a fellow-citizen sweeter still.

The emperor and his entourage entered Rom in a rather unseemly display of triumph around the end of June, but the transition to the new regime was generally smooth and peaceful. There were few executions and arrests. His feeling of security was reinforced by the arrival of couriers who reported the allegiance of the eastern armies. The legions which fought for Otho at Cremona had already been sent back to their old postings, or to new one in distant province. To reward his victorious German legionnaires, Vitellius disbanded the existing praetorian guard and the urban cohorts stationed at Rome, and offered these positions to his own men. The result was an undisciplined scramble, but Vitellius was very much the creation of the German legions, and had little option but to give in to their demands.

Vitellius did not long enjoy his position in peace. Around the middle of July news reached him that the army of the eastern provinces had set up a rival emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, a distinguished general who commanded widespread support. Vespasian was to hold Egypt while his colleague Mucianus, governor of Syria, led an invasion of Italy. Before this could materialize, however, Antonius Primus, commander of the Sixth Legion in Pannonia, and Cornelius Fuscus, imperial procurator in Illyricum, declared in favour of Vespasian and led the Danube legions in a rapid descent on Italy. Theirs was a relatively modest force of only five legions, perhaps 30, men, only half what Vitellius had at his disposal in Italy.

Primus nonetheless decided to strike before Vitellius could summon reinforcements from Germany, and led his soldiers south to Bedriacum, almost the same position that had been occupied by the Othonians six months before. The second Battle of Cremona began on 24 October and ended the next day in a complete victory for the Flavians. They pursued the fleeing Vitellians to Cremona, and captured both the camp and the city. Although the term "Inquisition" is usually applied to ecclesiastical courts of the Catholic Church, it refers to a judicial process, not an organization.

Inquisitors ' The Inquisition, as a church-court, had no jurisdiction over Muslims and Jews as such. The overwhelming majority of sentences seem to have consisted of penances like wearing a cross sewn on one's clothes, going on pilgrimage, etc. A secular magistrate, the "secular arm", would then determine the penalty based on local law. Thus the inquisitors generally knew the fate which expected anyone so remanded. The edition of the Directorium Inquisitorum a standard Inquisitorial manual spelled out the purpose of inquisitorial penalties Before , the Catholic Church suppressed what they believed to be heresy , usually through a system of ecclesiastical proscription or imprisonment, but without using torture, [5] and seldom resorting to executions.

Though widely viewed as a heretic, Priscillian was executed as a sorcerer. Ambrose refused to give any recognition to Ithacius of Ossonuba, "not wishing to have anything to do with bishops who had sent heretics to their death". In the 12th century, to counter the spread of Catharism , prosecution of heretics became more frequent. The Church charged councils composed of bishops and archbishops with establishing inquisitions the Episcopal Inquisition. The first Inquisition was temporarily established in Languedoc south of France in The Inquisition was permanently established in Council of Toulouse , run largely by the Dominicans [21] in Rome and later at Carcassonne in Languedoc.

Historians use the term "Medieval Inquisition" to describe the various inquisitions that started around , including the Episcopal Inquisition —s and later the Papal Inquisition s. These inquisitions responded to large popular movements throughout Europe considered apostate or heretical to Christianity , in particular the Cathars in southern France and the Waldensians in both southern France and northern Italy. Other Inquisitions followed after these first inquisition movements. The legal basis for some inquisitorial activity came from Pope Innocent IV 's papal bull Ad extirpanda of , which explicitly authorized and defined the appropriate circumstances for the use of torture by the Inquisition for eliciting confessions from heretics.

By inquisitors were given absolution if they used instruments of torture. By the end of the Middle Ages, England and Castile were the only large western nations without a papal inquisition. They used inquisitorial procedures , a common legal practice adapted from the earlier Ancient Roman court procedures. After , a Grand Inquisitor headed each Inquisition. Grand Inquisitions persisted until the mid 19th century. While belief in witchcraft , and persecutions directed at or excused by it, were widespread in pre-Christian Europe, and reflected in Germanic law , the influence of the Church in the early medieval era resulted in the revocation of these laws in many places, bringing an end to traditional pagan witch hunts.

The fierce denunciation and persecution of supposed sorceresses that characterized the cruel witchhunts of a later age were not generally found in the first thirteen hundred years of the Christian era. Bonfires on Midsummer's Eve were intended to deflect natural catastrophes or the influence of fairies, ghosts, and witches. Plants, often harvested under particular conditions, were deemed effective in healing. Black magic was that which was used for a malevolent purpose. This was generally dealt with through confession, repentance, and charitable work assigned as penance.

In , Pope Alexander IV ruled that inquisitors should limit their involvement to those cases in which there was some clear presumption of heretical belief. The prosecution of witchcraft generally became more prominent in the late medieval and Renaissance era, perhaps driven partly by the upheavals of the era — the Black Death , the Hundred Years War , and a gradual cooling of the climate that modern scientists call the Little Ice Age between about the 15th and 19th centuries.

Witches were sometimes blamed. Dominican priest Heinrich Kramer was assistant to the Archbishop of Salzburg. In Kramer requested that Pope Innocent VIII clarify his authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany , where he had been refused assistance by the local ecclesiastical authorities. They maintained that Kramer could not legally function in their areas. In fact he was subsequently expelled from the city of Innsbruck by the local bishop, George Golzer, who ordered Kramer to stop making false accusations.

Golzer described Kramer as senile in letters written shortly after the incident. This rebuke led Kramer to write a justification of his views on witchcraft in his book Malleus Maleficarum "Hammer against witches". In the book, Kramer stated his view that witchcraft was to blame for bad weather. The book is also noted for its animus against women.

In the Spanish Inquisition cautioned its members not to believe everything the Malleus said. Portugal and Spain in the late Middle Ages consisted largely of multicultural territories of Muslim and Jewish influence, reconquered from Islamic control , and the new Christian authorities could not assume that all their subjects would suddenly become and remain orthodox Roman Catholics. In the pogroms of June in Seville, hundreds of Jews were killed, and the synagogue was completely destroyed. One of the consequences of these pogroms was the mass conversion of thousands of surviving Jews.

Forced baptism was contrary to the law of the Catholic Church, and theoretically anybody who had been forcibly baptized could legally return to Judaism. However, this was very narrowly interpreted. Legal definitions of the time theoretically acknowledged that a forced baptism was not a valid sacrament, but confined this to cases where it was literally administered by physical force.

A person who had consented to baptism under threat of death or serious injury was still regarded as a voluntary convert, and accordingly forbidden to revert to Judaism. In contrast to the previous inquisitions, it operated completely under royal Christian authority, though staffed by clergy and orders, and independently of the Holy See. It operated in Spain and in most [44] Spanish colonies and territories, which included the Canary Islands , the Kingdom of Sicily , [45] and all Spanish possessions in North, Central, and South America.

It primarily focused upon forced converts from Islam Moriscos , Conversos and secret Moors and from Judaism Conversos , Crypto-Jews and Marranos —both groups still resided in Spain after the end of the Islamic control of Spain —who came under suspicion of either continuing to adhere to their old religion or of having fallen back into it. In all Jews who had not converted were expelled from Spain; those who converted became nominal Catholics and thus subject to the Inquisition. At its head stood a Grande Inquisidor , or General Inquisitor, named by the Pope but selected by the Crown, and always from within the royal family. Spain had expelled its Sephardi population in ; many of these Spanish Jews left Spain for Portugal but eventually were subject to inquisition there as well.

The Portuguese inquisitors mostly focused upon the Jewish New Christians i.