Chapter 2

THE COLONY OF ROME

   "And from hence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony" (Acts 16:12).

   The city of Philippi was located in the beautiful and fertile plain which stretched between the mountain ranges of Pangaeus and Haemus. Originally it was called by a name which meant "Place of Fountains." This name bore testimony to the streams and rivulets which watered the territory. The city had been reconstructed, upon a nobler basis by Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and he called it by his own name. It served not only as a monument to his military genius, but in a more practical sense, as a fortress for protection of the Macedonian frontier.

   However, Philippi occupies an even more important place in history, because this plain became "the death bed of the Roman Republic" as the result of a decisive battle fought here in 42 B.C. Inasmuch as this fact provides background for, and adds color to the narrative written by Luke, we will not be amiss to sketch an outline of events leading up to it for the interested reader. Such a presentation must begin with Julius Caesar, sometimes called "greatest of the Romans."

   Born of a patrician family, Caesar was by training a politician rather than a soldier. Pompey was the idol of the populace and the great military hero of the day. But, when Caesar was sent as proconsul to Gaul, his ability to plan and execute military strategy was demonstrated, and he proved himself to be one of the greatest generals of all time. He was virtually worshiped by his men, and his success bordered upon the phenomenal. In nine decisive campaigns he subdued all Gaul, and in 55 and 54 B.C., he invaded Britain.

   The jealousy of Pompey was aroused by the acclaim given Caesar, and his envy drove him into closer alliance with the aristocratic party, which controlled the Senate. He succeeded in getting through an order to disband the army of Caesar, but when the order was conveyed to Caesar he refused to comply. Leading his men to the banks of the Rubicon, the little river which marked the boundary of Italy, Caesar halted to meditate and ponder the consequences of an attack upon his country. With the words, "The die is cast," he plunged into the stream and led his soldiers across: He was welcomed by the people, and Pompey, with the senators and nobles, fled to Greece.

   Within three months all Italy was at the feet of Caesar, and on August 9, 48 B.C., he routed the forces of Pompey on the plains of Pharsalia. By further speedy conquest he subjugated the rest of the world, and when he defeated the last force of opposition led by the two sons of Pompey in Spain, 45 B.C., he was made imperator for life, and his portrait was stamped on the coins of the realm.

   Although Caesar publicly refused a crown offered to him at a festival by Mark Antony, the aristocrats were suspicious of his designs, and feared he would even yet declare himself to be a king. They were urged into a conspiracy against his life by Cassius, who was motivated by a lifetime hatred for tyrants, as well as by personal animosity because Caesar had seized for himself a number of lions, which Cassius had accumulated and kept caged at Megara. He found an assistant in Marcus Brutus, a descendant of Junius Brutus, who had originally driven out the Tarquins and destroyed the monarchy.

   Brutus pretended openly a friendship for Caesar, and had received openly many favors from him. But he also received many letters from anonymous sources urging htiin to rise up as did his illustrious ancestor and overthrow the imperator. Some of these messages merely contained the words, "Oh, that we had a Brutus now!" or "You are not a true Brutus!" Conditions were made worse by flatterers of Caesar, who slipped about by night and placed kingly diadems upon his statues, and who by day harangued the mob in an attempt to get them to salute him as king instead of dictator.

   It was finally agreed to kill Caesar at a meeting of the Senate, called for the middle of March, on the day which the Romans called the Ides of March. The convention was held on a portico, adjacent to the theater. This portico contained a large statue of Pompey, whom Caesar had defeated in his rise to power. The conspirators arrived well in advance of their victim, and when he came followed closely about him into the inner precincts while one of their number, Trebonius, detained Mark Antony in conversation outside the door. Tillius Cimber pressed forward under pretence of making an intercession in behalf of his brother, who had been banished, but grasped the robe of Caesar and pulled it from his shoulders. Casca inflicted the first wound, a superficial one, and Caesar turned and grasped his dagger by the hilt, crying out, "Villain Casca, what do you?"

   By this time, feeling the impact of many daggers, and still wrestling with Casca, Caesar looked hurriedly and wildly about him, seeking an avenue of escape. It was then he saw Brutus also with upraised dagger, and, as if in despair that he would be thus treated by one whom he had befriended, he relinquished the dagger of Casca, and drawing his robe over his head, submitted his body to their blows. As the daggers were driven into his body, the assassins became smeared with blood, some of it from a cut which Brutus had received on his hand. The blood of the slain Caesar ran red about the statue of Pompey.

   In the first reaction to the killing it appeared that the conspirators had won the day. Signal honors were heaped upon them. In an allotment of provinces, Brutus was given Crete, and Cassius was assigned Africa. But a violent reversal occurrred at the public funeral held for Caesar. In the reading of his will, it was learned that he had bequeathed seventy-five drachmas to each man in Rome, and given his beautiful formal gardens beyond the Tiber as a park to be used by the public. During the oration delivered by Mark Antony, the speaker, as a climax to his pathos, held aloft the toga of the murdered man, exhibiting the many rents made by the daggers and the number of wounds inflicted. The people virtually went berserk. Pillaging the shops and stores of their furniture, they made a huge pile of benches, tables and chairs, and cremated the body of Caesar in the forum, and snatching burning brands from the pile, they ran to burn the property of the murderers. Brutus and his party were forced to flee for their lives.

   Julius Caesar made the son of his niece, whom he had adopted, his heir to the public office. The young Caesar was at Apollonia in school when he learned of the death of his benefactor. He immediately went to Rome and gained the favor of the people by distributing to them the money mentioned in the will. Adopting the title Augustus, he welded the army into a cohesive unit, and with the help of Mark Antony, to whom he became reconciled after a quarrel, he made ready to defy the forces which were gathered abroad under the banner of Brutus and Cassius. The two armies finally met upon the plains of Philippi.

   In the first day of battle the troops under command of Brutus executed great slaughter, but in the fierceness of the fighting were severed from the segment commanded by Cassius. This contingent was driven back and Cassius was forced to flee to a hill overlooking the plain. Here he retired to a tent, taking with him one of the freedmen, whom he commanded to kill him. The deed was done, the sword striking the head of the general from his body. It is an ironical twist of fate that Cassius died because he was nearsighted, and mistook approaching friends for his enemies. When Brutus was informed of the death of Cassius, he mourned over him, calling him "the last of the Romans." However, by the promise of magnificent gifts, Brutus rallied those who had followed Cassius, but when thte battle was joined again, the forces of Augustus and Antony were victorious.

   Brutus, with a few friends who survived, came at night to a hollow under a great projecting rock, where he sat down to meditate upon his ill fortune. When evidence was presented that his case was hopeless, he made a brief address to his companions and shook hands with each one. Then, taking about three of his friends, he walked a little way off from the main group. Here he took hold of his sword, and directing it with both hands upon the hilt, plunged forward upon it and killed himself. The dead body was found by Mark Antony, who directed that his richest purple mantle be thrown over it. With the death of Brutus, the last hope of the revival of the republic also expired.

   Augustus, beholding the strategic importance of Philippi, resolved to make it the site of a colony and utilize it as a fortress ci,ty for protection of his frontier. Accordingly, he made special provision for his soldiers who had fought so valiantly to be retired on pensions, and to reside at this place of their signal honor. It was an excellent location because of its nearness to thermal springs and due to its temperate climate. A proclamation was made of its colonial status and it was given the name Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis. It was a living memorial of the victory over Brutus, and its citizens were filled with the pride of military conquest.

   Since it is important to this narrative to understand what all was involved in a Roman colonia, we ask the kind indulgence of the reader for the detailed account given herewith. The modern student, having in mind the colonial systems of more recent nations, may miss much of the significance of the term as used in the first century of this era. It is only as we understand the expression in its fullness that we can appreciate some of the language of the apostle Paul as he wrote to the community of the saints who here resided.

   A Roman colony was "a little Rome," regardless of where it was located. It was merely a reproduction, to the extent possible, of the great capital of all the universe. By looking at the colony, one could visualize the nature and character of the original. The residents of the colony never forgot that they were Roman citizens. They looked upon themselves as a community of strangers in a strange land, in so far as the inhabitants of the territory were concerned. They cherished the thought that their names were inscribed in the archives of their mother city, and their citizenship was thus assured by this enrollment. They spoke the language of Rome, and behaved with the dignity and decorum commensurate with the position of those who represented such a worthy position among men.

   The colony did not make its own laws. The citizens were subject to the laws revealed or approved by the emperor, and although many had not seen him personally, they rendered complete obedience to his edicts and demands. It is not too much to say that they worshiped him as their god and deliverer. The local officers were designated by the terms applied in Rome, and were subject to the discipline of the imperator. When new laws were issued they were publicly posted, read and explained to the citizenry summoned together for the purpose. Sometimes the Laws of the Twelve Tables were inscribed upon brazen plates in the Agora, or marketplace, as was the case in the city where Cyprian lived, according to his own testimony.

   Such a colony was Philippi. It did not represent a city of foreigners who had been adopted under the standard of Rome after being subjugated. A city of that nature was called a municipium, not a colonia. Essentially a military colony, Philippi was composed principally of Roman citizens transplanted here to protect and defend the interests of the mother city upon the Tiber. They were tied to Rome by invisible cords and cherished the rights bestowed by this citizenship above all other earthly prerogatives.

CONTENTS

Chapter 3: The Colony of Heaven

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