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A History of the Christian Church (Classic Reprint)
A History of the Christian Church - Classic Reprint Author:Williston Walker Christ saw the lands which surrounded theM editerranean in the possession of Rome. To a degree never before equalled, and unapproached in modern times, these vast territories, which embraced all that common men knew of civilized life, were under the sway of a single type of culture. The civilizations of India or of China did not come within the ... more »vision of the ordinary inhabitant of the Roman Empire. Out side its borders he knew only savage or semicivilized tribes. The Roman Empire and the world of civilized men were co extensive. All was held together by allegiance to a single Em peror, and by a common military system subject to him. The Roman army, small in comparison with that of a modern military state, was adequate to preserve the Roman peace. Under that peace commerce flourished, communication was made easy by excellent roads and by sea, and among educated men, at least in the larger towns, a common language, that of Greece, facilitated the interchange of thought. It was an empire that, in spite of many evil rulers and corrupt lower officials, secured a rough justice such as the world had never before seen; and its citizens were proud of it and of its achievements. Yet with all its unity of imperial authority and military control, Rome was far from crushing local institutions. In domestic matters the inhabitants of the provinces were largely self-governing. Their local religious observances were generally respected. A mong the masses the ancient languages and customs persisted. Even native rulers were allowed a limited sway in portions of the empire, as native states still persist under British rule in I ndia. Such a land wasP alestine at the time of Christ sbirth. Not a little of the success of Rome as mistress of its diverse subject population was due to this con siderate treatment of local rights and prejudices.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)