An Introduction to the New Testament Author:Samuel Davidson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 106 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. ORIGIN OF THE CHUKCH AT HOME. The time at which the gospel was carried to Rome is unknown. That it had taken root there d... more »uring the life of Christ is an idea which cannot be entertained, though it is sanctioned by the Clementine homilies. The Jewish population of the city was considerable in the time of the apostles; as we learn from Philo, Josephus, Dion Cassius, and others. When Pompey the Great conquered Judea, he sent large numbers of the inhabitants as prisoners to Rome to be sold for slaves. Under Augustus the friend of Herod the Great, many of them were liberated and made Roman citizens, having a dwelling-place assigned them beyond the Tiber. The young colony rapidly increased under the fostering influence of the emperor; for Josephus states that more than 8,000 belonging to Rome joined an embassy of fifty deputies from Judea to second a petition to Augustus.1 But they did not enjoy constant favour, since Sejanus had 4,000 transported to Sardinia; and the remainder were ordered to depart from Italy on a certain day, unless they renounced their religion.2 With the fall of Sejanus the edict lost its significance; and imperial favour returned to the Jews. In like manner Claudius banished them from Rome, A.d. 49 or 50; but many must have returned soon after. Dion Cassius testifiesthat Judaism continued to increase at Rome, in spite of all the restrictions and decrees issued against it.1 i'i xvn. ii. 1. '' Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. Were there Christians at Rome when Claudius's decree against the Jews was issued ? This point cannot be determined for want of definite historical testimony. The language of a passage in Suetonius bearing upon it is ambiguous. The emperor, it is said, ' banished the Jews from Rome, who were continually raising ...« less