The Greco-Roman World Of The New Testament

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The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament James S. Jeffers' The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era - Exploring the Background of Early Christianity offers a thorough analysis of the ancient Roman era. He takes the reader through the religious background to the Christian era, what life was like in urban areas and in the provinces, tools of government, Jews in the cities, the importance of citizenship, the status of women and education, as well as a comparative look at ancient and modern slavery, and a detailed comparison of the ancient social class hierarchy.[1] This paper is a cursory review of Jeffers’ publication. Like a number of great civilizations of our past, Rome arose by gradually conquering the peoples around it. But unlike many other kingdoms, the Romans incorporated the conquered peoples into their society. The Romans first took control of most of the Italian peninsula. After a series of bloody battles, many of which they lost, the Romans conquered their great rival in the West, Carthage of North Africa. This allowed them to dominate the western Mediterranean and freed them to pursue conquests in Western Europe to their north. It also demonstrated an important lesson, the author points out, which some of Rome’s neighbors tended to ignore to their grave peril: the Romans never give up. They can be bested in battle, even lose whole armies, but they are never beaten. In short, they refuse to admit defeat. Chapter 2: Life & Death in the First Century The commercial fishing industry in Palestine used cast nets and dragnets. The cast nets (also known as circular throwing nets) was about 15 feet in diameter, made of fine mesh and was weighted with leaden sinkers (Mk 1:16). It was used in shallow water. The dragnet was a large net used with two boats. Countless products were manufactured in the ancient

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