How Did Christianity Affect Roman Virtue

Christianity 's Affect on Roman Virtue "What?!" "You only killed eight men?! You 're out of the family!!" Although life in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire wasn 't this drastic, Roman virtue and morals were taken very seriously. "These include tenacity, duty, courage, and especially discipline" (Spielvogel, 89). Romans valued highly the honor of one 's family and the amount of courage one exhibits in battle. This fact is evident, as one can see in Rome 's history, because men with a history of military achievement held almost every official position. The rise of Christianity in the second, third, and fourth centuries, however, had an impact on the alteration of the idea of Roman virtue. Christianity and its teachings appealed to many Romans for various reasons, and it was this appeal that allowed Christianity to grow and take over the lives of Romans in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine became the first Christian emperor.

The rise in popularity of the Christian religion was at its peak in the fourth century.
This is when the religion began to appeal to nearly all Roman people.

Finally, Christianity fulfilled the human need to belong. Christians formed communities bound to one another in which people could express their love by helping each other and offering assistance to the poor, sick, widows, and orphans. Christianity satisfied the need to belong in a way that the huge, impersonal, and remote Roman Empire could never do. Christianity proved attractive to all classes. The promise of eternal life was for all-rich, poor, aristocrats, slaves, men, and women (Spielvogel, 126).

This sudden appeal caused the main religion of the Roman people to eventually become Christianity. It was this eventual change that caused the deterioration of Roman virtue. By converting to the beliefs of Christianity, the Roman people made a conscious decision to somewhat abandon the morals and virtues of ancient Rome and enter into a new era. The idea of salvation and eternal life became more appealing than power and social status to most Romans. Due to this conversion of beliefs, the only way generals could hope to attain the title of emperor was to also believe in the Christian teachings, thus producing a larger conversion rate throughout Rome. Ultimately, the strength that the Christian religion had gained would allow the virtues of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire to take a backseat to the morals and beliefs that could lead one to eternal life.

The main causes of Christianity 's negative affect on the ideals of Roman virtue, were the teachings of "loving thy neighbor" and the sixth of Christianity 's Ten Commandments stating; "Thou shall not kill." Throughout Roman history, conquest and war had been a huge part of Roman virtue and were also a big part of bringing honor to one 's family and earning respect. By teaching that war and killing were wrong, and promoting forgiveness and love, Christianity played a major role in altering the idea of Roman virtue. Most authoritative positions in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire were held by men with a background of triumph in battle and a mastery in the art of war and killing. Christianity changed this slightly in the second and third centuries when the idea of the "divine right of kings" became popular. In the fourth century, however, when Christianity had spread widely amongst the Romans, these beliefs were challenged due to the strengthened belief in one God, Jesus Christ, who lived as a human and died for all man 's sins. Once the majority of the Roman people believed in an all powerful God the idea of believing that an emperor had divine right and absolute power was looked upon as a way of jeopardizing one 's right to salvation. This thought resulted in lesser respect for the emperor, therefore the clergy was sought to assist in governmental affairs, such as the collection of taxes. The clergy was much more affective in areas, such as tax collection, for the simple fact that the Romans respected the members of the clergy and did what they said out of fear of losing the right of salvation. Clergymen were viewed as disciples of God, and with that view held the utmost respect. From monks, to priests, to bishops, to the Pope all of the members of the clergy were viewed to be connected to God in someway and to disobey them was to disobey God himself. This governmental use of the church showed the strength that Christianity held throughout the Roman culture. The teachings were instilled in the hearts of most Romans, thus pushing aside and altering the once life-governing virtues of ancient Rome.

Christianity did not, however, destroy these virtues. Later in the middle ages Romans, as well as others, were allowed to achieve honor and respect on the battle fields during the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of battles fought in the name of God and in effort to spread Christianity. The Crusades were viewed as a "holy war against the infidel or unbeliever" (Spielvogel, 218). These wars focused on the Muslims and Jews and were held in order to convert or destroy these "unbelievers." The belief of "unbelievers" and the Crusades themselves allowed Romans and other Christians to fight for their religion, making killing and war in the name of God acceptable. This was one way that Romans could look back on their old virtues of conquest and war and use those aspects of life to gain honor and respect for their family, similar to life in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Romans now were given a chance to show their courage and tenacity, and to fight for the honor of their families, thus preserving the virtues of olden days, but slightly modifying those morals for a new religion. By fighting in the name of God, warriors could overlook the Christian teachings of "loving thy neighbor" and the sixth commandment stating "thy shall not kill," and resort back to the virtues that took a backseat to Christianity. It is for this reason that Christianity simply altered the virtues of the old Roman Republic and Roman Empire, rather than destroying those values of conquest, war, courage, tenacity, and honor all together.

Due to the sudden appeal of Christianity to the Roman people, this religion was given the chance to take over a huge part of Roman life and to exterminate the ways of conquest and war, killing, and fighting for honor.
Christianity promoted the beliefs of "loving ones neighbor" and frowned on murder, stating that one would not gain salvation by committing a wrong against another. Christian beliefs challenged the idea of anyone having absolute power other than the one God, Jesus Christ. The rise of Christianity throughout the second, third and fourth centuries had quite an impact on the alteration of traditional Roman virtue, but did not completely destroy those virtues. The Crusades, and fighting in the name of God allowed one to prove one 's bravery and to gain honor and respect, thus preserving a modified version of the once so cherished Roman virtues. These virtues were altered by Christianity 's growth, yes, but not completely
destroyed.

Works Cited 1. Spievogel, Jackson, J., Western Civilization, A brief history, Wadsworth Publishing Co., Belmont, CA., Albany, NY., Boston, MA. 1999.