The Romans regarded their huge empire as a source of wealth to build up the power of Rome, but the educated Romans admired the intellectualism of the Greeks. We can say that Athens remained the intellect centre of the Roman empire although Rome was the political capital, However, the Romans set out to spread their own system of values in their empire.

One of the ways in which these were spread was by colonization. Roman settlers, often retired officials and soldiers, were given land in areas which had been conquered, and completely new cities could be built. Many existing cities were given the status of Roman colony for special reasons. For example, the ancient Greek city of Philippi (Acts 16) was just by the battlefield where Octavius had won an important victory, and to commemorate this, the city was proclaimed a Roman colony, a place fit to uphold the traditions of Rome. On the other hand, we hear about the substitution of a Roman colony for what had been the city of Jerusalem, after Bar-Cochbar's rebellion of A.D. 132. The new Roman city which was built on the site of the ruins of Jerusalem was intended to obliterate the memory of the ancient Jewish city. Military roads were constructed to link the Roman colonies with one another and with Rome. As time passed, a great system of roads was built all over the Roman empire, making it possible to travel across countries in a way that had never been possible before. For fast overland travel, the Romans used horses. The empire was divided up into provinces, under governors. The task of ruling and administering the empire was enormous and complex but the Romans proved efficient administrators and skilful military strategists.

What was life like in Rome, the centre of the empire? It was a great city, the largest in the world at that time. According to an inscription which was discovered at Ostia, the ancient seaport for Rome, in A.D. 14 there were 4,100,000 people in the area of the city. Like the other people of the Mediterranean lands, the Romans had been influenced by Greece and this was very apparent in their architecture and building. The Romans may be called the inventors of cement, making extremely durable cement with volcanic ash. There are still many places in the countries which the Romans conquered where the ruins of their buildings still stand, including Rome itself. In the houses of the wealthy, a high degree of comfort was found. There were rooms of various kinds including heated bathrooms. Much entertaining went on and the Romans followed the custom borrowed from the Greeks of lounging on couches while they ate and drank. Dress was simple and dignified, consisting of a long flowing robe called a toga, worn over a tunic, for men, and loose flowing robes for women. As we might expect from people with strong military traditions, popular entertainment centred round public games, contests and festivals which glorified strength and endurance, Public fights between gladiators armed in various ways would continue until they ended in death for the weaker. Fights would be staged between strong men and wild animals such as captured lions. Rome became a great centre of trade and commerce, and industries of various kinds. It was the city of the Emperor, the Senate, the government and the civil service.

Many Romans were literate, the language of the Romans being L although many would also have been familiar with the widely spoke Greek of the eastern part of the empire. Many writings of all kinds have survived from Roman times. For example, Julius Caesar wrote accounts of the Roman wars against the Gauls; Augustus left an account written in the last year of his life which described the military and financial of the empire; the Roman historians Livy, Tacitus and Suetonius wrote many historical accounts; poetry was written by Horace, Ovid Virgil; and books of philosophy by Seneca. The Romans also liked put up public inscriptions on walls of important buildings to commemorate special events, and many of these have survived.

The Romans used various approaches to the different peoples of the empire to persuade them to adopt Roman ways. Co-operation Rome could be rewarded with the granting of Roman citizenship its many privileges. Employment in many forms of administrative public service and service in the armies of Rome was open to men any nationality who would give their loyalty to Rome.

A dark side of life in the Roman empire related to slavery. It was the Roman practice to enslave many people from a newly conquered country. Slavery provided a huge pool of workers of all kinds. The Romans regarded slaves as an economic asset and therefore often treated the slaves quite well to ensure their usefulness. By the time of Augustus there were slaves working in the civil service, commercial companies, offices, shops, and businesses, as well as doing every kind of man work. Many of those enslaved had been educated people in their 0 home lands. The extent of slavery in the empire produced a more cosmopolitan situation than the world had ever known before, because after being enslaved, people were taken to other parts of the empire

In the early church there were many converted slaves. It was always possible for a slave-owner to free his slave for some exceptional reasons and it also became possible for a slave to accumulate private property and to buy his freedom. Augustus passed legislation which put on recognized footing the rights of freed slaves. These 'freedmen' became a considerable element in society and in certain circumstances could obtain citizenship. .

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