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holding her head high 12 single mothers who championed their children and changed history
By Janine Turner Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2008 Janine Turner
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7852-2324-5
Chapter One The Roman Empire-Setting the Stage 27 BC-AD 476
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, the conversion of Constantine may have been the most implication-laden event in western history. -James Carroll, Constantine's Sword
Rome. The Roman Empire. Vast. Vacillating. Murder and intrigue. Senators and emperors. War and warriors. Proudly civilized and grandly grotesque. Christians in chains and children's cries. A culture poised on the brink of change. Who will be their leader?
The Roman Empire was vast, from western Asia to Britain and Spain, from the Danube River in Central Europe to the edge of the Sahara Desert in North Africa. The eastern part of the empire survived until AD 476 and the Western Empire survived as the Byzantine Empire until AD 1453.
The early Roman population was pagan, tolerating the bane of human behavior, and could be easily justified as a religion steeped in evil, as exhibited in the games and circuses in places such as the Coliseum, which exhibited public displays of torture, violence, and death. Romans entertained themselves with triumphs, games, and great spectacles that concluded with slaughters of animals and humans. It was barbaric and cruel. Paganism also tolerated all sexual mores in their temples, ranging from sodomy to orgies, prostitution to bestiality and sadomasochism.
After the death and resurrection of Christ, Christians were subjected to horrific executions. The early church sustained an intense period of savage persecution, and Christians were brutally martyred by the Roman government up to twenty-five years before Constantine. And there was no collective, social consciousness that exhibited restraint or remorse. Infants' spirits were snuffed out as they were given as human sacrifices to the false gods. "Paganism prevailed in the land of the prophets." Darkness reigned.
The Father
By Roman law, the family was strictly patriarchal. The paterfamilias, the father, was the head of the Roman family. He owned the property acquired by his sons and had the right to sell his children into slavery or expose them. Women did have a few advantages compared to other centuries-they could divorce their husbands and control their own property. A woman was held under the legal control of the father until his death, even if she were married. After the death of her father, she was under the legal hand of her husband. If a woman was raped, she could not seek recourse, only her father or husband could press charges. A man could, by law, kill his wife if she was caught in an adulterous affair, but if a man committed adultery, he was not punished. Women had no status or political rights.
Marriage and childbearing were considered a woman's purpose in the Roman Empire. Marriages were arranged by the parents, and a young girl was usually married by the age of sixteen. The bride brought a dowry to the marriage, but unlike later centuries and societies, the dowry was not to be touched in case of unforeseen circumstances, such as divorce. Capturing a woman was a way of getting around a fixed marriage and was, perhaps, a way of getting the parents to accept a true love. However, this practice was later forbidden because it forbad the father the right to decide what was best for his daughter. Interestingly, divorce was very easily obtained during Roman times. A marriage was not considered holy, only a loose contract. Marriages were dissolved by mutual consent, the couple simply declaring their desire to divorce before seven witnesses.
The father also had control of a child's fate. Infanticide was an accepted act in the Roman culture. After birth a child was set at the feet of the father, who would lift the child into the air, deciding if the child should live or die. A wife could be disowned if she denied the father that decision. Infanticide was widely accepted, considered legal, and justified by philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Baby girls were more susceptible to the act of infanticide due to the considerable expense of wedding dowries. Roman law also forbad a man from taking in an abandoned child and saving it. Alarmingly, children were sometimes sealed in the foundations of bridges to strengthen the structures dating back to the walls of Jericho. Lloyd de Mause states, "To this day, when children play 'London Bridge is falling down' they are acting out a sacrifice to the river goddess when they catch a child at the end of the game." Disregard for children permeated all lands.
Light into Darkness
Then Christ. Light breathed into darkness. Christianity's mission was to spread "the light" through all ethnic cultures. Matthew 19:13-14 says,
Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (NIV)
Children have value? Children belonged to the kingdom of heaven? This concept was revolutionary! Everyone, even the little children, was created in God's image. The Epistle of Barnabas prohibited infanticide, and following this law was considered essential to the "way of light." Infanticide was considered murder. Various Christian pamphlets taught, "You shall not commit infanticide." However, as long as Christianity was an underground religion hiding from persecution, efforts remained almost ineffectual.
Constantine
Entering the world stage next was Constantine, whose conversion to Christianity and breadth of change he brought to Christians, Christianity, and to the Christian church is, according to James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword, "the second greatest story ever told." Carroll expresses that "after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the conversion of Constantine may have been the most implication-laden event in western history."
Constantine unified a suppressed church and a scattered band of disciples. As the leader of the world's biggest empire, his acceptance of Christ paved the way for the end of persecutions of Christians and propelled the illumination of Christ's light upon a dark, barbaric land. Disciples could now spread the word about how, with Christ's intervention, the human spirit can transcend the limitations of evil and partake in the supernatural. The Christian way of life was to offer alternative behaviors to murder and perverse sexuality. Christians had been in hiding. Jerusalem had lain as a wasteland but the scene was set to change. God had chosen Constantine through a divine vision to be a facilitator of unity for Christians and the Christian church.
Constantine, the son of Helena Augusta.
Then Christ. Light breathed into darkness ... Jesus, by reaching out to little children, validated and honored the life of a child. -Janine Turner
(Continues...)
Excerpted from holding her head high by Janine Turner Copyright © 2008 by Janine Turner. Excerpted by permission.
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