chapter 1 § 3 The Roman Imperium pp 22-28
summary
With Alexander the Great Greek culture became world culture. Alexander became worshipped as a god – and this became the foundation of the religious imperium idea. This imperium idea was well established when Alexander died and his empire eventually became Roman.
As the Roman empire expanded the Greek religious ground motive (RGM) influenced Roman culture.
the motive of power
Roman ancestor worship soon led Caligula to emperor worship. The Roman gods of state had their own sphere of competence and co-existed with the gods of home and hearth.
The motive of power and law pervaded Roman life.
The head of the Roman familia, the pater familias (the oldest male) had the power of life and death over the rest of the family, he could buy and sell the children and slaves under his jurisdiction.
public law and private law
When Rome became an empire there was the need for a more universal law (ius gentium). It mean that every free person had the status of a free subject.
Where could the basic principle of universal law come form? It couldn’t be based on family law or on the communal law. They looked to the Greek idea of natural law developed by the stoics. They discovered a principle that lies at the heart of civil law: freedom and equality of persons. This became a lasting influence on western law. This blessing was however, threatened by the Greek RGM. There was a sharp demarcation between the sphere of state and the sphere of individual freedom.
The Byzantine emperors (end of the third century BC) saw the end of the civil freedom of the individual and it was replaced by a state absolutization – everyone became a civil servant, the church became a state church.
review questions
1. In what sense is the ius gentium a gift of God’s common grace?
study questions
1. How was the ‘caesaropapacy’ a fruit of the Graeco-Roman RGM?
