Not without reason is Rome frequently referred to as the 'Eternal City'. There is a large measure of agreement which dates its foundation to 753 BC and, indeed, there are those who would even suggest a precise date, 21 April. Prior to that date, however, a number of small villages appear to have existed in the region. According to legend, Rome as such was established on that date by Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the Vestal virgin Rhea and the god Mars, the boys being brought up on the Palatine Hill (one of the seven hills which now form Rome) and cared for by a she-wolf. It was Romulus who duly gave his name to the city and set himself up as its first king, having killed Remus in a family feud.
By far the most important influence on the emerging city at this time was that of the Etruscans (616-509 BC), powerful neighbours living in the north and gradually expanding their influence southwards towards the Tiber. They were a much more advanced civilisation and under their direction Rome developed as a major city, with the various Etruscan kings residing there. As well as building the city walls they were also responsible for the Great Drain, the Cloaca Maxima sewers, which were necessary to drain the marshlands so that the Forum could be built.
But things were to change. Although the Etruscans had much to offer, the Romans came to resent their domination and in 509 BC the last of Rome's seven kings, Tarquin the Proud (Tarquinius Superbus), was dethroned and the Roman Republic founded.
For nearly 500 years, from 509-23 BC, the Republic was governed by the Senate and its assembly, though there was constant friction between the ruling classes (the patricians) and the lower classes (the plebeians), the latter having their interests overseen by the office of the tribune. Considerable power was invested in certain officials, in particular the consuls. They exercised authority in much the same way as the previous kings, dealing with legislation, the judiciary and the military. There were always two consuls in office, with the one having the power of veto over the other. As a safeguard against dictatorship, consuls ruled for only one year, though they could be re-elected. Such a system of annual appointments meant that on the whole the consuls ruled rather conservatively and without a great deal of creativity. That said, however, the period of the Republic ushered in a great expansion of Roman power and civilisation, gradually conquering the rest of Italy and its Mediterranean neighbours in spite of a setback when the Gauls invaded Italy and sacked Rome in 390 BC. This was also the period of the three Punic Wars (264-146 BC) as Rome's expansion inevitably resulted in conflict with Carthage. Yet at the end of these wars, notwithstanding a defeat by Carthage and Hannibal in the second war, Rome dominated the Mediterranean including also, by 63 BC, the Holy Land.
But it was the continuing internal factions which led to the demise of the Republic and the rise of Julius Caesar. It was he who had to pull the nation together again in the aftermath of civil strife by means of a popular dictatorship, yet even that was too much for some and on the Ides of March, 15 March 44 BC, he was assassinated.
However, prior to his death, Caesar appointed Octavius as his son and heir and, ruling as Augustus, he was to do much to restore Rome and in 27 BC claimed for himself the title 'Emperor'. So began the great third period of Roman history after the Etruscans and the Republic, the mighty Roman Empire, which in political, cultural and religious terms was to become the very centre of the known world. Ruling as Augustus Caesar (27 BC-AD 14), he ushered in the zenith of Roman civilisation. It was he who laid the foundations of imperial Rome, the remains of which can still be seen by the contemporary visitor to the city. Perhaps few of his successors achieved quite what he did.
But it was this period of Roman history which had such profound significance for the birth, expansion and eventual acceptance of the new religion, Christianity. After all St. Luke, in his two volume work Luke-Acts, is anxious to show that not only was Christ born into the world at the time of Augustus but also that this was of more than mere local passing interest. Though he begins his Gospel in Jerusalem as the centre of the Jewish world, he is eager to remind his readers of the relevance of Christ's birth to the whole of Caesar's world, with the Acts of the Apostles ending in Rome, the centre of the Gentile world and the capital of the Empire. Jesus, as well as being the glory of Israel, is also a light to the Gentiles (Luke 2:32).
However, it was during the reign of Tiberius (AD 14-37), the successor of Augustus, that Jesus' ministry, crucifixion and resurrection took place. Caligula followed (37-41) during which time Paul was converted to Christianity and began the missionary journeys which were to take him to various parts of the Empire. Claudius (41-54) came next and was in turn succeeded by Nero (54-68), who became responsible for the first in a series of persecutions against the Christian community. Looking for a scapegoat for an extensive fire in Rome in July 64, which some contemporaries believed might have been instigated by Nero himself to make room for a new city to be built in his honour, the new religious sect of Christianity was seen as a suitable target for blame. Such was the ferocity of the persecution that some Christians were torn to death by dogs while others were used as human torches to light Nero's gardens and paths.
The circumstances describing St. Paul's eventual arrival in Rome are narrated in the Acts of the Apostles (chs. 21-28). His preaching in the Holy Land had aroused a good deal of opposition from the local religious leaders, resulting in his arrest by the Romans, probably for his own safety as much as anything else. But at his trial Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to the Emperor. Consequently, he and St. Luke were shipped as prisoners from Caesarea to Rome.
The journey was far from uneventful, particularly when they were shipwrecked off the island of Malta and had to stay there for three months. In due course, however, they sailed from Malta and Paul and his companions put ashore at Puteoli, now Pozzuoli, the port near Naples then serving Rome. On their way into the capital along the Via Appia, they were greeted and offered hospitality by local believers. Acts 28:13-31 deals with Paul's time in the city, where he arrived probably early in AD 61.
It appears that during his two years in Rome, even though he was under some kind of liberal house arrest, he had sufficient freedom to continue his preaching and teaching among both Jewish or Gentile communities. Another suggested possibility, and it can be no more than that, is that Paul was eventually released and then continued with further travels, maybe including Spain, before once again being imprisoned, tried and put to death. Though we would really like to have more definite information about what happened after his arrival in Rome, we just cannot be sure. The only certainty is that the precise details leading up to his death are unknown. Whether it was the culmination of the previous trial or some new accusation against him at a later stage, we can only surmise. According to tradition he was martyred in AD 67, with 29 June being a possible date and as a Roman citizen he was beheaded rather than crucified. On the other hand it could also be possible that he was executed at the end of the two-year period mentioned in the 'Acts'.
However, while we can trace with reasonable accuracy the steps which took St. Paul to Rome, in the case of St. Peter it is quite another matter. Having been the dominant leader of the youthful Church growing up in Jerusalem and in Acts 15 the champion of a liberal policy towards Gentiles, there is scant New Testament evidence for his subsequent role in the life of the early Church. Galatians 2:11-14 places him in Antioch with Paul and there is a tradition which claims Peter as its first Bishop. As for his being in Rome, the only possible New Testament reference which locates Peter there is in 1 Peter 5:13 where greetings are sent from 'your sister church in Babylon', taken to be a code name for Rome, though it has to be said that scholars are by no means unanimous as to whether or not Peter wrote the letters ascribed to him.
Nevertheless, there are well-attested early traditions (and tradition must be given its due weight in these matters) which do place him in Rome, e.g. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Ignatius (c.107), Irenaeus (c.180). So from quite an early stage it was common knowledge that Peter had worked and died in Rome, though nothing is known of the length of his stay, and it is also possible that both he and Paul were in Rome at the same time. What is more, by the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries there was a tradition which identified Peter as the first Bishop of Rome, this in turn giving rise to the institution of the Papacy, with subsequent Popes being regarded as successors of Peter.
As for his death and the manner of it, again tradition places this probably in AD 64. Tertullian (212) writes about Peter...
