The Roman Empire --- Darkness or Light?

Many people have demonized the Roman Empire for various reasons and in various ways over the years but in perspective you may not feel the same way. True, many places in the world today are far preferable to living then and there but the operative word is THEN.

Many things were far worse on many levels then they are now (in Industrialized countries anyway). Little medicine, no running water, very short life spans, NO INTERNET, etc...

Morale ambiguity is something people are quick to point out but whatever one might mean (because different people say different things) was comperable or more advanced then many other areas at the time. I've heard a few people say its comperable to today but that is up to the individual person or society or religion and is a whole discussion unto itself.

In provinces where Roman rule was accepted, running water was somewhat commonplace while in nearly all of the other areas it might as well have been science fiction.

Soldiers received the best medical care mostly due to the fact that they were militaristic and because of their constant warring and conquests were usually well stocked with advanced and extremely competant medical practitioners (for the time.) This had the result of the average age of many soldiers being around the - unheard of age - of forty. From what I have read, estimates are that at the turn of the century in the United States, the lifespan was about the same --- 1,900 years later.

Slavery, one of their undeniable blotches, was not exactly what we have thought of as slavery in recent centuries. Many slaves were treated much better than the average (free) worker today. Obviously some (or many) slaves were treated horribly but many were not, some were freed based on their service and some were even allowed to keep some of the profits they helped their owners acquire. Still this sounds horrifying but when compared to what the average person outside the borders of that empire were treated, it falls into persective.

Staying on the subject of slaves, the most prominent group of slaves (both to them and us) were the gladiators. This one strikes people, having to fight and die day after day with only death to look forward to. That picture is not exactly true. The gladiators were worth quite a bit of money and while no one anyway valued life very much in those times, these slaves were almost pure profit to their owners. Historians are saying now it was rare to have gladiators die ( a bit rosie) and the movies portray them as they always die
For those attached to Jesus Christ (me included) the Romans are and ancient villian. I've heard all kinds of people blame all kinds of groups for that event but in the end it was Roman law that convicted him and Roman soldiers who nailed him to the cross, which was (at the time) a Roman signiture execution. The death penalty was a common sentence for a wide variety of crimes, a bit extreme from our perspective, but outside of the Roman Empire there was no law or order systems of major significance. Now, how would Jesus do in the today's world --- having been accused of a capital crime... He had no money and would have been assigned a public defender of some kind. Well --- maybe he would have some luck on apeal... maybe.

Now the largest argument is the Roman destruction of cultures. Most societies, having surrendered or having been vanquished in battle, would accept their fate on one level or another --- the province of Israel being a notable exception. Once this occurred, the civilization would be offered the hugely advancing societal technologies, like organized entertainment, general education, reliable running water, medicine, taxation, roads, etc. None of these would have been conceivable on any instituional level before the Romans had come. Most, fairly willingly, chose these things over their previous culture. Also some of their previous culture would be assimilated into Roman culture, the Romans were somewhat tolerant of cultures and religions unless it seemed a threat to them and --- lets just say their reaction at that point is still talked about thousands of years later. Also there was the option for some to move to unconquered areas and continue the fight, the Celts, the Goths, and the Visigoths are notable examples. The success of these went fairly well as Hadrian's Wall in England and the statue of Arminius in Germany are testaments.

As with all things, much depends on an individual's perspective. More perspective is always a good thing, regardless of where you decide.

This is my first post so please forgive any formatting errors etc. I would be very interested to hear other's opinions on the subject.

:)