Reading Trimalchio's Dinner Party by Petronius will give you a taste of what could occur at a party among the rich. As the Republic grew and the Empire was consolidated, the greatness of the Roman people was on the wane: greed escalated and a moral decadence seemed to pervade the lives of many Romans.Ĭities throughout the Empire were filled with Roman citizens whose lawlessness and immorality could be seen in the streets, bathhouses, and in the numerous brothels. Long before they had an empire the Roman people were hard-working, respectful of family, and believed that good morals were very important. The Roman Empire had its roots in the tradition of mos maiorum, which had made its people great. Perpetua and her fellow Christians occurred. It was under his reign that the imprisonment and martyrdom of St. In 204 A.D., Septimius Severus prohibited Roman subjects from becoming Christians. when the Princeps Augustus made Egypt a Roman province, it had been under the jurisdiction of the empire. Paul was the first, but he was certainly not the last to do so.īeginning in 30 B.C. He ran away into the desert and found a large cave to live in. Jerome describes him as being "gentle tempered, and loving God much." (2) He was fifteen years old when his parents died and he began to live with his sister and her husband, but Emperor Decius' empire-wide persecutions of Christians were well underway and his brother-in-law was ready to turn him in to the authorities. He was born in the Lower Thebaid into a rich family, which made sure he was given a good education. Who were some of these early exiles and what were they searching for? How did they survive living in the desert? Were there any social, political, and economic factors, which made these Christians take flight from society? And most importantly, this essay will try to present their intense spirituality and religious convictions, and the impact these had on Christianity. These Christians were a completely different phenomenon because many spent thirty, forty, fifty years or more living in an extremely hostile environment with scarce amounts to eat or drink. They gave away everything they owned and put their lives in God's hands. They based their new existence on freedom, peace, and simplicity. both men and women left cities and towns to live in the deserts of Egypt. (1)ĭuring the third and fourth centuries A.D. But what must be stressed is that there was nothing novel about this way of life: it merely carried on the traditions of some of the Old Testament prophets who fled into the wilderness. Anson writes in The Call of the Desert: The solitary life led by John the Baptist in the desert of Judea served as the inspiration for countless Christian hermits in after ages. John the Baptist became a hermit in the wilderness around Jerusalem, as did Jesus, who went in solitary prayer or took friends and disciples to find peace and pray to God. For ever after, the desert had a sacred quality for Christians. The Old Testament tells the story of Moses meeting God in the desert. The Hindu Brahmins also lived in the solitude of forests, existing on leaves and roots, in a solitary quest for deliverance. He believed that a life of simpler needs would help in the search for oneself and peace. He dismissed the inequities of the Indian caste system and proposed a religion based on asceticism, poverty, and democracy. Hundreds of years before Christians sequestered themselves in the Egyptian deserts, the young Buddha fled his family and kingdom to find peace in the forest. Throughout world history, many individuals decided that a life of seclusion had more merit and greater possibilities for peace and freedom. Life has become so secularized, industrialized, and materially-driven, that an austere, quiet life devoted to the contemplation of God seems surreal and is beyond our comprehension. Currently, the world most of us live in is fast-paced and engulfed with noise and people. In many ways, it is difficult to comprehend the lives of the ancient desert hermits, anchorites, and monks of Egypt. Augustine Christianity: Its Sojourn in the Desert by Moya K. Christianity: Its Sojourn in the Desert - hermits, anchorites, monks, monastic, Egypt, St.
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