POSTSCRIPT
In these brief reviews, which we have now made of the careers of the five great Cæsars of the New Testament period, we have caught many impressions of the dark character of that world into which Christ came and in which His kingdom had to make its first spiritual conquests. It was an age of vast wealth and power, but these were concentrated in the hands of a few. Enormous sums were spent on ostentatious displays, on epicurean feasts, and on sumptuous couches. The great masses of men were poor and ignorant indeed. Selfish luxury and extravagance mocked at abject beggary and despair. Multitudes were always on the verge of starvation. Little children were frequently exposed to die. It was an age of cynical unbelief as to the great verities of God and the soul, and at the same time one of trifling and absurd superstition. Philosophical groping after truth was accompanied by deep sadness. Dissipation found its penalty in cloyed disgust. Suicide was not only frequent but approved by some of the great teachers. Cold cruelty was the minister to unbridled ambition. It was a time of sanguinary combats in the arena and of widespread slavery. The old Roman virtues of the stern and faithful type had largely expired. Never was there an age in which all forms of vice displayed more openly their methods and their achievements. As men became more polished in artistic culture they seemed to become more vile in personal conduct. The poet Horace said:
The age of our fathers, worse than that of our grandsires, has produced us, who are yet baser and who are doomed to give birth to a still more degraded offspring.
Seneca wrote:
All things are full of iniquity and vice; more crime is committed than can be remedied by restraint. We struggle in a huge contest of criminality. Daily the passion for sin is greater. The shame in committing it is less.
From these quotations, and many others that might be collected, we see that society in Rome at that time presented a picture at once repellent and most pathetic. It had developed enormous moral and spiritual needs, which no human wisdom nor power could satisfy. It was weary and heavy laden, and was sighing for rest. Yet the day was at hand.
The Light of the World had come.