PugJesus @lemmy.world Cripple. History Major. Vaguely Left-Wing.
Alt of PugJesus for ensuring Fediverse compatibility and shit
Better, I believe, though it also had problems with sprawl from growth. Back when it was Byzantium it got razed to the ground and rebuilt by Emperor Septimius Severus, so they had a clean slate to start from. I'm not real well informed on the topic of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul, though.
I guess it doesn't matter. What matters is getting giant jets on that dry-dock pronto!
I watched it so many times. It never got old. "Welcome to the new world. God save you, if it is right He should do so."
'Jupiter' and 'Zeus' both come from the same Indo-European word root, even
Explanation: Roman coloniae were built in a very orderly and rational fashion, as planned cities with a grid of streets and the best position possible. Such coloniae were built to imitate Rome as closely as possible - in style, in local government, in the forums and arenas and temples. One might be tempted to think that their glories would pale to Rome itself! But the city of Rome was a few farming villages which, bit by bit, morphed into the largest city in the world at the time. It was infamous, even to Roman writers, as a clogged labyrinth with narrow streets and winding roads; a metropolis of filth shadowed over by hundreds of years of architectural marvels.
As was noted about Sartaq Khan - Mongol first, Christian second.
I might be able to offer some insight here - Carthage, as a state, was unduly burdened and then eradicated in a, quite frankly, shameful manner, but Carthaginians were ethnic Punics. Rome, after Carthage itself was destroyed, allowed the Punics of North Africa to continue practicing their culture, religion, and language without interference. Hell, in the future, Emperor Septimius Severus was part Punic, even, and spoke Latin with a Punic accent! So it's really just a matter of the Roman Republic holding an irrational grudge against a single city.
As for the druids, they were wiped out, specifically, because Rome was trying to keep the Gauls and Britons from revolting as much as they could. Druids were a priestly caste, but also a caste of leaders that people could rally around. Other Gallic and Briton religious practices survived unmolested.
Both were also accused of human sacrifice by the Romans (who considered such practices both immoral and an offense to the gods), and whether that was true is a whole can of worms waiting to be opened. "Not today, Satan" I say!
Always! I love sharing what bits and pieces I've picked up over the years!
I'm honestly not sure what the relation of early Christian theology is wrt hell as we would understand it in the modern day. I know by the 4th century it was a 'thing', but other than that, I'm afraid I don't have an answer.
In my defense, they did literally have a ritual for stealing gods
Other peoples: "Our god protects us!"
Romans: "my god now"
Well, at least part of that aspect of Christianity is preserved from early Christianity. The Romans didn't like Christianity because it hit almost all of their taboos at once - and there are entire books written on that, so I won't get into the other 'triggers', if you will - but one of the BIG taboos it hit was refusing to pay respects to the gods. For the Romans, the idea that the Christians 'didn't believe' in the Roman gods was irrelevant - hell, the great Roman senator and orator Cicero was an atheist and a priest - but that they refused to swear oaths by Roman gods and refused to participate in pagan rituals under any circumstances was considered downright dangerous.
They might have escaped, even with all their other problems (secretive meetings, closed community, foreign, one God, popular amongst slaves) because of their associations with the Jews, whose religion the Romans tried to respect (even if they didn't always understand it well), and who were exempt from certain requirements that other subjects of the Empire were subject to. However, the Jews and early Christians were very much opposed to one another, so Jewish communities across the Empire not only refused to speak up for early Christians, but often were the ones bringing complaints in the first place.
Monotheists! So contentious!
"Why can't I hold all these gods" ask the Romans, who won't stop stealing gods and making up new ones.