The Gospel of God

Romans as Paul's Aeneid

Wallace

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781630879242
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

When Paul pens his letter to the Roman believers, he writes as a missionary to strengthen a church at the center of imperial power, choosing language that is familiar to his recipients. Paul responds not only to the influence of Judaism but also to the wider culture by contrasting prominent Roman values. David Wallace argues that Paul's gospel in Romans rejects and countervails the significant themes of Virgil's Aeneid, the most well-known prophetic source that both proclaimed Roman ideology and assured Roman salvation. After demonstrating that a close but nonauthoritarian relationship existed between Augustus and Virgil, Wallace examines relevant literary aspects, symbolism, and key imagery of Virgil's epic. A discussion of Paul's contraliterary approach follows, drawing out possible parallels and echoes in Romans against the universal message of the Aeneid.

Part 1

•

The Gospel of Augustus

in the Aeneid

1

The Gospel of Caesar Augustus

This man, this is the one whom you hear so often promised to you, Caesar Augustus, the descendant of God, who again will establish a Golden Age in Latium, in lands formerly governed by Saturn, Who will extend his empire beyond the Garymantian and Indian peoples Whose land lies beyond the stars . . .

Oh Rome, remember to rule the nations by your authority; These will be the arts for you: to establish the order of peace, To spare the humble and war against the proud! 1

In 49 b.c., after three bloody years of civil war, Julius Caesar established himself as the first Caesar to rule alone. Masking his motives behind false diplomacy, Caesar said that “he was prepared to go to any length and endure any suffering for the cause of the republic . . . let everyone in Italy lay down their arms, let all fears be removed from the city, let there be free elections, and the whole republic be handed over to the Senate and the Roman people.”2 Four years later, a group of assassins murdered Caesar as members of the Senate watched with jealous cooperation.

Caesar’s adopted son Octavian was pronounced his heir.3 Octavian’s military victories over the next two decades demonstrated his ability to lead, but it was his victory at Actium in 27 B.C. which established him as the sole ruler of the Roman empire ushering in more than a century of peace. As an administrator and diplomat, Octavian Augustus restored and reorganized Roman rule in an unprecedented manner. He appointed governors under his authority who enforced Roman law to unify provincial communities. Cities had running water, open-air theaters, public baths, and central heating systems (for the wealthy),4 and Roman roads brought Greek and Roman culture to the far ends of the empire. As Augustus methodically eliminated elements that hindered the organizational stability of the state, he also restored a new order of traditional Roman virtue—fides, pietas, religio, disciplina, constantia, gravitas—by directly and indirectly influencing the official messages of the empire in literature, art, architecture, coins, inscriptions, etc. Such imperial endorsement is prominently found in Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid, which promotes the imitation of Roman virtue and pronounces a prophetic gospel of salvation inaugurated through a divine son.

It was this foundation of government and Augustus’s political coordination which brought lasting peace, as the Caesars following the reign of Augustus maintained the legal, administrative, and communication processes initiated by him. Before an imperial gospel can be understood—for the purpose of interpreting the meaning of the Aeneid (chapters 2–3) and its possible contextual significance to the recipients of Paul’s letter to the Romans (chapters 4–5)—it is important first to examine Augustus’s background, character, and patterns of control, and then compare this information to the official imagery of the empire and his relationship to Latin poets, particularly Virgil.5

Background of Caesar Augustus

Raised by his grandmother (sister to Julius Caesar) and protected by his mother, Octavian dutifully observed Roman tradition and learned the practice of associating with the right people. Despite his boyish appearance, frequent illnesses, and limited military experience, he gained favor with Caesar who commended him for his persistence, precision, and discernment.

Gaius Octavian

Before sunrise on a September morning in 63 B.C., a son who would soon be heralded as the “savior of the world” was born.6 At the age of four, Octavian lost his father, a man who had achieved senatorial rank.7 Octavian’s grandmother took care of him until she died; Octavian was twelve. At her funeral, he delivered an oration that brought him recognition and appreciation from those present. His mother Atia, the niece of Julius Caesar, raised her son until he was nineteen with the help of his stepfather, a descendent of Macedonian royalty.

His mother protected him. Atia and Octavian’s stepfather involved themselves in making sure Octavian spent his time learning, achieving, and interacting with people in power. When civil war broke out in Italy, they safeguarded him by sending him to one of his father’s country estates. At age fourteen, Octavian fulfilled the sacrificial rites to become a man, yet his mother insisted that he remain at home. Encouraged to fulfill his religious duties, Octavian took the opportunity to sit on the tribunal in the forum, which gained him an honorable reputation.8 Despite his ability, Atia dismissed Octavian’s desire to serve under Caesar in the Libya campaign due to the fact that the change of lifestyle might increase Octavian’s chance of illness.9

As a member of an esteemed family, Octavian demonstrated his loyalty to them and to his friends, but he did so by taking calculated risks, only ones worthy of their outcome. When the brother of his school friend Agrippa was captured, he courageously requested his pardon from Caesar. Having not asked Caesar for a favor before, his intercession was granted. His intelligent and keen ability to petition at the right moment in a fitting manner gained him considerable respect. For example, when Julius Caesar met with those in Carthago Nova, the Saguntini asked Octavian to represent them for charges that had been brought against them. With Octavian as their spokesman, Caesar dropped the charges resulting in a reputation of “savior.” C...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part One: The Gospel of Augustus
• Chapter 1: The Gospel of Caesar Augustus
• Chapter 2: The Aeneid as Epic History
• Chapter 3: The Salvific Message of the Aeneid
• Part Two: The Gospel of God in Romans
• Chapter 4: Paul’s Gospel of Salvation to Rome
• Chapter 5: God’s Faithfulness to Save His People
• Conclusion
• Bibliography