Bill Petro

PENTECOST

The Feast of Pentecost is taken from the Greek word πεντηκόστη which means “the 50th,” referring to the fiftieth day after Passover and Easter. In the Jewish calendar, this would coincide with the harvest festival Shavuot the “Feast of Weeks.” In the Christian calendar, Passover played a part in a number of visits Jesus made to Jerusalem, but most famously, it marked the coming of the Holy Spirit, as “tongues like as of fire” upon the Disciples of Jesus along with the sound of rushing wind, as told in the New Testament Book of Acts Chapter 2.

This marked the beginning of the work of the Church following the Resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, as the New Testament tells us that Jesus remained with his Disciples for 40 days following his Resurrection before his Ascension into heaven (celebrated last Sunday), this would mark 10 days following the Ascension of Jesus. This event was associated with the Disciples speaking in other languages. Many visitors to Jerusalem, who were likely there for the Feast of Passover, were curious about the meaning of the flames, wind, and foreign tongues — some familiar to them. The Apostle Peter gave his first sermon and the Church in Jerusalem grew in size from 120 believers to 3,000.

While Ascension Sunday is not much celebrated in the US — rather in parts of Europe, especially Germany — neither is Pentecost Sunday much celebrated in the US, other than in more liturgical churches. It is celebrated in various regions of Europe. In parts of Eastern Europe it is known as Green Sunday or Green Holiday where it is attended by wearing green and decorations with green branches — perhaps a reference back to the Jewish festival of Shavout and its decoration of the synagogue with green. Pentecost is recognized as a bank holiday in the United Kingdom, where it’s known as Whitsun or Whitsun Day, meaning either White Sunday, or the Sunday when whit or wisdom was brought upon the Disciples.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

HISTORY OF IRON MAN

I had the opportunity to catch the midnight premier of what is likely to be the initial “summer blockbuster” of the 2008 season. Iron Man has since this debut had the second biggest non-sequel opening day in history, trailing only Spider-Man. Last summer had 14 sequels, this summer only 7. More on the movie itself later. First, this film had not only an interesting debut, but has some interesting high-tech tie-ins.

Debut:

The event in Colorado Springs was sponsored in part by First Showing which is a local promotional company. This event, like other blockbuster previews — for example my article about last year’s Spider-Man III — was what I’d call “event marketing.” It began by having a booth out in front of the theater, with full sized posters, the company’s logo, a couch and chairs in front of a gaming console and TV. The fact that it was cold outside did not discourage the faithful from stopping by.

Before the midnight show began, there were about 40 minutes of pre-show fun. Tests of strength, skill, and armor building ensued. The emcee directed these events, the most interesting was a test of “repulsors-driven flight” on a long board through wickets holding lighted pods. The audience really got into it.

Many in the audience came dressed in Iron Man tee-shirts, some were custom made.

Tie-ins:

During the credits, I noticed that computer graphics were done by Tata Elxsi’s Visual Computing Labs. I used to work for Tata ELXSI some 20 years ago, when they were making one of the world’s most powerful super mini-computers.

But there is a more contemporary high-tech tie-in. Oracle is co-promoting the movie, with a tie-in to the fact that “Marvel Entertainment relies on Oracle to manage growth and provide seamless technology integration.”

Special Effects:

The computer graphics in this movie have defined the new state-of-the-art for film. Like the Transformers movie before it, CG works well for rendering machines. Computers are better at rendering machines than rendering people, which are so much more subtle. Here, it is almost seamless, unlike in the Spider-Man movie.

Movie Review:

Did I like it? Absolutely. I’d give it an A-. This is perhaps the most deeply gratifying film adaptation of a comic book. Many believe that only Batman Returns rivals it. Indeed, it will not have missed the notice of some that there are some similarities between the Marvel Comics hero Iron Man and DC Comics‘ hero Batman. In their secret identities, they are both billionaire industrialists, inventors of creative technologies, and flamboyant playboys. Both characters battle their own personal demons. In the case of Tony Stark (Iron Man), he has battled alcohol addiction, which is ironic, considering the casting of Iron Man.

Robert Downey, Jr. has had a checkered past in Hollywood, battling drug addiction. Nevertheless, this Academy Award nominated actor carries the movie. His sardonic wit, his throwaway lines, and his comic timing make him a flawed and believable industrialist. Initially arrogant and oblivious to the effects of his munitions sales, he comes to repent of his past business failings during the course of the “origin story” part of the film.

I was impressed by his performance and was willing to believe this obsessive personality could become aware of his weaknesses, limitations, and a dawning appreciation of his loyal secretary.

In the role of his dedicated executive assistant Pepper Potts, Gweneth Paltrow lit up the screen. My only complaint is that we did not see her enough in the movie, almost as if she was underutilized. But the chemistry between this Academy Award winner and Downey was palpable, and she was stunning in the role. I could not help but remember her similarly plucky role as Polly Perkins in the movie Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow.

Terrance Howard plays Tony Stark’s best friend and confidant, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, military liaison to Stark Industries. This Academy Award nominated actor has been getting a lot of notice for his recent roles. I particularly liked him in the recent film August Rush.

Academy Award nominated (notice a pattern here?) actor Jeff Bridges is featured as Obadiah Stane, a bear of a man, as top executive of Stark Industries and right hand man to Tony Stark. He appears as a bear of a man and chews up the screen each time he’s on the screen.

The action was impressive, the interaction between a talented cast, and the plot made this movie work. I’ve frequently compared this to the Spider-Man movies, as it serves as the benchmark of the Marvel Comics movie franchise. Spider-Man has historically been the most popular title of the Marvel universe, in the same way that Superman has been for DC Comics. And while I started reading Spider-Man comics in the early ’60s, and have not been a close follower of Iron Man, I found the later to be more satisfying as a movie experience. Perhaps it is because Spider-Man is about the travails of an adolescent — appropriate to comics’ primary demographic — while Iron Man deals with the problem of a grown man. The writing for this movie covered more sophisticated themes and more stark violence (no pun intended). The comedy worked better too.

For example, Iron Man creator and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee had a cameo appearance in this movie, has he had in the previous Marvel movie adaptations. Keep your eyes open, it’s more amusing than his previous movie appearances.

Here’s a tip if you’re planning on seeing the movie: stay to the end of the credits. Not only will you see something interesting in the credits, but you’ll see something at the end of the credits that will be a treat.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

CINCO DE MAYO

Cinco de Mayo is frequently regarded as the Mexican equivalent of the United States 4th of July. This is incorrect. In actuality, it is the equivalent of the “5th of May” in the Spanish language. Another misconception is that this has something to do with Mayonnaise. That too is a bum spread, as the condiment had its origin with the French, who will come into our story later. Nor does it have to do with County Mayo in Ireland, though we’ll make sure the Irish get into this story at some point. Rather, the “Battle of Cinco de Mayo” or specifically the Battle of Puebla, occurred on May 5, 1862.

Background: President Benito Juarez, who had been Zapotec Indian minister of Justice in Juan Alvarez‘ cabinet in the 1850’s, entered Mexico City on January 11, 1861 and promptly expelled the Spanish minister, the papal legate, and members of the episcopate. Additionally, he took steps to enforce the decrees of 1859, dis-endowing and disestablishing the church. He could not have known at this time that almost a century later, “antidisestablishmentarianism” would become the longest word in the English dictionary. Although Juarez was recognized by the United States and had received both moral and military aid from the US, there were over $80,000,000 in debts at that time to Europe alone. The Mexican Congress in July 17, 1861 decreed the suspension for 2 years of interest payments on the external national debt, and 3 months later a convention occurred between Great Britain, France, and Spain calling for joint intervention in Mexico.

As European forces advanced, and particularly French troops, their advance was checked at Puebla on May 5, 1862. The Mexican forces under the command of Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragosa managed to defeat a larger and better equipped French force.

However, the next year Napoleon III of France sent almost five times as many troops to Mexico to take over and install a puppet ruler, his relative the Archduke Maximillian of Austria, though he was defeated four years later.

Many believe that Cinco de Mayo is universally celebrated in Mexico as a day of independence. This is wrong on two counts. First, the call for Mexican independence, the Grito de Dolores, was made by Miguel Hidalgo at the town of Dolores on September 16, 1810, though it was not recognized by the Spanish viceroy until 1821. Secondly, because it is not a federal holiday, Cinco de Mayo is not widely celebrated in Mexico, except in Puebla, the largest city in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Elsewhere in Mexico it is observed with eating, drinking, and dancing. In the United States, however, it is widely recognized along the border states that have significant Mexican-American populations, especially in California, to celebrate Hispanic pride and culture, not unlike Irish-Americans do on St. Patrick’s Day.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

MAY DAY

May Day is many things to many people. Etymologically, it is a homophone for the international call for help. It is a corruption of the French imperative “M’aidez” meaning “Help me!” As a holiday it is claimed by many. It is known in the pagan world as Beltane, a fertility celebration, one of the four high holidays in the pagan calendar, Samhain on October 31 is another. Beltane is the day of fire commemorating Bel or Belenos, the Celtic sun god. Indeed, in the modern Irish language, Bealtaine is the name for the month of May. The early Anglo-Saxons began their celebration on the eve before, feasting the end of winter and the first planting. It was a time of revelry and abandon — note the song from the musical Camelot “It’s May, it’s May, the lusty month of May” — with the selection of a May Queen and the ribbons of the Maypole. But this day’s celebration of the revival of vegetation goes back to the Roman practice of visiting the grotto of Egena. The people of ancient Rome honored Flora, the goddess of flowers and springtime.

In 1886 it was co-opted as an international workers day to celebrate the 8-hour workday movement, following national strikes in the US and Canada. Later, the French declared May 1 the International Working Men’s Association holiday in 1889. Some countries consider May Day a bank holiday. This “Labor Day” is on one of the non-holy days in the calendar.

Occasionally, May 1st also marks the National Day of Prayer in the U.S. This day of non-sectarian prayer is observed on different days usually around the beginning of May, but goes back to 1775 when the first day of prayer was declared when the Continental Congress “designated a time for prayer in forming a new nation.” President Lincoln proclaimed a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May.

A pagan festival, a labor day, or a day of prayer. May Day is many things to many people.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

EARTH DAY

April 22 is called Earth Day because it both commemorates and celebrates the observance of the anniversary of our discovery of planet Earth. At this time, by all accounts, there is general agreement that Earth is far superior to the place from which we came, as we shall see below.

Recently, however, there has been increased concern regarding our displacement of the original aboriginal inhabitants, as is often the case with more “enlightened” conquerors, as we like to think of ourselves.

The indigenous population, a kind of Eukaryota or more specifically Archaeplastida, is known in the vernacular as plants. You cannot have missed the increased coverage in the media on all things “green.” Of course, the Irish were the first to capitalize on this theme, but now everyone seems to have jumped on the bandwagon, with everything from green vehicles to green computing.

Even Google is gaining ground in going green, while garnering gajillions of Gmail guests giddy with great gobs of gleefully garnered gigabytes of storage.

Increased recognition of this under-represented earlier population of our planet, sometimes persecuted almost to the point of extinction — when was the last time you saw a chocolate bush — has brought greater attention to rampant plantocide: witness for example that in Kansas whole fields of wheat continue to be slaughtered.

Hence, this year there is special attention paid to underprivileged plants, with the motto:

“Take A Plant To Lunch…But Don’t Eat It.”

Instead, responsible Earth people might consider an alternative. One could chose instead animals, which already have the good sense to be made of meat. And they are higher in protein, like chocolate, one of the other four food groups.

So, in celebration, let’s respect our plant brethren. They’re often at least as intelligent as some people you know: have you ever noticed how a sunflower tracks the movement of the sun? Think about it. They’re also quiet and, while generally not good conversationalists, are better behaved than many human children.

Of course, this is with the exception of fungi, the so-called “trailer trash” of the plant kingdom, which have been disowned for phylogenic reasons, not to mention their being “photosynthetically challenged.” Some of these heterotrophs have, through remedial education, found a home in breweries and Italian cuisine.

Nevertheless, plants, as you’ll recall, are one of the reasons we came to Earth. Some of the other reasons include:

• Location: it’s right here. Look just below your feet.
• Memorable: it’s shaped like the new AT&T logo
• Spherical: which makes it convenient for those “round the world” trips and has a much more pleasing shape than where we came from. Did you ever wonder why we called the previous generation “squares”?
• Great restaurants: and great atmosphere, unlike, for example the Moon which has great restaurants but no atmosphere.
• Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere: so crucial for those of us who breathe, and better than methane in so many ways.
• Gravity: which is set at a convenient one “g” is quite handy for keeping everything in its place.
• Neighbors: generally far enough away that they don’t bother us much, and those who do are generally more intelligent than average, needing to understand things like calculus, tachyons, and three-phase cyclotronic nuclear-fissionable uranium isotope molecular reconstructors for trans-dimensional physics.

I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on spending the rest of my life right here on Earth.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood Earthling
www.billpetro.com

HISTORY OF THE MARATHON

Today in Boston, Massachusetts is the running of the Boston Marathon the oldest and longest running (no pun intended) annual marathon event, at least in the Western World. It began in 1897, the year following the reintroduction of the marathon competition in the first modern Olympics in 1896. This large event typically features roughly 20,000 participants and is one of more than 800 marathons held each year worldwide. It is held annually on Patriots’ Day which used to be fixed on April 19, but is now the third Monday in April.

The race begins in Hopkinton, Massachusetts where buses drop off the runners in front of the world headquarters of EMC Corporation, and the traffic nearby gets fierce. The course winds east toward Boston, about a “marathon’s distance” away or 26.22 miles where it ends at Copley Square. Historically, the Boston Red Sox baseball team holds a game at Fenway Park to coincide with the race finishing the last mile in front of Kenmore Square.

Originally the word Marathon comes from the legendary run of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who ran from Marathon to Athens in ancient Greece. The story goes that he ran all the way without stopping until he arrived at the Senate where he proclaimed “We have won” against the Persians and then fell from heart attack and died. The 1st century historian Plutarch first records in writing this story quoting a lost work. In the late 19th century Robert Browning immortalized the runner in his poem “Pheidippides” cementing the story into popular historic legend.

Traditionally the word “Marathon” has become synonymous with a long endurance race in contrast to a shorter sprint race. The Marathon was a popular feature in the ancient Olympics and even the Apostle Paul seems to have been aware of it — King Herod the Great sponsored the Olympic games of 12 B.C. — and Paul was perhaps alluding to the Olympics when he wrote to the church in Corinth:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly.
1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

PASSOVER

This year, the evening at sunset April 19 marks the beginning of Passover. Exodus 12 in the Bible tells the story of Passover from the life of Moses. Ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptian pharaoh (starring Yul Brenner, but he was much better in “The King and I”) to get his attention to release the “children of Israel” from bondage. The final plague was the death of the first-born son. The Jews were to smear the blood of a lamb upon their door posts, so that the angel of death would “Passover” them unharmed. Pharaoh relented and released the Israelites.

In making their hasty exit, the Jews did not have time to let their bread rise, so in commemoration, they celebrate the Passover Seder (”order”) meal with unleavened bread (motzo), bitter herbs, and roast lamb to be eaten in traveling garb. This Feast of Unleavened Bread is a major holiday in the Jewish when Jews from all over the world return to Jerusalem. During Passion Week, which was at Passover, the Jerusalem of Jesus’ time would have tripled from its population of about 50,000.

Could “The Last Supper” (made famous by Leonardo da Vinci’s painting now in Milan) that Jesus had with his disciples in the Upper Room have been a Passover meal? It seems likely. It was at about the right time in the calendar. Some churches commemorate this meal by using unleavened bread for their Communion Eucharist.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

HISTORY OF MY HOLIDAYS

I’ve been writing for over 20 years about the “History of the Holidays.” I’ve been asked by many of my readers to write about the history of my holidays, on another one of my blogs. For business I have done a lot of world travel and enjoy learning about the local history, culture, art, and language.

I recently had a long holiday in Italy and captured many impressions both in words and in pictures. I’ll be writing about these on my new blog Ignorance Abroad and featuring photos. I’ll explain how to subscribe separately to these articles below.

What will I be writing about?

I’ll cover areas in and around Tuscany, Venice, and Rome.

• Hill Towns: what can you find in Volterra and Vinci (as in Leonardo da)?
• Pisa: is it more than just the Leaning Tower of?
• Pistoia: what is it known for other than the word pistol and home of Pinocchio?
• Cinque Terre: The “5 Lands” of the Italian Riviera
• Agritourismo: born in a barn? If not, you can stay at a farmhouse
• Cooking class: learning to cook 19th century Tuscan food
• Florence’s Galleria dell’Academia: what is there other than Michaelangelo’s David?
• Uffizi Gallery: one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world
• Pitti Palace: sure it’s mentioned in the musical Kiss Me Kate, why was it tops on my list?
• Ponte Vecchio: is it just an old bridge?
• Gelato: yes this Florentine ice cream is to die for

• Venice’s San Marco’s Basilica: it is everything you’ve heard, and more
• Doge’s Palace: you’ve seen it in lots of movies. Is it that fabulous?
• Campanile: see all of Venice from this prototypical bell tower
• Murano Glass: how to see a fraction of the glass shops in an entire day

• Vatican City: the museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s
• St. John Lateran Basilica: the original Pope’s church
• Forum: and Coliseum, and Palantine Hill
• Babington’s: an English Tea Room in Rome?
• Tivoli Gardens at Villa d’Este: more than you’ve heard
• Assisi and Orvieto: the hill towns outside of Rome

And I’ll have a few other stories as well, like traveling by car (oh my!), train (oh yes), and vaporetto (boat taxi).

You can subscribe to this blog by any of these methods:

1. Visiting the site
2. Subscribing by email
3. Subscribing with your favorite news reader by RSS feed

Thanks for coming along.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY

April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, is the name given to the custom of playing practical jokes on friends on that day, or sending them on fools errands. The origin of this custom has been much disputed; it is in some way a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on the old New Year’s Day celebrations, March 25, ended on April 1.

Another view is that it is a farcical commemoration of Jesus’ trials during Passion Week when he was sent from Annas‘ House to Caiaphas‘ Palace to Pilate’s Praetorium to Herod’s Hasmonean Palace and back to Pilate again… which culminated in his crucifixion on Good Friday, which may have been April 1.

The observance in the UK of April 1 goes back to ancient times, though it did not appear as a common customt until the early 1700s. In Scotland the custom was known as “hunting the gowk“, i.e., the cuckoo, and April fools were “April gowks.” The France would designate this person as poisson d’avril.

In the US individuals and employees would concoct elaborate hoaxes on April Fools’ Day. At Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley, for example, the size and complexity of these hoaxes were legendary in the 1980s in particular, with local television and radio media showing up to capture the event.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood hysterian
www.billpetro.com

SO WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO OLD…

You may be asking yourself, “Self,” you ask, “where are they now?” and well you might ask. What happened to our players AFTER the events in the Easter story?

HEROD ANTIPAS

You may remember that I had said Antipas‘ taking to wife his brother’s wife Herodias led to his ruin. Actually it led to his death. Her ambition pushed him where he would not have otherwise gone. Antipas’ nephew, and Herodias’ brother, Herod Agrippa (who we meet in the New Testament book the Acts of the Apostles as one of the early persecutors of the new church) had spent and borrowed much money while he was in Palestine. He lived much of his time in Rome and was a close friend of the future Emperor Gaius (the infamous Caligula). While riding in a chariot with Caligula, he commented that he could not wait until the then emperor Tiberius was no longer Caesar so that Caligula might have his rightful place. A loyal slave overhearing this relayed it to Tiberius who had Agrippa thrown into prison.

When Caligula finally did become emperor he released his friend and replaced his chain with a gift of one equal in size made of gold. He also made him a king of certain areas of Palestine. When Herodias learned that her undeserving brother had been made a king, she pushed her husband to go to Rome to appeal for the same boon. The tetrarch Antipas was mellowing with age and was unwilling. However, after much prodding from his wife, he began his journey. At the same time that he was appealing before Caligula, the emperor was reading a letter from Agrippa, accusing Antipas of treason against Rome, having entered into alliances with Sejanus, the Parthians (enemies of Rome at that time), and of gathering a large number of men and arms. When questioned about this army, Antipas admitted to having collected this militia. Caligula promptly confiscated all his property and exiled him for life to Gaul, though allowed Herodias, since she was the sister of his beloved Agrippa, to go free. To her credit, she accompanied her husband into exile, where he died shortly thereafter. He had ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39, longer than any tetrarch in Palestine, except for Agrippa II, son of his enemy, Agrippa.

PONTIUS PILATE

Three years after the affair with Jesus of Nazareth, in A.D. 36, after having served 10 years as military and political prefect of Judea, a revolt started in Samaria. An obscure pseudo-prophet with Messianic ambitions had promised the Samaritans that he would uncover some sacred temple utensils that Moses has supposedly buried on their sacred Mt. Gerizim. The multitude that gathered came armed with weapons and Pilate ordered his troops to block the ascent. It came to a pitched battle. Pilate, having won, executed the leaders of the uprising. The Samaritan Senate complained to Pilate’s superior, the proconsul of Syria, who ordered Pilate to return to Rome to answer the charges against him. However, the Emperor Tiberius died before Pilate reached Rome. Whether he was tried by the emperor Caligula, we do not know. Nor do we know what ultimately happened to him.

Perhaps he was banished to Gaul. Some medieval legends have his restless corpse, accompanied by squadrons of demons, disrupting localities of France and Switzerland, causing storms, earthquakes, and other havoc. A later tradition I came upon while traveling through Switzerland claims that he was ultimately buried in a mountain lake, still called Pilatus (actually pileatus or “cloud capped”), overlooking Lucerne. Each Good Friday the body is said to reemerge from the waters and wash its hands.

The early church father Tertullian claimed that Pilate “was a Christian in his conscience”, and the Greek Orthodox church canonized his wife, while the Ethopian church even recognizes a St. Pilate and St. Procula’s Day on June 25. Saint or sinner, Pilate probably spent the rest of his days as a retired government official, a pensioned Roman magistrate emeritus, enjoying a less than sensational fate.

THE SANHEDRIN

The Pharisees had two main schools of thought, those that followed the Rabbi Hillel, who stressed moderation and a certain amount of compromise, and those who followed the stricter Rabbi Shammai, who would allow no cooperation with the foreign overseers. The school of Shammai eventually found expression through the Zealots, who ultimately fomented the rebellion against the Romans in A.D. 66 leading to the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. It was the school of Hillel that was able to survive and modern Judaism traces its roots back to this school.

The Sadducees did not proselytize as did the Pharisees, and as they only drew their membership from the aristocracy and the high priesthood, their party did not survive the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Joseph, called Caiaphas was high priest until A.D. 39, when he was deposed by the imperial legate of Syria, Vitellius, (who had removed Pilate). The emperor Caligula eventually became jealous of Vitellius’ success in the East and had him removed from office. It was only through much groveling and servility before the emperor that his life was spared. Pilate would have been pleased.

THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

Two historical facts remain; the tomb was empty, and the lives of the disciples were changed. It should be added immediately that an empty tomb does not prove a resurrection, although a resurrection would require an empty tomb. Its occupancy, indeed, would effectively disprove it. Nevertheless, the disciples claimed that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to many. As they spread the good news (Greek: euaggelion “good report”, to the Latin evangelion, to the English “evangelical”) this brought them into conflict with the Sanhedrin who were amazed that these unlearned men had filled Jerusalem with their teaching. The faith spread to all points and in Antioch they were first called “Christians”. This name comes from the Latin christiani, like the word caesariani meaning slaves or “members of the household of Caesar”.

The faith eventually arrived in Rome and first came into disfavor under the Emperor Nero. A number of persecutions under various later emperors as well did not destroy this faith but seemed to refine and purify it as its martyrs became witnesses of this changed life (for the word martyr in Greek means witness). In the early part of the 4th century the Roman Emperor Constantine, before a battle was impressed to fight under the sign of Christ, and was victorious. Later, he made Christianity a legal religion. In A.D. 390 the Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official state religion of Rome. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

In part from Paul L. Maier’s In the Fullness of Time