Emperor julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician who overthrew the RomanRepublic and established the rule of the emperors. Caesar used the problems and hardships of the period to create his own supreme political and military power. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar is regarded as one of the most powerful and successful leaders in the history of the world. His life and his violent death have been widely celebrated in literature and film.

Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C.E. to Gaius Caesar and Aurelia. His father had gained moderate political success and the family claimed a long and noble history, which therefore entitled Caesar's family to certain traditional privileges and offices. Caesar received the classic education of a young Roman at Rome and in Rhodes. Cicero (106–43 B.C.E. ), a Roman statesman and philosopher, considered Caesar one of the most cultured and literate of Romans. Caesar served as a young officer in Asia Minor and was quaestor (financial official) in Farther Spain (69 B.C.E. ).

Caesar's first important political success came in 63 B.C.E. , when he was elected pontifex maximus, the chief religious office in Rome that carried important political possibilities. Caesar was then elected praetor (an elected Roman official) for 62 B.C.E. and served his propraetorship in Spain. Caesar was quick to take advantage of his power by waging a successful campaign against some native tribes in Lusitania, a Roman province in western Europe. Meanwhile, his political enemies accused him of provoking, or starting, the war.

In 59 B.C.E. Caesar won an election to become consul, or an official ruling over foreign lands. The Senate, immediately moving to block his hopes of future political power, assigned him to lands that offered Caesar no possibilities for military glory. Caesar, who desired more glamorous political and military opportunities, saw that he needed allies to overcome his opponents in the Senate.

Caesar soon found the alliance that would become known as the First Triumvirate. He aligned himself with the Roman General Pompey (106–48 B.C.E. ), who brought wealth and military might, and Crassus (140–91 B.C.E. ), a powerful Roman politician who brought important political connections. The alliance was further sealed in 58 B.C.E. with the marriage of Caesar's only daughter, Julia, to Pompey.

King Herod the Great

Judea was ruled by high priests of the Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the leaders who had freed the country from Seleucid rule. The Seleucid dynasty (312–64 B.C.E. ) began with Seleucus I, who created an empire from part of the area of southwest Asia that had been controlled by Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E. ). Herod's grandfather and father held prominent political offices in Judea and established close relations with the Romans, the unquestioned world power during that time. In 47 B.C.E. , when Roman Emperor Julius Caesar (100—44 B.C.E. ) momentarily settled Palestinian affairs, he seems to have entrusted Herod's father, Antipater, with the effective civil government. Antipater named his eldest son, Phasael, governor of Jerusalem and his second son, Herod, governor of Galilee, where he won favor with the Romans by his success in dealing with hostile military groups. In 46 B.C.E. Herod was appointed governor of Coele-Syria and Samaria by Caesar's representative. But with the death of Caesar and the arrival of the new emperor, Cassius (d. 42 B.C.E. ), Herod quickly dismissed his loyalty to Caesar and won Cassius's favor. He also married Mariamne, a Hasmonean princess and granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus II. A Parthian invasion in 40 B.C.E. brought another change: Antigonus, a rival Hasmonean, became king of Judea, and Herod had to flee. He left his family in the fortress of Masada and went to Rome. There, Roman leaders Antony (c. 81–30 B.C.E. ) and Octavian (64 B.C.E. —14 C. E.), the future Augustus, accepted him, and the Senate named him king of Judea.

The Roman Governor Pontius Pilatete and Jesus

Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judaea from 26 CE to 36 CE; in this capacity, he was responsible for the execution of Jesus of Nazareth. This was not the only incident during his tenure of office, however. In this article, all these incidents are discussed. An attempt is made to show that Pilate was sincerely interested in Jewish culture and did his best to prevent unnecessary violence.

It customary for the Roman procurators to reside at Jerusalem during the Passover in order to maintain order. During the time of our Lord's last Passover Pilate was occupying his official residence in Herod's palace. Jesus was brought to the gates of this palace and condemned on the charge of blasphemy.

He was then brought early in the morning by the chief priests and officers of the Sanhedrin, though they could not enter the residence of a Gentile, lest they be defiled and unfit to eat the Passover .

Pilate came out to deal with the situation and demanded that they reveal the nature of the charge. At first the Jewish authorities assumed that Pilate would give way to their wishes without question and so they merely described Jesus as a disturber of the public peace. Pilate, as the Roman procurator, was familiar with the administration of justice and was not willing to consent to the pressure of their accusations. Therefore they devised a new charge and attempted to construe the Lord's claims in a political sense, accusing Him of assuming the title of king, and perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay tribute to Rome .

Pilate had to deal with two conflicting feelings, first there was the fear of offending the Jews, and second was the gut feeling that Jesus was innocent. This was not the first time that the Jewish leaders had caused him trouble, and he probably had little patience for their manipulation.

First he examined the Lord privately and asked Him whether or not He was a king. After examining Jesus he came out to the Jews and declared Him innocent. The Jewish leaders immediately replied that His teaching had stirred up all the people from Galilee to Jerusalem. When they mentioned Galilee Pilate had a quick solution in order to escape this dilemma, he would send this case to Herod Antipas.

Herod refused to make any decision on this matter. Pilate was forced to make a decision. He assembled the chief priests and the Jewish people and announced to them that the accused had done nothing worthy of death. To satisfy the Sanhedrin he offered to scourge Jesus before releasing Him. But seeing immediate rejection, because the accusers of Jesus would not be happy with anything less than His death, Pilate had to think fast if he wanted to maintain his conviction that Jesus was not worthy of death.

Each year, in honor of the Passover, it was customary for the Roman governor to grant pardon to one condemned criminal. Pilate therefore offered the people their choice between two condemned criminals. First was the murderer Barabbas, and second was Jesus the prophet, who the Jewish people had hailed as the Messiah only a few days earlier.

Pontius Pilate ascended the Bema seat of judgment, a portable tribunal placed on the Gabbatha, a mosaic pavement in front of the palace. As Pilate was seated he received a message from his wife, who had "suffered greatly in a dream because of Him" , urging him not to condemn the Just One.

The mob, being urged by the priests, frantically chose Barabbas for pardon and death for Jesus. Pontius Pilate had no alternative, lest there be an insurrection. Before ordering the final command to sentence Jesus to death, Pilate washed his hands before the multitude, as a sign that he was innocent of the crime.

Pilate then ordered his soldiers to scourge Jesus, no doubt hoping that this would be enough to satisfy the people. But the priests cried for His death all the more, and, fearing that the political charge of treason might be considered insufficient, returned to their first accusation of blasphemy. They quoted the law of Moses , which punished blasphemy with stoning, declared that He must die, "because He made Himself out to be the Son of God".

This title bothered Pilate who was already nervous by his wife's dream. Perhaps he feared that Jesus might be one of the heroes or demigods of his own mythology. He took Jesus again into the palace and asked Him, "Where are You from?" and sought to know anxiously what were His claims . This interview was the one last effort to save Jesus. Pilate went out to the crowd again and they shouted, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar". Pilate finally gave in to the crowd and the pressure. He again ascended the tribunal and finally pronounced the crucifixion of Jesus.

King David and Jesus

The leaders in the life and times of Jesus were Kings, Emperors and Governors. A main king in time of Jesus was King David. David devoted his life to God. As a shepherd, he spent a great deal of time alone in the fields with his sheep. he used his time wisely, praising God and learning to hear God's voice. Though David was special to God, it didn't spare him from difficulty.He had to face many challenges and even lied as a fugitive. Samuel had anointed David to be King after Saul. David became almost a brother to Saul's son, Jonathan and was husband to Saul's daughter, Michal. Saul saw David recieving love and favour frfom God and his country and became jealous. He tried many times to kill David or have him killed. Even though he was pursued and under threat of death, David trusted in the Lord. God had told David he would be king and David believed and trusted God. He knew that God would see him through adversity. But David was far from Perfect. When he sinned, he sinned big. David became infatuated with Bath-Sheba, a woman married to David's soldier, Uriah. David had and affair with Bath- Sheba and she became pregnant. He componded his sins by trying to cover them up. He arranged for Uriah to be sent into a particularly hot battle where Uriah was killed. The Lord sent Nathan to David with a story about a man wronged. David decreed the wrongdoer should be killed and the wronged mannn should be restored four times over. Then Nathan says that David is the wrongdoer and David confesses his sin. Without hesitation, David asks for forgiveness and accepts the consequences of his sin. “So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die." David’s sins were severe and so were the consequences of his sins. Yet, he didn’t try to hide from them or blame God for their consequence. He accepted responsibility for his actions and dealt with the pain they caused. Many of us try to hide from our sins, too and even when confronted with them we deny them.

From what we know about King david he was devoted to God and when he sinned he asked for forgivness which shows he was a remarkable man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9eXstj_D30

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