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Gaius Octavius was born in Rome in 63 BC. When his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated for overthrowing the Roman Republic, the young Octavian, then just 18 years old, became his successor. And while Julius is remembered as the great general and the man who sparked Rome’s transition from republic to empire, it was the young Octavian who actually oversaw that transition.
Octavian initially worked with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus to defeat his great-uncle’s assassins and divide the Republic into three. Octavian then conquered his former allies and assumed sole rule of the republic in approximately 31 BC. Over the next 30 years, Octavian enacted a series of laws that established Rome as an empire. Octavian deified his great-uncle, renamed him Augustus, destroyed the ancient world’s largest republic, and regenerated an empire. Intelligent and ruthless, Octavian created stability and positioned the realm for growth, ushering in an unprecedented 200-year era of peace and strength known as the Pax Romana. The United Empire lasted over 400 years, and its successor empire, the East, lasted for another 1,000 years, finally collapsing in 1453 AD.
Octavian is perhaps the most successful political leader in history. He was probably the richest and most powerful person in the world. And his legacy pervades everything from Europe’s modern political structure to the calendar that bears his name in August. Despite all this, the best-known historical passages about Octavian treat him as little more than a footnote. That passage reads:
At that time, Caesar Augustus issued a decree to conduct a census of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) Then everyone went to their town to register. So Joseph, who belonged to the lineage of David, went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the town of David, in Judea. He went there to take vows of marriage and register with Mary, who is pregnant with a child. (Luke 2:1-5)
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The baby was born to an outcast teenager and her carpenter husband. He came into this world without any publicity or notice, in a dirty stable in an unimportant countryside. Because of the prophecy, he is eventually hunted down by the king of the area, thousands of people are slaughtered, and he ends up living as a refugee in a foreign land. After returning to Japan, he spent more than 10 years working in his father’s blue-collar job, growing up in obscurity. Although details of Octavian’s life have been recorded, little of the baby’s life is documented except for his last three years of service.
Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They have taken completely different paths.
At the age of 30, the boy born in Bethlehem began evangelizing the poor and disenfranchised in small towns and forgotten places. He began interacting with prostitutes, foreigners, laborers, and the sick. He offered healing and hope to those rejected by the world, and ultimately aroused envy and hatred among the religious and political elites of his time. He was betrayed by one of his 12 closest friends and was executed on a cross under Octavian’s successor, Tiberius. He would die penniless, homeless, and a criminal, completely unknown to the powerful emperors who ruled him.
Jesus came into the world without publicity or notice, in a dirty stable in an unimportant countryside. (Fred de Noyer, via Getty Images)
After his death, it was the same poor and outcasts who kept his memory alive, even though the imperial oligarchy took over. The slain man’s followers would be persecuted, but largely ignored until their numbers increased enough for an emperor like Nero to try to exterminate them. But even in the midst of persecution, they thrived. Because the poor and hurt will always outnumber the rich and powerful.
This situation continued for 300 years until the Roman Emperor Constantine declared tolerance for Christianity in 313 AD. And even after that, even after it became the state religion of Rome, the faith flourished best among the “meek” people, whom the murdered man once famously called the heirs of Christianity. world. It was a fundamental disruption of traditional power morality. Nietzsche declared this a “slave morality” and ridiculed the elevation of the weak above the strong. And for 2,000 years, almost every authoritarian has sought to usurp, corrupt, and destroy that faith.
Although Julius is remembered as a great general and the man who sparked Rome’s transition from republic to empire, it was the young Octavian who actually oversaw that transition. (St. Petersburg)
But today, more than 2,000 years after Augustus forced that poor family to make the journey to Bethlehem, billions of people around the world will sing not to Octavian, but to that frail boy. Probably.
“Now, you have been waiting for Jesus for a long time.
Born to set your people free.
Free us from fear and sin,
Find rest within you.
The strength and comfort of Israel,
You are the hope of the whole earth.
Dear wishes of all peoples,
The joy of every yearning heart.
Born to save your people,
Although born as a child, he is a king,
Born to reign forever within us,
Come, bring forth your merciful kingdom. ”
Augustus is still remembered. Scholars are studying him. Students read about him in history. One of my own favorite biographies is Adrian Goldsworthy’s excellent Augustus: Rome’s First Emperor. His empire, political legacy, and military innovations have shaped the world. If it weren’t for the babies born during his reign, he might have been the most famous person of his time. But God and history had other plans. Augustus is now part of the supporting cast of one of the greatest stories ever told. The very dates of his birth and death are recorded in connection with his night in the manger. Octavian’s name is forever associated with the great king in the popular imagination.
I think the timing was intentional. God raised up some of the greatest politicians in history, just as He sent into the world politicians who were just the opposite. One praised the strong, the other praised the kind. One was ruled by force, the other by faith. One sought power, the other sacrifice. One preached loyalty, the other preached love.
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Two billion of us now believe that babies are God’s human creation and a message of hope and healing to all of us who are hurting. Jesus assures us that the Almighty God is not as careless, hurtful, and evil as the ancient Greek and Roman gods, but instead is infinitely concerned for the hearts of each human being. .
Nativity, 1892. Print from the appendix of Le Petit Journal, December 24, 1892. (Photo courtesy of Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)
But even for those who do not believe in the divinity of Jewish children, there is a message worth remembering. What’s important in the world is often not what we think it is. True influence is not power exercised violently over others. It did not come from armies, edicts, conquests, or palace coffers. It is not determined by the preferences and allegiance of the rich and powerful. It comes from love. It comes from obedience and sacrifice.
Octavian is currently being studied on a university campus. Jesus is worshiped in all parts of the world. And at this moment in December, presidents, prime ministers, store owners, and enslaved people alike come together to pray and sing to a God made flesh who rules based on love rather than political power. When Jesus was being executed, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” When pressed on how to live his life, he said, “This is a new command I give you: Love one another.” His message will stay with you and bring hope and peace to the world.
Even for those who do not believe in the divinity of the Jewish child Jesus, there is a message worth remembering. What’s important in the world is often not what we think it is. True influence is not power exercised violently over others.
While there are many good people today, there is no shortage of people who will do anything for power. They may not have as much talent or success as Octavian, but they cry out for wealth, fame, and worship. Many of them will hurt or kill others to get there. Some will enslave others. And some of these people will be temporarily “successful”. They will be dictators, presidents, CEOs, or celebrities. And they will strive to be worshiped. But like Augustus, they and the morality they espoused would eventually disappear into history. And what will replace them will be stories of people who sought mercy rather than power, liberation rather than domination.
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That is the message of Christmas. For believers, it is a time to reverently reflect on a special moment in history when the Almighty God of the universe humbled himself to restore our relationship with Him. This is a moving historical story for everyone, even those who have not come to such a belief. Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They have taken completely different paths. And a modern observer would not have been able to discern which of the two was truly the greater.
Merry Christmas everyone. May this message of salvation be a light to the world, a hope to the hopeless, and an encouragement to the hearts of all.
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