Spartacus Inspiration – Servant

What was the Social Status of Servants in Ancient Rome?

In the successful Spartacus Series , there are numerous gems of Spiritual Inspiration and Wisdom.

To gain an understanding of  these Spiritual Insights we are also bringing Revelations from the Book of Romans written by the Apostle Paul. These give you the Keys to unlocking the Secrets of the Kingdom of God and the Commonwealth of Believers. We have chosen Paul’s Letter to the Romans because Rome is the setting of much of the Spartacus Series.

Notice the way Paul opens the Epistle, “Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ”. There is an emphasis on his being a Servant, which at the time was a despised lower class in the Roman hierarchy. This was a very Politically Incorrect thing for Paul to say at the time, and would be far worse than a Motivational Speaker standing up at a Seminar today and saying they were called to be a Bankrupt Janitor.

Nobody wanted to be a Servant in Roman times because you had virtually no rights and could be completely exploited by your Master.

Did Paul begin his Epistle to the Romans by saying ,

“Paul, a PhD in Theology and Psychology, and you all need to recognise that my superior Humanities education at Oxford and Harvard entitles me to be the purveyor of correct Doctrine, and as such treated with the utmost respect.”?

Instead Paul directly identified himself with the lowest of the low, a Servant. This would have shocked Roman Citizens, Greeks and Jews, who were all striving for status and wealth.

Obviously we are not saying anything here against obtaining University Degrees, but by Paul introducing himself using the word Servant it was a powerful illustration for those in Rome that this was a different type of Spiritual understanding than what they were used to with their religious practices.

In our egalitarian society it is difficult to grasp what it meant to be a servant or slave in ancient Rome. The Spartacus Series shows the peril of the life of a Servant or Slave on many occasions. Apart from the Jews, most of the Roman population were appealing to their numerous Gods through Sacrifices and Offerings, to bring revenge upon their enemies, financial success, and other benefits. Some of the Gods almost became their Messenger Servants to bring them whatever they wanted.

By Paul calling himself the Servant of Jesus Christ, he was also establishing Jesus as the Son of God above all other Gods.

To illustrate this fully one would only need to view some episodes of the Spartacus Series to clearly see how badly and viciously Servants and Slaves were treated in ancient Rome. In some cases they were treated worse than animals were, especially if they were going to be sold in the marketplace.  To be a Servant meant that you had no hope of living a meaningful life, as you could be sold to a brothel or at an auction for Galley Slaves,  at the whim of your Master. Or if you proved to be ‘rebellious’ or otherwise unsuitable , then you could be sent to the mines to be worked to death in chains.

To today’s western society, where it is all about demanding your rights, privileges and entitlements, this illustration of being a Roman servant is very culturally challenging and runs against our concepts of fairness.

Paul is saying ,

‘I have no individual rights or privileges or superior social status because I am a Servant of Jesus Christ’. This seems like it is not a good Sales Pitch.

Paul continues in Romans Ch1V1 ,”called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God”. This establishes from the outset that being an Apostle who preaches the Gospel means accepting the lowly status of a servant.

In today’s vernacular we would say,

“The way up is to go down.”

It is important to realise that Paul wanted to immediately address this issue of being a Servant before he started his extensive doctrinal overview, and not as an afterthought or innocuous platitude. Paul’s intention was to be offensive to status seekers from the word go.

In the next Part of this Series we will continue our Study of Spartacus with reference to the Roman Revelations.

A Roman servant being crucified in the Spartacus Series, as an example to the others to discourage them from following the rebellion.

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Copyright – Omega Course – 2018/2019/2020/2021- All Rights Reserved for Commentary –  Craig Holme.