September 15: “VENI, VIDI, VICI!”
After this he shall turn his face toward the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. Daniel 11:18
The century leading up to the birth of Christ was a complex, heady time as Rome’s power was steadily increasing. In those days, Rome changed from a republic to an empire. An unofficial coalition formed (60BC), known as the First Triumvirate. The members of this coalition were Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The inner workings of their alliance allowed them to advance their individual political and financial goals while bypassing the Senate.
During the Gallic Wars (58-50BC) much of Europe was won for Rome by Julius Caesar. He was a gifted military leader, and after conquering Gaul (France of today), he rapidly extended Rome’s boundaries to the coastlands of Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe. In 47BC, he wrote in a letter to Rome: Veni, vidi, vici! (I came, I saw, I conquered!) It was in that same year that Egypt, the last section of Alexander’s Greek Empire, was completely subdued and absorbed into Rome. But it was later, just after Cleopatra’s death at age 39 (30BC), that Egypt was designated a Roman province by Octavian (who was later renamed Caesar Augustus).
After Julius Caesar’s victories in the Gallic Wars, the Roman Senate issued an order for him to return home as a private citizen. He defiantly refused, and a civil war broke out with Pompey the Great, known as the Battle of Pharsalus, which Caesar won.
After his assassination (44BC), Rome became an ant bed of political chaos. There were various factions vying for power, and in 43BC a Second Triumvirate formed: Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus. These three determined to avenge Caesar’s murder and root out those who had been involved in the conspiracy to kill him. Toward the end of the following year, the forces of the leading conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, were defeated by the forces of the Second Triumvirate at Philippi in Macedonia. This defeat led both Brutus and Cassius to commit suicide. Therefore, with the reproach removed, a way was beginning to open for Julius Caesar’s great-nephew and adopted heir, Octavian, to come into power.
It is worth noting that in those days, the Jews held the frontier gateways into Egypt. Influenced by Antipater the Idumaean (father of Herod the Great, ruler of Judea at the time of the birth of the Messiah), they had permitted the Roman army to pass into Egypt with no opposition. This assist to Rome helped decide for Julius Caesar’s victory in Egypt (note again the upright ones of v.17). How often throughout the centuries have the professed people of God given aid to the enemy unwittingly! The LORD says:
But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. Psalm 81:11