by Lois Rayburn

Created on: November 09, 2008   Last Updated: December 05, 2008

THE RISE AND FALL OF ROME

AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CHRISITANITY AND THE CELTS

Rome, a powerful empire, sought to acquire and control many countries, through invasion, domination and intimidation, total destruction of the conquered country's religion and culture, and imposition by force, or the threat of death, of their own evil culture, was the demise of the Roman Empire.

The Romans were a hideous group of people, barbaric in their treatment of others and for all the knowledge and educational benefits which they gave to society; they assuredly were an evil force that sought power, domination and control of other cultures and nations. Rome and its evil rulers (let us not forget Caesar) led a powerful cruel empire that ruled over many cultures. Their zest for control of other lands, including Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Germany, even Africa (where Middle Eastern Jews in the 6th century were cruelly over ran by the Roman Empire), was insatiable. Their evil ways and practices were forced upon the countries and cultures they invaded.

As an example of the horrific practices of the Roman Empire, consider Queen Boudica, a Celtic woman, who followed the "long-standing Celtic tradition of women acting as mediators or judges in political or military disputes."[1] who made herself and her two daughters vulnerable and eventually under subjection, through her marriage to Prasutagus, a Roman client-king..Upon her husband's death, her rich inheritance left by her husband, was too great a temptation for the occupying Roman troops and they invaded her home, her lands, she was viciously subdued and taken prisoner in her own palace, was publicly flogged, and forced to watch the rape of her own two daughters.[2]

The Celts were fiercely opposed to Roman domination. In fact, Scotland and Wales were two countries that did not come under the control of the Roman Empire.[3] The Roman Empire and subsequent Catholicism instituted by Rome are, and were, in direct opposition to Christianity. The Scottish Celts were originally deeply religious people, many still are. However, pagan Rome adversely affected not only the Scots, but many other cultures with their anti-Christian, pagan ways. A life which did not encompass the spiritual was, and is, foreign to the Celtic nature and response to the world.[4]

Like many ancient peoples, the Celts passed their knowledge and wisdom from one generation to another by word of mouth. The Druids were the custodians of their oral tradition and esoteric knowledge, and

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