James L. PAPANDREA. A Week in the Life of Rome. Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter Varsity Press. 2019 pp. 216. Paperback. ISBN 978-0-8308-2482-3 Reviewed by Anthony J. POGORELC, St Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX 78228.

Many have read Rodney Stark’s excellent book, The Rise of Christianity (1997), in which he discusses the social forces contributing to the rise and persistence of the Christian movement.   James Papandrea has written a delightful book that puts flesh and blood on these concepts.

The story is organized around the days of the Roman week and through these days we meet an interesting cast of characters some familiar, most just ordinary folks living in first century Rome.  On the first day of the Moon, we meet Stachys, a Greek freedman married to Maria, a formerly wealthy Jewish widow from Jerusalem who supported the ministry of Jesus and his apostles.  Her son, Marcus,  is implied to be one of the Gospel writers. Maria married Stachys before the Jews were expelled from Rome and was able to remain.  She is a devoted mother to Tertius, Stackys’ son of from a previous marriage. Stachys is dealing with the  tension between his desire for success in Roman society, which requires him to sacrifice Christian morality, and his desire to stabilize his marriage and family life by converting to “the way.” 

We are introduced to the patron-client system which binds Stachys and his patron Urbanus, a landowner and merchant of the equestrian class who shows us the difficulties of having succeeded in Roman society. We see how the Romans organized time on a daily and seasonal basis, as well as the role of the money system in the organization of marriage, family and sexual mores.

Through the week the disparity between Roman and Christian ways unfolds.  On the day of Mars we learn of the Roman housing system and its social stratification. Practices as “exposing” unwanted infants to the elements  and of Roman recreation conflict with following “the way.”  On the day of Mercury,we see that privilege, slavery, and commonplace violence demeaned the poor. On the day of Jupiter we learn about the Emperor and his dynasty. On the day of Venus we see the dangers of nightlife in Rome. Roman virtues center on the self-control of stoic philosophy, while philanthropy had to do with building monuments.  Christian charity is about helping people.The Day of Saturn shows Christians trying to interact with Roman society experiencing challenges not unlike those around religious pluralism in our own day. Conflicts reach their peak and we see that ultimately this is a story of conversion.The final chapter, on the day of the Sun, reveals how dealing with a delayed Parousia, leadership, and concern for passing on the gospel are essential to keeping and promoting their identity.

Papandrea provides a series of boxes explaining social life and artifacts in first century Rome as well as illustrations of objects and geographical areas.  There are a series of other delightful characters connected to the fledgling Christian community of Rome. They are ordinary folks with their strengths and limitations, with their tensions, joys and sorrows. We see the cost of discipleship.  Most chapters conclude with a liturgical expression that gives us a sense of the relationship of scripture and liturgical life of the early community.  Indeed, this is a delightful book.