In this post, I am returning to the subject of ancient history. This blog concerns an obviously-Christian amulet that was found in an ancient Roman city near Frankfurt, Germany. This amulet had an inscription on it, but it was not translated until modern, high-tech equipment made it possible to read the inscription without destroying the amulet. What was on the amulet surprised the archeological and Christian communities.
The first two links pertain to the same source, but I’m not certain about readers’ ability to access the information in the link. If you try to open the link and receive an “Error 404” message, look at the column of options on the right-hand side and click on the link about the finding of a silver amulet. The third link has the same information, but is from a different source (Popular Mechanics). I’m sure a web search will access many more options on this important find.
One source says the “silver amulet discovery just changed the history of Christianity.” What it changed is the perception of how early and how far Christianity was spreading within the Roman Empire in Europe. It is the first evidence that Christianity had spread north of the Alps by the third century AD. The amulet has been dated to 230-270 AD. Importantly, the inscription on the silver amulet is in Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire. This, combined with the fact the amulet was found in the site of an ancient Roman city, indicates the owner of the amulet was a Roman. Also, the fact that the inscription was made in a silver amulet meant the owner of the amulet was a person of means. No slave or plebeian would be likely to have the money to own silver and have it engraved with an inscription by a metalsmith.
The fact that this amulet was found, apparently, with its owner, means the Christian who owned this amulet felt safe enough to have it on his person. Given the dating of the amulet to the third century AD, this was when Christianity was still a persecuted religion. It would not be until circa 313 AD, in the fourth century AD, when Emperor Constantine would make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (fourth link). It does beg the question that since the amulet dates to a mere 45-80 years before Constantine’s adoption of Christianity, could the amulet have been made during Constantine’s reign? After Constantine officially recognized Christianity within the Roman empire, it would have been safe to own and wear an amulet with a Christian inscription on it. The amulet’s owner clearly thought it would be acceptable to the still-living people around him to have his body buried with a Christian amulet. Could it be that the amulet was made in secret during the latter part of the third century AD, and then bought and retained by the amulet’s owner until he died in the early 4th century after Constantine had officially recognized Christianity and it would be acceptable for a Roman to be buried with a Christian amulet?
If the amulet dates to the pre-Constantinian period, the owning of an amulet declaring faith in the Christian God would have been risky unless the amulet’s owner was embedded in a secretly Christian community. Since the amulet was found in the region where the Roman Empire regularly fought with the German “barbarians,” Rome’s anti-Christian dictums may not have been as rigidly enforced as in Rome. On the Roman-German borderlands, fidelity to the Roman Empire against the Germans may have been more important than whatever religion an official person (or soldier) had. Christianity had permeated Roman society more than the Romans realized. In Philippians 4:22, Paul wrote to the Philippian church that there were Christian adherents even “within Caesar’s household.” This speaks volumes. There were Christians already in Caesar’s own household during the first century AD! Were the Christians in Caesar’s household members of Caesar’s own family or were they servants, Roman officials, or, perhaps, soldiers assigned to the Praetorian Guard that protected Caesar and his household?
The links refer to Paul’s use of a phrase in the book of Philippians about “bowing the knee” to Jesus Christ as being referenced in the amulet’s inscription. The amulet’s inscription also refers to Titus (third link), who is presumably the recipient of the biblical epistle to Titus. This confirms the epistle to Titus was known and honored among Christians in the third century AD.
Perhaps more will be learned from this amulet as time goes by. An openly-Christian amulet written in Latin and found in a Roman city argues that Latin was the native tongue of the owner of the amulet. That it was made of silver affirms the amulet’s owner was a person of significant wealth.
- https://thehornnews.com/silver-amulet-discovery-just-changed-the-history-of-christianity/
- https://thehornnews.com/silver-amulet-discovery-just-changed-the-history-of-christianity/
- https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a73323885/silver-amulet-skeleton-discovered-christianity-history/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity
