Page 57 - Attractive Deception - The False Hope of the Hebrew Roots Movement

The present city of Rome was founded in the year 753 B.C.. This was approximately the time in
which the northern ten tribes of Israel were conquered and carried into captivity to Assyria and about
150 years prior to the time Judah was carried captive into Babylon. It is not to be supposed that the
territory of Rome was uninhabited prior to 753 B.C.. For many centuries prior to Rome’s founding
the land now recognized as Italy had been occupied by various peoples.

The historic center of the city of Rome was constructed around Capitoline Hill. It is here that
numerous temples and political and civic buildings were constructed. This area was known as the
Forum Magnum, commonly referred to today as the Roman Forum. It was the center of public life.

Roman Forum and Capitoline Hill

The second building from the lower left in the image above is the temple of Saturn. It held a
prominent position in this hub of Roman public life. Hislop informs us that in the centuries before
Rome was founded, before the Forum was constructed, this same location served as a place for the
worship of Babylonian deities. At some point the Babylonian worship was overthrown, and the
ancient city and palace had fallen into ruins. It was upon these ruins that Rome arose. The Phoenix
rising from the ashes of its own immolation is an apt analogy for the resurrection of the old Chaldean
worship in the newly founded city of Rome/Saturnia.

The Etruscan people carried forward the ancient Babylonian worship. They migrated to northern Italy
and held much influence over the territory surrounding Rome. Although the Romans held political
power, the Etruscans wielded the religious power. Ultimately, Rome adopted the old Babylonian
mystery religion that was kept alive by the Etruscans. Numa, the second king of Rome, laid the
foundations for the College of Pontiffs. This religious body was the equivalent of the priesthood of
Israel. The Sovereign Pontiff, or Pontifex Maximus, was similar to the Jewish High Priest. The word
“Pontiff” is believed to mean “bridge builder.” The English word “pontoon” and its association with
bridging bodies of water, is derived from the same root word. The word Pontiff may be related to
the idea of the priest serving as a bridge between mankind and the deity.

For 500 years, half of a millennia, the College of Pontiffs were the priests of the pagan mystery
religion of Rome. Only after the birth of the church in the first century A.D. was the term “Pontiff”
applied to a Christian religious leader. As Christianity spread to the region of Rome the influence
of pagan religion began to influence and subvert the purity of the apostolic faith. One of the earliest
known references to a Christian church leader being called “Pontifex Maximus” was in the early