Augustus was seen as a descendant of the gods who would go on to redefine authority. New research posits that his rule paved the way for Jesus

This relief on a fourth-century sarcophagus from Gaul depicts scenes from the Bible, including the famous miracle of Christ multiplying the loaves (center). Public Domain

How did the scattered followers of an itinerant preacher come to form the most populous religion in the world? Tim Whitmarsh—a classicist at the University of Cambridge and author of magisterial books about empire, the early novel and more—offers a compelling answer in his new book, Rome’s Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire and the Making of Christianity. To wit, Christianity took much of its shape from the cult of Augustus, first emperor of Rome.

The Augustan age saw a unique revolution that redefined authority, space and literature, remaking both the inner world and the outer. Augustus drew on centuries-old Roman prophecies to cast himself as the promised one .…