When Rome was Black

When Rome was Black

It's the Vernal Equinox, The first day of spring. The point at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator marks the holy seasons of Passover and Easter. Palm Sunday, or the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, is really the kick-off of Holy Week, ending with the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday).

 When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC he set March 25 as the spring equinox. Since a Julian year (365.25 days) is slightly longer than a Gregorian year the calendar drifted concerning the equinox, such that the equinox was occurring on about 21 March in AD 300 and by AD 1500 it had reached 11 March.

Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, according to Christian belief. The Easter date depends on the ecclesiastical approximation of the March equinox. Pope St. Victor (the first of the Church's three Black African Popes) fixed the Feast of Easter to the Sunday after Vernal equinox and close to the Passover feast. Pope Saint Victor, I was the Bishop of Rome from 189 to 199 at the same time Lucius Septimius Severus (born in Leptis Magna, Libya) was The Black Emperor of the World (193-211 A.D.). After deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia. Leptis Magna, along with Cyrene where Simon Niger (the Black man) AKA Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross for Jesus was from, were major cities in Libya. The area of North Africa, which has been known as Libya since 1911, was under Roman domination between 146 BC and 670 AD. The Latin name Libya at the time referred to the continent of Africa in general. The biblical Acts mentions Cyrene an area of modern-day Libya where the population according to Acts were considered Black. St. Simon of Cyrene was called" the black man"; ST Mark St. Barnabas' Cousin was also born in Cyrene. "Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called Simon "the black man"), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. Acts 13:1 (New Living Translation)."