Rome's rulers faced an endless series of challenges to their authority. Some amounted to little more than irritating distractions. Others were more serious, with very real potential to overturn the political and social order. Although Roman authorities did not hesitate to use violence to enforce conformity and sustain their own power when they thought it necessary, most understood the importance of evaluating threats on an individual basis and calibrating their response accordingly.

Keep this in mind as you review the boxed features on page 164 (Spartacus's Slave Revolt) and page 198 (Caesar and Christ) of your textbook. When you're finished reviewing, take a look at Vibia Perpetua's "Diary in Prison," a certificate establishing that a suspected Christian had sacrificed to the gods, and a charge of ritual cannibalism made against Christians by Minucius Felix. Then examine primary sources dealing with three Roman slave revolts. When you're done, consider the questions below.

1. How might you explain the ferocity of the Roman response to Spartacus's revolt? How did the response to Spartacus and his followers compare to the response to the other two revolts described in the primary sources linked above? What interest, if any, did the Romans show in the motives and grievances that sparked slave revolts?

2. Why did some Romans find Christianity so threatening? Why were most Roman leaders reluctant to engage in unrestrained persecution of Christians?

3. How might a Roman have compared the threat embodied by a rebellious slave and the threat posed by a convert to Christianity? Which represented the greater threat to the status quo?