Certainly the well-educated Roman men spoke fluent Greek, but the language of the Roman administration was Latin in the whole empire, including the eastern provinces.

Of course the students enjoyed the urban life and the culture of the capital Rome. The Roman poets Virgil and Horace died only a few years before the young men arrived in Rome, and their poetry was much admired. Ovid was about to publish his love poetry.

Some parables of Jesus, such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, show Roman influence. In their social standing the princes were part of the upper class;

presumably Jesus too was introduced to the emperor Augustus and was surely deeply impressed by this personally unassuming man. Jesus’ policy as governor shows how deeply he had internalized the imitatio Augusti, the imitation of the emperor’s governmental style.