BUSTS

**BUSTS**

Jupiter (Zeus)	Mercury (Hermes)	Alexander the Great
Barnabas in the New Testament was thought to be Zeus.	The apostle Paul was thought to be Hermes.	330 B.C.
Acts 14:12-13 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. [13] The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

The Romans worshipped state gods and goddesses. These Roman gods were very similar to the god family worshipped by the Greeks. The Greek counterpart is given here in brackets after each Roman god's name.

Jupiter (Zeus)

King of the gods, Jupiter controlled the skies and all celestial phenomena. Places struck by lightning were walled off and made his property. He married his sister Juno, but was forever unfaithful to her.

Mercury (Hermes)

This messenger of the gods had winged sandals and hat.

Alexander the Great

(Alan Millard, Treasures from Bible times, Lion Publishing, c1985, p.152.)

Alexander, king of Macedon, was twenty-one years old when he led his 45,000 Greek soldiers across the Near East to conquer Persia. ... The brilliant young general as not only a conqueror, he wanted to spread Greek culture and thought. To do that he gave his veteran soldiers land in those distant places, urging them to settle, marry local girls, and build up societies based on Greek ideals. ...

Alexander's ambition was to a large extent realized. Greek became as widespread a language as Aramaic, city-states organized themselves on the pattern of Greek cities and many used Greek coin values. ...