Did the Roman Empire Cover the Whole Earth?

Dr. Couch, in Luke 2:1 the passage says that Caesar Augustus had a census taken "of all the inhabited earth." Did the Roman Empire cover the whole earth? ANSWER:  No, this is a figure of speech, an expression used to describe the world dominated by the Roman Empire. The Bible is full of figures of speech, expressions that are exaggerations. We do the same today, use extremes that all understand are simply figures of speech. With all that is happening on the globe today we might say "The whole world has gone mad!" We really do not mean every square inch of the planet. This becomes an extreme to make a point. The Bible does the same, and people in that day did the same as well.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (6/10)