Judea, one of the many provinces of the Roman Empire, was considered dangerous to the government. The province, always thought to be scheming for an uprising, had a result of the Romans releasing stringent rules on the citizens there. A new religion questioned and challenged the existence of roman gods, and it was called Christianity. The freedom that the Judeas had in the belief in one God made the Roman officials uneasy and tightened their grip even further.

From what was percepted from the movie, the Judeas were seen as domitable and weak to the Romans, as if they were slaves. However, their pride and internal strength from their culture beamed from the people's faces and hearts. Rome was like a powerful father who oppressed the Eastern province through a large ego and an intimidating army.

The Romans seemed to have no tolerance for other cultures. Judea already had been persecuted for years by many different groups of people. When the Romans appeared in the picture, they ruled unjustly for persecution and power to keep the Jewish citizens in line.

In the movie, several bricks from the roof of Ben-Hur's house tumbled to the ground and caused an injury to the governor. Although it was an accident, Ben-Hur, his sister and mother had no mercy given to them, and were held responsible for the mishap. This was done by the government to send fear into the Jewish peoples' hearts so they would learn from Ben-Hur's experience. When he escaped from his solitary confinement, he went to the centurion, who had been his best friend years ago. Instead of staying in prison, he was sentenced to walk in the desert and exported to fight for the Romans. In the duration of the march in the desert, special consideration was given to Ben-Hur to not receive water. He stumbled in agony as he watched other hopeless men give up and die in the sands of the desert. When travelling through the town of Nazareth however, he was encountered by a religious figure who relieved him with water. He then was sent to row with several hundred foreign men below the deck of a battleship. With every row, Ben-Hur felt a hate for the empire. When he was asked about the length of the time he had been on the ship, he gave a precise and specific answer. This proved his hate for Rome. As the captain said, "Hate is what keeps a man alive."

Many scenes in the movie contained cultural inferences. The clothing, architecture, ships and government all portrayed the way Roman life was lived in Judea. The clothing worn was a toga furnished with ornaments for the wealthy, and for the poor, a simple tunic. In the ships, the captain and his fellow officials were aboard the deck, and the rowers were below in the dark and musty chambers. Several hundred men were kept below the chamber, and they replaced the men who were sick or tired. The inadequate men would then be thrown into the base of the ship where disease, limited space and hunger lay.

After the ship on which Ben-Hur was on sunk, the captain tried to commit suicide. This was a cultural custom where captains would go down with their ships. Luckily, Ben-Hur was there to prevent him from doing so. When word was out that the captain had a victory, he took Ben-Hur under his wing and later adopted him as a son. Slaves could be freed if they were adopted by a master, given their freedom, or paid their way out of slavery. This is true of what Ben-Hur did to one of his faithful servant's daughters when he set her free as a wedding gift.

Years after Ben-Hur's mother and sister were thrown into the dungeon, they were discovered to have leprosy. They were then sent to a leper colony, where lepers gathered in seclusion. The colony was a large crevasse in the bedrock with a cave on the end. Inside the cave, the ceiling became shallow and the area was spread with leprosy-infected people. It was a true misfortune to have to live in this predicament, doomed for the rest of their lives.

As Rome was an authority to all the conquered provinces, Judea was authority in spirit. Although Rome's government was a daily impediment and obstruction to the citizens, Judea still persisted like they had for centuries. Even if Rome slapped Ben-Hur's cheek, he eventually learned to forgive and turned them the other cheek.