Gonzalo Rojas-Flores, «The Book of Revelation and the First Years of Nero’s Reign», Vol. 85 (2004) 375-392
In this article I try to demonstrate that the Book of
Revelation was written in the first years of Nero’s reign, because (a) there
is an important patristic tradition in favor of Nero and (b) the internal
evidence shows that the text was redacted after Nero’s ascension to the throne
in 54 and before the earthquake of Laodicea in 60.
The Book of Revelation and the First Years of Nero’s Reign 387
13,3.12.14). Many authors have seen in this passsage an allusion to
Nero’s suicide. In my opinion, however, it is rather a reference to
Julius Caesar’s assassination, which led to a long, bloody civil war,
but it did not cause the fall of the Empire (32).
A second Beast rises out of the earth. It has two horns like a lamb,
but it speaks as a dragon (Rev 13,11), evidently referring to paganism.
It makes everyone on the earth worship the first Beast, except for
those whose names are written in life’s book. The verses that describe
the worship of the Beast (13,8.12-15) are closely connected to Roman
imperial cult. After the death of Julius Caesar, the Roman Senate
officially decreed the establishment of the cult of divus Iulius. The
adopted son of Julius Caesar, Augustus, was honoured while alive as
divi filius. After he died, the cult of divus Augustus began. Caligula
went still further, since he was worshipped in his own temple in Rome.
One of the first actions of Nero was the establishment of the cult of
divus Claudius, which he joined with the cult of divus Augustus.
Although Nero stimulated a self-deification policy pretending to be an
incarnation of Apollo (among other gods), apparently there was no
officially established cult. On the other hand, there is no evidence that
the imperial cult had been considered a legal duty for Trajan’s
government (33).
Without considering its legal aspects, the cult of goddess Rome,
the deified Caesars, the reigning emperor and the imperial family
extended widely into the Greek cities of Asia since the Augustus era,
in order to obtain political and economic advantages from Rome. Any
sort of omission had to cause hostility towards the local communities.
In this sense, Rev 13,15-17 perhaps alludes to some kind of local or
regional pressure (34). About the worshipped beast’s identity, John
writes: “the number of the beast†is “the number of a personâ€, that
is to say, 666 (13,18), a Nero Caesar cryptogram in the Hebrew
language (35). The reference to Nero shows that the final version of
Revelation was written in the first years of Nero’s reign, that is,
between 54 and 60.
In the famous whore passage, John beholds a woman called
(32) This hypothesis has been proposed by WILSON, “The Problemâ€, 597-604.
(33) Cf. GENTRY, Before, 261-276, 279.
(34) Cf. MOBERLY, “Revelationâ€, 377-379, 389; SLATER, “Datingâ€, 254.
(35) FARRAR, The Early Days, 471; D.R. HILLERS, “Revelation 13:18 and A
Scroll from Murabba’atâ€, BASOR 170 (1963) 65; GENTRY, Before, 193-212;
WILSON, “The Problemâ€, 598.