Hailey gives an excellent account of the historical setting. The specific
historical events below are listed by Caird.
The first wave of persecution to hit the early church
started with the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 8:1-4). This had two effects, it
scattered the church so that it spread the gospel from Jerusalem to the
surrounding areas of Judea and Samaria, thus fulfilling the first part of the
great commission (Acts 1:8), plus it removed most of God's people from
Jerusalem and its defeat by the Romans in AD 70.
The second wave of persecution occurred much later during
the reign of Nero AD 54-68 after the great fire of Rome which was blamed by
Nero on the Christians. Both Paul and Peter are traditionally assumed to have
been martyred during this period. This started the first of ten waves of
persecution on the Christians during the period of the Roman Empire up to
Constantine in AD 314.
Barclay gives a detailed account of the historical setting.
In commenting about the date Revelation was written Barclay gives us the
following details.
There is the account which tradition gives us.
The consistent tradition is that john was banished to Patmos in the time of
Domitian; that he saw his visions there; at the death of Domitian was liberated
and came back to Ephesus; and there set down the visions he had seen.
Victorinus, who wrote towards the end of the third century AD. , says in his
commentary on the Revelation: 'John, when he saw these things was in the island
of Patmos, condemned to the mines by Domitian the Emperor. There, therefore, he
saw the revelation... When he was afterwards set free from the mines, he handed
down this revelation which he had received from God.' Jerome is even more
detailed: 'In the fourteenth year after the persecution of Nero, John was
banished to the island of Patmos, and there wrote the Revelation... Upon the
death of Domitian, and upon the repeal of his acts by the senate, because of
their excessive cruelty, he returned to Ephesus, when Nerva was emperor.'
Eusebius says: 'The apostle and evangelist John related these things to the
Churches, when he had returned from exile in the island after the death of
Domitian'. Tradition makes it certain that John saw his visions in exile in
Patmos; the only thing that is doubtful--and it is not important-- is whether
he wrote them down during the time of his banishment or when he returned to
Ephesus. On this evidence we will not be wrong if we date the Revelation about
AD. 95.
The second line of evidence is the material in the book.
There is a completely new attitude to Rome and to the Roman Empire. In Acts the
tribunal of the Roman magistrate was often the safest refuge of the Christian
missionaries against the hatred of the Jews and the fury of the mob. Paul was
proud that he was a Roman citizen and again and again claimed the rights to
which every Roman citizen was entitled. In Philippi he brought the local
magistrates to heel by revealing his citizenship (Acts 16:36-40). In Corinth
Gallio dismissed the complaints against him with impartial Roman justice (Acts
18:1-17). In Ephesus the Roman authorities were careful for his safety against
the rioting mob (Acts 19:13-41). In Jerusalem the Roman tribune rescued him
from what might have become a lynching (Act 21:30-40). When the Roman tribune
in Jerusalem heard that there was to be an attempt on Paul's life on the way to
Caesarea, he took every possible step to ensure his safety (Acts 23:12-31).
When Paul despaired of justice in Palestine, he exercised his right as a
citizen and appealed direct to Caesar (Acts 25:10-11). When he wrote to the
Romans, he urged upon them obedience to the powers that be, because they were
ordained by God and were a terror only to the evil, and not to the good (Rom
13:1-7). Peters advice is exactly the same. Governors and kings are to be
obeyed, for their task is given them by God. It is a Christians duty to fear
God and honour the emperor (1 Pet 2:12-17). In writing to the Thessalonians it
is likely that Paul points to the power of Rome as the one thing which is
controlling the threatening chaos of the world (2 Thess 2:7).
In the Revelation there is nothing but blazing hatred for
Rome. Rome is a Babylon, the mother of harlots, drunk with the blood of the
saints and the martyrs (17:5-6). John hopes for nothing but her total
destruction.
The explanation of this change in attitude lies in the wide
development of Caesar worship which, with its accompanying persecution, is the
background of the Revelation.
By the time of the Revelation Caesar worship was the one
religion which covered the whole Roman empire; and it was because of their
refusal to conform to its demands that Christians were persecuted and killed.
Its essence was that the reigning Roman Emperor, as embodying the spirit of
Rome, was divine. Once a year everyone in the Empire had to appear before
magistrates to burn a pinch of incense to the godhead of Caesar and to say:
'Caesar is Lord.' After he had done that, a man might go away and worship any
god or goddess he liked, so long as that worship did not infringe decency and
good order; but he must go through this ceremony in which he acknowledged the
Emperor's divinity.
The reason was very simple. Rome had a vast heterogeneous
empire, stretching from one end of the known world to another. It had in it
many tongues, races and traditions. The problem was how to weld this varied
mass into a self-conscious unity. There was no unifying force like that of a
common religion but none of the national religions could conceivably have
become universal. Caesar worship could. It was the one common act and belief
which turned the empire into a unity. To refuse to burn the pinch of incense
and to say: 'Caesar is Lord,' was not an act of irreligion; it was an act of
political disloyalty. That is why the Romans dealt with the utmost severity
with the man who would not say: 'Caesar is Lord'. And no Christian could give
the title Lord to any other than Jesus Christ. This was the centre of his
creed.
We must see how this Caesar worship developed and how it was
at its peak when the Revelation was written.
One basic fact must be noted. Caesar worship was not imposed
on the people from above. It arose from the people; it might even be said that
it arose in spite of efforts by the early emperors to stop it, or at least to
curb it. And it is to be noted that of all the people in the Empire only the
Jews were exempt from it.
Caesar worship began as a spontaneous outburst of gratitude
to Rome. The people of the provinces well knew what they owed to Rome.
Impartial Roman justice had taken the place of capricious and tyrannical
oppression. Security had taken the place of insecurity. The great Roman roads
spanned the world; and the roads were safe from brigands and the seas were
clear of pirates. The pax Romana, the Roman peace, was the greatest thing which
ever happened to the ancient world. As Virgil had it, Rome felt her destiny to
be 'to spare the fallen and to cast down the proud.' Life had a new order about
it. E J Goodspeed writes: 'This was the pax Romana. The provincial under Roman
sway found himself in a position to conduct his business, provide for his
family, send his letters, and make his journeys in security, thanks to the
strong hand of Rome.'
Caesar worship did not begin with the deification of the
Emperor. It began with the deification of Rome. The spirit of the Empire was
deified under the name of the goddess Roma. Roma stood for all the strong and
benevolent power of the Empire. The first temple to Roma was erected in Smyrna
as far back as 195 BC. It was no great step to think of the spirit of Rome
being incarnated in one man, the Emperor. The worship of the Emperor began with
the worship of Julius Caesar after his death. In 29 BC. the Emperor Augustus
granted to the provinces of Asia and Bithynia permission to erect temples in
Ephesus and Nicea for the joint worship of the goddess Roma and the deified
Julius Caesar. At these shrines Roman citizens were encouraged and even
exhorted to worship. Then another step was taken. To provincials who were not
Roman citizens Augustus gave permission to erect temples in Pergamum in Asia
and in Nicomedia in Bithynia, for the worship of Roma and himself. At first the
worship of the reigning Emperor was considered to be something permissible for
provincial non-citizens, but not for those who had the dignity of the
citizenship.
There was an inevitable development. It is human to worship
a god who can be seen rather than a spirit. Gradually men began more and more
to worship the Emperor himself instead of the goddess Roma. It still required
special permission from the senate to erect a temple to the living Emperor, but
by the middle of the first century that permission was more and more freely
given. Caesar worship was becoming the universal religion of the Roman Empire.
A priesthood developed and the worship was organised into presbyteries, whose
officials were held in the highest honour.
This worship was never intended to wipe out other religions.
Rome was essentially tolerant. A man might worship Caesar and his own god. But
more and more Caesar worship became a test of political loyalty; it became, as
has been said, the recognition of the dominion of Caesar over a man's life and
soul. Let us, then trace the development of this worship up to, and immediately
beyond, the writing of the Revelation.
i. Augustus, who died in AD. 14, allowed the worship of
Julius Caesar, his great predecessor. He allowed non-citizens in the provinces
to worship himself but he did not permit citizens to do so; and he made no
attempt to enforce this worship.
ii. Tiberius (AD. 14-37) could not halt Caesar worship. He
forbade temples to be built and priests to be appointed for his own worship;
and in a letter to Gython, a Laconian city, he definitely refused divine
honours for himself. So far from enforcing Caesar worship, he actively
discouraged it.
iii. Caligula (AD. 37-41), the next Emperor, was an
epileptic, a madman and a megalomaniac. He insisted on divine honours. He
attempted to enforce Caesar worship even on the Jews, who had as always been
and who always were to remain exempt from it. He planned to place his own image
in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem, a step which would certainly
have provoked unyielding rebellion. Mercifully he died before he could carry
out his plans. But in his reign we have an episode when Caesar worship became
an imperial demand.
iv. Caligula was succeeded by Claudius (AD. 41-54) who
completely reversed his insane policy. He wrote to the governor of Egypt--there
were a million Jews in Alexandria--fully approving the Jewish refusal to call
the Emperor a god and granting them full liberty to enjoy their own worship. On
his accession to the throne, he wrote to Alexandria saying: 'I deprecate the
appointment of a High Priest to me and the erection of temples, for I do not
wish to be offensive to my contemporaries, and I hold that sacred fanes and the
like have been by all ages attributed to the immortal gods as peculiar
honours.'
v. Nero (AD. 54-58) did not take his own divinity seriously
and did nothing to insist on Caesar worship. It is true that he persecuted the
Christians; but this was not because they would not worship him, but because he
had to find scapegoats for the great fire of Rome.
vi. On the death of Nero there were three Emperors in
eighteen months-- Galba, Otto and Vitellius, and in such a time of chaos the
question of Caesar worship did not arise.
vii. The next two Emperors, Vespasian (AD. 69-79) and Titus
(AD. 79-81), were wise rulers, who made no insistence on Caesar worship.
viii. The coming of Domitian (AD. 81-96) brought a complete
change. He was a devil. He was the worst of all things- a cold-blooded
persecutor. With the exception of Caligula, he was the first emperor to take
his divinity seriously and to demand Caesar worship. The difference was that
Caligula was an insane devil; Domitian was a sane devil, which is much more
terrifying. He erected a monument to 'the deified Titus son of the deified
Vespasian.' He began a campaign of bitter persecution against all who would not
worship the ancient gods- 'the atheists' as he called them. In particular he
launched his hatred against the Jews and the Christians. When he arrived in the
theatre with his empress, the crowds were urged to rise and shout: 'All hail to
out Lord and his Lady!' He enacted that he himself was a god. He informed all
provincial governors that government announcements and proclamations must
begin: 'Our Lord and God Domitian commands...' Everyone who addressed him in
speech or in writing must begin: 'Lord and God.'
What were the Christians to do? What hope had they? They had
not many wise and not many mighty. They had no influence or prestige. Against
them had risen the might of Rome which no nation had ever resisted. They
were confronted with the choice- Caesar or Christ. It was to encourage
men in such times that the Revelation was written. John did not shut his eyes
to the terrors; he saw dreadful things and he saw still more dreadful things on
the way; but beyond them he saw glory for those who defied Caesar for the love
of Christ. The Revelation comes from one of the most heroic ages in all the
history of the Christian Church. It is true that Domitian's successor Nerva
(AD. 96-98) repealed the savage laws; but the damage was done, the Christians
were outlaws, and the Revelation is a clarion call to be faithful unto death in
order to win the crown of life.
Hailey traces the reigns of emperors and the times (or
waves) of persecution from Nero (54-68) to Diocletian (284-305) which ended
with Constantine I in 313.