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Who, then, was Nero?
Where does Nero fit into
this list of kings?
And can Nero be the
man-beast numbered 666 in John’s Revelation 13:18?
Introduction
The emperor
Nero I have found extremely difficult to slot into an appropriate time frame in
my revision of ancient history.
In this
sense, Nero has been for me like - in the case of Assyrian history - the
difficult Ashurnasirpal, or his presumed (but not actual) son-successor,
Shalmaneser so-called III.
In earlier
times I would simply have considered Nero as – just as the text books tell us –
a Roman emperor who reigned in the era thereby assigned to him, after Claudius.
The
conventional (or text book) succession of Roman rulers is given as follows:
1st
century AD
- (Julius Caesar)
- Augustus (27 bce–14 ce)
- Tiberius (14–37 ce)
- Caligula (37–41 ce)
- Claudius (41–54 ce)
- Nero (54–68 ce)
- Galba (68–69 ce)
- Otho (January–April 69 ce)
- Aulus Vitellius (July–December
69 ce)
- Vespasian (69–79 ce)
- Titus (79–81 ce)
- Domitian (81–96 ce)
- Nerva (96–98 ce)
2nd
century AD
- Trajan (98–117 ce)
- Hadrian (117–138 ce)
- Antoninus Pius (138–161 ce)
….
But my
revision of these names – so far skirting around Nero (Galba, Otho, Vitellius) –
has played havoc with this list, which mischief on my part accords with my view
(focussing upon Assyro-Babylonia) that the:
Chaotic
King Lists can conceal some sure historical sequences
(6) Chaotic King
Lists can conceal some sure historical sequences
At my hands,
the Egyptian, Assyrian and Chaldeo-Babylonian king lists have undergone major
streamlining.
And so has
the above ‘Roman’ list (still very much a work in progress, though).
Thus:
-
Julius Caesar is found to have been a fictitious composite,
partly based upon Jesus Christ:
Julius Caesar legends borrowed, in part,
from life of Jesus Christ
(6) Julius Caesar
legends borrowed, in part, from life of Jesus Christ
-
Augustus is the Seleucid Greek king, Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ (re-dated
to the Infancy of Jesus Christ):
Time
to consider Hadrian, that ‘mirror-image’ of Antiochus Epiphanes, as also the
census emperor Augustus
-
Tiberius. I have left the door open for the possibility of a merger of
Tiberius with Claudius:
Tiberius – Claudius
similarities
(8) Tiberius -
Claudius similarities
-
Caligula, or Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, is a crazier
version of Augustus (the Greek Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ - also ‘Epimanes’, the “Madman”).
-
Trajan, Hadrian (Augustus, Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ above),
Antoninus Pius, all these names belong to the one, same ruler:
Hadrianus
Traianus Caesar – Trajan transmutes to Hadrian
(1)
Hadrianus Traianus
Caesar – Trajan transmutes to Hadrian
No
room for Antoninus Pius
(1) No room for
Antoninus Pius
Who, then, was Nero?
Where does Nero fit into
this list of kings?
And can Nero be the
man-beast numbered 666 in John’s Revelation 13:18?
“This calls for
wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate
the number of the beast,
for it is the number of a man. That number is 666”.
Was Nero a primary ruler,
or a secondary one?
The reason that I ask this
is because Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’, and the various alter egos whom I have
assigned to him, all now to be recognised as Greek, had a notable second:
Herod, the emperor’s
signet right-hand man
(3) Herod, the
emperor's signet right-hand man
-
In
the case of Antiochus himself, that man was Philip (I Maccabees
6:14-15):
“Then he called Philip,
one of his most trusted advisers, and put him in charge of his whole
empire. He gave him his crown, robe, and official ring, and authorized him
to educate his son Antiochus the Fifth and bring him up to be king”.
-
In
the case of Augustus, that man was Marcus Agrippa, his right-hand man.
He was also Herod ‘the Great’.
-
In
the case of Caligula, it was, again, Marcus Agrippa:
Caligula exalts Marcus Agrippa
(3) Caligula
exalts Marcus Agrippa
-
In
the case of Hadrian, that man was Herodes [Herod] ‘Atticus’.
All of this is fully explained in my “Herod” article above.
Nero, I have ultimately concluded,
was a primary ruler, an emperor, rather than a powerful second. For, so far I
have found reason to consider:
Nero like an Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’
(2) Nero like an
Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’
like a Caligula:
Caligula and Nero
and like a philhellenic ‘Greekling’, namely Hadrian:
Bearded Nero and Hadrian
If, then, Nero was a
primary ruler, who could his powerful second have been, to equate with our
composite second as presented above?:
Philip/Marcus
Agrippa/Herod[es]/Atticus
Based on appearances, it
would have to be – and this is a completely new idea for me – Ofonius
Tigellinus of Greek descent:
Ofonius Tigellinus - Wikipedia
Ofonius Tigellinus …. (c. 10 – 69) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during
the reign of Emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained imperial favour through his
acquaintance with Nero's mother Agrippina
the Younger,
and was appointed prefect upon the death of his predecessor Sextus
Afranius Burrus,
a position Tigellinus held first with Faenius
Rufus and then Nymphidius Sabinus.
….
Tigellinus was said by the Roman historian Tacitus to have had an
immoral youth and a vicious old age. ….
As an adult, he first worked as a merchant in Greece. …. Later,
he inherited a fortune, bought land in Apulia and Calabria on the Italian
mainland and devoted himself to breeding racehorses. It was through this
profession that he eventually gained the acquaintance and favor of Nero, whom he aided and abetted in his vices and
cruelties. …. Settling in Rome in about 60, he became Urban Prefect of the three Urban Cohorts, the city's paramilitary
police force. On the death of Sextus
Afranius Burrus in
62, Tigellinus succeeded him as Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. …. He persecuted
his successive co-prefects, Faenius
Rufus and Nymphidius Sabinus, to secure his position as
one of Nero's closest and most trusted advisors. He also fabricated evidence to
justify the murder of Nero's first wife, Claudia Octavia. In 64, he made himself
notorious for the orgies that he arranged in the Basin of Agrippa. ….
In July of 64, he was suspected of incendiarism in connection
with the Great
Fire of Rome.
After the fire had initially subsided it broke out again in Tigellinus' estate
in the Amaelian district of the city. This led to the claim by Tacitus that
Tigellinus was an arsonist. ….
In 65, during the investigation into the abortive conspiracy
of Gaius Calpurnius Piso, he and Nero's second
wife, Poppaea
Sabina,
formed a kind of imperial privy council, falsely accusing
the courtier and novelist Petronius Arbiter of treason. Under
house-arrest in the coastal resort of Cumae, Petronius did not wait for a sentence of
execution to be passed. Instead, he chose to commit suicide by repeatedly
slitting and rebinding his wrists—apparently over a period of several days,
during which he entertained his friends … until he finally chose to be fatally
drained of blood. ….
In 67 Tigellinus accompanied Nero on his tour of Greece. He had a role in the
death of the famous General Corbulo, who had also been invited to come
to Greece but was ordered to commit suicide.
In 68, when Nero's downfall appeared imminent, Tigellinus
deserted him, supposedly suffering from 'incurable bodily diseases' ….
[End of quote]
From this lurid and no
doubt exaggerated biography, I would take a couple of points: namely, the
Agrippa connection (Agrippina, Basin of Agrippa) and the 'incurable bodily
diseases', like in the case of King Herod ‘the Great’:
Herod's bodily diseases
Nero not named as such in Bible
Of all the names of
supposed Roman emperors listed above, the only ones that appear in the Bible
under those exact names are:
Augustus (Luke 2:1);
Tiberius (Luke 3:1);
Claudius (Acts 11:28).
Given my unexpected finding that:
Rome [is]
surprisingly minimal in Bible
(2) Rome
surprisingly minimal in Bible
I
am leaning towards the view that some, if not most, of the ‘Roman’ names listed
above were actually Greeks (certainly, Augustus; Caligula; Trajan; Hadrian;
Antoninus Pius).
What,
then, about the philhellenic Nero?
He
may remind one in various ways (see also above) of Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’,
especially in his deterioration as ‘Epimanes’; of Caligula; and of the bearded
Hadrian.
One
of Nero’s names (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) actually refers to the beard.
Ahenobarbus = “red (bronze) beard”.
He
presumably became Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.
Nero
is most probably a nickname, meaning “strong” or “vigorous”, derived from Nereus,
a Greek sea god associated with strength and power.
But nowhere do we find the
name Nero in the Bible.
Nero in need of alter egos
Nero’s reputation as a
builder on a vast scale and his impressive architectural achievements, these
are not fully supported archaeologically:
Nero’s missing
architecture
(3)
Nero's missing
architecture
Was the so-called Domus Aurea of Nero actually a Flavian
enterprise?
(2) Was the
so-called Domus Aurea of Nero actually a Flavian enterprise?
One can conclude either
that Nero did not build them. Or, that he did, but under a different name, an alter
ego.
In the case of certain Egyptian
pharaohs who were reputedly renowned builders, but whose output is not apparent
from archaeology (e.g. pharaoh Psusennes), I have had success in finding alter
egos that have perfectly saved the situation.
Some great names in
history, belonging to rulers considered to have been significant builders,
appear to be lacking crucial evidence for their building works.
Putting ‘Humpty Dumpty’ Nero all together again
My revised
king list may account for the apparently missing architecture of Nero, and lead
us in the direction that Nero was, in fact, Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ Caesar
Augustus.
In my
“missing architecture” article (above) we read:
…. Nero appears to have been a grandiose builder,
though few of the buildings he constructed survive. Early in his reign,
he began building a gymnasium and a bath-house, which was used to stage the
Neronia. Although one can find reconstructions, these are highly speculative and
there is nothing left. There is even disagreement as to whether [the]
baths and gymnasium formed a single complex or were separate buildings, partly
because the limited sources are unclear.
Nevertheless, a gymnasium was a Hellenistic ideal
imported from the East and there is an association of gymnasia and bath houses.
The building was in itself innovative, but not wildly so.
Two
comments required here: Building gymnasia was precisely what the Seleucid king Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’ did, even imposing this upon the Jews (I Maccabees 1:14-15): “So
they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and
removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined
with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil”.
Nero’s missing
gymnasium and bath house may well be the one built by the king’s second, Marcus
Agrippa:
Agrippa built the Laconicum Gymnasium in 25 BC, which
seems to have associated a large public bath house with a gymnasium.
The building was adorned with Greek statuary and may
have been built as a public amenity to echo the grand private villas of the
rich and powerful. It is possible to understand Nero’s building both as … a
civic improvement echoing the work of Augustus and Agrippa and as making
available the benefits of Greek culture to the wider Roman public.
More obviously regal was … his building of the Domus
Transitoria. This building is also lost, destroyed in the great fire of
Rome and buried under the Domus Aurea. It appears to have been a major
construction designed to encompass some of the grand gardens in Rome (horti
maecenatis) into the imperial palace.
The topography of the region is extremely complex,
partly because of the repeated building over of the area in this period.
Augustus … built palatial structures or extended existing buildings. ….
Comment: Probably, again, the
Augustan era.
….
The fire gave Nero room for the most extravagant of
buildings, the Domus Aurea, the Golden House of Nero …. The site was rapidly
remodeeled after AD 69 and formed the basis of buildings of Vespasian and
Trajan. ….
Comment: Again, I have Trajan in the
Augustan era.
The
indicators here to me are that Nero Caesar Augustus was none other than the
Seleucid Greek king, Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ Caesar Augustus, the terrible
persecutor of the Maccabean Jews. That the massive building works of Augustus
and his second, Marcus Agrippa (Herod), were likewise the buildings and
architecture of Nero.
Augustus,
generally given a good press, was presumably the more positive side of Nero (of
Caligula), generally given a bad (mad) press:
Nero | Life and
Accomplishments of an insane Roman Emperor
Nero …. In character
he was a strange mix of paradoxes; artistic, sporting, brutal, weak, sensual,
erratic, extravagant, sadistic, bisexual – and later in life almost certainly
deranged.
But for a
period the empire enjoyed sound
government under the guidance of Burrus and Seneca.
Nero
announced he sought to follow the example of Augustus’ reign. The senate was treated
respectfully and granted greater freedom …. Sensible legislation was introduced
to improve public order, reforms were made to the treasury and provincial
governors were prohibited from extorting large sums of money to pay for
gladiatorial shows in Rome. ….
Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’ I have identified as the prophet Ezekiel’s tragic King of Tyre:
The
Fallen King of Tyre
Seemingly perfect in his
beginnings (Ezekiel 28:12):
You
were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
then came a crashing fall into
wickedness (28:15):
You
were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
And, finally, a terrible public
death (28:18-19):
So
I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
All
the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.
Nero, now
re-located in time to the Infancy of Jesus Christ, as Caesar Augustus, could
not possibly, therefore, be Saint John’s Beast, or 666.
He reigned
too early for this.
Nero was,
indeed, a great persecutor, but of Maccabean Jews, not Christians – although
some of these, such as the prophetess Anna, had already seen the Christ Child
and had spread the word amongst those of good will (Luke 2:36-38):
“There was
also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her
marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never
left the Temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming
up to [Mary and Joseph] at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke
about the Child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”.
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