The
Roman Empire, the World Power of New Testament
times, was led by the Emperor, also known as the Caesar.
The
first Roman Emperor, Augustus, reigned from 31 B.C. to 14 A.D.Luke begins the story of Christ’s birth with
the words, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the
world should be registered” (Luke 2:1 ESV).
The
second Roman Emperor, Tiberius, reigned from 14 A.D. to 37 A.D. John the Baptist began his ministry in “the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1 ESV).Also, Tiberius was the Caesar when Jesus
said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's” (Mark 12:17).And Tiberius was Caesar when Pilate asked the
Jews, “Shall I crucify your King?” and they answered, “We have no king but
Caesar” (John 19:15 NASB).
The
third Roman Emperor, Caligula, reigned from 37 A.D. to 41 A.D.He is also known by the name “Gaius.”
The
fourth Roman Emperor, Claudius, reigned from 41 A.D. to 54 A.D. There was “a great famine over all the world”
that “took place in the days of Claudius” (Acts 11:28 ESV). He was Caesar when people said that
Christians “all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is
another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7 NASB).
Also, Aquila and Priscilla had to leave Rome,
“because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome” (Acts 18:2 ESV)—“The expulsion order
was given, Suetonius writes, because of ‘their [the Jews’] continual tumults
instigated by Chrestus’ (a common misspelling of ‘Christ’). If ‘Chrestus’ refers to Christ, the riots
were obviously ‘about’ him rather than led ‘by’ him” (TNIV Study Bible).
The fifth Roman
Emperor, Nero, reigned from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D.He was Caesar when Paul said, “I appeal to Caesar” (Acts 25:12
ESV).He was Caesar when Paul said,
“those believers from the palace
of Caesar greet you”
(Philip. 4:22 ICB).He was emperor when
Peter wrote, “Be subject for the Lord's sake…to the emperor” (1 Peter 2:13
ESV), and, “Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17 ESV).And he was the first emperor to persecute the
church, which included killing Peter and Paul.According to Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Nero “contrived all manner of
punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could
design.In particular, he had some sewed
up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried [i.e., attacked] by dogs until
they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to
axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them.”
After
Nero, a civil war saw three men (Galba, Otho, & Vitilius) briefly rise up
only to fall before they could gain control of the empire.So it may truly be said that the sixth Roman
Emperor was Vespasian, who reigned from 69 A.D. to 79 A.D.
The
seventh Roman Emperor, Titus, reigned “only a little while” (Rev. 17:10 ESV),
that is, from June 24th, 79 A.D. to September of 81 A.D.—only 26
months.
The
eighth Roman Emperor, Domitian, reigned from 81 A.D. to 96 A.D.Our brother Dan Winkler, in his workbook on
Revelation, pointed out, “Since Nero was the first emperor to severely
persecute Christians, when Domitian began to do so, comparisons were made.Both were (a) emperors, (b) despised by their
political peers, (c) egotistical in their claims of deity, and (d) persecuting
antagonists of the church” (pages 67-68).Such helps explain several strange statements in Revelation, such as the
statement that the eighth king was also “one of the seven” previous kings (Rev.
17:11 NASB; cf. 13:3, 12, 14; 17:8).
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