John wrote from the Mediterranean island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9), a rugged, rocky island about 40 miles (24 kms) southwest of Ephesus in the Aegean Sea, used by the Romans as a place of exile (see Pliny, Natural History 4.23). The document was written to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (1:4, 11; 2:1–3:22).
Why does it matter when the book was written? It claims to be a book of prophecy (1:1, 3, 11, 19; 22:6-10, 16, 18-20), foretelling future events, particularly “things to happen quickly” (1:1; cf. v. 19) [Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are the author's own translation]. The typical preterist proposal is that the Jewish War (66-70) fulfilled most if not all of these predictions. Therefore, in order for full-preterism to sustain itself, the book of Revelation must date before Jerusalem’s destruction in the summer of 70, and as predictive prophecy, somewhat earlier. For eschatological futurists, it does not really matter other than responding to false claims.1
The two main proposals for dating Revelation center on the respective reigns of Nero (54-68) and Domitian (81-96). Nero began his reign at age 16 when his adopted father Claudius died 13th October 54, then Nero committed suicide 9th June 68 by stabbing himself in the throat at age 31. Domitian, the month before his 30th birthday, was inaugurated emperor 14th September 81, the day after his brother Titus died of illness, and Domitian was assassinated 18th September 96, stabbed to death by assailants at age 44.2
External Evidence
Irenaeus (ca. 130-202) was originally from Smyrna in the province of Asia, the location of one of the seven churches of Revelation. He was a disciple of Polycarp, also from Smyrna, who was discipled by the apostle John himself.3 Irenaeus’ literary work was originally in Greek under the title Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως (“On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis”), written around 180. It has been preserved in Latin translation under the title Adversus haereses (“Against Heresies”). In book 5, Irenaeus devotes chap. 30 to the number of the beast in Rev. 13:18, which Eusebius (ca. 260-339) has preserved in the original Greek in his Ecclesiastical History (3.18.1-3; 5.8.6). Eusebius reports: “In this persecution … the apostle and evangelist John … condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos. Irenaeus, in his fifth book against heresies [Adv. haer. 5.30.3] … in the above-mentioned revelation of John …. [quote] ‘declared by him who saw [ἑορακότος] the revelation, for it is not long since it was seen [ἑωράθη], but almost in our own generation, at the close of Domitian’s reign’” (Eccl. Hist. 3.18.1-3, trans. C. F. Cruse).
The question is whether Irenaeus’ use of the third person singular verb ἑωράθη is to be understood as masculine (“he was seen”) in reference to John, or neuter (“it was seen”) in reference to what John saw. If the former, nothing can be deduced either way about the dating of Revelation. However, contextually the preceding use of ὁράω (“he saw” - ἑορακότος) concerns what John saw, not John having been seen. In fact, the subject of the chapter is the revelation of John, and the verbal ὁράω is consistently used in Revelation of what John saw (cf. 1:2; 4:1; 5:1-2, 5-6, 11; 6:1-2, 5, 7-8, 12; 7:1-2; 12:1, 3; 17:6; et al.). Irenaeus had already reported that John lived into the reign of Trajan (98-117) (Adv. haer. 2.22.5; 3.3.4; cf. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.23.3-4), so why point out that he was living at an earlier time? No reputable translation of Irenaeus’ words has rendered this as a reference to John having been seen, and the Latin version is not ambiguous at all.
The Domitianic date was almost universally accepted throughout most of church history, and nothing in the book of Revelation contradicts it. No other tradition relevant to dating was proposed in the region where the document was originally sent. Significantly later, in the sixth and seventh centuries in different places, other traditions developed but not in Asia Minor.4
Internal Evidence
The key pieces of evidence involve (a) persecution of Christians; (b) emperor worship; (c) condition of the churches; (d) the temple of God; (e) succession of kings (7:9-11).
Persecution of Christians
The Christians to whom Revelation is addressed were apparently suffering severe and widespread persecution that would eventually worsen (1:9; 2:10, 13; 3:10; 6:9; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2; 20:4). Nero’s persecution is well documented and lasted from mid-64 to mid-68, but it was primarily confined to the city of Rome. In fact, there is no record of a Neronian persecution outside of Rome.
Is there evidence that Domitian persecuted Christians? No extant secular writings of antiquity explicitly accuse Domitian of widespread hostilities against Christians, leading a number of modern critics to claim it never happened.5 Domitian’s persecutions, reportedly most intense near the end of his regime (95-96), are primarily attested by later Christian writers,6 although the imposition of emperor worship during this time (see next post) adds more credence to this potential setting than do the alternatives.
Domitian was far less popular than his father Vespasian and brother Titus, who ruled before him. He sought to establish himself as absolute monarch, which ultimately led to his assassination in September 96.7 After he was killed, the Senate immediately passed the motion of damnatio memoriae (“condemnation of memory”) to remove him from official accounts.8 Accordingly, the silence of secular historians provides no solid basis for what Domitian may or may not have done.
At the time Revelation was composed, John was exiled on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). Nero’s reaction to Christians involved violent executions (Tacitus, Annals 15.44) that purportedly included the deaths of the apostles Paul and Peter.9 There is no evidence that Nero ever banished Christians, so if John’s punishment was under his rule, we have to wonder why John was exiled rather than killed? Banishment of alleged dissidents was much more common during Domitian’s reign.10
Both Tacitus (ca. 56-120) and Suetonius (ca. 69-122) describe Domitian’s final years as a reign of terror, and Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-215) calls him a “tyrant.”11 Those who opposed Domitian were either exiled or executed and their properties confiscated; the names of at least twenty political foes who were killed by Domitian have been preserved.12
Not only did Domitian suppress political opponents, he condemned those charged with the crime of atheism, i.e., rejecting the Roman pantheon, including the Imperial Cult.13 Justin Martyr wrote, “Hence are we called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God …” (I Apology 6, trans. P. Schaff). In 110 Pliny the Younger examined those charged with being Christians in Asia Minor, some of whom had recanted their faith two decades earlier (Epistles 10.96.6), implying oppression during Domitian’s reign.
Eusebius (ca. 260-399) more specifically reports the persecutions and martyrdoms of Christians in Domitian’s fifteenth year (96), having been documented by non-Christian writers known to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 3.18.4). Melito of Sardis (ca.100-180) speaks of persecutions in Asia in his day, then recounts Nero and Domitian having been “stimulated by certain malicious persons, showed a disposition to slander our faith” (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 4.26.3-9, trans. C. F. Cruse). Tertullian (ca. 155-220) compares Domitian’s cruelty, before he allegedly eased off, to what Nero had done to Christians (Apol. 5.4; cf. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.20.7-9). Clement of Rome, a contemporary of Domitian, refers to “sudden and repeated misfortunes and calamities that have befallen us” (I Clement 1.1, trans. F. J. A. Hort). Paulus Orosius (ca. 375-420) later reported that Domitian issued edicts for a general and cruel persecution (Hist. adv. pag. 7.10.5).
In our next post we will consider other evidences relevant to the dating of Revelation.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 See K. L. Moore, “Preterism: What’s the Big Deal?” (Part 1), Moore Perspective (3 June 2020), <Link>.
2 Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: Nero 6.49, 57; Domitian 14.16.
3 Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 5.20.5-6; Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 3.3.4; Tertullian, De praes. haer. 32.2.
4 “The first clear, accepted, unambiguous witness to the Neronic date is a one-line superscription in two Syriac versions of the New Testament in the sixth and seventh centuries. If the Neronic date were the original date of Revelation, one would expect a witness to this fact in Asia Minor, where the book of Revelation originated, and a witness much earlier than the sixth century” (M. Hitchcock, “A Defense of the Domitianic Date of the Book of Revelation,” Dissertation: Dallas Theological Seminary [Dec. 2005] 74).
5 E.g., F. G. Downing, “Pliny’s Prosecution of Christians,” JSNT 34 (1988): 105-123; E. T. Merrill, Essays in Early Christian History 148-73.
6 See Eusebius (ca. 260-339), Eccl. Hist. 3.18.4; Sulpicius Severus (ca. 363-425), Chronicle 2.31; Paulus Orosius (ca. 375-420), Book 7 of Historiarum lib. Vii, adv. paganos (“History Against the Pagans”). Even though the most definitive information comes from Orosius in the year 417, his history is substantially based on the much earlier works of Justin and Eutropius (see M’Clintock and Strong 7:455-56), and he also had access to other documentation that is no longer extant.
7 Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: Domitian 14.16.
8 B. W. Jones, The Emperor Domitian 160.
9 Cf. I Clement 5.4-5; Tertullian, De praes. haer. 36.3; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.25.5-8 (citing second-century Dionysius as added confirmation).
10 Cassius Dio, Roman History 67.3, 13, 14; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.20.7-8; 3.32.1; Jerome, Adv. Jovinianum 1.26; Victorinus, Comm. Apocalypse 10.11.
11 Tacitus, Agricola 45; Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: Domitian 8.10; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.23.5-19.
12 R. E. Brown, Introduction to the NT 806; B. W. Jones, The Emperor Domitian 169, 182-88; cf. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: Domitian 21.
13 Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars: Domitian 8.15; Cassius Dio, Roman History 67.14.2.
*Prepared for the 2024 FHU Lectures.
Related Posts: When was Revelation Written (Part 2), Introducing the Book of Revelation (Part 1), Ancient Dating Systems
Image credit: https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1208739/view/emperor-nero-statue- and https://www.thecollector.com/misjudged-roman-emperors/
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