09-25-2007, 11:52 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A number of scholars have noticed <b>similarities between the `Commune
Asiae', the Roman bureaucracy that administered the imperial court in
Asia, and the organization of the seven cities described in
Revelation. </b>In fact, Revelation was produced by the `Commune Asiae'.
There are a number of ways to demonstrate this, but the shortest is
simply recognizing that<b> the `deified Caesars' â the individuals the
Commune Asiae was responsible to have worshipped â were portrayed
as `angels' in Revelation.</b>
The first five of the Angels in Revelation 8 below are
representations of the Caesars that Suetonius recorded as having been
deified. To be able to recognize the identity of the `angels' it is
first necessary to know that not all of the Caesars had been made a
god by the Senate. <b>Suetonius recorded that the only Caesars to whom
the title `diuus' was bestowed were Julius, Augustus, Claudius,
Vespasian and Titus.
</b>
Thus, the `Angels' in Revelation are described in the order of the
reigns of the divine Caesars they represent and each possesses a
defining characteristic of that particular `diuus'. While some
elements of the symbolism in the pattern may seem trivial, other
details are very specific and the overall sequence the details create
could not occur by accident.
What the author of Revelation is requiring is that a reader
recognizes, not just the parallels between the Caesars and the
angels, but that the parallels occur in the same sequence as the
lives of the defied Caesars. Only then can a reader recognize that
the pattern of parallel details is of sufficient length to verify
that the `angels' of Revelation are representations of the defied
Caesars.
To digress, another detail necessary to understand Revelation's
imagery is<b> in the the first century a star denoted the heavenly
existence corresponding to a divine being - i.e. Caesar - located on
earth. </b>Thus, in the language of the Roman poets, the divine figure of
the Emperor on earth had a star in heaven that corresponds to the
Emperor and was his heavenly counterpart. An Imperial family could as
a whole also have its star, or be a star. For example, Horace (Odes,
i, 12) speaks of the Julian star shining like the moon amid the
lesser fires.
When Domitian built a Temple of the Flavian family in 95 CE, the poet
Statius described him as placing the stars of the Flavians into a new
heaven (Silvae, v, I, 240f). Statius's poem may have been the basis
for the `star' imagery in Revelation: In both works the new Temple on
earth corresponds to a new heaven framed to contain the new stars.
Only with such knowledge will the identities of the angels become
visible. The <b>first</b>' angel' is Julius Caesar who had his most famous
battle campaigns "on the earth". The <b>second </b>is Augustus who had his
most famous victory over Marc Anthony on the sea. Augustus also
destroyed Alexandria, which was the "something like a great mountain,
burning with fire, was thrown into the sea" described below. The
<b>third </b>Angel is Claudius, who was killed by poisoning, which is why
his star fell to earth and was named "wormwood", a poison. The <b>fourth</b>
angel obviously represents Vespasian, the Caesar who had both a solar
and lunar eclipses occur during his reign.
"For the eclipse of both sun and moon within 15 days of each other
has occurred even in our time, in the year of the third consulship of
Vespasian". Pliny
The <b>fifth </b>angel conducted a siege for `five months' and is Titus,
whose only siege (Jerusalem) lasted five months.
As in the Gospels, the underlining premise the author is using to
build his veiled message is that that unusual parallels can not occur
sequentially by accident. While virtually any one of the details
linking an `angel' to a Caesar might be accidental, a sequence
containing such unusual parallels is unlikely to have occurred
accidentally.
7: The <b>first </b>angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and
fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the
earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all
green grass was burnt up.
8: The <b>second </b>angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great
mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea;
9: and a third of the sea became blood, a third of the living
creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10: The <b>third </b>angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from
heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers
and on the fountains of water.
11: The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became
wormwood, and many men died of the water, because it was made bitter.
12: The <b>fourth </b>angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was
struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a
third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from
shining, and likewise a third of the night.
And the <b>fifth </b>angel opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,.
Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth,
they were allowed to torture them for five months,.
My complete analysis of Revelation â I give the identity of the `Lord
God' and the meaning of the infamous 666, as well as the identities
of the sixth and seventh `angels' âcan be found at :
http://110559.aceboard.net/
As it is lengthy, the analysis is divided into two posts.
Joe Atwill
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Asiae', the Roman bureaucracy that administered the imperial court in
Asia, and the organization of the seven cities described in
Revelation. </b>In fact, Revelation was produced by the `Commune Asiae'.
There are a number of ways to demonstrate this, but the shortest is
simply recognizing that<b> the `deified Caesars' â the individuals the
Commune Asiae was responsible to have worshipped â were portrayed
as `angels' in Revelation.</b>
The first five of the Angels in Revelation 8 below are
representations of the Caesars that Suetonius recorded as having been
deified. To be able to recognize the identity of the `angels' it is
first necessary to know that not all of the Caesars had been made a
god by the Senate. <b>Suetonius recorded that the only Caesars to whom
the title `diuus' was bestowed were Julius, Augustus, Claudius,
Vespasian and Titus.
</b>
Thus, the `Angels' in Revelation are described in the order of the
reigns of the divine Caesars they represent and each possesses a
defining characteristic of that particular `diuus'. While some
elements of the symbolism in the pattern may seem trivial, other
details are very specific and the overall sequence the details create
could not occur by accident.
What the author of Revelation is requiring is that a reader
recognizes, not just the parallels between the Caesars and the
angels, but that the parallels occur in the same sequence as the
lives of the defied Caesars. Only then can a reader recognize that
the pattern of parallel details is of sufficient length to verify
that the `angels' of Revelation are representations of the defied
Caesars.
To digress, another detail necessary to understand Revelation's
imagery is<b> in the the first century a star denoted the heavenly
existence corresponding to a divine being - i.e. Caesar - located on
earth. </b>Thus, in the language of the Roman poets, the divine figure of
the Emperor on earth had a star in heaven that corresponds to the
Emperor and was his heavenly counterpart. An Imperial family could as
a whole also have its star, or be a star. For example, Horace (Odes,
i, 12) speaks of the Julian star shining like the moon amid the
lesser fires.
When Domitian built a Temple of the Flavian family in 95 CE, the poet
Statius described him as placing the stars of the Flavians into a new
heaven (Silvae, v, I, 240f). Statius's poem may have been the basis
for the `star' imagery in Revelation: In both works the new Temple on
earth corresponds to a new heaven framed to contain the new stars.
Only with such knowledge will the identities of the angels become
visible. The <b>first</b>' angel' is Julius Caesar who had his most famous
battle campaigns "on the earth". The <b>second </b>is Augustus who had his
most famous victory over Marc Anthony on the sea. Augustus also
destroyed Alexandria, which was the "something like a great mountain,
burning with fire, was thrown into the sea" described below. The
<b>third </b>Angel is Claudius, who was killed by poisoning, which is why
his star fell to earth and was named "wormwood", a poison. The <b>fourth</b>
angel obviously represents Vespasian, the Caesar who had both a solar
and lunar eclipses occur during his reign.
"For the eclipse of both sun and moon within 15 days of each other
has occurred even in our time, in the year of the third consulship of
Vespasian". Pliny
The <b>fifth </b>angel conducted a siege for `five months' and is Titus,
whose only siege (Jerusalem) lasted five months.
As in the Gospels, the underlining premise the author is using to
build his veiled message is that that unusual parallels can not occur
sequentially by accident. While virtually any one of the details
linking an `angel' to a Caesar might be accidental, a sequence
containing such unusual parallels is unlikely to have occurred
accidentally.
7: The <b>first </b>angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and
fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the
earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all
green grass was burnt up.
8: The <b>second </b>angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great
mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea;
9: and a third of the sea became blood, a third of the living
creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10: The <b>third </b>angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from
heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers
and on the fountains of water.
11: The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became
wormwood, and many men died of the water, because it was made bitter.
12: The <b>fourth </b>angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was
struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a
third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from
shining, and likewise a third of the night.
And the <b>fifth </b>angel opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,.
Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth,
they were allowed to torture them for five months,.
My complete analysis of Revelation â I give the identity of the `Lord
God' and the meaning of the infamous 666, as well as the identities
of the sixth and seventh `angels' âcan be found at :
http://110559.aceboard.net/
As it is lengthy, the analysis is divided into two posts.
Joe Atwill
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->