Who was Nero and was he the first of Many Beasts?
Pastor Patrick D. Garlock
A little over a year ago, I wrote four articles that can be found under this tab, “What’s the Deal with the Mark of the Beast?” In this series, I broke down the four main “approaches” to reading the Book of Revelation, and focused on Revelation 13:16-18.
The reason why? Because it is a difficult book to read. And so, if we do not have a grasp as to the “how” … we will just avoid it altogether. And avoiding it can be dastardly, because we could potentially wind up listening to someone who has a very erroneous way of looking at it.
Throughout history, many people have tried to adapt to an “understanding” as to how to interpret and understand the Book of Revelation. If you have read my previous articles or not, I will save you some time and tell you that the approach to Revelation that I agree with, is the most agreed view held by some of the most learned men in Biblical Academia. It is called the Idealist View, and it is primarily an allegorical understanding of the ongoing battle between God and the devil, between good and evil. This view is truly a practical approach to the book of Revelation. But it is only one of four… so perhaps you should read those previous articles.
So, as I begin to share with you more about one of the most sadistic rulers in human history, the Roman ruler named Nero, allow me to begin by reiterating the Scriptural passage to lead into this.
Revelation 13:16-18 - “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
Revelation was written by John the Apostle, from the confines of a jail cell on the Island of Patmos. And although there is speculation on when the exact date was that the letter was written, there is no doubt that John was sharing, in part, his experience with Nero.
From the perspective of the practical, Idealist point of view, the “beast” isn’t referring to one, futuristic individual. Instead, it is alluding to anyone who opposes God, and is raised up to wreak havoc on the people of God. And the number 666 is representative of insufficiency. God is perfect and the number that represents perfection is 777. 666 attempts to “usurp” or “mimic” the number of perfection, but always comes up short.
In a book of hope in Christ, as Revelation is, the allegory and symbolism of the numbers is quite fascinating when studied. But in recent times, we have shied away from it because we have this strange, “jinx-like” view of the number of incompletion. As if, when you go to check out at a store and the total has all sixes in it, I’ve seen people take something off or add something. I sit back and scratch my head at this. It makes no sense. Because when we study the passage, the text says, “This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
A man. Not the price of your lunch combo.
Nero was the Roman ruler who was, at best description, a freak. I have shared this before in different public forums. And something was brought to my attention, when many people have asked me, “Patrick, who is Nero?” So, this is an article explaining who he was and why he was part of the whole sum when John wrote about the “beast.”
Nero was the great, great grandson of Caesar Augustus. He was born in 37AD. For those who do not know, AD stands for Anno Domine, or “Year of our Lord.” It was always shortened to “after death,” in recent years, meaning after the death of Christ. And in our amazing, secular, God-hating culture, they have renamed it CE, for “Common Era.”
I digress…
Following the death of Nero’s father, his mother, Agrippina, married her paternal uncle, Claudius. Agrippina persuaded him to adopt Nero as his son. It was then - with Nero next in line for the throne - that Nero’s mother Agrippina supposedly poisoned Claudius and pinned the deed on another woman. The death, however, lead to Nero’s accession to the throne at the young age of 17. And right after, in 53AD, he married Octavia, daughter of the emperor Claudius.
The first few years of Nero’s reign were remarkably good and productive. Things began to change when in 62AD, he divorced Octavia (who had failed to bear him a child) and married Poppaea Sabina. In the early hours of June 19, 64 a.d., a devastating fire broke out around the Circus Maximus (which was an ancient chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome), and spread north through the valley. Unable to silence rumors that he himself had set the fire, Nero found a scapegoat in the emerging Christian community, which he persecuted with intense cruelty. Both the Apostles Peter and Paul were martyred as a result of Nero’s rage against the church.
But suspicion as to whom set the fire was only intensified by Nero’s love for the east and its cultural expressions. He toured Greece in 66-67 and was especially popular in Parthia. The Jewish War broke out during Nero’s reign, and he sent Vespasian to quell it (the latter’s son, Titus, was responsible for the final destruction of both city and temple).
In addition to the numerous political murders for which he was responsible, Nero poisoned his stepbrother Britannicus and then. Then, fearing his own mother’s wrath, he had her taken out a few years after taking the throne. Yes, he killed his own mother.
But what adds an even stranger exclamation point to his tenure as ruler, was his sick, and sadistic sexual peculiarities. Though he was content to simply hit up some brothels in his youth, as he got older, his tastes got a little more violent. According to Roman historian Cassius Dion, “Nero would fasten naked boys and girls to stakes, and then putting on the hide of a wild beast would attack them and satisfy his brutal lust under the appearance of devouring parts of their bodies.”
His dictatorial style of leadership, combined with his self-indulgent personality, provoked the opposition of the Roman senate and aristocracy, although he remained popular with the general population of Rome. Eventually, Nero was declared a public enemy by the Senate in mid-68 a.d. and troops were sent to arrest him. On hearing this, he fled to the villa of his ex-slave where he committed suicide by thrusting a dagger into his throat.
As mentioned before, the name “Nero” nowhere appears in Revelation. More than likely, John would have seen in this historical figure the perfect prototypical embodiment of that anti-Christ, anti-Christian spirit which is characteristic of the entire church age. Bauckham said it best when he implied, “the impending confrontation between the beast and the followers of the Lamb would appear to John as an apocalyptic extension and intensification of the Neronian persecution.” Couldn’t agree with him more. But there is an interesting twist.
There is an issue that needs to be addressed as a conclusion to this study. Once Nero killed himself, there was a rumor he would return. It was considered a scary thought, but that Nero would be raised from the dead to wreak havoc on everyone again, especially Christians. Because to begin with, it was the mysterious circumstances surrounding Nero’s death gave rise to these rumors in the first place. Many claimed, just like with Elvis Pressley, that he faked his death and was actually still alive and would soon return to seek revenge on his enemies.
Several Nero impostors emerged. The first appeared one year after his death in July, 69 A.D. This one not only physically resembled Nero but was also, like the emperor, an accomplished musician. “He appeared in Greece, where he mustered some support, set sail for Syria, but was forced by a storm to put in at the island of Cythnos in the Cyclades, where he was captured and killed. His dead body was taken to Rome via Asia. A second impostor by the name of Terentius Maximus, who also resembled Nero, appeared in 80 a.d. It is not known how he came to an end. At least one more pretender appeared during the reign of Domitian in 88-89 A.D. and must have been fresh in John’s mind as he wrote Revelation.
The legend of Nero’s return is first found in the Jewish Sibylline Oracles. One of the more important features is how Nero is portrayed as identified with the Parthians whose armies he will lead in an invasion of the Roman west. He is also portrayed as the eschatological adversary of the people of God who will destroy both them and the holy city.
As I wrote earlier, in conjunction with our study of Revelation 13:3, John has adapted the legend of Nero’s return to paint his portrait of the oppressive career of the Beast. Nero constituted the most obvious and ready-at-hand embodiment of that antichristian power which opposes and oppresses the people of God. Against the backdrop of Nero’s “death, alleged resurrection, the Apostle John used the Nero legend to paint his portrait of the Beast to indicate anyone who is the truest display of evil in the world. It is also evident from the reference in Revelation 13:16-18 to the “mark” of the Beast or the “number” of his name: 666.
For the people of God in the first century, that “Beast” was the Roman imperial power. In subsequent centuries and in our own day as well it is seen in any and all attempts, whether by individuals, institutions, or movements, to thwart God’s kingdom in Christ. Whether or not this “Beast” is also to manifest itself at the end of the age in a single individual, popularly known as the Antichrist, is yet to be determined. But I do believe that the Idealist’s approach to understanding the Book of Revelation, is by far and away the most practical and the one that allows me to sleep more at night.
But as always… pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to lead your understanding. And always… read the Word of God without goggles of presupposition.
