The Book of Revelation contains plenty of hatred and vitriol towards Rome and is famous for its description of the beast numbered 666,
‘Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb’s, but spoke like a dragon…Moreover, it caused everyone, great and small, rich and poor, slave and free, to be branded with a mark on his right hand or forehand, and no one was allowed to buy or sell unless he bore this beast’s mark, either name or number. (Here is the key; and anyone who has intelligence may work out the number of the beast. The number represents a man’s name, and the numerical value of its letters is six hundred and sixty six).’ (Revelation 13.11-18)
The number of the beast is given as 666, and this is a magical number. 666 is the sum of all the numbers from 1 to 36, and as such is the product of a 6 x 6 magic square. It’s also the sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers (22 + 32 + 52 + 72 + 112 + 132 + 172). 4 + 9 + 25 + 49 + 121 + 169 + 289 = 666.
Most importantly of all, the number takes on extra significance when represented in Roman numerals. We must forget the depiction of ‘the beast 666’ as it appears in popular culture, such as in the 1976 horror film The Omen, where the number forms a birthmark on Damian’s scalp. ‘666’ is the representation of the number in the numerals we use today, but these numerals only came into existence in the fifteenth century, some 1300 years after the Book of Revelation was written.
The Roman representation of 666 was DCLXVI, and this contains each denomination of Roman numerals under 1000. They appear in the number 666 in the exact reverse order of their respective values (D = 500, C = 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1). 666 is therefore a number that symbolised Roman numerals (and therefore possibly Rome itself).
It has also been suggested that 666 could be numerical code for the emperor Nero. The Book of Revelation specifically states that the number represents a man. In Hebrew the numerical value of the letters in the transliteration of ‘Caesar Nero’ equals 666. The same is true of the Greek word for beast (therion), the transliteration of this word into Hebrew letters also has the value 666.
Several apocryphal Christian texts linked Nero to the Antichrist, and many early Christians believed the emperor would return from the dead to oppose Jesus at the impending apocalypse. . The Ascension of Isaiah reads,
‘And now Hezekiah and Josab my son, these are the days of the completion of the world. After it is consummated, Beliar the great ruler, the king of this world, will descend, who hath ruled it since it came into being; yea, he will descend from his firmament in the likeness of a man, a lawless king, the slayer of his mother.’ (The Ascension of Isaiah 4.1-2)
‘The slayer of his mother’ refers to Nero, who was famously reputed to have ordered the assassination of his mother Agrippina. The Sibylline Oracles apocrypha also link Nero to the Antichrist when they predict the final days of the world,
‘And one whose mark is fifty shall be lord,
A dreadful serpent, breathing grievous war;
He will stretch out his hands against his kin,
And cut them off, and spread confusion wide,
Fight, kill the people, and dare countless things.
And he will cleave the isthmus, and with gore
Besprinkle it. But this destructive one
Shall pass from sight and then return again,
Presuming to be equal unto God.’ (Sibylline Oracles V.38-46)
Nero is the ‘one whose mark is fifty’, as fifty is the numerical value of the letter N in both the Greek and Hebrew alphabets. The third century Christian poet Commodian also wrote that Nero would return from hell when the Antichrist appears,
‘Then, doubtless, the world shall be finished when he shall appear. He himself shall divide the globe into three ruling powers, when, moreover, Nero shall be raised up from hell, Elias shall first come to seal the beloved ones; at which things the region of Africa and the northern nation, the whole earth on all sides, for seven years shall tremble. But Elias shall occupy the half of the time, Nero shall occupy half. Then the whore Babylon, being reduced to ashes, its embers shall thence advance to Jerusalem.’ (Instructiones XLI)
In the fifth century, Augustine wrote that, ‘Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as deeds of the Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he will rise again and be Antichrist. Others again suppose that he is not even dead.’ (City of God 20.19)
The apocalyptic mindset of many early Christians may also have had a more sinister dimension. A whole chunk of the book is dedicated to a vitriolic attack on the city of Rome, the overarching message is that Rome should burn. Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation describe the subjugation of the evil called ‘Babylon the great, the mother of whores and of every abomination on earth’ (Revelation 17.5). We are expressly informed that ‘Babylon the great’ refers to Rome,
‘The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.’ (Revelation 17.18)
We are told that this city of Babylon has seven hills, an obvious reference to the seven hills of Rome. Tertullian wrote that, ‘Babylon, in our own John, is a figure of the city Rome’. Jews and Christians probably linked Rome to Babylon after the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE during the Roman-Jewish war. The Babylonians had previously sacked Jerusalem in 587 BCE. In the first century CE, when most of the New Testament was written, Babylon itself was an uninhabited ruin.
Revelation states that this city will be destroyed by a great fire,
‘She will be utterly burned by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in her luxury, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning.’ (Revelation 18.8-9)
And,
‘Then every sea captain and passenger, the sailors and all who trade by sea, will stand far away and cry out as they see the smoke of her conflagration, “What city is like this great city?” ’ (Revelation 18.17-18)
These are clear references to the destruction of Rome by conflagration.
There are other early Christian texts outside of the Bible that mention the destruction of Rome by fire. The Sibylline Oracles apocrypha are a collection of Jewish and early Christian prophecies, some of which predict the end of the world in a manner very similar to the Book of Revelation. Several of the books also describe the destruction of Rome by fire,
‘The people of seven hilled Rome, and riches great
Shall perish, burned by Vulcan’s fiery flame,
And then shall bloody signs from heaven descend-
But yet the whole world of unnumbered men
Enraged shall kill each other, and in tumult
Shall God send famines, plagues, and thunderbolts.’ (Sibylline Oracles II.19-21)
And
‘There shall come to thee sometime from above
A heavenly stroke deserved, O haughty Rome.
And thou shalt be the first to bend thy neck
And be razed to the ground, and thee shall fire
Destructive utterly consume, cast down
Upon thy pavements, and thy wealth shall perish,
And wolves and foxes dwell in thy foundations.
And then shalt thou be wholly desolate.’ (Sibylline Oracles VIII.47-54)
Some of this anti-Roman vitriol might relate to the Great Fire of Rome that occurred in 64 CE. The conflagration destroyed an estimated 70 % of the then greatest city on the planet. The emperor Nero and the Roman authorities blamed the Great Fire of Rome on a then little known group of apocalyptic fanatics – the Christians.
The emperor Nero has become the traditional scapegoat for starting the Great Fire of Rome, but he had no obvious motive to institute the conflagration. Indeed his own palace was destroyed by the fire. Nero was away at Antium when the fire started, and rapidly returned to Rome to help fight the flames. He initiated a large relief measure, housing displaced citizens in public buildings and his own gardens, as well as lowering the price of food.
It might be relevant that the Great Fire of Rome started on the night of July 19th. This was the night before the heliacal rising of the star Sirius. In lay terms, what this means is that the Sun and Sirius both rose in the same place on the horizon. It was also the first day of the year that Sirius became visible in the sky. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. The heliacal rising of Sirius was one of the most important days in the ancient Egyptian calendar, being traditionally linked to the Egyptian New Year and the flooding of the Nile.
Whether or not Christians were actually in any way responsible for the Great Fire of Rome is questionable. But one can certainly say that the Book of Revelation has clear references to Rome being destroyed by fire, and that that many early Christians were religious fanatics who passionately hated Rome. The Book of Revelation and other texts of the New Testament have a clear apocalyptic vision. Many early Christians imminently expected a great conflagration and a Final Judgement at which they would be vindicated and all non-believers would be punished. There are plenty of examples in recent history of what religious fundamentalists with this sort of mindset are capable of.
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