Book contents
- The Future of Rome
- The Future of Rome
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Some Remarks on Cicero’s Perception of the Future of Rome
- Chapter 2 Eclogue 4 and the Futures of Rome
- Chapter 3 Imperium sine fine: Rome’s Future in Augustan Epic
- Chapter 4 Posterity in the Arval Acta
- Chapter 5 The Future of Rome in Three Greek Historians of Rome
- Chapter 6 Philo on the Impermanence of Empires
- Chapter 7 From Human Freedom to Divine Intervention
- Chapter 8 Josephus, Caligula and the Future of Rome
- Chapter 9 “Will This One Never Be Brought Down?”
- Chapter 10 The Sibylline Oracles and Resistance to Rome
- Chapter 11 Revelation 17.1–19.10: A Prophetic Vision of the Destruction of Rome
- Chapter 12 Cicero and Vergil in the Catacombs: Pagan Messianism and Monarchic Propaganda in Constantine’s Oration to the Assembly of Saints
- Chapter 13 The Future of Rome after 410 CE
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index of Names and Places
Chapter 11 - Revelation 17.1–19.10: A Prophetic Vision of the Destruction of Rome
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2020
- The Future of Rome
- The Future of Rome
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Some Remarks on Cicero’s Perception of the Future of Rome
- Chapter 2 Eclogue 4 and the Futures of Rome
- Chapter 3 Imperium sine fine: Rome’s Future in Augustan Epic
- Chapter 4 Posterity in the Arval Acta
- Chapter 5 The Future of Rome in Three Greek Historians of Rome
- Chapter 6 Philo on the Impermanence of Empires
- Chapter 7 From Human Freedom to Divine Intervention
- Chapter 8 Josephus, Caligula and the Future of Rome
- Chapter 9 “Will This One Never Be Brought Down?”
- Chapter 10 The Sibylline Oracles and Resistance to Rome
- Chapter 11 Revelation 17.1–19.10: A Prophetic Vision of the Destruction of Rome
- Chapter 12 Cicero and Vergil in the Catacombs: Pagan Messianism and Monarchic Propaganda in Constantine’s Oration to the Assembly of Saints
- Chapter 13 The Future of Rome after 410 CE
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index of Names and Places
Summary
At the end of the sets of seven visions in the Book of Revelation – the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls – John sees a further vision in which a figure identified as ‘Babylon’ is destroyed. In this article we will show that this figure represents Rome, then discuss why Rome is destroyed and how this happens. In doing this, we will draw a contrast with the conclusions of Erich Gruen’s contribution to this volume (Chapter 10). He argues that the Jewish Sibylline Oracles draw predominantly from non-Jewish Sibylline representations of Rome’s downfall. We will argue that, in contrast, Revelation 17.1–19.10 is primarily a complex interweaving of motifs from scriptural prophetic texts about various wicked cities and their fates. We will begin by outlining Revelation 17.1–19.10 then consider each of the issues.
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- The Future of RomeRoman, Greek, Jewish and Christian Visions, pp. 206 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020