Appraising the Myth of Nero Redivivus in the Interpretation of Revelation

According to the most widely accepted interpretation of the book of Revelation, the Emperor Nero, the Roman Empire, and the imperial cult in Asia Minor loom large in the symbolic foreground of the book, reflective of the conviction that John is addressing the historical situation contemporary to him. To Wilhelm Bousset, “the observation that the core of the prophecy in the Apocalypse refers to the then widely held expectation of Nero redivivus is in my opinion an immovable point that will not again be surrendered, the rocher de bronce of the contemporary historical interpretation against which all contrary points of view so far have been dashed to pieces.”1 While Bousset’s view of the myth of Nero’s return in Revelation has occasionally been challenged, the tone of his statement implies that anyone wishing to question it runs the risk of having his or her reputation diminished, if not dashed to pieces. This risk notwithstanding, the present essay will appraise the alleged role of the myth of Nero’s return in Revelation, arguing that neither the office of the emperor nor the imperial cult has the proportions to fully match the force of the symbols on which the derivation is based. As for the Roman Empire interpretation, the imitative aspiration of the power that appears on John’s prophetic screen (13:1-10) is poorly matched to the vulgarity of the Roman Empire. A well-preserved statue in the Museum of Ancient History in Istanbul is a case in point, featuring the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) in a striking pose, his right foot planted on the head of a prostrate, diminutive, and thoroughly vanquished subject. A power that flaunts its tyrannical character on the surface and up front does not tally with Revelation’s prophetic exposé, the thrust of which is to expose the imitative aspiration of the power it seeks to depict. The imperial cult, too, runs afoul of the imitative features that are characteristic of the cult’s alleged counterpart in Revelation (13:11-18). Revelation sees a phenomenon rising from the earth, reporting that “it had two horns like a lamb” (o[moia avrni,w|, 13:11). The alert reader will not miss the imitative inference, recalling that when Jesus steps into the picture in the most suspense-filled scene of Revelation, he appears in the form of a lamb (avrni,on, 5:6). The lamb-like aspiration of this phenomenon in Revelation is ill-matched to the violent character of the imperial cult. Presumably the “kinder, gentler” face of the imperial combination of statecraft and religion, the festive wrappings of the imperial cult nevertheless failed to conceal a crude delight in violence. S. R. F. Price points out that bloody combats in the form of gladiatorial games and animal fights became a popular part of