Thompson, Leonard L. The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire. 1990; reprint, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
In my opinion, Thompson’s study is one of the most important studies on Revelation written in the last decade.
Thompson argues strongly that the traditional pejorative view on Domitian is due not to balanced arguments in modern scholarship, but to writers supporting the new imperial dynasty after Domitian’s assassination. Domitian did in fact suffer from paranoia, but so did emperors quite often.
There is no evidence that Domitian persecuted Christians or even thought about it. In fact, Domitian was a good emperor to Asia, but persecuted only those who were a threat to his power. Thompson supports a traditional date anyway.
Leave a Reply