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Do They Never Come Back? Nero Redivivus and the Apocalypse of John1
I. The Birth of a Legend
A. A Neglected Testimony: Dio Chrysostom, Oration 21
DIO CHRYSOSTOM, the famous orator in the first century of the Common Era, deals rather extensively with Nero and his love affairs in one of his speeches, which is entitled "On Beauty" (Or. 21) and really is more a dialogue than an oration. One passage especially is often quoted2 but rarely analyzed. At the end of paragraph 9, Dio alludes to Nero's death and adds that we still do not know for certain what really happened. Then he continues:
For so far as the rest of his subjects were concerned, there was nothing to prevent his continuing to be emperor for all time, seeing that even now everybody wishes he were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he is, although in a certain sense he has died not once but often along with those who had been firmly convinced that he was still alive. (Or. 21.10 [Cohoon, LCL]) The speech is dated by Jones to 88 C.E. or later.3 Keeping this probable date in mind, there are at least five pieces of information to be drawn from this passage and its framing. The first item is: There were uncertainties about Nero's death. He died in January 68 at the age of thirty-one, presumably by suicide with the help of his private secretary, but without many further witnesses.
Secondly, Nero's downfall obviously came as a surprise to many, not least to himself. His reign seemed well-founded and stable, and he was still a young and rather healthy man. Dio indicates this...