King James Version · Under Rome
Revelation 6
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And I saw when opened one of , and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold : and he that sat on him had a bow; and a was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great . And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four say, A measure of wheat for a , and three measures of barley for a ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the . And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was , and Hell followed with him. And was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with , and with , and with , and with the of the earth. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the the of them that were slain for the word of , and for the which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O , and true, dost thou not judge and our on them that on the earth? And were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as of hair, and the moon became as ; And the stars of fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the departed as a when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the , and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the of him that sitteth on , and from the of : For of his is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.