The Christian persecution for which John was in exile, began in 95 AD and Domitian was assassinated in 96 AD. (The First Four Seals: 96-300 AD, pg. 23).
See Persecutions under Domitian, from the Introduction Endnotes.
This period of righteous rule and the Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) lasted from 96 AD to 180 AD. (The First Four Seaks: 96-300 AD, pp. 23-24).
“If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four successive emperors, whose characters and authority commanded involuntary respect. The forms of the civil administration were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princes deserved the honor of restoring the republic, had the Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational freedom.”
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, Ch. 3, “The Constitution in the Age of the Antonines, Pt. II.”
The death of Domitian occurred in 96, and Commodus was the son and successor of Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius’ reign ended in 180 with his death, and Commodus’ begun immediately after. Gibbon curiously says the peace lasted through four successive emperors, and names the four as Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines. The Antonines, however, were two: Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, which brings the total of the good emperors, to five.
See also The Five Good Emperors, from The First Four Seals Endnotes.
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