Nero and the Antichrist : the conception and reception of the Nero-Antichrist paradigm in history
This thesis deals with the interpretation of the first-century AD Roman emperor Nero as the Antichrist in Christian works of late antiquity and the nineteenth century. Many scholars in recent decades have argued that Nero occupied a pivotal place in apocalyptic literature, based on literary evidence from the early Christian centuries. They took their cue from writers in late antiquity, who claimed that the likes of St Paul and St John purposely shaped their Antichrist figures around Nero because of the perceived similarities between the behaviour of the emperor and the characteristics of the Antichrist. I suggest, however, that the Nero-Antichrist paradigm was actually constructed in late antiquity, when the emperor was already established as the mad tyrant we are familiar with from classical historiography and Nero could, therefore, be fully conceptualised as an Antichrist figure. Writers could exploit both biblical accounts of the Antichrist and historiographical depictions of Nero to shape their image. The paradigm was useful to late-antique Christians because it offered a way of explaining the eschatological figure to wide audiences who were already familiar with the most infamous of Roman emperors. This
Malik, Shushma
Nero and the Antichrist : the conception and reception of the Nero-Antichrist paradigm in history. This thesis deals with the interpretation of the first-century AD Roman emperor Nero as the Antichrist in Christian works of late antiquity and the nineteenth century. Many scholars in recent decades have argued that Nero occupied a pivotal place in apocalyptic literature, based on literary evidence from the early Christian centuries. They took their cue from writers in late antiquity, who claimed that the likes of St Paul and St John purposely shaped their Antichrist figures around Nero because of the perceived similarities between the behaviour of the emperor and the characteristics of the Antichrist. I suggest, however, that the Nero-Antichrist paradigm was actually constructed in late antiquity, when the emperor was already established as the mad tyrant we are familiar with from classical historiography and Nero could, therefore, be fully conceptualised as an Antichrist figure. Writers could exploit both biblical accounts of the Antichrist and historiographical depictions of Nero to shape their image. The paradigm was useful to late-antique Christians because it offered a way of explaining the eschatological figure to wide audiences who were already familiar with the most infamous of Roman emperors. This
conception reception paradigm history deal interpretation first_century roman_emperor christian work many_scholar argue occupy pivotal place apocalyptic literature base literary_evidence take cue writer late_antiquity claim like paul john shape figure around perceive similarity behaviour emperor characteristic suggest however paradigm actually construct late_antiquity emperor already_establish mad tyrant familiar classical historiography could therefore fully conceptualised figure writers could exploit biblical account historiographical depiction shape image paradigm useful late_antique christians offer way explain eschatological figure wide audience already familiar roman_emperor