Author’s Preface
The supposition in the author’s preface that the Antipas mentioned in Revelation 2:13 had been named after Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and pro-Roman tetrarch who reigned over Galilee during the time of Jesus’s ministry, is not necessarily far-fetched. In the first published volumes of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (sponsored by the British Academy and carried out by the Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford), the name “Antipas” is shown to have been exceedingly rare. In literary and archaeological remains from the ancient world, the name “Antipas” occurs only three times across a sizable area that includes the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Cyrenaica, Attica, the Peloponnese, western Greece, Sicily, Magna Graecia, and central Greece. See P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews, eds., A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987); vol. 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994); vol. 3a (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997); and vol. 3b (Oxford: Clarendon, 2000). The name “Antipas” appears only once in volume 2 and twice in volume 3a.
Editor’s Preface
The paragraph pertaining to archaeological interest in Pergamum is an accurate reflection of the recent situation. The description of the discovery of the correspondence is fictional, together with the editor himself.
Letter Collection 1
The following are wholly fictional: the characters Calpurnius, Euphemos, and Stachys; the Pergamene gladiatorial games of 92 CE.
The following are speculative: Antipas’s identity; Theophilus’s geographical base.
While Rufinus’s identity is fictional, it is based on a historical person, Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus, a consul and influential citizen of Pergamum who was prominent in the early second century CE under the emperor Hadrian, just after the time of this narrative. He was one of three men who oversaw the remodeling of the Pergamene temple of Asclepius, rising to a high office, enjoying a profitable relationship with the emperor, and becoming a Roman senator.
The following can be defended historically: the locations of gladiatorial schools; Domitian’s identity.
Letter Collection 2
The following is wholly fictional: the character Antonius.
The following are speculative: Luke’s geographical base and situation.
The following can be defended historically: the existence of different versions of Homer edited by Crates and by Aristarchos; the reputation of the Pergamene library; Luke’s identity.
The library of Pergamum enjoyed a superior reputation in Antipas’s day. Having been established by the Attalid king Eumenes II (197–159 BCE), by the late first century it held over two hundred thousand volumes. Many of those volumes were held in the temple of Athena, although not all of them were stored there because of space restrictions. Early in the second century CE, a library was added to the temple of Asclepius, along with many other improvements to that temple. Library sciences progressed more quickly in Pergamum than in Egyptian Alexandria, including the use of parchment instead of papyrus as the material of texts and the use of the codex (i.e., a small book) instead of the scroll as the format of texts.
Letter Collection 3
The following is wholly fictional: the character Androneikos.
The following can be defended historically: the identity of Julius Quadratus and the occasion of the banquet in his honor; the status of Ephesus as a temple warden to the cult of the emperor in 89 CE; Domitian’s funding of the refurbishment of the Ephesian temple of Artemis.
Gaius Antius Aulus Julius Quadratus was a wealthy and influential resident of Pergamum and a preeminent citizen of the Roman Empire. Born in the early 50s as the son of Aulus, he was appointed to the senate by Emperor Vespasian in the early 70s and served from 81 to 84 as legatus Augusti to the cities of Cappadocia, Galatia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Paphlagonia, and Armenia Minor. Having proved himself well in that position, he was seeking a position with even higher profile within the empire at the time of these letters. He was made proconsul of the province of Asia in 108 and later went on to establish regular games in Pergamum in honor of Jupiter Amicalis (Jupiter Philios) and the emperor Trajan.
Letter Collection 4
The following is speculative: the death of Peter and Paul in Nero’s persecutions against the Christians (many scholars, for instance, date Paul’s death earlier at ca. 62 CE instead of 64 CE).
The following can be defended historically: the appointment of Lysanius Paullus of Miletus as regional Asiarch; the description of water battles in the Flavian amphitheater; the description of Domitian’s actions at the games near the Tiber River; the account of Nero’s actions.
The following can be defended historically: the widespread belief in the return of Nero (allusions to this widespread myth appear in Rev. 13:3; 17:8); the description of the Jewish revolt against Rome; the description of Sepphoris; the descriptions of Domitian’s actions at a gladiatorial contest and beyond; the life and writings of Josephus.
Letter Collection 6
The following is wholly fictional: the character Kalandion.
The report on the Pergamene games, while fictional, is based on reliable reconstructions of the way a gladiatorial day proceeded.
The following can be defended historically: the description of Nazareth; the description of John the Baptist; the description of Ephesian Christianity; the descriptions of the Dead Sea community (i.e., the Qumran sectarians) and the Essenes.
Letter Collection 7
The following are wholly fictional: the characters Lycomedes and Mania, the wife of Antonius.
Letter Collection 8
The following is wholly fictional (here and throughout): the character Simon ben Joseph.
Letter Collection 9
The following are wholly fictional: the characters Demetrius, Nouna, Glykeros, Kyrilos, Theodotos, and Tullia Spendousa.
The following can be defended historically: the significance of the term “Son of Man”; Roman consuls Octacilius Pollio and Claudius Charax (although dating from a few decades after the time of this narrative); the description of Pontius Pilate.
Letter Collection 10
The following can be defended historically: the description of peasant life.
Letter Collection 11
The following can be defended historically: the depiction of the influence of the imperial cult in Pergamum; the depiction of crucifixion; the outline of a few of Herod Antipas’s achievements.
Letter Collection 12
The following are wholly fictional: the characters Galatia and her baby.
The following is speculative: Antioch as the provenance of Matthew’s Gospel, although many scholars think this to be likely.
The description of the storm at sea, while fictional, is based on an actual account from the ancient world (cf. Synesius, Epistle 4.160–64).
The following can be defended historically: the depiction of Syrian Antioch and the Christian communities there; Ignatius (although we know little of him from this time period); the importance of Jamnia for Judaism after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Letter Collection 13
The following can be defended historically: the influence of craft guilds and their strong connections to the imperial cult; the situation of John, the Christian prophet who wrote the Johannine apocalypse, Revelation (although it is speculative that he lived in Ephesus prior to his exile).
The following are wholly fictional: the events described by Antonius, except for the slim details about the manner of Antipas’s death, which, while speculative, are based on ancient tradition.
Editor’s Postscript
The details given in the postscript can be defended historically. The editor is, of course, a literary fiction of this book.