The First Seal
A Rider with a Bow - A Cretan Dynasty
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that
sat on him had a bow... Rev 6:2
At the death of Domitian, the Senate appointed an
elder statesman in his
place. Nerva was a colonist from the Island of Crete.
He was the first to occupy
the Throne of Augustus who was neither by birth a
Roman or descended from
an Italian family.
Nerva was selected on the merit of his ability and
not
as a result of
his birth. He quickly adopted Trajan to
succeed
him.
Trajan adopted Hadrian who
adopted Antonious Pius who adopted
Marcus Aurelius.
Thus five “good” emperors were chosen in
succession
and Rome flourished under their wise rule.
The Adoptive Emperors
By Roman Law All were Cretans
Known as the "adoptive" emperors each took
the
name of his predecessor. By Roman
adoptive law all were reckoned as Nerva's family and
were thus all Cretans.
The bow is an exquisitely appropriate symbol to
represent this era for the Cretans were a race of
bowmen, the most famous in the ancient world.
Alexander the Great was never without a
large company of Cretan archers and they were much
in use in Roman armies during the time of Julius
Caesar.
The Cherithites were from Crete
David's Loyal Bodyguard were Cretan Archers
The Cretans were akin to the Philistines, and
thought to be identical with the Cherethites
(I Sam 30:14) who formed David's loyal bodyguard.
They were daring sailors in
addition to being famous archers but had a bad moral
reputation. John saw
it all in his vision when he saw the rider with the
bow.
Horae Apocalypticae is illustrated with coins of the
era including the ones above where the Cretan
fame for archery and bow making are represented.
