The White Horse
The Golden Age of the Roman Empire
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he
that sat
on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him:
and he went forth conquering, and to
conquer. Rev 6:2
The white horse was reserved for emperors in
their
triumphal processions and from Trajan through
Aurelius the Roman armies "went forth conquering
and to conquer."
Elliott provides coins with pictures of Trajan and later
Hadrian on white horses going forth to war on one
side of the coin and with the laurel crown on the
emperors head on the reverse.
An Age of Peace and Prosperity
The Golden Age of the Roman Empire
The color white also signifies prosperity and
peace
which characterized this the golden
age of Rome. Of this era Gibbon made his famous
quote:
"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
accession of Nerva to the death of
Aurelius."
It was a period unstained by civil bloodshed. By
contrast, the next 92 years saw 32 emperors and
27 pretenders to the the throne. It was an era
marred by continuous civil war.
Emperor Commodus
The End of the Line
For all their virtues, the five good emperors were
pagans. Trajan started the gladatorial games to
satisfy his sadistic pleasure. Hadrian built the temple
of Venus on the site of Christ's death and burial. He
and young Antinus were celebrated lovers. But
Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius were exceptional
rulers.
Emperor Aurelius ended the golden age by giving the
throne to his dissolute son instead of adopting a
capable successor. Commodus is considered to
have been one of Rome's five worst emperors.
His assassination ended Pax Romana and the golden
age became an age of iron.
Now
the empire was to ride a horse of a different
color.
The Seals - A Summary
First and Sixth are Key
We will be skipping from the first to the
critical sixth
seal. However, the following links pertain to
the seals
as a whole for those who wish to dig deeper.
Of course Horae Apocalypticae has the finest and
most
thorough treatment of the seals that can be
found. It
has been the standard on this section of the
Apocalypse ever since it was written over 150
years
ago.
