Before Jerusalem Fell

154 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
view first. Then we will comment upon both the objections to the
above proposed view and the deficiencies of the opposing views.
It is true that the Roman empire was officially established as an
empire under Augustus, and that there are some scattered lists of the
emperors that seem to begin the enumeration with Augustus. Never-
theless, it seems patent that the enumeration of the “kings” should
most logically begin with Julius Caesar. As Stuart observed: “At
most, only an occasional beginning of the count with Augustus can
be shown, in classic authors. The almost universal usage is against
it ~26
For instance, as we consider TacitUs’s statements in Annals 1:127
and Histmie~ 1:1,28 we discover that in regard to information relevant
to our inquiry he really only states two things of consequence regard-
ing Augustus as emperor. One is that Julius refused to be called
“king,” while Augustus accepted such a designation. The other is
that the empire was established on an uninterrupted foundation with
Augustus (upon Julius’s death the empire was involved in a power
struggle for twelve years). Here, then, we do not have a denial of
Julius’s role as the first “king” of the empire at all. Neither do we
have a denial of his role as the first ruler of what shortly would
become the Roman Empire.
The same is true of the statement of Aurelius Victor (4th century)
in his Abbreviated History of t~ Camars. He, too, speaks of the uninterrupted
state of rule in Rome. In his E@-tome (1:1) is another example
of the idea of permanency, along with formal usage of the titles
Imperator and Augustw. Nothing he writes precludes the understanding
that Julius was the first of the Roman Emperors. Other such
references are much later than even Victor, and are thus too far
beyond the era in which John wrote to be of much value. The
determination should be based upon relatively contemporaneous
authorities current in his day.
As a matter of historical fact, we must note that Julius did claim
26. Stuart, A@ca@e 2:276.
27. Annals 1:1 states: “Neither Cinna nor Sulla created a lasting despotism: Pompey
and Crassus quickly forfeited their power to Caesar, and Lepidus and An tony their
swords to Augustus, who, under the style of ‘Prince,’ gathered beneath his empire a world
outworn by civil broils.”
28. Histories 1:1 notes: “After the battle of Actium, when the intereats of peace required
that all power should be concentrated in the hands of one man. . . .“