Before Jerusalem Fell

The Beast’s Red Color
The Role of Nero Caesar 217
The red color of the beast (Rev. 17:3) may also point to Nero.
Certainly the colors of the harlot’s garments (Rev. 17:4) seem to be
colors appropriate for either of the two leading interpretations as to
her identity. If she represents imperial Rome the scarlet and purple
well suggest the colors of the robes of the emperor. If she is representative
of Jerusalem, the colors reflect the colors of the high priest’s
garments and of the temple’s curtains. It would seem most appropriate
to expect the red color of the beast to also correspond to the
person designated as the beast whose number is 666.
It is true, of course, that the red color may be indicative of the
bloodshed caused by the beast. This possibility readily suggests itself
to even the casual reader (cp. Rev. 6:4). Nevertheless, Weigall pointed
to another potential rationale for the red color: Nero’s red beard. lm
Suetonius writes of the legend associated with Nero’s ancestral parentage,
which “explains” why he had a red beard:
Of the Domitian family two branches have acquired distinction, the
Calvini and the Ahenobarbi.l 10 The latter have as the founder of their
race and the origin of their surname Lucius Domitius, to whom, as
he was returning from the country, there once appeared twin youths
of more than mortal majesty, so it is said, and bade him carry to the
senate and people the news of a victory, which was as yet unknown.
And as a token of their divinity it is said that they stroked his cheeks
and turned his black beard to a ruddy hue, like that of bronze. This
sign was perpetuated in his descendants, a great part of whom had
red beards. 111
Obviously Nero’s red beard (which he wore for a time) was noteworthy,
for here is a legend created in explanation of it. The red color of
the beast of Revelation serves nicely as an identifier.
The Beast’s Death
The manner of Nero’s death corresponds with the prophecy of
Revelation 13:10, 14:
If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if any one kills
with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the persever-
109. Weigall, Nero, p. 299.
110. “Ahenobarbus” means “red beard.” See Weigall, Nero, p. 25.
111. Suetonius, Nero 1:1,