A Mystery Revealed: Gospel of Mark tracks the 7 Churches in the Book of Revelation

[gregglaser]

Corbulo retired into Syria, which province, as being vacant by the death of its governor Ummidius, was intrusted to him. One of the famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was that same year overthrown by an earthquake, and, without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources. In Italy meanwhile ...

It looks like Tacitus suggest the city was rebuilt immediately, and certainly mostly without the help of any Roman emperor. So we would have to choose between trusting Tacitus or trusting "another source" (or neither).

The fact that the earthquake wasn't directly mentioned could also point to a later date, decades after the city was rebuilt — when it prospered and lacked nothing.

It should be mentioned that Irenaei testimony still needs to be overcome with weightier evidence, for the earlier dates to become likely:
γραφων γε τοι ο Ειρηναιος περι της ψηφου της κατα τον αντιχριστον προσηγοριας φερομενης εν τη Ιωαννου λεγομενη αποκαλυψει αυταις συλλαβαις εν πεμπτω των προς τας αιρεσεις ταυτα περι του Ιωαννου φησιν ει δε εδει αναφανδον εν τω νυν καιρω κηρυττεσθαι τουνομα αυτου δι εκεινου αν ερρεθη του και την αποκαλυψιν εορακοτος. Ουδε γαρ προ πολλου χρονου εωραθη αλλα σχεδον επι της ημετερας γενεας προς τω τελει της Δομετιανου αρχης. — Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica III, 18.

Yes, that makes sense, thanks for those logical points – trying to date Revelation with an earthquake would ultimately depend on the credibility of those historical sources, and ultimately, the circa 60AD earthquake & rebuilding would not prove definitive of the answer one way or the other because there are inherently too many assumptions.  Interesting clue though if that 'other source' were actually correct re Hadrian.

One clue that Revelation was written circa 60AD is the eschatological theory that six and only six Caesars (Julius to Nero) served as the ‘head’ on the beast occupying a Jerusalem under Jewish law.  

The prophecy in Revelation 17:9-11 (“there are seven kings, five have fallen, and one is, the other has not yet come”) - there were only six Roman Emperors, beginning with Julius Caesar (the other five: Octavian, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero) that presided over Jerusalem’s occupation up until its civil war and internal destruction in 68AD (when Jewish law was extinguished because the Jewish rebels exiled and killed all the priests, so the city was ruled by rebels with no priestly authority). 


There has not (yet) been a seventh Roman emperor occupying a Jerusalem under Jewish law.  Our modern generation is unique though, because in 1948AD (for the first time since 68AD), Jerusalem is once again appears to be under Jewish law (or is getting very close to a 3rd temple).  When will a seventh Roman emperor occupy Jerusalem?
 
Britain is a (former?) Roman colony that is still built on Roman canon law and Roman traditions, and today, the British “royalty” are the only institution in the world that openly claim the title of Roman Caesar IMPERATOR (“Emperor”), which you can read right on their own coins this very moment in the United Kingdom.  The current prince Charles said on public television that the British crown is worthy "of earthly worship".  And in the Queen/King of England's crowning ceremony they claim "the throne of Israel" and Jacob's 'stone of scone', and so much more.  Here's my research paper that goes into embarrassing amounts of detail to show that Prince William (or Wales) is very likely the little horn of Revelation, as I track the history from Egyptian Pharaoh to Roman Caesar to British King, a direct line of evidence: http://www.logicalhierarchy.com/blog/666...st-theory/
 
In particular, notice that the Aramaic word “count” in Revelation 13:18 (“he who has understanding will count the number of the beast”) is actually plural, because of the Aramaic yod after bet ܚܫܒܝܘܗܝ , so the phrase is ‘count them’ (plural).  I think this is a clue that we are to count multiple names/titles to reach 666.  In the Roman tradition, names and titles were often used interchangeably. For example, “Caesar” started as one man’s name (Gaius Julius Caesar), but it became the name/title for all subsequent emperors of the Roman state.

I don't want to overemphasize the British throne though as some kind of almighty ruling class, lest that somehow downplay or conceal the role of the Jesuits and the ruling bloodline families that utilize and empower the British throne for public consumption of Caesar's continuing kingdom on earth.