Let's send DeSantis to study the eons of the impact caused by historic failed leadership

Can somebody help to fund Governor Ron DeSantis' visit to the British Museum in London, to view (and learn) about the failed Roman Emperor Nero? (Nero was born December 15, 37 ce, in Antium, Latium—and died June 9, 68, Rome), fifth Roman emperor (54–68 ce), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius.)

Perhaps the most infamous of Rome’s emperors, Nero Claudius Caesar (37-68 A.D.) ruled Rome from 54 A.D. until his death by suicide, 14 years later.  (Does he resemble Ron DeSantis? Hmmm?)

Has stupid Governor Ron DeSantis taken advice about COVID? Nah! Nero redux! With Florida aflame with COVID, stupid Governor DeSantis resembles the Roman leader Nero more each day. In fact, DeSantis even looks like the failed Roman despot.

Opinion echo published in Sarasota Herald Tribune: The more Florida remains ablaze with COVID-19, the more DeSantis resembles Nero

Look, I’ve conjured up as many proposals as I can to convince Gov. Ron DeSantis to start treating common sense as an ally in the fight to stem COVID in Florida – and not as the adversary he clearly views it to be.

Governor of Florida Ron DesSantis is an Emperor Nero reenactor!

I’ve suggested that DeSantis take French lessons and emulate the decisive leadership that France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has shown by getting tough with the petulant, anti-intellectual, science-mocking, “I ain’t getting vaccinated and you ain’t gonna make me no way, no how – no matter how many people get sick around me" (cult!) crowd.

I pleaded with DeSantis to not be “that guy” – the guy destined to be forever remembered, like former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, as a leader who, during a key moment in history, notoriously stood in the way of progress and enlightenment.

But, stupid Governor Ron DeSantis has not listened to my plea.

Therefore, I'm going to have to get money involved in all this.

Yes! I am ready to pay £25 – the £20 adult admission fee plus an additional £5 museum donation – to buy Gov. DeSantis a ticket to see “Nero: The Man Behind the Myth,” the wildly popular exhibition devoted to the infamous Roman emperor, in the world-renowned British Museum in London.

This is no small deal because the last time I checked, £25 converts to nearly $35 in American currency.  (Maine Writer- Can we also launch a fund raiser to pay for the DeSantis - one way- travel expenses? Just askin'!)

But, it's an investment I'll gladly make to let DeSantis learn, firsthand, about someone else who did precious little while the place he led – in Nero’s case, the fire-ravaged Rome of A.D. 64 – became ablaze with growing misery and affected lives.

OK, OK, I'll make the obvious point: No, of course, DeSantis doesn’t resemble Nero in every way: while DeSantis seems to govern with a relentlessly cynical streak, that’s nothing close to the routinely ruthless one that Nero wielded as an emperor.

Fine. I'll concede that much.(But, hey! He has the capacity to do so!)

But, come on now, think about it:

As Florida remains aflame with raging COVID infections, alarming levels of hospitalizations, rising deaths, still-sluggish vaccination rates and bizarre efforts to block schoolchildren from being protected by masks in classrooms, is there really much difference in how DeSantis is mishandling this crisis and how Nero obliviously allowed Rome to burn to a rubble around him?

Nero spent an inordinate amount of time preening, posturing and blustering instead of acting proactively to handle the fire.

HELO? Does this sound like stupid DeSantis and COVID? Check.

Moreover, Nero blamed others for causing and failing to quell the fire – instead of showing true accountability as a leader to bring things under control. DeSantis and COVID? Um, check again.

In fact, there are many DeSantis-Nero similarities. 

What DeSantis is is wrongly doing in Florida right now and what emperor Nero did back in Roman history, are like bookend historic similarities. Still, there’s only one reason why you can’t accurately accuse DeSantis of doing a perfect imitation of Nero “fiddling while Rome burned”: in fact, the violin actually hadn’t been invented when Nero was alive.

That’s pretty eye-opening when you think about it.

And it’s why I’m willing to open my wallet in yet one more bid to get DeSantis to open his mind – and to change his misguided approach to addressing COVID’s still-fearsome grip on our state.

Here’s hoping Gov. DeSantis takes me up on the offer. And here's hoping that he does it quickly.

You might say the time for fiddling around is over.

Opinions Editor Roger Brown can be reached at roger.brown@heraldtribune.com. 

Another COVID fringe conspiracy theory!

Published in The Conversation* by Eric M. Vanden Eykel

OMG! No, the COVID-19 vaccine is not linked to the cryptic "mark of the beast" – but a first-century Roman tyrant probably is.

The mass rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has led to concerns from some people that can be described as rational: What are the side effects? How effective will the shot be? 

But, then there are those who are worried that the vaccine will brand people with the “mark of the beast” as described in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation (!- Thank goodness for this essay, by Dr. Eykel.).

The mark of the beast – a cryptic mark in Revelation which indicates allegiance to Satan – has been invoked by fringe Christian figures throughout the pandemic in reference to what they deem to be the evil of masks and (OMG!) vaccines. It ranges from the seemingly metaphorical likening of vaccine passports by a Republican House representative to something like “Biden’s mark of the beast” to the more literal interpretation that those getting a vaccine would be marked as followers of Satan.

It is tempting to dismiss such beliefs out of hand. After all, it is a fringe idea promoted by conspiracy theorists. 

Nevertheless, the absurd idea has gained enough traction that some medical establishments have felt the need to address it head on. Minneapolis-based Hennepin Healthcare, for example, states in an online fact sheet that “the COVID-19 vaccines do not contain … The Mark of the Beast.”

As a scholar of early Christian literature, I would note that the mark of the beast in Revelation has throughout history been misunderstood as referring to various events and phenomena. Its connection to the COVID-19 vaccine is but the latest example of such (IMO- stupid!) misunderstanding.

Moreover, I argue that the mark in Revelation is best understood in the first-century context in which it was used, as a polemic against the Roman Empire.

Reading Revelation with first-century eyes

The Book of Revelation is a complicated text. Written toward the end of the first century by an author who calls himself John, the text is filled with symbolic imagery that has mystified readers for centuries.

Using visions of angels and demons, death and destruction, John tells a story of an ongoing cosmic battle between good and evil that will end with good triumphing eventually. The beast and its mark are both understood by this author to be evil, and they are some of the most well-known and most misunderstood parts of his story.

In Revelation 13, John describes the beast as having seven heads and 10 horns, a leopard’s body, the feet of a bear and a lion’s mouth. The beast in this text is powerful, Satanic and is an object of worship.

There is also a second beast that promotes worship of the first. The most notable thing about the second beast is that it causes people to receive a mark on their forehead or right hand with “the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

John concludes this chapter with a riddle: “Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.” (Rev 13:18).
The beast and the empire

Throughout history, this number has been used to demonize phenomena that readers are either wary of or don’t fully understand. It should come as no surprise, then, that some have tried to connect the COVID-19 vaccine to the mark in a similar way.

This interpretation is problematic, however, and for two reasons: First, the COVID-19 vaccines are modern phenomena that the author of Revelation and his earliest readers would have no familiarity with. Second, there is another explanation for the beast and its number that makes far more sense historically.

Many biblical scholars maintain that the first beast is a symbolic representation of first-century Roman emperors. In this reading, each head would represent one emperor. While there is some debate in scholarship on which specific emperors the author of Revelation is alluding to, there is fairly widespread agreement that Emperor Nero is one of them.

This conclusion is drawn not only from other references to Nero in Revelation, but also from his reputation in the first century for persecuting Christians in Rome.

In A.D. 64, when Nero was emperor, a great fire took hold in Rome and burned for nearly a week. Roman historians Suetonius, Cassius Dio and Tacitus claim that Nero himself was the one responsible for igniting the blaze, Tacitus adds that Nero attempted to free himself of blame by placing guilt on the Christians living in the city.

The Book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse of John, Revelation to John or Revelation from Jesus Christ) is the final book of the New Testament, and consequently, is also the final book of the Christian Bible.

Nero’s number

There are a number of other points in Revelation where the author seems to allude to Nero. There is a possible reference to the great fire of Rome later in the text, for example, in Revelation 17:16. John’s description of one of the beast’s heads being “wounded” may likewise be a reference to Nero’s death, which Suetonius describes as a self-inflicted stab to the neck.

But perhaps the clearest reference to Nero in Revelation is the infamous “666,” the number of the beast that constitutes the beast’s mark.

Past, not future

Although there has been much speculation over the number’s significance in the past, there is a growing body of scholars who believe it to be a direct reference to Nero.

There is a well-known practice in the ancient world called “gematria,” in which letters are assigned numerical values. This allows authors to refer to individuals by using “the number of their name,” rather than their actual name. And biblical scholars have long noted that in Hebrew characters, the numerical value of Nero’s formal title – Caesar Nero – is 666.

This, along with the other allusions to Nero in Revelation, leaves little doubt, I argue, as to who the author is referencing with this number.

There is, however, one piece of this riddle left, and that is what exactly the mark of the beast in Revelation is. Given the symbolic nature of the book as a whole, the reference to being marked on the forehead or hand is likely not something to be taken at face value.

More important is John’s claim that no one would be able to buy or sell anything without having the mark that bears the name of the beast. So, what does one need to buy and sell that would also have the name of the beast on it? One possible answer to that question is money – and we have numerous examples in the archaeological record of Roman coinage that bears the name Caesar Nero.

One of the reasons that Revelation is often confusing to those trying to interpret the book today is that they frequently are trained to see it as a book about the future, when in fact, it is primarily a book about the past. Clearly, John and his first-century readers would have been able to know the answer to “What is the mark of the beast?” in their first-century context. 

Otherwise, the text wouldn’t have made much sense to anyone when it was first written.

In other words: when John gives his “number of the beast” riddle to readers in the first century, he anticipates that it is a riddle they will be equipped to solve in the first century.

While some may have lingering questions about COVID-19 vaccines, the question of whether those vaccines are linked to the mark of the beast shouldn’t be one of them.

*Eric M. Vanden Eykel is Associate Professor of Religion, Ferrum College, Virginia.

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