Within Rome are found two structures that provide remarkable evidence for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. To understand this, however, we have to go back to the turbulent 60’s—not the 1960’s, but the 60’s, first century style.
In ad 64, Rome ruled much of the world, and much of that world was comprised of slaves. Emperor Nero was so malevolent that many at the time, and since, believe him to have been behind the burning of Rome. Civil wars began to spring up, and, by ad 66, Jewish Zealots were rebelling against the Roman occupation of Judea. Vespasian, the Roman governor of Syria, was dispatched to crush the Jewish rebellion. In a brutal war, Rome fought Judea and besieged Jerusalem. At the same time, Nero’s cruel treatment of his commanders resulted in his own soldiers turning on him, leading to his suicide. Vespasian was eventually recalled by Rome’s senate and crowned emperor. He left his son Titus in command of the forces arrayed against the Jews.
Given the terrible state in which Nero had left Rome, Vespasian sought a project that would improve morale and stabilize a shaky regime. The Coliseum was the result. As a grand political gesture, the amphitheater was built to pacify and entertain the populace. The chief form of entertainment was the gladiatorial games. Professional gladiators, condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves fought one another, or animals, to the death.
When completed, the elliptical venue stood 160 feet high and had four stories of windows, arches, and columns. Each of the exterior floors consisted of 80 arches. It could seat more than 55,000 spectators. In total, it encompassed an area the size of seven football fields. The structure required 100,000 cubic meters of marble and 300 tons of iron to hold it together.
How did Rome manage to pay for the massive complex? By sacking Jerusalem. Once Titus stormed Jerusalem, his forces were ordered to confiscate any gold and treasure found within the city. It took four legions, but Jerusalem’s walls were finally breached in ad 70. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, records that 1.1 million Jews were slaughtered and another 97,000 were sold into slavery. Thus began the Great Diaspora. Even those Jews who weren’t forcibly expelled fled due to persecution. The Jewish revolt finally ended when Masada fell in ad 73.
It took about ten years to complete the Coliseum. When finished, it was the largest such structure in the world. Titus, Vespasian’s successor, opened the facility in ad 80. Its inauguration included 100 consecutive days of activities and the slaughter of as many as 9,000 animals.
How do we know that it was loot from Jerusalem that paid for the Coliseum? This is where modern archaeology and recent research can be of assistance.
Geza Alfody (1935–2011) taught at the University of Budapest and was an expert in ancient history. He had particular expertise in deciphering “ghost inscriptions”—sayings affixed to ancient buildings via pegs and bronze lettering instead of being carved into the stone. Alfody found such an inscription near one Coliseum entrance. While the bronze letters have long since been removed, the peg marks betray an earlier inscription.
By arranging the peg holders, the inscription can be reconstructed:
Simply put, it was a dedication:
Basically, this commemorates the building of Vespasian’s amphitheater (the Coliseum) by Titus from the “spoils of war.” The only significant military engagement conducted by Titus was putting down the Judean revolt. Those spoils surely would have included the Hebrew temple treasures. Alfody concluded that this ghost-inscription linked the building of the Coliseum with Titus’s plunder from the Jewish War.2 Other scholars have since come to the same conclusion.
Titus only reigned for two short years. In ad 81, his brother, Domitian, took his place. Domitian built the Arch of Titus to honor his brother and to commemorate Rome’s War against the Jewish people.
The reliefs found on this arch whisper a compelling story. One reveals in great detail the temple items that were ransacked, showing the great menorah or golden lampstand (Ex. 25:31-40), the table of showbread (Ex. 25:23-30), and the silver trumpets (Num. 10:2).3
What does all of this have to do with Bible prophecy? In one of the most remarkable prophecies of Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ predicted that the temple would be destroyed. During His Olivet Discourse, the Lord prophesied the casting down of the stones of the great structure within one generation:
“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down’” (Mt. 24:1f).
During their sieges, the Roman Army would often build up fires at the base of walled structures built on limestone, as is the case with much of the temple complex. A hot enough fire would cause the limestone to turn to dust and any structure on top would collapse. This is what happened in ad 70.
Once the temple itself was set ablaze by the Romans, the gold-leaf ornamentation found within the temple and specifically on its ceiling began to melt. The melting gold flowed down the walls and settled into the crevices between the stones. The Romans pried apart the stones to extract the gold. Ultimately, it was this gold that paid for the Coliseum. In their efforts, the Romans unwittingly fulfilled the Lord’s prophecy with exacting detail. You can visit Jerusalem today and see the very stones they cast off the Temple Mount.
It’s also worth mentioning that Jesus’ prophecy and subsequent fulfillment were not lost on historians of His day. Phlegon, a first-century historian, wrote a work called Chronicles a decade after Jerusalem’s destruction. Origen, an Egyptian scholar from the second century, refers to it in his work, Origen Against Celsus: “Now Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events…but also testified that the result corresponded to His predictions.”4
In context, this seems to be a direct reference to the Lord’s prediction regarding the Jewish temple’s destruction.
If you ever have occasion to roam in Rome, stop and take a look at the ghost inscription and the whispering arch. Both provide remarkable testimony to fulfilled Bible prophecy!
If you would like to learn more on this topic, please visit the Christian Evidences website at: www.christianevidences.org
ENDNOTES
1 http://bit.ly/titus-colosseum-temple-treasure
2 http://bit.ly/alfody-ghost-inscription
3 http://bit.ly/rome-titus-relief-details
4 http://bit.ly/phlegon-origen-confirmations