In my book “On Time,” I mistakenly claimed that Vespasian was the seventh king in the prophecy of the beast with seven heads. I wrote:
Rome was a city built on seven hills. From the birth of Christ 69 through the siege of Jerusalem, Rome had seven Caesars:
- Julius
- Augustus
- Tiberius
- Gaius
- Claudius
- Nero
- Vespasian and his son, Titus as joint Caesars
Josephus and the Romans did not consider Galba, Otho, and Vitellius to be Caesars but saw them as disputed emperors. 70 The joint reign of Titus and Vespasian will be explained later. It was said that when the seventh king came he would “remain only a little while” (Revelation 17:10 [ESV]). After arriving in Judea, Vespasian fulfilled this prophecy by only crusading against Judea for about two years before returning to Rome to take the throne.
However, I discovered today that the Romans only considered the reigns of Otho and Vitellius to be illegitimate and characterized them as rebellions. In contrast, Galba’s reign was considered legitimate. Here is what Cassius Dio wrote of Galba,
63.29 …Galba, now that Nero had been destroyed and the senate had voted him the imperial power and Rufus had joined him, plucked up courage. He did not adopt the name Caesar, however, until the senate’s envoys had come to him…
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/63*.html
Tacitus also described that Vespasian looked favorably on Galba’s reign
Flavius Vespasian, a general of Nero’s appointment, was carrying on the war in Judæa with three legions, and he had no wish or feeling adverse to Galba. He had in fact sent his son Titus to acknowledge his authority and bespeak his favour, as in its proper place I shall relate.
Tacitus – Histories Book 1 Chapter 10 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0080%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D10)
However, later Otho’s soldiers killed Galba and he took the Emperorship by force. And in several instances, Cassius Dio claimed his authority was illegitimate.
When the soldiers had done this, they cut off the heads of their victims, which they then carried to Otho in the camp and also into the senate-house; and the senators, though terror-stricken, affected to be glad, etc.
64.8 The senate, however, voted to Otho all the privileges pertaining to the sovereignty. He claimed, it is p207 true, that he had acted under compulsion, that he had been taken into the camp against his will, and had there actually risked his life by opposing the soldiers. Furthermore he was kindly in his speech and affected modesty in his deportment, and he kept throwing kisses on his fingers to everybody and making many promises. 21 But men did not fail to realize that his rule26 was sure to be even more licentious and harsh than Nero’s. Indeed, he immediately added Nero’s name to his own…
64.10 Otho withdrew from the battle, declaring that he could not witness a battle between kindred — just as if he had become emperor in some legitimate fashion and had not murdered the consuls and the Caesar and the emperor in Rome itself.
64.15 …Thus after living most disgracefully of all men, he [Otho] died most nobly; and though he had seized the empire by a most villainous deed, his taking leave of it was most honourable.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/63*.html
Furthermore, the reign of Vitellius was also considered illegitimate. When he attacked Otho, Otho surrendered the throne to him and his illegitimate reign was passed onto another illegitimate ruler. Later, Cassius Dio demonstrates that the Romans considered Vitellius and Otho’s reigns to be a rebellion.
65.1 When the people in Rome heard of the fate of Otho, they naturally transferred their allegiance forthwith. And so Otho, whom they had previously been lauding and for whose victory they had been praying, was now abused as an enemy, whereas Vitellius, upon whom they had been invoking curses, was lauded and proclaimed emperor…
65.8 …At the same time that this happened Vespasian, who was engaged in warfare with the Jews, learned of the rebellion of Vitellius and of Otho and was deliberating what he should do…
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/64*.html
Given this new information, I think the most likely scenario is that the seventh king of the beast in Revelation’s prophecy was, in fact, Galba, who only reigned for seven months before being killed, fulfilling the prophecy that he would reign for a short while.
Because Otho and Vitellius were not considered legitimate, the eighth king would be Vespasian who reigned jointly with Titus as Emperors and were legitimate and widely accepted by the Romans. They led Rome out of its chaotic civil war and went on to destroy the temple in Jerusalem.
Revelation 17:10-11 (WEB) They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction.
I am in the process of updating the book to reflect this new information. I’m still studying these things and am doing my best to present what I believe is true and reliable information. I also believe this new information further strengthens the claim that the beast with 7-8 heads was Rome.