Supernatural Phenomenon in Rome

 

The Beast, Anti-Christ and False Prophet

                                      Supernatural Phenomenon In Rome

Acts 2:

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

 

 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

 

 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

 

 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

 

 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

 

 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

 

 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

 

 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Contrary to what is commonly taught, the Great Tribulation happened in the same generation that Jesus said that it would. The end of the world(age) occurred in 70 A.D. Just like the forty year transition from Egypt to the Promise Land, there was also a forty year transition from Law to Grace and the Kingdom of Heaven. It was the end of the covenant of the Law, the natural nation of Israel, old Jerusalem and the Temple, and the initiation into the covenant of the Gospel, the spiritual nation of the Royal Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, the New Heavenly Jerusalem which is the Mother of us all(Galatians 4) and we are the Temple. I have put together a collection of historical references that show that this is not a matter of doctrine, but of documented history.

Due to a misdating of the Book of Revelations, there has been much confusion pertaining to end time prophesy. Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon in Gaul(2nd century A.D.), In his book Against the Heresies made an assumption based on the Pharisees comment that Jesus was not yet 50 years old, yet claimed to know Abraham. He said that He must have been over 50 when crucified during the reign of Claudius and that John was exiled by Domitian. His entire dating process was off and that is who most Historians refer to. Eusebius was a Christian historian in the early forth century who used the assumption made by Irenaeus as a historical reference.

This caused something similar to having a traced image over an original picture that has slid off, creating a double image of the original. If we slide the traced image of our biblical understanding backwards about thirty years it all lines up. The first major persecution of the Christians by a Roman emperor was Nero, who died in 68 A.D.

75 per cent of Rome had burnt, so Nero blamed it on the Christians. If we take literal language literally and figurative language figuratively you will see something undeniable about the book of Revelations.

Revelations 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen (Julius,Augustus,Tiberius,Caligula,Claudius),and one is(Nero), and the other is not yet come(Galba); and when he cometh, he must continue a short space(six months).
The great tribulation that Yashua warned His disciples of, happened in their generation, just like He said it would. It was the judgment for being the adulteress wife that killed the prophets and anyone(Messiah included) who was sent to her to tell her to repent.

The great whore was Israel. All throughout the Old Testament God called Israel His adulteress wife because she worshiped other gods. The beast was Rome and the Emperors were worshiped as gods. If you did not have a certificate of sacrifice, you could not make any transactions and were considered an enemy of Rome and the Emperor.

The mark of the beast was a spiritual mark, rather than a physical one.

The man was Nero Kaiser. In Hebrew the alphabet was also used as numbers. This is called gematria.
The number of the beast in Greek Nron Qsr is 666. N=nun=50,R=resh=200,O=vav=6,N=nun=50,Q=qoph=100,S=samekh=60,R=resh=200.
The number of the beast in Latin Nro Qsr is 616. Which drops the second nun(n)
N=nun=50, R =resh=200, O=vav=6, Q=qoph=100, S=samekh=60, R=resh=200.

Every prophesy in the Bible that pertains to the Kingdom of Heaven says that it will fill the whole Earth. 

Revelations also expresses the nearness of the time in which these things were to happen.

Rev.1: 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. Rev.22:7 Behold, I come quickly:… 

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks(of years, Shebuoth,490 years) are determined upon thy people(the Jews) and upon thy holy city(Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.(Rev.21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.)
We are His Temple on Earth and we are seated in heavenly places in Him.

 Daniel 9:25a Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem...
(Nehemiah 2:8And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.)  Daniel 9:25b...unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Daniel 9:26a And after threescore and two weeks(7&62 Shebuoth=483  years)shall Messiah(Christ)be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince(Titus of Rome) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood(armies)...
(Isa.59:19b  When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.)
,Daniel 9:26b... and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Daniel 9:27 And he(Christ/not antichrist)shall confirm the covenant (the gospel grace)with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel 9:27 KJV

https://bible.com/bible/1/dan.9.27.KJV

 Daniel 9:27

 The Great Revolt started in 66 A.D. and ended on the 9th of Av (the same date of the Babylonian desolation) 70 A.D.

Matthew 23: 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

 30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation(the generation He was speaking to).

Matthew 24:1And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

 2And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Josephus the contemporary historian said that after the destruction of 70 A.D. that the land was plowed, fulfilling a prophesy of:

Micah 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. Jeremiah 26:18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Matthew 24: 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world(age)?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet(Daniel 9:24-27), stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

The roman soldiers worshiped the image on the top of their ensign (standard) staves (flag poles).

Luke 21:  20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Jesus gave the disciples two signs to look for, the abomination of desolation and armies surrounding the city. First the Roman soldiers brought their ensigns into the holy place. This outraged the Jews who declared war on Rome. Vespasian was summoned to put Jerusalem under siege, then got word that Nero committed suicide. Rome went into a four way civil war(The year of four Emperors) and Vespasian became the next Emperor. This gave all of the followers of Christ the opportunity to escape and go to Pella before Vespasian’s son Titus came back and destroyed Jerusalem.

Mattew 24: 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

False prophets led many to their destruction and false messiahs, who probably knew of Daniels prophesy, claimed to be the Messiah, and their followers fought with the followers of the other false messiahs. They also burned all the grain that was stored up in the city to keep their rivals from getting it.

Matthew 24: 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

 Are we starting to understand what generation He was speaking to?

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

First century Jewish converts did not think like 21^st century western Christians. We think of Heaven as the third heaven where God's throne is, and planet Earth. They thought of heaven and earth as the sky, land and inhabitants thereof. For example, Rev.24:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Matthew 26: 1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,…

Matthew chapters 23,24,and 25 must all be read with the understanding that it all fits together. Chapter 23 was preached in the Temple, then there was a brief pause as He went up to the Mount of Olives to explain to His disciples what was going to happen in their generation.

The gospels, Acts and the epistles were written by the disciples of Christ that were alive at the time and shared both experiences and mysteries revealed by the Holy Spirit. 

There are also resources that, although not divinely inspired, in fact not even Christian, that record the events prophesied in the Word by those that were alive at the time and written about, after the fact. Three Romans and a Jew recorded supernatural phenomenon that were so commonplace that they were not afraid to include them in their reports because they were common knowledge at the time. The Great Tribulation occurred from 66-70 A.D. In order to get a better understanding of what occurred during that time I had to, not only include histories recorded from 54-80 A.D., but also give background information going back to the birth of some.

Author:Cassius Dio Time: A.D. 54

 At the death of Claudius the leadership on most just
principles belonged to Britannicus, who had been born a legitimate son of
Claudius and in physical development was beyond what would have been expected
of his years. Yet by law the power passed to Nero on account of his adoption.
No claim, indeed, is stronger than that of arms. Everyone who possesses
superior force has always the appearance of both saying and doing what is more
just. So Nero, having first disposed of Claudius's will and having succeeded him
as master of the whole empire, put Britannicus and his sisters out of the way.
Why, then, should one stop to lament the misfortunes of other victims? 

The following signs of dominion had been observed in his(Nero) career. At his birth just before dawn rays not cast by any beam of sunlight yet visible surrounded his form. And a certain astrologer from this and from the motion of the stars at that time and their relation to one another divined two things in regard to him,--that he would rule and that he would murder his mother. Agrippina on hearing this became for the moment so beside herself as actually to cry out: "Let him kill me, if only he shall rule." Later she was destined to repent bitterly of her prayer. Some people become so steeped in folly that if they expect to obtain some blessing mingled with evil, they at once through their anxiety for the advantage pay no heed to the detriment. When the time for the latter also comes, they are cast down and would choose not to have secured even the greatest good thing. Yet Domitius, the father of Nero, had a sufficient previous intimation of his son's coming baseness and licentiousness, not by any oracle but through the nature of his own and Agrippina's characters. And he declared: "It is impossible for any good man to be born from me and from her." As time went on, the finding of a serpent skin around Nero's neck when he was but a boy caused the seers to say: "He shall acquire great power from the aged man." Serpents are thought to slough off their old age with their old skin, and so get power. 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 61chapter 2 

 Author:Cassius Dio

Persons could actually be heard saying in so many words: "Nero put his mother out of the way." Not a few lodged information that certain persons had spoken in this way, their object being not so much to destroy those whom they accused as to bring reproach, on Nero. Hence he would admit no suit of that kind, either not wishing that the rumor should become more widespread by such means, or out of utter contempt for what was said. However, in the midst of the sacrifices offered in memory of Agrippina according to decree, the sun suffered a total eclipse and the stars could be seen. Also, the elephants drawing the chariot of Augustus entered the hippodrome and went as far as the senators' seats, but at that point they stopped and refused to proceed farther. And the event which one might most readily conjecture to have taken place through divine means was that a thunderbolt descended upon his dinner and consumed it all as it was being brought to him, like some tremendous harpy snatching away his food. 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 61chapter 16 

Author:Cassius Dio

Some portents had taken place about this time, which the seers declared imported destruction to him, and they advised him to divert the danger upon others. So he would have immediately put numbers of men out of the way, had not Seneca said to him: "No matter how many you may slay, you can not kill your successor." 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 61chapter 18

 Author:Cassius Dio

While this sport was going on at Rome, a terrible disaster had taken place in Britain. Two cities had been sacked, eight myriads of Romans and of their allies had perished, and the island had been lost. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon them by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame. Heaven evidently gave them in advance an indication of the catastrophe. At night there was heard to issue from the senate-house foreign jargon mingled with laughter and from the theatre outcries with wailing: yet no mortal man had uttered the speeches or the groans. Houses under water came to view in the river Thames,  and the ocean between the island and Gaul sometimes grew bloody at flood-tide. 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 62chapter 1 61 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

At these words, employing a species of divination, she let a hare escape from her bosom, and as it ran in what they considered a lucky direction, the whole       multitude shouted with pleasure, and Buduica raising her hand to heaven, spoke:  "I thank thee, Andraste, and call upon thee, who are a woman, being myself also a      woman that rules not burden-bearing Egyptians like Nitocris, nor merchant Assyrians like Semiramis (of these things we have heard from the Romans), nor even the Romans          themselves, as did Messalina first and later Agrippina;--at present their chief is Nero, in    name a man, in fact a woman, as is shown by his singing, his playing the cithara, his         adorning himself:--but ruling as I do men of Britain that know not how to till the soil or ply a trade yet are thoroughly versed in the arts of war and hold all things common, even      children and wives; wherefore the latter possess the same valor as the males: being           therefore queen of such men and such women I supplicate and pray thee for victory and   salvation and liberty against men insolent, unjust, insatiable, impious,--if, indeed we ought to term those creatures men who wash in warm water, eat artificial dainties, drink unmixed wine, anoint themselves with myrrh, sleep on soft couches with boys for bedfellows (and past their prime at that), are slaves to a zither-player, yes, an inferior zither-player.         Wherefore may this Domitia-Nero woman reign no more over you or over me: let the      wench sing and play the despot over the Romans. They surely deserve to be in slavery to such a being whose tyranny they have patiently borne already this long time. But may we, mistress, ever look to thee alone as our head." 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 62 chapter 6  61 A.D.

Flavius Josephus: Jewish Historian

 "O Vespasian, although you suppose you have taken captive a forsaken Josephus, I have come as a messenger of great tidings. Had I not been sent by God to you, I know the law of the Jews, and how it is fitting for generals to die.
Do you send me to Nero? For what? Will any successors of Nero endure -- until you?
You are to be Caesar, O Vespasian, and Emperor, you, and this your son. Bind me now still more securely, and keep me for yourself, for thou, O Caesar, are not only lord over me, but over the land, and the sea, and all the human race; and certainly I deserve to be punished by closer custody than now, if I fabricate anything concerning God."
When he had said this, Vespasian at that time did not believe him, supposing that Josephus came up with this as a cunning trick to save himself. But after a little while he came to have faith in this, for God was already raising in him thoughts of obtaining the Empire, and by other signs foreshadowing his advancement.

                                   (Josephus, The Jewish War Book3.Chapter 8.Section 9 

Pgs.399-408) 

 Author:Cassius Dio

As an incidental labor connected with his sojourn in Greece he conceived a desire to dig a canal across the isthmus of the Peloponnesus, and he did begin the task. Men shrank from it, however, because, when the first workers touched the earth, blood spouted from it, groans and bellowings were heard, and many phantoms appeared. Nero himself thereupon grasped a mattock and by throwing up some of the soil fairly compelled the rest to imitate him. For this work he sent for a large number of men from other nations as well. 

.  Cassius Dio   DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 63chapter 16  67 A.D.

  From the Roman historian Suetonius:

5 There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judaea to rule the world. This prediction, referring to the emperor of Rome, as afterwards appeared from the event, the people of Judaea took to themselves; accordingly they revolted and after killing their governor, they routed the consular ruler of Syria as well, when he came to the rescue, and took one of his eagles.

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p289

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:

2 On the suburban estate of the Flavii an old oak tree, which was sacred to Mars, on each of the three occasions when Vespasia was delivered suddenly put forth a branch from its trunk, obvious indications of the destiny of each child. The first was slender and quickly withered, and so too the girl that was born died within the year; the second was very strong and long and portended great success, but the third was the image of a tree. Therefore their father Sabinus, so they say, being further encouraged by an inspection of victims, announced to his mother that a grandson had been born to her would be a Caesar. But she only laughed, marvelling that her son should already be in his dotage, while she was still of strong mind. 

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p291

The Histories By Tacitus

As for the hidden decrees of fate, the omens and the oracles that marked out Vespasian and his sons for imperial power, we believed in them only after his success.                                                                      The Histories By Tacitus Book I January - March, A.D. 69

Author:Cassius Dio

And little did he(Nero) reck that both sets of doors, those of the monument and those of the bedchamber of Augustus, opened of their own accord in one and the same night, or that at Albanum it rained so much blood that rivers of it flowed over the land, or that the sea retreated a good distance from Egypt and covered a large portion of Lycia.     DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 63chapter 26 68 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

While he(Nero) was on the way an extraordinary earthquake occurred, so that one might have thought the whole world was breaking apart and all the spirits of those murdered by him were leaping up to assail him.     DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 63chapter 27 68 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

Thus was Galba declared emperor just as Tiberius had foretold when he said to him: "You also shall have a little taste of sovereignty." The event was likewise foretold by unmistakable omens. He beheld in visions the Goddess of Fortune telling him that she had now stuck by him for a long time yet no one appeared ready to take her into his house; and if she should be barred out much longer she should take up her abode with some one else. During those very days also boats full of weapons and under the guidance of no human being came to anchor off the coast of Spain. And a mule brought forth young, an occurrence which had been previously interpreted as destined to portend the possession of authority by him. Again, a boy that was bringing him incense in the course of a sacrifice suddenly had his hair turn gray; whereupon the seers declared that dominion over the younger generation should be given to his old age.      DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 64 chapter1 68 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

 Indeed, Vitellius himself deemed himself of so little account that he made fun of the astrologers and used their prediction as evidence against them, saying: "Certainly they know nothing who declare that I shall become emperor."     DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 64 chapter 4 69 A.D.

The Histories By Tacitus

 Besides the manifold vicissitudes of human affairs, there were prodigies in heaven and earth, the warning voices of the thunder, and other intimations of the future, auspicious or gloomy, doubtful or not to be mistaken. Never surely did more terrible calamities of the Roman People, or evidence more conclusive, prove that the gods take no thought for our happiness, but only for our punishment. 

The Histories By Tacitus Book I January - March, A.D. 69 

The Histories By Tacitus

The 10th of January was a gloomy, stormy day, unusually disturbed by thunder, lightning, and all bad omens from heaven. Though this had from ancient time been made a reason for dissolving an assembly, it did not deter Galba from proceeding to the camp; either because he despised such things as being mere matters of chance, or because the decrees of fate, though they be foreshewn, are not escaped. Addressing a crowded assembly of the soldiers he announced, with imperial brevity, that he adopted Piso, following the precedent of the Divine Augustus, and the military custom by which a soldier chooses his comrade. 

The Histories By Tacitus Book I January - March, A.D. 69 

Author:Cassius Dio

For when the diviner declared that Galba would be the victim of conspiracy and therefore urged him by no means to go abroad anywhere, Otho heard it, and hastening down immediately as if on some other errand was admitted within the wall by some few soldiers who were in the conspiracy with him.     DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 64 chapter 5 69 A.D.

The Histories By Tacitus

On the 15th of January, as Galba was sacrificing in front of the temple of Apollo, the Haruspex Umbricius announced to him that the entrails had a sinister aspect, that treachery threatened him, that he had an enemy at home. Otho heard, for he had taken his place close by, and interpreted it by contraries in a favourable sense, as promising success to his designs.

The Histories By Tacitus Book I January - March, A.D. 69 

The Histories By Tacitus

Meanwhile the unconscious Galba, busy with his sacrifice, was importuning the gods of an empire that was now another's.

The Histories By Tacitus Book I January - March, A.D. 69 

Author:Cassius Dio

This was the end that befell Galba. But retribution was destined full soon enough to seek out Otho in his turn, as he at once learned. As he was offering his first sacrifice, the omens were seen to be unfavorable, so that he repented of what had been done and said: "What need was there of my playing on the long flutes?" This is a colloquial and proverbial expression that has reference to those who do anything out of their usual line.     DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 64 chapter 7 69 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

Otho, not succeeding by frequent invitations in persuading Vitellius to come and share the imperial office, eventually plunged into open war against him. And he sent soldiers whom he put in charge of several different leaders; this fact was largely responsible for his reverses.

Otho declined battle, saying that he could not see a battle fought between kindred, just as if he had become emperor in some legitimate fashion and had not killed the consuls and the Caesar  and the emperor  in Rome itself. There fell in the battles which took place near Cremona four myriads of men on both sides. Here, they say, various omens appeared before the battle, most noteworthy being an unusual bird, such as men had never before beheld, that was seen for a number of days.      DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 64 chapter 10 69 A.D.

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:
"In Judaea, Vespasian consulted the oracle of the God of Carmel and was given a promise that he would never be disappointed in what he planned or desired, however lofty his ambitions. Also, a distinguished Jewish prisoner of Vespasian's, Josephus by name, insisted that he would soon be released by the very man who had now put him in fetters, and who would then be Emperor. Reports of further omens came from Rome..."                                        (The Twelve Caesars, Vespasian 5) 

Author:Cassius Dio

 While he (Vitellius) was behaving in this way, evil omens occurred. A comet star was seen, and the moon contrary to precedent appeared to have had two eclipses, being obscured by shadows on the fourth and on the seventh day. Also people saw two suns at once, one in the west weak and pale, and one in the east brilliant and powerful. On the Capitol many huge footprints were seen, presumably of some spirits that had descended that hill. The soldiers who had slept there the night in question said that the temple of Jupiter had opened of itself with great clangor and some of the guards were so terrified that they expired. At the same time that this happened Vespasian, engaged in warfare with the Jews, [sent his son Titus to the emperor Galba to give him a message. But when Titus returned, having learned on the way] of the rebellion of Vitellius and of Otho, he deliberated what ought to be done. [For Vespasian was in general not rashly inclined and he hesitated very much about involving himself in such troublous affairs.] 
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 65 chapter 8 69 A.D.

The Histories By Tacitus
In A distant part of the world fortune was now preparing the origin and rise of a new dynasty, whose varied destinies brought happiness or misery on the State, prosperity or destruction on the Princes of its line. Titus Vespasian had been sent from Judaea by his father while Galba still lived, and alleged as a reason for his journey the homage due to the Emperor, and his age, which now qualified him to compete for office. But the vulgar, ever eager to invent, had spread the report that he was sent for to be adopted. The advanced years and childless condition of the Emperor furnished matter for such gossip, and the country never can refrain from naming many persons until one be chosen. The report gained the more credit from the genius of Titus himself, equal as it was to the most exalted fortune, from the mingled beauty and majesty of his countenance, from the prosperous fortunes of Vespasian, from the prophetic responses of oracles, and even from accidental occurrences which, in the general disposition to belief, were accepted as omens.

The Histories By Tacitus Book 1I March - August, A.D. 69 

Author:Cassius Dio

But people favored him greatly: his reputation won in Britain, his fame derived from the war under way, his kindheartedness and prudence, all led them to desire to have him at their head. Likewise Mucianus urged him strongly, hoping that Vespasian should get the name of emperor and that he as a result of the other's good nature should enjoy an equal share of power. Vespasian's soldiers on ascertaining all these facts surrounded his tent and hailed him as emperor. Portents and dreams pointing him out as sovereign long before had also fallen to the lot of Vespasian, and these will be recited in the story of his life.

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 65 chapter 9  69 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

The great confusion which under these conditions prevailed in the camp of Vitellius was increased that night by an eclipse of the moon. It was not so much its being obscured (though even such phenomena cause fear to men in excitement) as the fact that the luminary appeared both blood-colored and black and reflected still other terrifying shades. Not for this, however, would the men change their attitude or yield: but when they encountered each other they contended most vigorously, although, as I said, the Vitellians were leaderless; for Alienus had been imprisoned at Cremona. 
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 65 chapter 11  69 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

Vitellius, on learning of the defeat, was for a time quite disturbed. Omens had contributed to make him uneasy. He had been offering a certain sacrifice, and after it was addressing the soldiers, when a lot of vultures swooped down, scattered the sacred meats, and nearly knocked him from the platform.
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 65 chapter 16  69 A.D.

The Histories By Tacitus

Titus, after surveying the treasures, the royal presents, and the other objects which the antiquarian tendencies of the Greek arbitrarily connect with some uncertain past, first consulted the oracle about his voyage. Receiving an answer that the way was open and the sea propitious, he then, after sacrificing a number of victims, asked some questions in ambiguous phrase concerning himself. Sostratus (that was the name of the priest) seeing that the entrails presented an uniformly favourable appearance, and that the goddess signified her favour to some great enterprise, returned at the moment a brief and ordinary answer, but afterwards soliciting a private interview, disclosed the future. His spirits raised, Titus rejoined his father, and was received as a mighty pledge of success by the wavering minds of the provincials and the troops. Vespasian had all but completed the Jewish war, and only the siege of Jerusalem now remained, an operation, the difficulty and arduousness of which was due, rather to the character of its mountain citadel and the perverse obstinacy of the national superstition, than to any sufficient means of enduring extremities left to the besieged. 

 The Histories By Tacitus Book 1I March - August, A.D. 69 

The Histories By Tacitus

 The natives of these parts relate that on the day when the battle was being fought at Bedriacum, a bird of unfamiliar appearance settled in a much frequented grove near Regium Lepidum, and was not frightened or driven away by the concourse of people, or by the multitude of birds that flocked round it, until Otho killed himself; then it vanished. When they came to compute the time, it was found that the commencement and the end of this strange occurrence tallied with the last scenes of Otho's life. 

The Histories By Tacitus Book 1I March - August, A.D. 69 

The Histories By Tacitus

But there were many things to exasperate the already divided feelings of the soldiery. Pay and provisions were scanty, Gaul was rebelling against conscription and taxes, while the Rhine, owing to a drought unexampled in that climate, would hardly admit of navigation, and thus supplies were straitened at the same time that outposts had to be established along the entire bank to keep the Germans from fording the stream; the self-same cause thus bringing about a smaller supply of grain and a greater number of consumers. Among ignorant persons the very failure of the stream was regarded as a prodigy, as if the very rivers, the old defences of the Empire, were deserting us. What, in peace, would have seemed chance or nature, was now spoken of as destiny and the anger of heaven. 

The Histories By Tacitus Book 4  January - November, A.D. 70 

Author:Cassius Dio

Such was the course of events on the heels of which Vespasian was declared emperor by the senate and Titus and Domitian were given the title of Caesars. The consular office was assumed by Vespasian and Titus while the former was in Egypt and the latter in Palestine. Vespasian had seen portents and dreams that long beforehand indicated that he was destined to rule. As he was eating dinner in the country, where most of his time was spent, a cow approached him, knelt down, and put her head beneath his feet. Another time, when he was taking food, a dog threw a human hand under the table. And a conspicuous cypress tree, which had been uprooted and overthrown by a violent wind, on the next day stood upright again by its own power and continued to flourish. From a dream he learned that when Nero Caesar should lose a tooth, he should be emperor: and this matter of the tooth became a reality on the following day. Nero himself in his slumbers thought he was bringing the chariot of Jupiter to Vespasian's house. These occurrences, of course, needed interpretation. But in addition a Jew named Josephus, who had previously been disliked by him and imprisoned, gave a laugh and said: "You may imprison me now, but a year later when you become emperor you will release me." 

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 66 chapter 1  70 A.D.

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:

3 Later, when Vespasian was aedile, Gaius Caesar, incensed at his neglect of his duty of cleaning the streets, ordered that he be covered with mud, which the soldiers accordingly heaped into the bosom of his purple-bordered toga; this some interpreted as an omen that one day in some civil commotion his country, trampled under foot and forsaken, would come under his protection and as it were into his embrace. 4 Once when he was taking breakfast, a stray dog brought in a human hand from the cross-roads^c and dropped it under the table.¹⁴ Again, when he was dining, an ox that was ploughing shook off its yoke, burst into the dining-room, and after scattering the servants, fell at the very feet of Vespasian as he reclined at table, and bowed its neck as if suddenly tired out. A cypress tree, also, on his grandfather's farm was torn up by the roots, without the agency of any violent storm, and thrown down, and on the following day rose again greener and stronger than before.

5 He dreamed in Greece that the beginning of good fortune for himself and his family would come as soon as Nero had a tooth extracted; and on the next day it came to pass that a physician walked into the hall¹⁵ and showed him a tooth which he had just then taken out.

6 When he consulted the oracle of the god of Carmel in Judaea, the lots were highly encouraging, promising that whatever he planned or wished however great it might be, would come to pass; and one of his high-born prisoners, Josephus by name, as he was being put in chains, declared most confidently that he would soon be released by the same man, who would then, however, be emperor. 7 Omens were also reported from Rome: Nero in his latter days was admonished in a dream to take the sacred chariot of Jupiter Optimus Maximus from its shrine to the house of Vespasian and from there to the Circus. Not long after this, too, when Galba was on his way to the elections which gave him his second consulship, a statue of the Deified Julius of its own accord turned towards the East; and on the p295field of Betriacum, before the battle began, two eagles fought in the sight of all, and when one was vanquished, a third came from the direction of the rising sun and drove off the victor.

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p295

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:

7 Therefore beginning a civil war and sending ahead generals with troops to Italy, he crossed meanwhile to Alexandria, to take possession of the key to Egypt.  There he dismissed all his attendants and entered the temple of Serapis alone, to consult the auspices as to the duration of his power. And when after many propitiatory offerings to the god he at length turned about, it seemed to him that his freedman Basilides offered him sacred boughs, garlands, and loaves, as is the custom there; and yet he knew well that no one had let him in, and that for some time he had been p299hardly able to walk by reason of rheumatism, and was besides far away. And immediately letters came with the news that Vitellius had been routed at Cremona and the emperor himself slain at Rome.

2 Vespasian as yet lacked prestige and a certain divinity, so to speak, since he was an unexpected and still new-made emperor; but these also were given him. A man of the people who was blind, and another who was lame, came to him together as he sat on the tribunal, begging for the help for their disorders which Serapis had promised in a dream; for the god declared that Vespasian would restore the eyes, if he would spit upon them, and give strength to the leg, if he would deign to touch it with his heel. 3 Though he had hardly any faith that this could possibly succeed, and therefore shrank even from making the attempt, he was at last prevailed upon by his friends and tried both things in public before a large crowd; and with success. At this same time, by the direction of certain soothsayers, some vases of antique workmanship were dug up in a consecrated spot at Tegea in Arcadia and on them was an image very like Vespasian.

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p299

The Histories By Tacitus

Prodigies had occurred, which this nation, prone to superstition, but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offering and sacrifice. There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. Some few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most there was a firm persuasion, that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers, coming from Judaea, were to acquire universal empire. These mysterious prophecies had pointed to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, with the usual blindness of ambition, had interpreted these mighty destinies of themselves, and could not be brought even by disasters to believe the truth. I have heard that the total number of the besieged, of every age and both sexes, amounted to six hundred thousand. All who were able bore arms, and a number, more than proportionate to the population, had the courage to do so. Men and women showed equal resolution, and life seemed more terrible than death, if they were to be forced to leave their country. Such was this city and nation; and Titus Caesar, seeing that the position forbad an assault or any of the more rapid operations of war, determined to proceed by earthworks and covered approaches. The legions had their respective duties assigned to them, and there was a cessation from fighting, till all the inventions, used in ancient warfare, or devised by modern ingenuity for the reduction of cities, were constructed. 

The Histories By Tacitus Book 5   A.D. 70 

Flavius Josephus: Jewish Historian

Josephus, The Jewish War Book 6.Chapter 5.Section 3 Pgs.288-309

    Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.

Star and Comet

    Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. 
 

Light Around the Altar

  
    Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan, April, about a week before Passover] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.

Cow Gives Birth to Lamb

  
    At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.

The Eastern Gate

  
    Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner  temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again. 
    This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.

Miraculous Phenomenon of Chariots in the Air

     Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Iyar, May or June] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.

Sound of a Great Multitude

    Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."

Jesus son of Ananias: A Voice from the East

     But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple [Sukkot, autumn, 62 CE], began on a sudden to cry aloud,

    "A voice from the east, 
    a voice from the west, 
    a voice from the four winds, 
    a voice against Jerusalem and the Holy House, 
    a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, 
    and a voice against this whole people!"

This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. 
    However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say anything for himself, or anything peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. 
    Hereupon the magistrates, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was,

    "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!"

And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. 
    Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow,

    "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!"

Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. 
     This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force,

    "Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the Holy House!"

And just as he added at the last,

    "Woe, woe to myself also!"

there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.

  Josephus, The Jewish War Book 6.Chapter 5.Section 3 Pgs.288-309

Author:Cassius Dio

Hard upon Vespasian's entrance into Alexandria the Nile overflowed, and rose in one day a palm higher than usual; indeed, such an occurrence, it was said, had taken place only once before. Vespasian himself healed two persons who had come to him because of a vision seen in dreams. One of them, who had a weak hand, he cured by treading upon that member, and the other one, who was blind, by spitting upon his eyes. His divine power herein shown gave him great repute, yet the Alexandrians, far from enjoying his society, detested him heartily; not only in private but in public they were forever making fun of and abusing him.

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 66 chapter 8  70 A.D.

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:

3 There were some dreadful disasters during his(Titus) reign, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, a fire at Rome which continued three days and as many nights, and a plague the like of which had hardly ever been known before.

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p333

 From the Roman historian Suetonius:

25 All agree that he(Vespasian) had so much faith in his own horoscope and those of his family, that even after constant conspiracies were made against him he had the assurance to say to the senate that either his sons would succeed him or he would have no successor. It is also said that he once dreamed that he saw a balance with its beam on a level placed in the middle of the vestibule of the Palace, in one pan of which stood Claudius and Nero and in the other himself and his sons. And the dream came true, since both houses reigned for the same space of time and the same term of years.

Suetonius :  The Lives of the 12 Caesars  p321

Author:Cassius Dio

Portents had occurred in his(Vespasian) career indicating his approaching end, such as the comet star which was seen for a considerable period and the opening of the monument of Augustus of its own accord. When the sick man's physician chided him for continuing his usual course of living and attending to all the duties that belonged to his office, he answered: "The emperor ought to die on his feet." To those who said anything to him about the comet he responded: "This is an omen not for me but for the Parthian king. He has flowing hair like the comet, whereas I am baldheaded." When he at length came to the belief that he was to die, he said only: "Now I shall become a god."

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 66 chapter 17  79 A.D.

Author:Cassius Dio

In Campania remarkable and frightful occurrences took place. A great fire was suddenly created just at the end of autumn. It was this way. The mountain Vesuvius stands over against Naples near the sea and has unquenchable springs of fire.

Author:Cassius Dio

DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 66 chapter 21  79 A.D.

Such is Vesuvius, and these phenomena regularly occur there at least once a year. But all the other happenings that took place in former time, though they may have seemed great and unusual to those who on each occasion observed them, nevertheless would be reckoned as but slight in comparison with what now occurred even though they should all be rolled into one. This was what befell. Numbers of huge men quite surpassing any human stature,--such creatures as giants are depicted to be,--appeared now on the mountain, now in the country surrounding it, and again in the cities, wandering over the earth day and night and also traversing the air. After this fearful droughts and earthquakes sudden and violent occurred, so that all the level ground in that region undulated and the heights gave a great leap. Reverberations were frequent, some subterranean resembling thunder and some on the surface like bellowings. The sea joined the roar and the sky resounded with it. Then suddenly a portentous crash was heard, as if the mountains were tumbling in ruins. And first there were belched forth stones of huge size that rose to the very summits before they fell; after them came a deal of fire and smoke in inexhaustible quantities so that the whole atmosphere was obscured and the whole sun was screened from view as if in an eclipse. 

23

Thus night succeeded day and darkness light. Some thought the giants were rising in revolt (for even at this time many of their forms could be discerned in the smoke and moreover a kind of sound of trumpets was heard), while others believed that the whole world was disappearing in chaos or fire. Therefore they fled, some from the houses into the streets, others from without into the house; in their confusion, indeed, they hastened from the sea to the land or from the land to the sea, deeming any place at a distance from where they were safer than what was near by. While this was going on an inconceivable amount of ashes was blown out and covered the land and the sea everywhere and filled all the air. It did harm of all sorts, as chance dictated, to men and places and cattle, and the fish and the birds it utterly destroyed. Moreover, it buried two whole cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii, while the populace was seated in the theatre. The entire amount of dust was so great that some of it reached Africa and Syria and Egypt, and it also entered Rome, where it occupied all the air over the city and cast the sun into shadow. There, too, no little fear was felt for several days, since the people did not know and could not conjecture what had happened. They like the rest thought that everything was being turned upside down, that the sun was disappearing in the earth and the earth was bounding up to the sky. This ashes for the time being did them no great harm: later it bred among them a terrible pestilence. 

A.D. 80 (a.u. 833)

24

Another fire, above ground, in the following year spread over a very large portion of Rome while Titus was absent on business connected with the catastrophe that had befallen in Campania. It consumed the temple of Serapis, the temple of Isis, the Saepta, the temple of Neptune, the Baths of Agrippa, the Pantheon, the Diribitorium, the theatre of Balbus, the stage-building of Pompey's theatre, the Octavian buildings together with their books, and the temple of Capitoline Jupiter with its surrounding temples. Hence the disaster seemed to be not of human but of divine contrivance                  DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY Book 66 chapter 22-24  79,80 A.D.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10890/10890-h/10890-h.htm#b63

http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/histories.5.v.html

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vespasian*.html
http://josephus.org/causeofDestruct.htm