Page "Book of Revelation" Paragraph 16

Those who favour the later date appeal to the earliest external testimony, that of the Christian father Irenaeus ( c. 150-202 ), who wrote that he received his information from people who knew John personally.

Domitian, according to Eusebius of Caesarea ( c. 263 – 339 ), started the persecution referred to in the book.

While some recent scholars have questioned the existence of a large-scale Domitian persecution, others believe that Domitian's insistence on being treated as a god may have been a source of friction between the Church and Rome.