The Eagle Vision of 4 Ezra

The large chart below provides various interpretations regarding the historical personages represented in the Eagle Vision as various wings and heads in 4 Ezra 11-12. Most of the data is taken from the appendix to the DiTommaso article (see bottom of chart), which clearly demonstrates the superiority of a Severan reading of the visions. For this reason, I’ve placed his reading first in the columns. As I obtain more information from the sources mentioned by DiTommaso, and discover any other suggestions of note, I will include them here.

My own opinion is that the Eagle Vision originally dated to the reign of Domitian and also contained no mention of three heads and eight small wings. There are two large blocks of material (11.20-35 and 12.17-30) which cover these elements, with minor editing elsewhere (11.1, 3-4, 9-11, 45; 12.2, 3a). Without these, the vision reads easily as one of a twelve-winged eagle, the twelve wings also corresponding to the first twelve Roman Emperors, bringing us up to Domitian. You may read more about this here.

For the time being, here is the scheme that I find fits the data best. See my Notes for explanations:

Wing 1:	Julius Caesar	59/48/46-44
Wing 2:	Augustus	44/23-14
Wing 3:	Tiberius	14-37
Wing 4:	Caligula	37-41
Wing 5:	Claudius	41-54
Wing 6:	Nero	54-68
Small Wing 1:	Vindex	68 (rebellion, no rule)	[these two small wings are placed
Small Wing 2:	Macer	68 (rebellion, no rule)	here according to 12.21]
Wing 7:	Galba	68-69
Wing 8:	Otho	69
Wing 9:	Vitellius	69
Wing 10:	Vespasian	69-79
Wing 11:	Titus	79-81
Wing 12:	Domitian and Commodus	81-96 180-192
Small Wing 3:	Pertinax	Jan 1-Mar 28, 193	87 days
Small Wing 4:	Didius Julianus	Mar 28-June 1, 193	66 days
Small Wing 5:	Pescennius	193-194	(rebellion, no rule)
Small Wing 6:	Albinus	193-197	(rebellion, no rule)
(Big) Head 1:	Septimius Severus	193-211 (Feb 1)
Heads 2 & 3:	Caracalla and Geta	198-211 209-211	killed in late December
Head 3:	Caracalla	211-217
Small Wings 7 & 8:	Macrinus and Diadumenianus	217-218 218

In the following chart, a “[none]” indicates that the author named in bold at the top of the column has not offered an identification for that particular element.

(To navigate within this very wide chart, on a desktop machine, click within it and then use arrow keys; on an iPhone or iPad, to navigate sideways, use a double-fingered swipe.)