When the third seal was opened, a voice declared a price of wheat. Although many English translations use a "measure" of wheat or a "quart" of wheat, the Greek term was the choenix, which is around 1.08 litres. In the first century AD, someone could buy around ten choenixes of wheat for a denarius. So it is a very expensive price that is described. But what if that price actually materialized in history? Could we pinpoint the fulfillment of the third seal? Up until AD 270, someone could still buy around five choenixes of wheat for a denarius. The value of the denarius had declined since the Roman emperors were running out of money but still needed to pay their soldiers, so they reduced the silver content in the denarius, resulting in inflation. But still the price of wheat was much lower than in Revelation 6:6.
In AD 284, Diocletian became the Roman emperor and ruled for just over 20 years. Inflation was a serious problem, so in AD 301, he issued an edict declaring the maximum prices of wheat, barley, wine, olive oil, and even a labourer's wages. He was trying to prevent injustice in how merchants raised prices. This edict was widely distributed with about 30 copies still in existence. The maximum price of wheat was 100 denarii for a modius castrensis (12.9 litres). If you do the math, this means a choenix of wheat cost 8.3 denarii, which is even higher than the price in Revelation 6:6! But this isn't necessarily famine as many commentators suggest, because the labourer's daily wage could be a maximum of 25 denarii too. It was inflation that the early Christian writer Lactantius blamed on the increased number of soldiers and reduced number of workers in his book "Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died". Diocletian's price edict was unsuccessful and inflation continued until the denarius had very little value remaining, and eventually ceased to be used.
The denarius was a monetary currency that was used during the time of the Roman empire. The price of wheat as measured in denarii should have been one choenix of wheat for a denarius some time before AD 301 during the reign of Diocletian. The price of wheat before, during, and after his reign are historically verifiable. Therefore, this was the only time in history where the price of wheat can be verified to fulfill the prediction of the third seal literally. And it cannot be future because the denarius is no longer used as a currency. Diocletian's price edict also mentions barley and has sections for different types of wine and oil, reflecting the same items mentioned in the third seal. Although the price in the edict does not match Revelation 6:6 exactly, being higher than it, we can interpret the voice from the throne as God's edict of inflation that Diocletian failed to counteract with his own edict. Other commentators in the past like John Gill and Edward B. Elliot have considered Diocletian to be the fulfillment of the fifth seal, so historicists have considered events during Roman times to be possible fulfillments of the seals.
I include a chart here with some wheat price data from Dominic Rathbone, Peter Temin, Roger S. Bagnall and Richard Duncan-Jones. I thank God for their research and scholarship in such areas. I also checked a translation of Diocletian's Price Edict by Antony Kropff. Because the inflation is so high, each horizontal line represent a 10X increase in the price of wheat.
In AD 284, Diocletian became the Roman emperor and ruled for just over 20 years. Inflation was a serious problem, so in AD 301, he issued an edict declaring the maximum prices of wheat, barley, wine, olive oil, and even a labourer's wages. He was trying to prevent injustice in how merchants raised prices. This edict was widely distributed with about 30 copies still in existence. The maximum price of wheat was 100 denarii for a modius castrensis (12.9 litres). If you do the math, this means a choenix of wheat cost 8.3 denarii, which is even higher than the price in Revelation 6:6! But this isn't necessarily famine as many commentators suggest, because the labourer's daily wage could be a maximum of 25 denarii too. It was inflation that the early Christian writer Lactantius blamed on the increased number of soldiers and reduced number of workers in his book "Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died". Diocletian's price edict was unsuccessful and inflation continued until the denarius had very little value remaining, and eventually ceased to be used.
The denarius was a monetary currency that was used during the time of the Roman empire. The price of wheat as measured in denarii should have been one choenix of wheat for a denarius some time before AD 301 during the reign of Diocletian. The price of wheat before, during, and after his reign are historically verifiable. Therefore, this was the only time in history where the price of wheat can be verified to fulfill the prediction of the third seal literally. And it cannot be future because the denarius is no longer used as a currency. Diocletian's price edict also mentions barley and has sections for different types of wine and oil, reflecting the same items mentioned in the third seal. Although the price in the edict does not match Revelation 6:6 exactly, being higher than it, we can interpret the voice from the throne as God's edict of inflation that Diocletian failed to counteract with his own edict. Other commentators in the past like John Gill and Edward B. Elliot have considered Diocletian to be the fulfillment of the fifth seal, so historicists have considered events during Roman times to be possible fulfillments of the seals.
I include a chart here with some wheat price data from Dominic Rathbone, Peter Temin, Roger S. Bagnall and Richard Duncan-Jones. I thank God for their research and scholarship in such areas. I also checked a translation of Diocletian's Price Edict by Antony Kropff. Because the inflation is so high, each horizontal line represent a 10X increase in the price of wheat.
