The rugged, barren island of Patmos consists mainly of rocky, volcanic hills. Such islands were frequently used by the Romans as places of political banishment; and to Patmos John was sent. According to tradition and Scripture (Ch. T.9), John was banished by the Roman emperor Domitian (A.D. 95) and released eighteen months later, having meantime received the Apocalyptic visions. Expressions through The Apocalypse are suggestive of his presence on such an island, such as, “I stood upon the sand of the sea” (Apoc. 13:1).
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