Why does John set his symbolic war of the Lamb in the Jezreel Valley? This is where a bit of historical information goes a long way. Before and after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the imperial Legio Sexta Ferrata (“Sixth Ironclad Legion”) was encamped in the Jezreel Valley. This may very well have inspired John to set the Lamb’s war here. The legion was known as the Fidelis et Constans—“Faithful and Steadfast.” But John, with a wink to the reader, says that the rider on the white horse is called Faithful and True. This kind of playfulness, where John applies the motto of a Roman
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