Gaius Asinius Pollio is my second sought-after author. He "was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporary history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Pollio was most famously a patron of Virgil and a friend of Horace and had poems dedicated to him by both men."
He was a close friend of Augustus and was the mentor of one of the son's of Herod the Great, Alexander:
The unfortunate fate which persistently pursued the Hasmonean house overtook this prince also. As heir presumptive to the throne by right of descent on his mother's side, he was sent to Rome for his education in the year 23 BC. He remained there in the household of Asinius Pollio until about the year 17 BC, when Herod himself brought him and his younger brother Aristobulus, who had been with him, home to Jerusalem.
Alexander's handsome presence and frank bearing made him a favorite with the people, and they longed for the day when the house of the Maccabees should mount the throne instead of the half-Jewish Herod. But, on the other hand, a certain degree of vanity and a spirit of vindictiveness, which marked him no less than his prepossessing qualities, rendered him extremely unpopular with the partisans of Herod, who had much to fear from a future King Alexander.
Alexander's father was Herod the Great, the builder of the Second Temple. His mother was Mariamne I, the last Hasmonean princess. During the period prior to his birth, Herod the Great killed all the male scions of the Hasmonean dynasty. He then entrusted custody of Mariamne to an elder family member, Joseph, when Herod was recalled to Rome with instructions for Joseph to execute Mariamne if Rome killed him (source: Josephus). When *false* reports returned of Herod's death, Joseph fled with Mariamne out of Jerusalem. Herod suspected Mariamne and Joseph of adultery and had the latter put to death, with Mariamne following years later. Herod the Great later ordered Alexander to be put to death as well.
I intuitively believe that Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, who was found in his father's temple, who promised his followers a kingdom, was in hiding until Herod the Great died and attempted to become the rightful heir and king, but the Herodians and Romans had him executed in order to continue Roman Judea.
In the aftermath of the First Roman-Jewish War and the deification of Augustus, supporters of the failed King Alexander made a secret history to continue his struggle. "The son of the man" being a grammatically strange construct in Koine Greek was a breadcrumb in the Synoptic Gospels pointing to both Herod the Great and the name "Alexandros."
If Asinius Pollio or Nicholas of Damascus survived in the Herculaneum library, this outlandish theory likely could be directly proved or refuted solely on the basis of either. Given their favored status by the Julian dynasty, they would likely be common works in an aristocratic household. Yet even if not, any contemporary accounts of Roman Judea will likely contain details that will fundamentally change the understanding of the period. The only question then is if they were one of the few scrolls destroyed by early extraction.
Revelation's seven seals might be being broken by the Lamb:
Certain words and phrases used in The Revelation had a clearer meaning to ancient readers familiar with objects of their time. For example, important documents were sent written on a papyrus scroll sealed with several wax seals. Wax seals were typically placed across the opening of a scroll, so that only the proper person, in the presence of witnesses, could open the document. This type of "seal" is frequently used in a figurative sense, in the book of Revelation, and only the Lamb is worthy to break off these seals.
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. Now no man lighting a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it upon a candlestick, that they who come in may see the light. For there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how you hear. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given: and whosoever hath not, that also which he thinketh he hath, shall be taken away from him.” (Luke 8:11-18, DRV)
Only time will tell, but in any case, the Empire Never Ended.