<P> Mark probably dates from 66--70 AD . It appears as the second New Testament gospel because it was traditionally thought to be an epitome (summary) of Matthew, but most scholars now regard it as the earliest written gospel . They also reject the tradition which ascribes it to John Mark, the companion of the apostle Peter, and regard it as the work of an unknown author working with various sources including collections of miracle stories, controversy stories, parables, and a passion narrative . </P> <P> The Gospel of Mark was written anonymously . Early Christian tradition ascribes it to John Mark, a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter . Hence its author is often called Mark, even though most modern scholars are doubtful of the Markan tradition and instead regard the author as unknown . It was probably written c . AD 66--70, during Nero's persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt, as suggested by internal references to war in Judea and to persecution . The author used a variety of pre-existing sources, such as conflict stories (Mark 2: 1--3: 6), apocalyptic discourse (4: 1--35), and collections of sayings (although not the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the Q source). </P> <P> Mark was written in Greek, for a gentile audience (that they were gentiles is shown by the author's need to explain Jewish traditions and translate Aramaic terms) of Greek - speaking Christians: Rome (Mark uses a number of Latin terms), Galilee, Antioch (third - largest city in the Roman Empire, located in northern Syria), and southern Syria have all been offered as alternative places of authorship . The author may have been influenced by Greco - Roman biographies and rhetorical forms, popular novels and romances, and the Homeric epics; nevertheless, he mentions almost no public figures, makes no allusions to Greek or Roman literature, and takes all his references from the Jewish scriptures, mostly in their Greek versions from the Septuagint . His book is not history in the modern sense, or even in the sense of classical Greek and Roman historians, but "history in an eschatological or apocalyptic sense," depicting Jesus caught up in events at the end of time . </P> <P> The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke bear a striking resemblance to each other, so much so that their contents can easily be set side by side in parallel columns . The fact that they share so much material verbatim and yet also exhibit important differences has led to a number of hypotheses explaining their interdependence, a phenomenon termed the Synoptic Problem . Traditionally, Mark was thought to be an epitome (summary) of Matthew: for example, Augustine of Hippo believed they were written in order, "first Matthew, then Mark, thirdly Luke, lastly John" and that Mark followed Matthew as "his attendant and epitomizer". Today, the most widely accepted hypothesis is that Mark was the first gospel (Marcan Priority) and was used as a source by both Matthew and Luke, together with considerable additional material . The strongest argument for this is the fact that Matthew and Luke agree with each other in their sequence of stories and events only when they also agree with Mark . </P>

Who was the book of mark written to