Christian writers modernized the ancient Antichrist tradition by adding Muhammad as its newest precursor.

Evidence

But it is Alvarus who weaves an elaborate exegetical argument to identify Muhammad as the Antichrist, or rather as a praecursor Antichristi, since he affirms (in the conservative tradition of Augustine) that there are many Antichrists. Since many accept that Domitian, Nero, and Antiochus are praecursores Antichristi, he asks, how can they not see that Muhammad is one too? — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 519

Categorization

• XREF: Sharply extends the reader’s genealogical claim about how Islam was slotted into a pre-existing Christian apocalyptic frame: Muhammad joined a standing list (Nero, Domitian) rather than generating a new category.
• SEED: Article angle: how each generation of Christian polemic updated the Antichrist ‘list’ to include its current enemy—from Rome, to Islam, to (in Aziz/Razack terms) modern frames reusing the structure.