Personally, I believe the two witnesses were James and Peter, of the Church in Jerusalem. I have not ironed out all the details, but I believe both were killed in Jerusalem where the Revelation stated the two witnesses were killed.
There is a myth that Peter was killed in Rome. I call it a myth because there is no evidence, of which I am aware, that he was ever in Rome. Everything in the scripture seems to point to Peter being a permanent part of the church of Jerusalem, with only limited travel outside the city.
There are a few other points to consider.
1) Their dead bodies lay in the street of Jerusalem for three and one-half days. Ponder that for a while. Name me one modern city that would allow that to happen. But what if there were already plenty of corpses of those murdered during a major civil war (the war that occurred in old Jerusalem in the late 0060's,) and of those who starved to death because of the resulting famine. Corpses in the city of Jerusalem both before and during the Roman Army siege were more than common.
2) Jesus said, in several ways, and on many occasions, that his Coming would occur in the generation of the disciples. Several times he bluntly stated that during his Coming he would send his angels to gather his elect (from the "four winds".) Therefore, when James and Peter were resurrected--when "they ascended up to heaven in a cloud," as written in Rev 11:12--they would have simply been a part of the first resurrection.
The fact that there is no written record of virtually anything, with the exception of Josephus and Tacitus, and the "fact" that there were no eyewitnesses remaining to this one event, can be explained in several ways:
1) Everyone that had received the "power" of the holy spirit--for example, on the day of Pentecost, or shortly thereafter--would have been resurrected. They are the ones who would have left us inspired writings of the event.
2) The eyewitnesses inside the city were most likely killed. The record provided by Josephus of the horrific civil war, famine, and slaughter by the Roman armies, leaves me to believe that, at the end, there were not a lot of eyewitnesses remaining, if any.
3) According to Josephus and Tacitus there were many unexplained, supernatural phenomena that occurred during the siege. The resurrection of Peter and James would have simply been one more, and maybe not so significant in comparison to the others. Recall this strange event recorded by both Josephus and Tacitus:
"There had happened omens and prodigies, things which that nation so addicted to superstition, but so averse to the Gods, hold it unlawful to expiate either by vows or victims. Hosts were seen to encounter in the air, refulgent arms appeared; and, by a blaze of lightning shooting suddenly from the clouds, all the Temple was illuminated. The great gates of the Temple were of themselves in an instant thrown open, and a voice more than human heard to declare, that “the Gods were going to depart.” [The Works of Tacitus, Vol 4, Book V, The Summary]
"Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities." [Josephus, Wars of the Jews, VI.5.3, translated by William Whiston, 1737]
“What I am about to relate would, I conceive, be deemed a mere fable, had it not been related by eye-witnesses, and attended by calamities commensurate with such portents. Before sunset were seen around the whole country chariots poised in the air, and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and investing the cities.” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Volume II, Chapter VI, p.197, translated by Robert Traill, 1851)
Do you recall the old spiritual, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," where we sing, "A band of angels coming down after me?" Ironic, isn't it?
Philip
thank you for your response.