The Medieval Legend of the Last Roman Emperor and Its Messianic Origin

Author(s): Paul J. Alexander

Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes , 1978, Vol. 41 (1978), pp. 1-15
Published by: The Warburg Institute

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/750860

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 THE MEDIEVAL LEGEND OF THE LAST ROMAN
EMPEROR AND ITS MESSIANIC ORIGIN*

By Paul J. Alexander

Long before Christianity established itself as the majority r

Roman Empire, Judaism and Christianity developed an in
Last Things. This interest is recorded in writings later
canonical (Daniel, 2 Thessalonians ii, Matthew xxiv, Reve
works that never or only sporadically obtained such recognit
or pseudepigraphic writings such as Enoch, Ezra or Baru
eschatological texts there was added in the seventh century anot
that, without displacing the earlier material, rapidly made it
in many areas of the medieval world, especially the Byza
This was the Revelation of Pseudo-Methodius.1
The Latin version of this text and, to a lesser extent, its Gree
long been known to scholars; but it was only recently recog
Greek text was itself the translation of a Syriac original com
argued elsewhere, in the latter half of the seventh century in or
in (eastern) Mesopotamia. The complete Syriac text was disco
ago by Michael Kmosko in a sixteenth-century Vatican manu
Syriacus 58.2 The seventh-century Greek translation of this
position has been rendered not only into Latin but also into C
It thus made its impact on medieval literature, not only on t
de Antichriste and on the Russian Primary Chronicle, both of the
but also on a considerable body of later prophetic literature i

* A version of this paper was read number toofthe

manuscripts. There is now at last
American Historical Association available on 29the De-
first critical edition based on the
cember 1976. The author is grateful to entire manuscript evidence, by Anastasios
Professor Gerard E. Caspary, for discussionLolos, Die Apokalypse des Ps.-Methodios, Bei-
and criticism, and to Professor Donald Wein- trfige zur Klassischen Philologie ed. Ernst
stein, Rutgers University, for prompting himHeitsch, Reinhold Merkelbach and Clemens
to clarify an important point (p. 14 and n. 45 Zintzen, 83, Meisenheim am Glan 1976.
below). Professor Alexander died before this 2 Two incomplete Syriac versions were dis-
article was in print. It has been seen through covered much earlier, F. Nau, 'Les R6v6la-
the press, at the author's request, by Pro-tions de Saint M6thode', Journal Asiatique,
fessor E. S. Gruen, University of Californiaser. II, 9, 1917, PP. 415-52. Michael
at Berkeley. The Editors are grateful to Dr.Kmosko, 'Das Ratsel des Pseudo-Methodius',
Judith Herrin for help with the preparation Byzantion 6, 1931, pp. 273-96, see also 5,
of the typescript. 1929/30, pp. 422-4. I have touched on this
1 Edition and discussion of Latin transla- discovery and its implications for the date
tion by Ernst Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte and undplace of origin of the work in: 'Medieval
Forschungen, Halle a. S. 1898 (reprint Turin Apocalypses as Historical Sources', American
1963), pp. 60-96 (cf. 3-59). Edition of Greek Historical Review 73, 1968, pp. 997-1018, esp.
versions by V. M. Istrin, Otkrovenie Mefodiia pp. 998f.; 'Byzantium and the Migration of
Literary Motifs: The Legend of the Last
Patarskago etc., Chteniia v Imp. Obshchestvie
Istorii i Drevnostei Rossiiskikh pro Moskov-
Roman Emperor', Medievalia et Humanistica,
skom Universitie 193, Moscow 1897, pp. n.s. ii, 1971, pp. 47-68, esp. 56-59; 'Pseudo-
1-74 (for philological discussion see ibid. 191, Methodius and Ethiopa' (in Russian), An-
Moscow I897, pp. 5-232). Istrin's edition tichnaia Drevnost i Srednie Veka Io, I973, PP.
consists essentially of collations of a small 21-27.
I

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2 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
the Byzantine Empire the Greek text c
attributed, like the Syriac original, to t
appeared in forms that were simultaneo
polated with more recent material, und
It is in these texts that the medieval leg
the form that would be influential foun
Pseudo-Methodius's prediction of a L
climax of his pamphlet. The Syriac work c
historical and the second the Apocalypse
career is prophesied in the latter as occurr
and before the reign of Antichrist. Howev
with its fantastic summary of world histo
Roman-Byzantine emperors, and notab
scions of the royal house of Ethiopia. This
crisis of the Arab invasions, and expressed
the natural protector of Christians, would
was subsequently ignored or adjusted, th
Roman Emperor were destined to shape
Pseudo-Methodius refers to the Last Ro
of the Greeks', because according to h
emperors are descended from the legend
king of the Greeks, Byz (the ancient he
albeit obliquely, at the end of his demo
i.e. the rulers of Byzantium, are des
eponymous ancestress of the Ethiopian o
is interpreted to signify the surrender of
the Syriac wording is 'Ku' will commit [
Methodius then 'predicts' the Arab invas
contemporary, and the accompanying
description culminates in the triumph of
boast: 'There is no redeemer [perfiqa] f
At this point Pseudo-Methodius finally
his 'King of the Greeks' who will surrende
become the Last Roman Emperor. The
be precisely that Christian 'redeemer' wh
The King of the Greeks will arise suddenly
great fury; in fact Pseudo-Methodius cons
He describes the King's onslaught in the
Syriac guise ('he will be awakened against t
effects of] his wine') and then continues in
them as if they were dead'-i.e. he regard
The King will attack the Arabs in the
Kulites (the Red Sea) assisted by his 'son
of Promise (Palestine). The Arabs will be
a hundred times more severe than they
period of peace. Refugees and prisoners
indication of the King's redemptive fun
3 See Appendix, p. 14.
4 Codex Vaticanus Syriacus 5

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR 3
waste and 'all the fury of the wrath of the K
to bear upon those who denied' 5-a reference
Moslem denial of Christianity as to the A
Christian 'redeemer'. The author then des
lowing upon the King's great victories: chu
priests freed from paying taxes, 'men wil
drink.., .and will take wives and wives w
allusion to Matthew xxiv, 38).
The prophecy concerning his reign is the
an invasion from the north ending in a battl
annihilated by an angel. Here the King of
author may be following a different source
lude. At its conclusion the King reappea
Jerusalem' for ten and a half years until t
revealed. 'Immediately the King of the G
lay his diadem on the Cross, will stretch h
his kingship to God.' Cross and crown wil
the holy Cross on which the Messiah [mesihd
[purqani] of all men is a sign that will be s
of our Lord'. The King's action will thu
lxviii, 32 and the King will die. 'And as ev
all powers will cease, the Son of Perdition
Throughout the prediction the Last R
sonality; even his death is overshadowed by
precedes and the manifestation of Antich
hand, by referring specifically to the rede
crucifixion Pseudo-Methodius reminds the
that the last King of the Greeks will emulate
enemies of the Christians, restoring the p
to the Flood (note the allusion to Matthew xx
for the continuation of earthly authority
for the Second Coming and the Kingdom
So much for the Syriac text. The transl
to different historical circumstances, but
the Last Emperor that might derive from
It is true that some relatively late Greek apo
Salos Apocalypse (tenth century?) and the Or
do so; however, as it is uncertain whether
tactically
5 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fol. 134r.possible, quite distorted the Syriac
6 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fols. 134V-5r.
author's meaning, probably unintentionally,
7 In the Greek texts and the inaugurated
emergence a belief, at Byzantium as
and
well as in Emperor
activity of the Last Roman Slavic and Western Europe, in a
is in-
creasingly surrounded future
by ruler who would not die or who
a miraculous would
aura.
return from
For example, the prediction death, the
that a beliefLast
incidentally,
Emperor 'would plot against them
behind the legends [Arabs]
that surrounded Frederick
as if they were dead' is II Hohenstaufen and
translated ashis grandfather Fred-
follows:
'whom men considered as if he were dead' erick I Barbarossa. To underline the miracu-
lous(ed.
(8v koyl'ovTo o0 &veOpxroL ec vexpv 6v5TM) emergence of the Last Roman Emperor
Istrin, pp. 40f. - ed. Lolos, pp. 122,the 55-
same translator added the further qualifi-
124, i). This translation, which is cation
syn- that men considered the Emperor good

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 4 PAUL J. ALEXANDER

last emperors, i.e. emperors who sur

preferable to omit this material.8
In considering the origins of the lege
the Biblical proof texts adduced by
section dealing with the career of th
texts are explicitly quoted. The first
prosperity of the Last Emperor's reig
take wives and wives will be given to
Jesus's answer to the disciples' question
and of the close of the age?' In the G
his answer refers to his own Second
ingly, applies it to an earlier stage in
the last King of the Greeks. The seco
saying of the blessed David'.11 It is q
throughout Pseudo-Methodius's tre
ancestry of the Byzantine emperors.
There are two less overt Biblical allus
first introduced, Pseudo-Methodius s
lxxviii, 65 which in the Syriac Bible r
The Lord was aroused.., .like a man
wine.

Pseudo-Methodius, once more surprisingly, wished to apply this text to the

future last King. Consequently he omitted 'the Lord', transformed a state-
ment of past fact into a prophecy and added a reference to the Arab enemies
of the last King:
He [i.e. the King of the Greeks] will be aroused against them [the Arabs]
like a man who shakes off [the effects of] his wine.12
The second occurs after the prophecy of the last King's death:
Byzantine readers accustomed to the official
for nothing (E t o"6&v Xp~ote6swov), thus throw-
ing into even bolder relief the astonish- terminology, into an 'Emperor of the Greeks
ing energy and efficiency displayed by theand Romans' or an 'Emperor of the Romans'
victorious Emperor (there may here be analone (ed. Istrin, pp. 40, I; 41, 9; 42, I etc.
allusion to Septuagint (53, 2) and its sufferinged. Lolos, pp. 122, 55; 124, 66; 124, 68 etc.).
servant who 'was despised and not considered' hence his conventional designation by modern
scholars unfamiliar with the unpublished
('qrLOo'Oq xc oix ,Xoy0OGN)). Several Greek
Visions of Daniel achieve a similar effect bySyriac text as the Last Roman Emperor.
attributing the Emperor's selection to divine 8 Cf. Lennart Ryd6n, 'The Andreas Salos
intervention or by stating that 'his name wasApocalypse etc.', Dumbarton Oaks Papers 28,
small' (Visio Danielis attributed to John 1974, PP I198-261, esp. pp. 202,21 - 203,58
Chrysostom ed. A. Vasiliev, Anecdota Graeco- (= BHG I I 7d); Oracula Leonis, in Migne,
Byzantina, Moscow 1893, p. 36, 20 = Biblio- Patrologia Graeca 107, I130-58. When only
theca Hagiographica Graeca, 3rd edn. by F. the Greek text and derived versions were
Halkin, Subsidia Hagiographica 8, Brussels known, other origins were proposed.
1957 (henceforth abbreviated BHG) 1871.) 9 Cf. for example Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte,
Other texts add additional detail about the pp. 53-55 (Pseudo-Methodius probably a
Syrian but influenced by Persian ideas).
Emperor's battle or battles against the Arabs
and introduce Western allies (Visio Danielis,
10 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fol. 133v.
11 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fols. 126r, 126v, I35v.
ed. Vasiliev, p. 39, 31 - BHG 1872). These
12 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fol. 133r.
texts transform the Syriac King of the Greeks
into an Emperor (Boade'is) for the benefit of

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR 5
Thereupon every leader and all authority
to nought.13
This is an almost literal borrowing from I
verb changed from active to passive to
the Greeks. The text originally described C
kingdom to God the Father after destroyi
and power'. Pseudo-Methodius had already
prior to the section on the King of the Gree
There it is combined in a variety of ways
ii, 7. St. Paul warned his correspondents no
coming end and reassured them by a som
or element restraining the Man of Lawlessne
This restraint would have to be 'out of th
in the language of the Greek original and
used by Pseudo-Methodius, it would hav
(Ex p aou yivroyw, neltegel men meqa'td). Pseudo
ing' force to be the Roman Empire, as ind
the process of taking it 'out of the midd
power by the last King of the Greeks.
may be added to the list of Pseudo-Metho
Last Roman Emperor.
That is all. It is apparent that these te
Pseudo-Methodius's data on the Last Rom
that the Last Roman Emperor will attack the
Red Sea? It could be argued that this was a
of a Byzantine emperor wishing to attack
an answer only raises the more fundam
Methodius so certain that the Last Rom
first place and that he will be so dramatic
Methodius know that the Last Emperor will,
and reside there for many years? This is e
place of residence and centre of activities
Constantinople. Where did Pseudo-Method
surrender of power will occur at Jerusalem,
Then there is the fact that Pseudo-Meth
passages are not the obvious ones: both w
changed. By what authority does he dare a
material prosperity under the risen Chri
Why is he so certain that Psalm lxviii,
affecting the Roman Empire and does no
version of Ethiopia? Eusebius, for example
the conversion of the Ethiopian queen's eu
a more natural interpretation.15 Pseudo-M
verging on blasphemy.
pretations
13 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fol. 135v. of the psalm; see
14 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fols. I26V-7r.
P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum
15 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. aus Talmud
2,1,13, undviii,
cf. Acts Midrasch, i
26. Eusebius depends here on rabbinic inter-
p. 417-

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6 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
There can only be one explanation:
any) of his data on the Last Roman
Testament; on the contrary he (or his s
independent of or supplementary to th
tions or proof texts only for confirma
tradition?
In a vague way it has long been recognized that the medieval concept of a
Last Roman Emperor had its roots, at least partially, in Jewish Messianism.16
What has not been clearly realized, however, is that not only isolated details
of the concept but most of its essential characteristics reproduce Late Jewish
hopes for a national liberator, a Messiah. The Syriac Pseudo-Methodius,
by providing the original wording of the prophecy and localizing it within
the Syriac context allows the point to be demonstrated with a considerable
degree of confidence. Jewish Messianism was based on prophetic ideas con-
tained in the canonical Old Testament but found its explicit formulation in
extra-canonical works composed under the threat from Seleucid rulers or
under Roman domination.17 This circumstance explains the scarcity of Old
Testament proof texts in the Byzantine Legend of the Last Roman Emperor:
it was related only slightly and indirectly to the Bible.
To begin with a negative point, the shadowy character of the Last Roman
Emperor (his lack of a name, and any physical attributes) is paralleled in the
Jewish Messiah: he does not bear a personal name, is individually indistinct,
and it is his functions as national deliverer and just native ruler that are
stressed.18 Just as the Syriac Pseudo-Methodius calls the Last Roman Emperor
King (of the Greeks) or Redeemer, so the Jewish sources designate the expected
national ruler: King, Redeemer (goel), Anointed (King).19 The use of the
term Redeemer is particularly noteworthy. The Hebrew word ge'uloh was used
by the rabbis and on the coinage of Bar Kokhba as a technical term for the
Messianic liberation of the Holy Land from foreign, especially from Roman,
domination.20 Its reappearance in Pseudo-Methodius to denote the expected
liberation of Christendom from Arab occupation is therefore entirely fitting.
16 Franz Kampers, Die deutsche Kaiseridee in Eschatologie, pp. 221-3. Messiah's victories
Prophetie und Sage, Munich 1896, passim, esp. over the nations: Volz, Eschatologie, pp. 212f.;
the first sections of the part entitled: 'SageSchiirer, Geschichte, ii, pp. 621-3; Bousset,
und Prophetien von einem Messiaskaiser derReligion, pp. 218-20, 228f.
Endzeit'. 19 Designations of Messiah: Volz, Eschato-
17 Standard works on Late Jewish Mes- logie pp. 52, 173f., 216; Schtirer, Geschichte,
sianism: Paul Volz, Die Eschatologie der ii, p. 613; Bousset, Religion, pp. 227f.
Jiidischen Gemeinde im Neutestamentlichen Zeit- 20 H. L. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Kom-
alter, Tiibingen 1934 (reprint Hildesheim mentar zum Neuen Testament, pp. 86off.; Emil
I966); Emil Schiirer, Geschichte des JiidischenSchiirer, The History of the Jewish People in the
Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 4th edn., ii, Age of Jesus Christ, ed. by G. Vermes and
Leipzig 1907, pp. 579-651; Wilhelm Bousset,Fergus Millar, i [the only volume of this new
Die Religion des Judentums in SpdthellenistischenEnglish edition published so far], Edinburgh
Zeitalter, 3rd edn. by Hugo Gressmann, 1973, PP. 545, 6o6; especially useful Martin
Tilbingen 1926 (reprint 1966), pp. 202-89. Hengel, Die Zeloten, Leiden-Cologne I961,
18 Volz, Eschatologie, p. 186 ('wenig Fleisch pp. I20-3; also Shimon Applebaum, 'The
und Blut'); Bousset, Religion, p. 222 ('ganz Zealots: The Case for Revaluation', Journal
nebensfichlich und schattenhaft innerhalb des of Roman Studies, lxi, 1971, pp. 155-70, esp.
Zukunftsgemdildes'). Intellectual and moral pp. I6If.
rather than physical attributes stressed: Volz,

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR 7
What seems at first sight an exception to the
Methodius's Emperor, the reference to 'sons
tions, should not be taken in the literal se
or 'companions'-in Syriac the two meaning
one vowel sign (if the text indicates vowels
here refers to military aides, allies or troo
just as the Apocalypse of Ezra (4 Ezra vii, 2
are with him [Messiah]' or his 'companions'
Messiah surrounded by his 'Elect'.22
One striking feature of the Syriac account
emerges 'all of a sudden' at the point when th
of the 'Romans' have reached their nadir an
the very Empire. Similarly, the suddennes
stated explicitly (though infrequently) in th
that just before his appearance the warfare of
threatening the very existence of the peopl
arrives in the hour of direst need and his prim
against a powerful foreign enemy of anothe
The Messianic model also explains the Las
half years of residence at Jerusalem and th
city after his victories. When Pseudo-Meth
regularly resided at Constantinople and a c
around that capital. One would expect an au
locate there the act of surrender. He does
following Late Jewish traditions about a
naturally centred on Mount Zion. The same
description of the warfare of the Emperor
lays particular stress on the liberation of P
and even refers to it as the Promised Land, a
to Jews.24 Furthermore, Pseudo-Methodiu
in a period of unprecedented peace, abundan
like the Jewish Messiah.25
A particularly revealing aspect of the stru
Legend to the Jewish model is the place assi
Last Roman Emperor in the series of esch
work the reign of the Last King of the Gre
time of unprecedented tribulation by a foreig
Coming. Pseudo-Methodius imagines it as
his people enjoy all sorts of divine blessin
miraculous, but still form part of human
21 bar malkd means 'son of
gr6ssten ist,the king',
dann kommt barSchiirer,
das Ende';
melkd 'counsellor'. Geschichte, ii, p. 609 ('Letzte Drangsal und
22 Volz, Eschatologie, p. 210o. Verwirrung').
23Suddenness of Messiah's emergence: 24 On Jerusalem and Palestine as thefoci of
Volz, Eschatologie, pp. 21of.; Schiirer, Ge- the Messiah's activities: Volz, Eschatologie,
schichte, ii, p. 620. Warfare of the nations pp. 212-14; Schiirer, Geschichte, ii, p. 629.
against Israel and Jerusalem: Volz, Eschato- 25 Volz, Eschatologie, pp. 214- 17; Schiirer,
Geschichte, ii, p. 631; Bousset, Religion, pp.
logie, pp. 147-63 ('die letzte b6se Zeit'), esp.
pp. I57f., cf. p. 158: 'Wenn die Not am240-2.

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8 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
institutions (kingship, warfare, Jerusal
It is neatly distinguished from the next
end and the Kingdom of Heaven be est
sources, both rabbinic and apocalyptic, fr
clearly after A.D. 150, there appears the n
under a Messiah falling between the
Messianic period is variously evaluated
similarity to the present era, others to
of an intermediate dispensation-a Zwisc
millenarian hope, expressed in the N
xx, 2-5) and in patristic writings. Chris
Judaism the expectation of a blissful e
company of his saints and gave it, from
thousand years. The Jewish tripartit
world to come-was an attempt to co
salvation with a universal concept that
blessed future for all mankind under a transcendent Messiah.26 Pseudo-
Methodius shows the same pattern-this world, reign of the Last Rom
Emperor, Kingdom of God-where the Emperor's rule culminating in
surrender at Jerusalem of kingship to God takes the place of the Jewi
Messianic kingdom.
Thus many of the features of the Byzantine legend of the Last Empe
reflect Jewish traditions of the Anointed King who would redeem his peo
Other aspects are obviously Christian: the allusions to the New Testame
the role of Golgotha and the Cross. The idea of a victorious and prosper
earthly reign of finite duration under a great monarch is certainly Jew
but the Emperor's vivid gesture of surrender, and his imperial paraphern
(diadem, etc.) must be Christian in inspiration, influenced partly
I Corinthians xv, 24. The amalgam of Jewish and Christian elements is t
found not merely in details of the legend, but in its basic constituents.
There is one further feature, explicable in terms neither of Jew
Messianism nor of the New Testament nor indeed of the mainstream of
Christian thought. This was the notion that the last earthly ruler would
Roman, one of the most surprising (and historically influential) aspect
the legend.
It is the Byzantine counterpart of a Jewish Messiah whose function was
to liberate Jews from their foreign masters. Pseudo-Methodius's Last Roman
Emperor is also difficult to reconcile with the teachings of the Church. It is
true that the expectation of a Messianic rule preceding the Second Coming, a
Zwischenreich, was accepted at least in some quarters of the Early Church and
underlies for example St. Paul's notion (I Corinthians xv, 24), prominently
cited by Pseudo-Methodius, of a future surrender of kingship to God and of an
end of all earthly authority. St. Paul was of Jewish origin, as was probably the
last redactor of the canonical Revelation of John in which Christian martyrs are
expected to rule jointly with the Messiah for a thousand years. One difference
between this early Christian expectation and Pseudo-Methodius's Legend is
that in the former the Messiah is a spiritual king of Israel, namely Christ,
26 Volz, Eschatologie, pp. 71-77, 2 IIf.; Bousset, Religion, pp. 286-9.

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR 9

while according to Pseudo-Methodius h

even more basic difference is that, in so f
notion of a temporary Messianic kingdom
with Jesus Christ who would return
Methodius's tract, on the other hand, an
tradition, the Messianic ruler whose car
abdication on Mount Golgotha was huma
distinct from the Messiah or Christ who would return. It is another instance of
what to modern eyes seems an illegitimate appropriation on behalf of a human
ruler of prophecies and concepts that in the New Testament had referred to
Jesus Christ.
How can one explain the genesis of this strange conglomerate of Late
Jewish, Early Christian and unorthodox views. In particular, how can one
account for the re-emergence in Christianity of so much Jewish material at
this late date and in this particular area? In demonstrating Pseudo-
Methodius's borrowing I have been able to operate on the relatively solid
basis of scriptural citations and of similarities in ideas and terminology. The
explanation must, however, be speculative principally because little is known
of the person of Pseudo-Methodius and of the intellectual and cultural circles
of the Syriac-speaking Church.
Two possibilities suggest themselves. One is that Pseudo-Methodius (or
one of his sources) infused Judaic elements into an essentially Christian
tradition. If this occurred, whoever was responsible cannot have derived the
Jewish elements exclusively from the canonical Bible, for the author knows a
great deal more about Jewish Messianism than can be found there. If he
re-judaized a Christian tradition, he must therefore have had access to an
extra-canonical Messianic tradition, literary or oral, preserved by Jewish or
Christian communities in Mesopotamia into early Arab times.
The alternative and simpler explanation is that Pseudo-Methodius
belonged to a Christian community with an exceptional link to Late Judaism.
In either case one must conclude that the origin of the Legend cannot be
understood without assuming that in Mesopotamia a tradition embodying
Jewish Messianic expectations survived in some form into the latter seventh
century.
The question arises: is it possible to define the date and religious orientation
of the bearers of this tradition? Only the outline of a possible answer will be
sketched here. At the outset the two most radical deviations of the Legend
as told by Pseudo-Methodius from Jewish Messianism should be emphasized:
the transformation of Jewish King into Roman Emperor, and the role of
Golgotha and the Cross at Jerusalem. After the extinction of the Jewish state
under Vespasian and Titus (A.D. 68-70) and the suppression of the Bar Kokhba
Revolt (i32-I35), repeated overtures made by Christian thinkers to Roman
authorities were accompanied by growing Christian hostility to Judaism.27
Beginning with Irenaeus, almost all the Church Fathers see in the Roman
27 Wilhelm Bousset, Der Antichrist in der 85f.; cf. W. H. C. Frend, Mlartyrdom and Per-
iberlieferung des Judentums, des Neuen Testa- secution in the Early Church. A Study of Conflict
ments und der Alten Kirche. Ein Beitrag zur from the A4accabees to Donatus, Oxford 1965,
Auslegung der Apokalypse, G6ttingen 1895, PP- pp. 258f. and passim.
2

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 10 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
Empire the power 'restraining' the Antichr
this even Tertullian, normally hostile to
for Roman 'emperors, for the entire ord
institutions'. A century later, Lactantius e
spondingly, the Antichrist was often expe
their Judaic origins, together with the m
state and of the Temple, receded further
think of Jews as isolated congregations
foreign environment, and as Christianity
purpose in the Roman world, the expectat
of Israel may have seemed more and mor
Constantine, in particular, must have served
of a powerful Roman Emperor for the nebu
eschatology; this would be an instance of
procedure later used many times in respo
kingdoms and empires.29
Along the same lines, the localization
Emperor's act of surrender and deposition o
no earlier than the fourth century. Pseud
And immediately when the Son of Perdi
then the King of the Greeks will go up
Holy Cross will be erected in the place wh
Christ (meSihd). And the King of the Gr
of (or: before) the Holy Cross and will
etc.30

From this it is clear that the author was aware that Christ's Cross had not
been standing on Golgotha continuously since the day of the Crucifixion. But
it is uncertain whether Pseudo-Methodius expected the Cross to be restored
only in the age of the Last Emperor, i.e. at the end of time (as seems more
natural) or at some earlier date for the Emperor to find on the day of his
surrender and death.
The Legend of the Finding of the Cross is associated with the Emperor
Constantine's mother, Helen, and the building of the Constantinian complex
on the site of the Holy Sepulchre. It is possible that the relic stood again on
Golgotha in the 340s; at any rate, it is shown as part of the complex in the
apse mosaic of S. Pudenziana in Rome, completed in or after 391.31 Thus
chre in Jerusalem', Speculum, xxxi, 1956, pp.
28 Bousset, Antichrist, pp. 16, 77-79 (where
the passages from Tertullian and Lactantius 1-48 (on Calvary and its Cross, pp. 5-7; the
are cited). article includes reconstructions where the
29 Many examples in Marjorie Reeves, The Cross is clearly visible, see plates viii, x and
Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages. A xi); Ch. Coliasnon, The Church of the Holy
Study in Joachimism, Oxford 1969, esp. parts Sepulchre in Jerusalem, The Schweich Lectures
iii and iv. of the British Academy 1972, London 1974,
30 Cod. Vat. Syr. 58, fol. 135r. esp. p. 50; Richard Krautheimer, Early
31 Eusebius, Vita Constantini, iii, pp. 26ff. Christian and Byzantine Architecture, Penguin
On the buildings surrounding the Holy Books, rev. edn. (paperback), 1975, PP-
Sepulchre at Jerusalem, see particularly: 62-65, 77f. For S. Pudenziana, see W.
Kenneth J. Conant and Glanville Downey, Oakeshott, The Mosaics of Rome from the 3rd
'The Original Buildings at the Holy Sepul- to the i4th Centuries, London 1967.

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR II

regardless of the particular tim

Cross would be restored, the pro
and the relic can hardly have bee
the Great.
Even more difficult than the date is the definition of the milieu in which
the Legend arose. That Pseudo-Methodius had access to circles linked to
Judaism is shown not only by his data on the Last Roman Emperor but also
by the sources used in other portions of his tract. For the early history of the
world he depended heavily and for a large part literally, on a Syriac source of
the sixth century, the Cave of Treasures, which in turn was based on pre-
Christian Jewish materials.32 Similarly, Syriac intermediaries may be
responsible for his statement that at the time of Vespasian's conquest ofJudaea,
the Hebrews no longer possessed 'these exalted and most excellent things,
priesthood and prophecy and kingship'. This may go back to a tradition
preserved by Josephus according to which the Jewish King John I Hyrcanus
(135/4-IO4 B.c.) 'was esteemed by God worthy of the three greatest [things]:
the government of his nation, the dignity of the high priesthood and the power
of prophecy'.33
The history of the Syriac-speaking churches from the fourth to the seventh
centuries is obscure. It is generally agreed, however, that the Christian con-
gregations in Sassanid Persia, cut off as they were from their co-religionists
beyond the frontiers, proved largely immune to the hellenizing theology of
Christian thinkers in the Roman Empire and remained under the influence
of Judaism longer and more profoundly than elsewhere.34 There are many
uncertainties even over the origin of the early Syriac translation of the Old
Testament, the Peditta, but there is consensus that it was imbued with Judaism
if not actually Jewish in origin.35 Down to the fourth century Judaeo-
Christian groups of heretical Ebionites maintained themselves in Trans-
jordania, at Beroea in Syria and in Babylonia; their influence on the ideas
and ritual precepts of Mohammed and Early Islam has been convincingly
demonstrated,36 though they may seem a rather improbable channel of
transmission for the Last Emperor Legend. More important in this respect

32 Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte, pp. 10-17.

Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, New
On the Cave of Treasures see I. Ortiz deYork and London 1941, pp. I20f.; Urbina,
Urbina, Patrologia Syriaca, 2nd edn., Rome Patrologia Syriaca, p. 224; Sidney Jellicoe, The
1965, PP. 95f. Septuagint and Modern Study, Oxford 1968,
33Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, xiii, 10.7, pp. 246f.
section 299. 36 Judaeo-Christian communities in Trans-
34 J. Labourt, Le Christianisme dans l'empire jordania and at Beroea: Hans J. Schoeps,
perse sous la dynastie sassanide, Paris I904, P. 35: Theologie und Geschichte des Judenchristentums,
'La confession de la foi de l'6glise persane est Tilbingen I949, pp. 270-6; Marcel Simon,
ind6pendante des formules helleniques con- Verus Israel. Etude sur les relations entre Chritiens
temporaines'; Urbina, Patrologia Syriaca, p. et Juifs dans l'empire Romain, 2nd edn., Paris
15: 'Christianismus in Persia ab ideologia 1964, PP- 368-88, esp. pp. 380-2; in Baby-
hellenizante <<occidentaliums segregata, potius lonia in the 3rd and 4th centuries: Jacob
influxui traditionum iudaicarum submissus Neusner, A History of the Jews in Babylonia,
est.' vol. III. From Shapur I to Shapur II, Studia
Post-Biblica
35 See e.g. H. B. Swete, An Introduction to the xii, Leiden 1968, pp. 12-16;
Judaeo-Christian influences on Mohammed
Old Testament in Greek, rev. by R. R. Ottley,
reprint, New York 1968, p. I12; Robert
andH.Early Islam: Schoeps, pp. 334-42.

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 12 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
would have been the large and flourishin
and northern Mesopotamia; the royal ho
had been converted to Judaism around th
true that in Mesopotamia, where Pseud
colonies were situated along the northern
Euphrates via Edessa, Amida and Nisibis
the Life of St. Abd al-Masih, composed du
century but narrating the short life of a
to Christianity and killed in 391, knew of J
of the city of Singara' and of the boy's
It is, therefore, entirely plausible that P
something to the colony resident there at s
eighth centuries.
Furthermore, one of the earliest father
Church, Aphrahates, who died shortly
Demonstrations against the religion of local
of his literary effort bears witness to the
for members of Christian congregations
that Aphrahates specifically refutes is th
gathered together' which makes clear tha
be recalled from the Dispersion to the P
'redemption'40-a concept which played
Christian apocalypse. Thus for the Syriac
Judaeo-Christian and Jewish commun
through which Jewish Messianism reached
in the sixth century and Pseudo-Methodi
My last observation is designed to appra

Biblicaof
37 J. B. Segal, 'The Jews xix,Northern
Leiden 1971. Meso-
potamia before the Rise of40 Neusner,
Islam',Aphrahat and Judaism,
Studies in thegives a
Bible presented to Professor
full EnglishM.
translation
H. Segal
of Demonstration
etc., xix,
Jerusalem 1964, PP- 32*"-63*, pp. 84-96. I cite section
esp. 8 35*.(p. 90): 'Hear
38 Syriac version ed.then, J.my beloved, I shallAnalecta
Corluy, show you that
Bollandiana, v, 1886, Israel pp.was 5-52.
saved (etpereq)
Arab two times,
(Kar- once
from Egypt,ibid.,
shuni) version ed. P. Peeters, the secondxliv,time from Baby-
1926,
pp. 270-341. Peeters showed lonia..... Now that
if they were the destined
Syriac to be
original is lost and that the
gathered Arab
together version
and redeemed (wenetparqin),is
closer to the originalwhy than the
did Isaiah (xi:II)published
say that the Lord
Syriac text. Date: Peeters, would stretchp. out his hand a second
289. The time and
two
passages cited in the text, acquire the remnant
ibid., p. 294 of his
:fipeople that re-
bilddi
madinati singar and ra's mained? If there is still [to
wamuqqadam. Seebe] salvation
also
Segal (n. 37 above), pp. (pdrqand)55*-57*.
for them, Isaiah Whether
should have said,
it reflects conditions "God will stretch Singara
around out his hand a third
intime the
late 4th or late 8th centuries or some
to possess the remnant period
of his people," and not
between is unclear, yetsay "a second
'the regiontime".' I have
of checked
the city J.
of Singara' was probably Parisot'sthe
edition precise
of the Syriac textarea in
(Aphraatis
which Pseudo-Methodius wrote. Sapientis Persae Demonstrationes, Patrologia
39On Aphrahates see Labourt, Chris- Syriaca, vol. i, pt. I, Paris 1894, pp. 868f.) and
found, as indicated in the parentheses, that
tianisme dans l'empire perse, pp. 31-39; Urbina,
even where Neusner translates 'saved' and
Patrologia Syriaca, pp. 46-5I; Jacob Neusner,
'salvation', Aphrahates used forms derived
Aphrahat and Judaism. The Christian-Jewish
from the root prq, 'to redeem'.
Argument in Fourth Century Iran, Studia Post-

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR '3

later influence of the Byzantine Legend

period of Christ's rule on earth together w
in the Revelation of John, had caused this
and opposition, especially in the Syriac-
translated until the seventh century.41 In
century, the Donatist commentator Ticon
interpretation and rejected all histori
Christ's thousand years of earthly rule (R
of the Church. Ticonius was followed by
over early medieval thought led Bousset

His [Ticonius's] interpretation turned o

as it were, inasmuch as because of it t
chiliastic tendencies and with all realist

For Bousset Joachim of Fiore's teaching

the sense of 'a period of earthly tranquill
reappear in person' marks the rebirth of ch
often repeated claim is true for the history
however, one casts the net wider, to includ
religiosity, and accepts that Pseudo-Meth
is based on Jewish Messianic expectation
theological reservations towards the Revela
for a period of earthly bliss survived in
Roman Emperor. Popular longing for an
foreign domination, warfare and poverty p
of theologians to insist on the essential s
laity's expectation of a Last Roman Empe
on earth of Christ and his saints prior t
ings for terrestrial satisfaction were str

41 Wilhelm Bousset, Die Offenbarung ('Joachim de Flore', Dictionnaire de Spiritualitd,

Johannis, 6th edn., G6ttingen I906 (reprint viii, Paris 1974, PP- 1 179-120 1, esp.p. I 190) :
1966), pp. 19-31; Urbina, Patrologia Syriaca, 'Les concepts et les termes utilises par
p. 161. l'Ecriture, par les Pares de l'Antiquit6 de du
42 Bousset, Offenbarung Johannis, p. 59. moyen-age pour decrire la b6atitude de
43 Ibid., p. 73. l'au-del" sont appliqu6s par Joachim a l'6tape
44One of the methods employed by terminale de l'histoire chretienne des ici-bas.
Joachim of Fiore to justify his doctrine of the Cette transposition de l'6ternel au temporel,
third status of human history was anticipated qui pratiquement supprime toute diff6rence
by the Pseudo-Methodian tradition. It has entre cette Jerusalem de la terre et la Jeru-
been shown above (pp. 4-5) that Pseudo- salem cdleste, permet au prophete calabrais
Methodius interpreted passages from the d'annoncer l'avenement d'un type de perfec-
Psalmist (lxxviii, 65) about a past action of tion bien plus 6lev6 que celle qui peut etre
'the Lord', from the evangelists' (Matt. xxiv, atteinte, selon la doctrine traditionelle, par
38; Luke xvii, 26) description of conditions at l'homme in via.'
the Second Coming and from St. Paul's 45 At the oral presentation of my paper
prophecy (I Cor. xv, 24) about the risenProfessor Donald Weinstein expressed
Christ's handing over of royal power to referdoubt concerning a difference of attitude
to the reign of the Last Roman Emperor. between theologians and laity. I make
This compares to Joachim's method of the distinction because to the best of my
exegesis as described by Cyprien Baraut knowledge the Last Roman Emperor is found,

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 14 PAUL J. ALEXANDER
Joachim of Fiore himself had no use for
was fused with his teachings by the first g
time and again in later ages to buttress the
to universal domination.46

University of California, Berkeley

97-144). Here the author collects and
in Byzantine as well as in Western literature
prior to the mid-I3th century, almost ex- analyses Western expressions-from Jerome
clusively in works of a popular character to the Late Middle Ages-of the eschatolo-
(apocalypses, visions, etc.) and not in gical
the expectation of a period of earthly bliss.
writings of theologians. In the West the twoHe shows that this tradition represented a
exceptions known to me are Anselm, De genuine alternative to the better known
Antixto and Adso of Montier-en-Der's letter 'pessimistic' view stemming from Augustine
and that it was variously formulated by
to Queen Gerberga de ortu et tempore Antichristi
Western theologians even prior to Joachim.
(ed. Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte, pp. 104-13,
esp. p. I Io), but this text is an anthologyIt isofall the more remarkable and from my
materials on Antichrist compiled to comfort point of view significant that none of the
a distressed individual rather than a formal
theologians representative of this 'optimistic'
theology dared reintroduce, against Augus-
work of systematic theology. I may, of course,
have overlooked mention of the Emperor tine's
in authority, a realistic exegesis of
more strictly theological writings. I am Revelations xx, 4-6 and that a fortiori the
though encouraged to retain my distinction figure of the Last Roman Emperor is even
after reading the fascinating article by here conspicuously absent.
Robert E. Lerner that came to my attention 46 Reeves, Influence of Prophecy, esp. Part
after the completion of my paper ('Refresh- Three, 'Antichrist and Last World Empire';
ment of the Saints: The Time after Anti- and my forthcoming article, 'Byzantine Apoc-
christ as a Station for Earthly Progress in and the Beginnings of Joachimism'.
alyptic
Medieval Thought', Traditio, xxxii, 1976, pp.

APPENDIX

THE LAST ROMAN EMPEROR IN THE LATIN TEXT

OF THE TIBURTINE SIBYL

(see p. 2, n. 3 above)
There is one prophecy of a Last Roman Emperor that may ant
(Syriac) version of Pseudo-Methodius : the description of his reign in
the Tiburtine Sibyl. The extant Greek version of this work does not k
the Last Emperor (see my Oracle of Baalbek. The Tiburtine Sibyl in G
barton Oaks Studies io, 1967, p. i i6). The Latin text, however, interp
piece on a 'king of the Romans and Greeks' that concludes with h
royal garb and diadem at Jerusalem and handing over the regnum Chr
the Father and Jesus Christ (Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte, pp. I85f
similarities to Pseudo-Methodius: apart from the Last Emper
Jerusalem and the general prosperity of his reign, a reference to
31 (32) (p. 185, 13 Sackur, see however Sackur's caveat on the differen
of the psalmist's words in the two texts, pp. 70of.) and the fusion of
prophecy of the invasion of Gog and Magog with the Alexander
ferences, however, are marked. In particular, while the principal fun
Roman Emperor in the Latin Sibyl is the conversion of pagans an
partially by warlike actions, the Pseudo-Methodian Emperor fights s

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 LAST ROMAN EMPEROR 15
Islam. In addition, in the Latin Sibyl the Last Em
Gog and Magog while in the Syriac tradition th
may well be that the Latin translator of the Tib
the Last Roman Emperor on an earlier form of
invasions of the Fertile Crescent. Indeed, in the
composed in Syriac c. 514/5 (Th. N6ldeke, 'Be
romans', Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademi
Kl. 38, 189o, no. V, 189o, p. 31; Sackur, Sibyl
to have predicted two Hunnish invasions and th
kingdom of the Greeks which is that of the Rom
Wallis Budge, The History of Alexander the G
esp. pp. I54f.). After the Moslem invasions it
Arabs should have taken, in the Pseudo-Met
Jews, Gog and Magog and the Huns as the p
Emperor. Yet even if the Latin Sibyl preserves an
Pseudo-Methodian version, with its emphasi
Islam, that captured the imagination and kind
Western Europe and in the Slavic lands.

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