ABSTRACT
This postscript presents some closing thoughts on key concepts covered in this book. The book argues that all Byzantines, whether or not they emphasised the sanctity of the Empire, believed that it would end as the millennial reign of the saints would end, with the release of Satan, the unleashing of Gog and Magog, and the various other horrors that the post-biblical apocalypses added to the Revelation story. It attempts to offer a more satisfactory resolution to the apparent conflict between the view of the empire as the fourth and last kingdom in the sequence prophesied by Daniel, and the view that it was the kingdom without end, which would supersede the series of earthly realms. The book also argues that the contrasting elements of the narrative can be explained by seeing this in terms of the final visions of the book of Revelation, as interpreted by the seventh-century commentator Andreas of Caesarea.
