Greek, Latin, and Slavic medieval apocalyptic prophesies, from the writings of Adso of Montier-en-Der to Christopher Columbus, contain the legendary story of the Last Roman Emperor. This a messianic figure is commonly predicted to come at the end of times as the last ruler of the Roman Empire, and the legend tells that he will bring the True Cross to Jerusalem, stand upon Golgotha, and surrender his earthly authority to Christ. The legend is perhaps most famously preserved in the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, dated to the end of the seventh century. However, several decades earlier, the Emperor Heraclius returned the True Cross to Jerusalem in a grand display, one that Cyril Mango, Jan Willem Drijvers, Irfan Shahîd, and G.J. Reinink have all suggested had apocalyptic connotations. The two events, one historical and the other eschatological, bear such striking similarity to one another that it is hard to believe that they are unrelated. Which came first? According to Paul Magadlino, “it is not entirely clear whether [Emperor Heraclius] was inspired by, or inspired, the apocalyptic legend of the Last Emperor.” This question has yet to be answered in any satisfactory way. Paul Alexander, perhaps the twentieth century’s foremost expert on Byzantine eschatology, dated the legend to the time of Theodosius I, until later changing his mind and putting it much later. This short communication will look at possible earlier antecedents of the Last Roman Emperor legend going back to the fourth century in order to suggest to what degree Heraclius based his adventus into Jerusalem on an apocalyptic topos, and conversely, to what extent Pseudo-Methodius invented material around fifty years later with Heraclius as his inspiration.
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