“Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come!" I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” — Revelation 6:1–2
Though the text only provides a name for the fourth horseman, subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of:
- Conquest (Zelos/Zelus)
- War (Ares/Mars)
- Famine (Limos/Fames)
- Death (Thanatos/Mors or Moros/Fatum).
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses.
Last came Anarchy: he rode On a white horse, splashed with blood; He was pale even to the lips, Like Death in the Apocalypse. And he wore a kingly crown, And in his grasp a sceptre shone; On his brow this mark I saw— I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW. —Shelley, The Masque of Anarchy
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