The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the
New Testament of the
Bible, called the
Book of Revelation of
Jesus Christ to
John the Apostle. Saint John the Apostle at . The chapter tells of a book or scroll in
God's right hand that is sealed with
seven seals. The
Lamb of God, or
Lion of Judah (
Jesus Christ), opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. Although some interpretations differ, in most accounts, the four riders are seen as symbolizing
Conquest (Sometimes also identified as
Pestilence, the
Christ or the
Antichrist),
War,
Famine, and
Death, respectively. The
Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a
divine apocalypse upon the world as of the
Last Judgment. One reading ties the four horsemen to the history of the
Roman Empire subsequent to the era in which the Book of Revelation was written. That is, they are a symbolic prophecy of the subsequent history of the empire.