ABSTRACT, Antonio Pio Di Cosmo, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Byzantine History). Drawing on the analysis of the complex mosaic scene in the lunette of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul—depicting Emperor Leo VI in proskynesis before Christ the Pambasileus and read in the light of the Oracula Leonis—this presentation investigates the role of the basileus as a liminal figure situated between the earthly sphere and a projected eschatological dimension. The shared chromatic scheme that assimilates the imperial garments to those of Christ activates a deliberate strategy of christomimesis, constructing a symbolic proximity between basileus and pambasileus and anticipating the final gesture that brings history to its close: the full affirmation of the Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων through the universal diffusion of the Gospel, which heralds the Second Coming and the handing over of the crown from the earthly ruler to the heavenly sovereign. At the same time, the presence of the praying Theotokos and of the angel bearing the kyrikeion, as a variant of the Deesis, may be interpreted as an apocalyptic dispositive centred on intercession and on the expectation of the Last Judgement. The image thus emerges as a polysemic expression of Macedonian visual politics, operating on multiple levels to articulate, at a deeper stratum, the central role of the emperor as a subject of historical eschatology—simultaneously invested with a salvific function and humiliated before Christ in view of the end of times. From this perspective, the basileus appears as the guarantor of cosmic order and a symbolic actor in the eschatological horizon of Byzantine political theology.