Book seven, ""Of a happy life"" (De uita beata), closes Lactantius´ (AD 250-325) ""Introduction to Christianity"" (Diuinae institutiones). In it the church father, who was renowned as a Christian Cicero, describes the end of the world, the thousand year Kingdom of God and the Last Judgment, from a standpoint influenced by the Christian persecutions. This significant text, which offers insight into early Christians´ views of the end of the world, is presented together with an introduction, translation (the first since 1787) and an extensive commentary.