Words are inadequate

Good guess, but actually mostly unrelated. From the Historical Note at the end: ". . . but [Justinian] did not secure his gains. He had the resources, which is not the same as the ability, but he really needed a little more time, like all of us. [too true. --ed] He died old, but short of consolidating the expanded Empire, perhaps by ten years. . . . I have allowed Justinian his time-- and Theodora as well-- by a mechanism which should be apparent from Chapter Three." (Which is obvious if you're looking for it and easy to miss if you're not.)