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Persians. Therefore the first substance, which is gold, signifies the kingdom of the Assyrians and Babylonians; and he calls it the head, as having come first; but the second, which is silver, is that of the Persians and Medes. For Cyrus, originating from both sides, from the Medes on his mother's side, and from the Persians on his father's side, overthrew the kingdom of the Assyrians, that is, the Babylonians, and transferred the kingdom to the Persians. He named it the breast and arms, in order to show the kinship with two nations; for through the right arm it signifies his paternal lineage, and through the left his maternal, the joining of which is entrusted to the breast, which holds the heart, the storehouse of thoughts, and by thought also are marital contracts fulfilled. He called bronze the Macedonian kingdom, which appeared after the Persian, and which likewise ruled over all. And he assigned to it the belly and the thighs, signifying through the belly the monarchy of Alexander, and through the thighs the division of the kingdom that occurred after his death. And he called iron the Roman kingdom; and this one succeeded the Macedonian; and he assigned to it the shins, as being near the end of the whole body, and able to carry the entire body; and the soles of the feet, also of iron, but mixed with clay. And through this he does not signify another kingdom, but the same one becoming weaker than itself, and mixed with the weakness of the 81.1300 clay. He set forth the difference of the materials, not showing a difference in value, but in strength; for silver is harder than gold; and bronze is stronger than silver; and iron is by a great measure more solid than bronze itself. The difference, therefore, is not in value, but in strength and power. But it is necessary to inquire, why he saw the composition of these materials in an image; for nothing is revealed simply, nor in vain, by the God of all. The image has forms, but not realities. Such is the present life, having nothing lasting, nor permanent; for which reason the blessed Paul cried out that, "The form of this world is passing away." And elsewhere, exhorting, he says: "Do not be conformed to this age." And the blessed David, exposing the vanity of human prosperity, says: "Surely all things are vanity, every man living." Indeed, man walks about in an image, he stores up treasure, and does not know for whom he will gather it. Since, therefore, the present life also has swift changes (for all things that are seen are mortal, and temporary, and perishable), and the image does not have the reality of things, but only shows the forms of kings, and rulers, and subjects, and in addition to these things, the form itself is easily dissolved; rightly the God of all, wishing to discipline that arrogant king concerning the vanity of human pride, and to teach that human affairs undergo the easiest change, sets before him an image in a dream, and divides its parts among the materials, teaching the frequent and successive successions of kings, and persuading all that He alone has continuous power, and a kingdom without beginning and without end, and absolutely eternal. To these things the blessed Daniel adds, teaching the rest of the dream. 34, 35. "You watched, until a stone was cut from a mountain without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ground them to pieces completely. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold, were all ground to pieces at once, and became like the chaff from a summer threshing floor, and a great wind carried them away, and no trace of them was found, and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Such is the end of the dream; it is fitting for us to begin the interpretation from the bottom. Let us inquire, therefore, first, what stone is mentioned, and appearing small at first, was later shown to be very great, and covered the inhabited world. Therefore

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Πέρσαι. Οὐκοῦν ἡ μὲν πρώτη ὕλη, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ χρυσὸς, τὴν Ἀσσυρίων καὶ Βαβυλωνίων ση μαίνει βασιλείαν· κεφαλὴν δὲ αὐτὴν ὀνομάζει, ὡς πρώτην γεγενημένην· ἡ δευτέρα δὲ, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ ἄργυρος, ἡ Περσῶν ἐστι καὶ Μήδων. Κῦρος γὰρ ἑκατέρωθεν ὁρμώμενος, μητρόθεν μὲν ἐκ Μήδων, πατρόθεν δὲ ἐκ Περσῶν, κατέλυσε μὲν Ἀσσυρίων, εἴτουν Βαβυλωνίων, τὴν βασιλείαν, μετατέθεικε δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν εἰς Πέρσας. Στῆθος δὲ αὐτὸν προσ ηγόρευσε καὶ βραχίονας, ἵνα δείξῃ τὴν πρὸς δύο ἔθνη συγγένειαν· διὰ μὲν γὰρ τῆς δεξιᾶς τὸ πα τρῷον αὐτοῦ σημαίνει γένος, μητρῷον δὲ διὰ τῆς εὐωνύμου, ὧν τὴν συνάφειαν τὸ στῆθος πεπίστευται, τὴν καρδίαν ἔχον τῶν λογισμῶν τὸ ταμεῖον, λογισμῷ δὲ καὶ τὰ γαμικὰ τελεῖται συμβόλαια. Τὸν δὲ χαλκὸν προσηγόρευσε τὴν Μακεδονικὴν βασιλείαν μετὰ τὴν Περσικὴν ἀναφανεῖσαν, καὶ αὐτὴν ὁμοίως ἁπάντων κρατήσασαν. Κοιλίαν δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ τοὺς μηροὺς ἀπένειμε, τήν τε μοναρχίαν τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου διὰ τῆς κοιλίας μηνύων, καὶ διὰ τῶν μηρῶν τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν γεγενημένην τῆς βασιλείας διαί ρεσιν. Σίδηρον δὲ τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν προσηγόρευσε βα σιλείαν· αὕτη δὲ τὴν Μακεδονικὴν διεδέξατο· ἀπ ένειμε δὲ αὐτῇ τὰς κνήμας, ἅτε δὴ περὶ τὸ τέλος οὔσας τοῦ παντὸς σώματος, καὶ φέρειν ἅπαν δυνα μένας τὸ σῶμα· τὰς δὲ τῶν ποδῶν βάσεις, σιδηρᾶς μὲν καὶ αὐτὰς, ὀστράκῳ δὲ ἀναμεμιγμένας. ∆ιὰ δὲ τούτου οὐχ ἑτέραν αἰνίττεται βασιλείαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀσθενεστέραν ἑαυτῆς ἐσομένην, καὶ τῇ τοῦ 81.1300 ὀστράκου ἀσθενείᾳ συμμεμιγμένην. Τὴν δὲ τῶν ὑλῶν διαφορὰν ἀνέθηκεν, οὐ τῆς τιμῆς, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἰσχύος δεικνὺς τὸ διάφορον· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ χρυσοῦ ὁ ἄργυρος στεγανώτερος· τοῦ δὲ ἀργύρου στεῤῥότερος ὁ χαλκός· ὁ δὲ σίδηρος καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ χαλκοῦ πολλῷ τῷ μέτρῳ στερεμνιώτερος. Ἡ διαφορὰ τοίνυν οὐκ ἐν τῇ τιμῇ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ τε καὶ δυνάμει. Ἀναγκαῖον δὲ ζητῆσαι, τί δήποτε ἐν εἰκόνι τῶν ὑλῶν τούτων ἐθεάσατο τὴν συνθήκην· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς, οὐδὲ μά την ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἀποκαλύπτεται. Ἡ εἰκὼν σχήματα, ἀλλ' οὐ πράγματα, ἔχει. Τοιοῦτος δὲ ὁ παρὼν βίος, οὐδὲν ἔχων διαρκὲς, οὐδὲ μόνιμον· διὸ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἐβόα, ὅτι "Παράγει τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου." Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ παραινῶν λέγει· "Μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ." Καὶ ὁ μα κάριος ∆αβὶδ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐημερίας διελέγχων τὸ μάταιον, φησί· "Πλὴν τὰ σύμπαντα ματαιότης, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν." Μέντοι γε ἐν εἰκόνι διαπορεύε ται ἄνθρωπος, θησαυρίζει, καὶ οὐ γινώσκει τίνι συνάξει αὐτά. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ ὁ παρὼν βίος ὀξυῤ ῥόπους ἔχει τὰς μεταβολὰς (θνητὰ γὰρ ἅπαντα τὰ ὁρώμενα, καὶ πρόσκαιρα, καὶ ἐπίκηρα), καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν δὲ τῶν μὲν πραγμάτων τὴν ἐνέργειαν οὐκ ἔχει, μόνα δὲ τὰ σχήματα δείκνυσι βασιλέων, καὶ ἀρχόντων, καὶ ὑπηκόων, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σχῆμα εὐδιά λυτον ἔχει· εἰκότως ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τὸν ἀλαζόνα ἐκεῖνον παιδεῦσαι βουληθεὶς βασιλέα τῆς ἀνθρω πίνης ὀφρύος τὸ μάταιον, καὶ διδάξαι, ὅτι ῥᾴστην ἔχει τὰ ἀνθρώπινα τὴν μεταβολὴν, εἰκόνα μὲν αὐτῷ ὄναρ προτίθησι, τὰ δὲ ταύτης μόρια μερίζει ταῖς ὕλαις, τὰς συχνὰς καὶ ἐπαλλήλους διδάσκων τῶν βασιλέων διαδοχὰς, καὶ πείθων ἅπαντας, ὡς αὐτὸς μόνος διηνεκὲς ἔχει τὸ κράτος, ἄναρχόν τε καὶ ἀτε λεύτητον, καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς αἰώνιον τὴν βασιλείαν. Τούτοις ἐπάγει ὁ μακάριος ∆ανιὴλ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ ἐν υπνίου διδάσκων. λδʹ, λεʹ. "Ἐθεώρεις, ἕως ὅτου ἀπεσχίσθη λίθος ἀπὸ ὄρους ἄνευ χειρῶν, καὶ ἐπάταξε τὴν εἰκόνα ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας τοὺς σιδηροῦς καὶ ὀστρακίνους, καὶ ἐλέπτυνεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τέλος. Τότε ἐλεπτύνθησαν εἰσάπαξ ὁ σίδηρος, τὸ ὄστρακον, ὁ χαλκὸς, ὁ ἄρ γυρος, ὁ χρυσὸς, καὶ ἐγένοντο ὡσεὶ κονιορτὸς ἀπὸ ἅλωνος θερινῆς, καὶ ἐξῆρεν αὐτὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ πᾶς τόπος οὐχ ηὑρέθη ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ὁ λίθος ὁ πατάξας τὴν εἰκόνα ἐγένετο εἰς ὄρος μέγα, καὶ ἐπλήρωσε πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν." Τοιοῦτον τοῦ ἐνυπνίου τὸ τέλος· προσήκει δὲ κάτωθεν ἡμᾶς ἄρξασθαι τῆς ἑρμηνείας. Ζητήσωμεν τοίνυν πρότε ρον, τίς λίθος προσαγορευόμενος, καὶ βραχὺς πρό τερον φαινόμενος, ὕστερον ἐδείχθη μέγιστος, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκάλυψεν. Οὐκοῦν