22

is of the succession of the Macedonians. But it says: "The God of heaven will raise up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." Here, while speaking about the Lord Christ, it also enigmatically includes the Roman kingdom which rose together with the Lord Christ. For while Christ was still being carried in the womb, the Roman kingdom received power from God, as being a servant of the economies of Christ; for at that very time they were also called eternal Augusti and as rulers they made a census of the whole earth. Indeed, the Evangelist points out that this first census took place under Augustus Caesar, when the Lord Christ was also born and deigned to be registered and to pay taxes in the land and kingdom of the Romans. 2.75 The kingdom of the Romans, therefore, partakes of the dignities of the kingdom of the Lord Christ, surpassing all as much as is possible in this life, remaining unconquered until the consummation. "For," it says, "it shall never be destroyed." And concerning the Lord Christ, "unto the age" signifies that which is without end, just as Gabriel also says to the Virgin: "And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end," but concerning the Roman kingdom, as it rose together with Christ, it will not be destroyed in this age. For I boldly declare that, even if for our sins for a short time for our correction barbarian enemies rise up against Romania, yet by the power of the one who holds all things together the kingdom remains unconquered, so that the affairs of the Christians might not be straitened, but broadened. For it was also the first kingdom to believe in Christ, beyond the others, and this kingdom is a servant of the economies of Christ, which for these reasons the Lord God of all preserves unconquered until the consummation. 2.76 But the kingdom of the Persians is not from the Persians, nor from the succession of their predecessors, but has risen now from another beginning, that is, from the Magi. For at the time of Christ the kingdom of the Persians had been destroyed by Alexander the Macedonian according to the prophecy, and the successors of the Macedonian rule held sway over the country until Antiochus. Then, from that time, the Parthians gradually ruled the area; indeed, having attacked Hyrcanus the ruler of the Jews in Jerusalem, they took him captive a short time before the Lord Christ came. For now, about four hundred years ago, this kingdom of the Magi was raised up, as I think, and this one is second after the Romans, because the Magi received certain dignities at the time of the Lord Christ on account of their worship and honor toward him. 2.77 For in the land of the Romans the Christian preaching first spread at the time of the apostles, and immediately again in Persia through Thaddeus the apostle. Indeed, it is also written in the Catholic epistles: "The Church in Babylon greets you." But indeed the Roman kingdom has many prerogatives in this, as being both the first and the first to believe in Christ and serving in the entire economy according to Christ. And another sign of the power of the Romans which God has granted to them, I mean that in their currency all the nations trade, and in every place from one end of the earth to the other it is accepted, admired by every man and every kingdom, a thing which does not exist for any other kingdom. So let us return to the subject at hand. The text 2.78 For some of the ancient philosophers, having traversed nearly the whole inhabited world and written histories, said, similarly to the divine Scripture, that the position of the earth is so, and that the revolution of the stars takes place. Let one from among them come forward, speaking thus. From the fourth book of the History of Ephorus 2.79 For the Indians inhabit the region of the east wind and the area near the sunrises, the Ethiopians occupy the region towards the South and midday, the Celts hold the region from the West wind and the sunsets, and the Scythians inhabit the region towards the North and the bears. Now, each is not equal

22

διαδοχῆς ἐστι τῶν Μακεδόνων. Ἀλλά φησιν· "Ἀναστήσει ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βασιλείαν, ἥτις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα οὐ διαφθαρήσεται." Ἐνταῦθα μὲν λέγων περὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, αἰνιγματωδῶς δὲ συμπεριλαμβάνει καὶ τὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασίλειον συνανατεῖλαν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ Χριστῷ. Τοῦ γὰρ Χριστοῦ ἔτι κυοφορουμένου, κράτος ἐδέξατο παρὰ Θεοῦ ἡ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασιλεία, ὡς ὑπηρέτις οὖσα τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἰκονομιῶν· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ τῷ καιρῷ καὶ αἰώνιοι Αὔγουστοι προσηγορεύθησαν καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἀπογραφὴν ὡς κρατοῦντες ἐποιήσαντο. Ἀμέλει ἐπισημαίνεται ὁ Εὐαγγελιστὴς ὅτι αὕτη πρώτη ἀπογραφὴ ἐγένετο ἐπὶ Αὐγούστου Καίσαρος, ὅτε καὶ ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς ἐγεννήθη καὶ εἰς τὴν τῶν Ῥωμαίων γῆν καὶ βασιλείαν ἠξίωσεν ἀπογραφῆναι καὶ τέλη δοῦναι. 2.75 Μετέχει οὖν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων τῶν ἀξιωμάτων τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, πάσας ὑπεραίρουσα ὅσον ἐνδέχεται κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον, ἀήττητος διαμένουσα μέχρι τῆς συντελείας. "Εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα γάρ, φησίν, οὐ διαφθαρήσεται." Καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ "εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα" τὸ ἀτελεύτητον σημαίνει, καθὰ καὶ ὁ Γαβριὴλ τῇ Παρθένῳ λέγει· "Καὶ βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος", ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Ῥωμαίων βασιλείας ὡς συνανατειλάσης τῷ Χριστῷ, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦτον οὐ διαφθαρήσεται. Θαρρῶν γὰρ ἀποφαίνομαι ὅτι, εἰ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἡμετέρας ἁμαρτίας πρὸς παιδείαν ὀλίγον ἐχθροὶ βάρβαροι τῇ Ῥωμανίᾳ ἐπανίστανται, ἀλλὰ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ διακρατοῦντος ἀήττητος διαμένει ἡ βασιλεία, ἐπὶ τὸ μὴ στενοῦσθαι τὰ τῶν χριστιανῶν, ἀλλὰ πλατύνεσθαι. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ πρῶτον βασίλειον ἐπίστευσε Χριστῷ παρὰ τὰ λοιπὰ καὶ αὕτη ἡ βασιλεία ὑπηρέτις ἐστὶ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἰκονομιῶν, ἣν διὰ ταῦτα φυλάττει ὁ τῶν ὅλων ∆εσπότης Θεὸς ἀήττητον μέχρι τῆς συντελείας. 2.76 Τὸ δὲ τῶν Περσῶν βασίλειον οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῶν Περσῶν, οὔτε ἐκ διαδοχῆς τῶν προτέρων, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς νῦν ἀναστάν, τουτέστιν ἐκ τῶν Μάγων. Ἐπὶ γὰρ τῶν καιρῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν Περσῶν καταλυθεῖσα ἦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Μακεδόνος Ἀλεξάνδρου κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν καὶ οἱ διάδοχοι τῆς μακεδονικῆς ἀρχῆς κατεκράτουν τῆς χώρας ἄχρι Ἀντιόχου. Λοιπὸν ἔκτοτε Πάρθοι κατὰ μικρὸν ἐτοποκράτουν· ἀμέλει ἐπιρρίψαντες ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις Ὑρκανὸν τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἄρχοντα αἰχμάλωτον ἔλαβον πρὸ ὀλίγου χρόνου τοῦ παραγένεσθαι τὸν ∆εσπότην Χριστόν. Νῦν γὰρ ὡς πρὸ τετρακοσίων ἐτῶν ἐξηγέρθη αὕτη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν Μάγων, ὡς οἶμαι, καὶ αὕτη δευτερεύουσα μετὰ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους διὰ τὸ τοὺς Μάγους ἀξιώματά τινα λαβεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν προσκύνησιν καὶ τιμήν. 2.77 Ἐν τῇ γὰρ Ῥωμαίων γῇ πρῶτον ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων διέδραμε τὸ χριστιανικὸν κήρυγμα καὶ εὐθέως πάλιν ἐν Περσίδι διὰ Θαδδαίου τοῦ ἀποστόλου. Ἀμέλει καὶ ἐν ταῖς Καθολικαῖς γέγραπται· "Ἀσπάζεταί σε ἡ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι Ἐκκλησία." Ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασίλειον πολλὰπρολήμματα ἔχει ἐν τούτῳ, ὡς καὶ πρῶτον ὂν καὶ πρῶτον πιστεῦσαν εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ ὑπηρετοῦν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ κατὰ Χριστὸν οἰκονομίᾳ. Ἕτερον δὲ σημεῖον δυναστείας τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὃ αὐτοῖς κεχάρισται ὁ Θεός, λέγω δὴ ὅτι ἐν τῷ νομίσματι αὐτῶν ἐμπορεύονται πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἀπ' ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου γῆς δεκτόν ἐστι, θαυμαζόμενον παρὰ παντὸς ἀνθρώπου καὶ πάσης βασιλείας, ὅπερ ἑτέρᾳ βασιλείᾳ οὐχ ὑπάρχει τὸ τοιοῦτο. Λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν. Τὸ κείμενον 2.78 Τινὲς γὰρ τῶν παλαιῶν φιλοσόφων σχεδὸν τὴν οἰκουμένην περινοστήσαντες καὶ ἱστοριογραφήσαντες παραπλησίως τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ ἔφασαν καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν θέσιν τῆς γῆς εἶναι καὶ τῶν ἄστρων τὴν περιφορὰν γίνεσθαι. Παρίτω δὲ εἰς μέσον ἐξ αὐτῶν τις φάσκων οὕτως. Ἐφόρου ἐκ τῆς δʹ Ἱστορίασ 2.79 Τὸν μὲν γὰρ Ἀπηλιώτην καὶ τὸν ἐγγὺς ἀνατολῶν τόπον Ἰνδοὶ κατοικοῦσι, τὸν δὲ πρὸς Νότον καὶ μεσημβρίαν Αἰθίοπες νέμονται, τὸν δὲ ἀπὸ Ζεφύρου καὶ δυσμῶν Κελτοὶ κατέχουσι, τὸν δὲ κατὰ Βορρᾶν καὶ τὰς ἄρκτους Σκῦθαι κατοικοῦσιν. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἴσον ἕκαστον