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And that I say these things not by conjecture, come, let us bring forward another witness of the things that have been said, one whom they especially consider to be trustworthy, I mean Josephus, who both dramatized their misfortunes and paraphrased the entire Old Testament; who, having lived after the coming of Christ, and having spoken of the captivity foretold by him, also discussed this captivity that took place, interpreting the prophet's vision concerning the ram and the goat and the four horns, and the later one that arose after them. And so that no one may suspect the things said by us, come, let us also set forth his very words. For having praised and admired Daniel with all exaggeration, and having placed him before all the other prophets, he came also to this vision, and says thus: He left behind writings, from which he made clear to us the accuracy and unchangeableness of his prophecy. For he says that in Susa, the metropolis of Persia, he went out into the plain with some of his companions; and when an earthquake and a shaking of the earth suddenly occurred, he was left alone, his friends having fled. And that he fell on his face, and was supported on his two hands; and when someone touched him and commanded him to stand up and to see the things that would happen to the citizens after many generations, a great ram was shown to him as he stood up, having many horns grown out, but having the last of them higher. Then that he looked up toward the west, and saw a goat being carried through the air; and that it clashed with the ram, and striking it twice with its horns, threw it down to the earth and trampled it. Then he saw the goat become higher, growing a very great horn from its forehead; and when this was broken, four others sprouted up, turned toward each of the winds; and he wrote that from them arose another smaller one that grew. And God, who was showing him these things, told him that his nation would be warred against, and the city would be destroyed by force, and the temple would be plundered, and the sacrifices would be stopped for one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Daniel wrote that he saw these things in the plain at Susa; and God revealed to him the interpretation of the appearance of the vision; who said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Persians and Medes, and the horns those who were to rule; and the last horn signified the last king who was to 48.897 surpass all of them in both wealth and glory. And that the goat indicated that a certain ruler would be from the Greeks, who, engaging the Persian twice, would prevail in the battle and take away the entire dominion. And that by the first great horn on the forehead of the goat was indicated the first king, and by the sprouting of the four after that one had fallen, and the turning of each toward the four quarters of the world, were shown the successors after the death of the first king, and the division of the kingdom among them; and that neither his children nor his relatives would rule the world for many years. And that from these there would be a certain king, who would make war and take away their laws and their form of government, and would plunder the temple, and would prevent the sacrifices from being offered for three years. And indeed these things happened to our nation to suffer under Antiochus Epiphanes, just as Daniel saw many years beforehand, and wrote down the things that were to happen. What could be clearer than this? It is time now, then, if we do not seem to be tiresome, to come to the very thing sought, the present captivity, and this servitude of today, on account of which we have set all these things in motion. But rouse yourselves for me now; for our contest is not about ordinary things. For it is absurd, when sitting at the Olympic games, to endure from midnight to midday, waiting to see upon whom the crown will be placed, and to receive the hot sunbeam on a bare head, and not to depart before the contests receive their judgment; but now for us it is not about such a crown, but about

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Καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα οὐ στοχαζόμενος λέγω, φέρε καὶ ἕτερον τῶν εἰρημένων παραγάγωμεν μάρτυρα, ὃν μάλιστα ἀξιόπιστον εἶναι νομίζουσιν, Ἰώσηππον λέγω, τὸν καὶ τὰς συμφορὰς αὐτῶν τραγῳδήσαντα, καὶ τὴν Παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην παραφράσαντα πᾶσαν· ὃς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν γενόμενος, καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προῤῥηθεῖσαν εἰπὼν, καὶ περὶ ταύτης διελέχθη τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῆς γενομένης, τὴν τοῦ προφήτου ἑρμηνεύων ὅρασιν, τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ κριοῦ καὶ τοῦ τράγου καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων κεράτων, καὶ τοῦ ὑστέρου τοῦ μετ' ἐκεῖνα ἀνελθόντος. Καὶ ἵνα μή τις ὑποπτεύῃ τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν εἰρημένα, φέρε καὶ αὐτὰς παραθώμεθα τὰς ῥήσεις ἐκείνου. Ἐπαινέσας γὰρ καὶ θαυμάσας τὸν ∆ανιὴλ μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἁπάσης, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτὸν προθεὶς προφητῶν ἁπάντων, ἦλθε καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν ὅρασιν, καί φησιν οὕτω· Κατέλιπε δὲ γραφὰς, ὅθεν ἡμῖν τὸ τῆς προφητείας ἀκριβὲς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπαράλλακτον ἐποίησε δῆλον. Φησὶ γὰρ, ἐν Σούσοις τῇ μητροπόλει τῆς Περσίδος ἐξελθεῖν μὲν εἰς τὸ πεδίον μετὰ ἑταίρων αὐτοῦ τινῶν· σεισμοῦ δὲ καὶ κλόνου τῆς γῆς ἐξαίφνης γενομένου, καταλειφθῆναι μόνον, φυγόντων τῶν φίλων. Καὶ πεσεῖν μὲν ἐπὶ στόμα, καὶ στηριχθῆναι ἐπὶ τὰς δύο χεῖρας· τινὸς δὲ ἁπτομένου αὐτοῦ καὶ μεταξὺ κελεύοντος ἀναστῆναι, καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα συμβήσεσθαι τοῖς πολίταις ἰδεῖν μετὰ πολλὰς γενεὰς, ἀναστάντι αὐτῷ δειχθῆναι κριὸν μέγαν, πολλὰ μὲν ἐκπεφυκότα κέρατα, τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον αὐτῶν ὑψηλότερον ἔχοντα. Ἔπειτα ἀναβλέψαι μὲν πρὸς τὴν δύσιν, θεάσασθαι δὲ τράγον δι' ἀέρος φερόμενον· συῤῥήξαντα δὲ τῷ κριῷ, καὶ τοῖς κέρασι πλήξαντα δὶς καταβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πατῆσαι. Εἶτα τὸν τράγον ἰδεῖν ὑψηλότερον, ἐκ τοῦ μετώπου μέγιστον ἀναφύσαντα κέρας· οὗ κλασθέντος, ἄλλα ἀναβλαστῆσαι τέσσαρα καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν ἀνέμων τετραμμένα· ἐξ αὐτῶν δὲ ἀνασχεῖν καὶ ἄλλο μικρότερον ἐνέγραψεν αὐξῆσαν. Ἔλεγε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ ταῦτα ἐπιδεικνὺς Θεὸς, πολεμήσειν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἔθνος, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀναιρήσειν κατὰ κράτος, καὶ συλήσειν τὸν ναὸν, καὶ τὰς θυσίας κωλύσειν· γενέσθαι δὲ ἐφ' ἡμέρας χιλίας διακοσίας ἐνενήκοντα. Ταῦτα μὲν ἰδεῖν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ τῷ ἐν Σούσοις ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἀνέγραψε· κρῖναι δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ φαντάσματος ἐδήλου τὸν Θεόν· ὃς τὸν μὲν κριὸν βασιλείας τὰς Περσῶν καὶ Μήδων σημαίνειν ἔφασκε, τὰ δὲ κέρατα τοὺς βασιλεύειν μέλλοντας· τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον κέρας σημαίνειν τὸν ἔσχατον βασιλέα τὸν μέλλοντα 48.897 τούτων διοίσειν ἁπάντων πλούτῳ τε καὶ δόξῃ. Τὸν δὲ τράγον δηλοῦν, ὡς ἐξ Ἑλλήνων τις ὁ βασιλεύων ἔσται, ὃς τῷ Πέρσῃ συμβαλὼν δὶς, κρατήσει τῇ μάχῃ καὶ ἀφαιρήσεται τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἅπασαν. ∆ηλοῦσθαι δὲ διὰ τοῦ πρώτου μεγάλου κέρατος τοῦ ἐν τῷ μετώπῳ τοῦ τράγου τὸν πρῶτον βασιλέα, καὶ τὴν τῶν τεσσάρων ἀναβλάστησιν ἐκπεσόντος ἐκείνου, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ τέσσαρα κλίματα ἀποστροφὴν ἑκάστου, τοὺς διαδόχους μετὰ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ πρώτου βασιλέως ἐμφαίνεσθαι, καὶ διαμερισμὸν εἰς αὐτοὺς τῆς βασιλείας· οὔτε δὲ παῖδας ὄντας αὐτοῦ οὔτε συγγενεῖς πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ἄρξειν τῆς οἰκουμένης. Ἔσεσθαι δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἕνα τινὰ βασιλέα, τὸν ἐκπολεμήσοντα καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτοὺς ἀφαιρησόμενον πολιτείαν, καὶ συλήσοντα τὸν ναὸν, καὶ τὰς θυσίας ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία κωλύσοντα ἐπιτελεσθῆναι. Καὶ δὴ ταῦτα ἡμῶν συνέβη τῷ ἔθνει παθεῖν ὑπὸ Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Ἐπιφανοῦς, καθὼς εἶδε ∆ανιὴλ πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ ἀνέγραψε τὰ γενησόμενα. Ἆρα τί τούτου σαφέστερον γένοιτ' ἄν; Ὥρα δὴ λοιπὸν, εἰ μὴ δοκοῦμεν διενοχλεῖν, ἐπ' αὐτὸ τὸ ζητούμενον ἐλθεῖν, τὴν παροῦσαν αἰχμαλωσίαν, καὶ τὴν δουλείαν ταύτην δὲ τὴν σήμερον, δι' ἣν ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἐκινήσαμεν. Ἀλλὰ διανάστητέ μοι νῦν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν τυχόντων ἡμῖν ὁ ἀγών. Καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, ἐν Ὀλυμπιακοῖς μὲν καθημένους ἀγῶσι ἐκ μέσων νυκτῶν εἰς μεσημβρίαν μέσην καρτερεῖν, ἀναμένοντας ἰδεῖν εἰς τίνα ὁ στέφανος περιστήσεται, καὶ γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ θερμὴν δέχεσθαι τὴν ἀκτῖνα, καὶ μὴ πρότερον ἀφίστασθαι, ἕως ἂν κρίσιν τὰ ἀγωνίσματα λάβῃ· νῦν δὲ ἡμῖν οὐχ ὑπὲρ στεφάνου τοιούτου, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ