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reaps, and receives tribute from everywhere. And he has well added, "in its mouth," to show the contribution furnished by all. And since this kingdom was not completely destroyed, but remained holding some portion of its former rule, he did not say that it endured what the one before it suffered, being deprived of its wings, "and made to stand on human feet, and a human heart was given to it;" but he said that it stood on one side. "It was raised up on one, he says, side," that is, having ruled the three parts of the world, it was deprived of the greater part, and retained the rule of one part. For while it once ruled all of Asia, and of Libya, it was deprived of Egypt and Ethiopia; and it no longer rules Palestine, and Phoeni cia, and Syria; the rule of Asia has also been taken away, and the Euxine Pontus is also outside its scepters; but it rules only Persia, and Media, and Assyria, and a few neighboring nations. For this reason he says, that "It was raised up on one side." Having narrated these things also about the second beast, 2. "After, he says, this I looked, and behold, a beast, another one like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird above it, and four heads on the beast, and dominion was given to it." The Ma cedonian kingdom he alludes to through these things; and very fittingly he likened Alexander to a leopard, because of his speed and sharpness and variety. "Four wings of a bird" he said the beast had, since like a bird Alexander, having run through the four parts of the world, brought all under himself; and through "the four heads" he alluded to the division of rule that occurred after Alex ander. For four kings were established instead of one; and Ptolemy son of Lagus over Egypt was en trusted with the helm; but Seleucus was entrusted to direct the rule towards the east; and Antigonus ruled Asia; and of Macedonia, as some say, Antipater; but as others, Philip, also called Arrhidaeus, Alexander's own brother. The four heads, then, allude to the four dominions after Alexander, and the four wings to the dynasty of Alexander itself, which prevailed over the four parts of the world; and he said that dominion was given to the beast, since it was shown to rule even those whom its predecessors had not ruled, but nevertheless even the kingdom that prevailed over all received an end. 7. "For after this," he says, "I saw in a vision of the night, and behold, a fourth beast, dread 81.1420 ful and exceedingly terrible, and its teeth were of iron and great, and its claws were of bronze; it ate and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet, and it was exceedingly different from all the beasts that were before it." The fourth beast he calls the Roman kingdom; but he gives it no name, since the city of the Romans, formed from many nations, ruled the world; first being a monarchy, then at one time a democracy, at another an aristocracy; and later returning to its former monarchy. Dread ful, he says, is the beast, and exceedingly terrible, since this kingdom has become more powerful than all other kingdoms, and in the case of the image, he set down iron as the fourth material, and added. Just as, then, iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things, so it will break in pieces and subdue all things. And here he says, "The teeth of the beast were of iron;" so that it is clear that he alludes to the same kingdom here also. "It ate," he says, "and broke in pieces." And in fact greater taxes were imposed by the Romans on their subjects. "And the residue," he says, "it stamped with its feet." And by the feet of the kingdom he alludes to the army, by which no small damages are brought upon both those who inhabit the cities and the countrysides. "And it was exceedingly different from all the beasts that were before it." For the Roman kingdom was shown to be more powerful and more glorious than the kingdoms before it. "And it had," he says, "ten horns." He signifies here that around the end of the kingdom ten

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καρποῦται, καὶ τὸν πανταχόθεν ὑποδέχεται φόρον. Καλῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ, "ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῆς" προστέθεικεν, ἵνα δείξῃ τὴν παρὰ πάντων χορηγουμένην εἰσφοράν. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐ παντάπασιν ἡ βασιλεία αὕτη κατελύθη, ἀλλὰ μοῖράν τινα τῆς προτέρας ἡγεμονίας διέμεινεν ἔχουσα, οὐκ ἔφη μὲν ὑπομεῖναι αὐτὴν ἅπερ ἡ πρὸ αὐτῆς πέπονθε τῶν πτερῶν στερηθεῖσα, "καὶ ἐπὶ ποδῶν ἀνθρώπου σταθεῖσα, καὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου λαβοῦσα·" εἶπε δὲ αὐτὴν εἰς ἓν στῆναι μέρος. "Εἰς ἓν δὲ, φησὶ, μέρος ἐστάθη," τουτέστι, κρατήσασα τῶν τριῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης τμημάτων, ἀπεστερήθη μὲν τοῦ πλείστου, ἑνὸς δὲ μέρους τὴν ἡγεμονίαν κατέσχε. Κρατοῦσα γὰρ τῆς Ἀσίας πάλαι ἁπάσης, καὶ τῆς Λιβύης, ἀπεστερήθη μὲν τῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας· οὐκέτι δὲ Παλαιστινῶν, καὶ Φοινί κων, καὶ Σύρων κρατεῖ· ἀφῄρηται δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ ὁ Εὔξεινος δὲ Πόντος ἔξω τῶν σκήπτρων γεγένηται· κρατεῖ δὲ μόνης Περσίδος, καὶ Μηδίας, καὶ Ἀσσυρίας, καὶ τῶν πλησιοχώρων ὀλίγων ἐθνῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι "Εἰς ἓν μέρος ἐστάθη." Ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τοῦ δευτέρου διηγησάμενος θηρίου, ʹ. "Ὀπίσω, φησὶ, τούτου ἐθεώρουν, καὶ ἰδοὺ θη ρίον ἕτερον ὡσεὶ πάρδαλις, καὶ αὐτῇ πτερὰ τέσσαρα πετεινοῦ ὑπεράνω αὐτῆς, καὶ τέσσαρες κεφαλαὶ τῷ θηρίῳ, καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία ἐδόθη αὐτῇ." Τὴν Μα κεδονικὴν βασιλείαν διὰ τούτων αἰνίττεται· καὶ μάλα προσφόρως παρδάλει τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἀπείκασε, διὰ τὸ ταχὺ καὶ ὀξὺ καὶ ποικίλον. "Τέτταρα δὲ πτερὰ πετεινοῦ" ἔφη τὸ θηρίον ἐσχηκέναι, ἐπειδὴ πτηνοῦ δίκην ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος τὰ τέσσαρα τῆς οἰκουμένης δια δραμὼν τμήματα, πάντας ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐποιήσατο· διὰ δὲ "τῶν τεσσάρων κεφαλῶν" τὴν μετὰ τὸν Ἀλέξ ανδρον γενομένην ᾐνίξατο τῆς ἡγεμονίας διαίρεσιν. Τέσσαρες γὰρ ἀνθ' ἑνὸς κατέστησαν βασιλεῖς· καὶ Πτολεμαῖος μὲν ὁ Λάγου τῶν κατ' Αἴγυπτον ἐνεχει ρίσθη τοὺς οἴακας· Σέλευκος δὲ τῶν πρὸς ἕω τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἰθύνειν ἐπιστεύθη· Ἀντίγονος δὲ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐκράτησε· τῆς δὲ Μακεδονίας, ὡς μέν τινές φασιν, Ἀντίπατρος· ὡς δὲ ἕτεροι, Φίλιππος ὁ καὶ Ἀριδαῖος, αὐτοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀδελφός. Αἱ μὲν οὖν τέσσαρες κεφαλαὶ τὰς μετὰ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον τέσσαρας ἡγεμονίας αἰνίττονται, τὰ δὲ τέσσαρα πτερὰ αὐτὴν τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου τὴν δυναστείαν τῶν τεττάρων τῆς οἰκουμένης περιγενομένην τμημάτων· ἐξουσίαν δὲ ἔφη δεδόσθαι τῷ θηρίῳ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὧν οἱ πρὸ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐκεκρατήκεισαν, οὗτος ἐδείχθη κρατῶν, ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ ἡ πάντων περιγενομένη βασιλεία τέλος ἐδέξατο. ζʹ. "Ὀπίσω γὰρ τούτου, φησὶν, ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς, καὶ ἰδοὺ θηρίον τέταρτον φοβε 81.1420 ρὸν καὶ ἔκθαμβον περισσῶς, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ σιδηροῖ καὶ μεγάλοι, καὶ οἱ ὄνυχες αὐτοῦ χαλκοῖ ἤσθιον καὶ ἐλέπτυνον, καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα τοῖς ποσὶν αὑτοῦ συνεπάτει, καὶ αὐτὸ διέφερε περισσῶς παρὰ πάντα τὰ θηρία τὰ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ." Τὸ τέταρτον θηρίον τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν καλεῖ βασιλείαν· ὄνομα δὲ αὐτῷ οὐ τίθησιν, ἐπειδὴ ἐκ πλειόνων ἐθνῶν ἡ Ῥωμαίων συγκροτηθεῖσα πόλις τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκράτησε· πρῶτον μὲν βασιλευομένη, εἶτα ὁτὲ μὲν δημοκρατουμένη, ὁτὲ δὲ ἀριστοκρατουμένη· ὕστερον δὲ εἰς τὴν προτέραν ἐπανελθοῦσα βασιλείαν. Φοβε ρὸν δὲ λέγει τὸ θηρίον καὶ ἔκθαμβον περισσῶς, ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπασῶν βασιλειῶν δυνατωτέρα αὕτη ἡ βασιλεία γεγένηται, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος δὲ, τετάρτην ὕλην τὸν σίδηρον τέθεικε, καὶ ἐπήγαγεν. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ὁ σίδηρος λεπτύνει καὶ ἐκδαμάζει πάντα, οὕτω πάντα λεπτυνεῖ καὶ ἐκδαμάσει. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα δέ φησιν· "Οἱ ὀδόντες τοῦ θηρίου σιδηροῖ·" ὡς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν κἀνταῦθα βασιλείαν αἰνίττεται. "Ἤσθιε, φησὶ, καὶ ἐλέπτυνε." Καὶ τῷ ὄντι μείζους ἐπετέθησαν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων τοῖς ὑπηκόοις οἱ φόροι. "Καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα, φησὶ, τοῖς ποσὶν αὑτοῦ συνεπάτει." Πόδας δὲ τῆς βασιλείας τὴν στρατείαν αἰνίττεται, ὑφ' ὧν οὐ σμικραὶ ζημίαι τοῖς τε τὰς πόλεις οἰκοῦσι καὶ τὰς χώρας ἐπ άγονται. "Καὶ αὐτὸ διέφερε περισσῶς παρὰ πάντα τὰ θηρία τὰ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ." ∆υνατωτέρα γὰρ καὶ περιφανεστέρα ἡ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεία τῶν πρὸ αὐτῆς βασιλειῶν ἀπεφάνθη. "Καὶ κέρατα αὐτῷ, φησὶ, δέκα." Σημαίνει ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι περὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς βασιλείας δέκα