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the pride of their mind beyond the clouds. The second beast was like a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and it had three ribs and wings in its mouth. and it was said to it, "Arise, devour much flesh." The bear became a representation of the Persian kingdom, because of the cruelty and harshness of the nation; for of all the barbarians the Persians are the most merciless in punishing, inflicting the bitterest and most prolonged tortures by means of the boats and by flaying. It is likely that some are ignorant of the punishment of the boats; it is good, then, to make this clear to those who do not know. Fitting two boats of equal size to each other, and having cut them out, so that the head of the one being punished is left outside the boats and his hands, and indeed also his feet, they lay the one being punished on his back inside, and so they nail the boats to each other. Then mixing a concoction of honey and milk, they pour it into the mouth of that wretched one, until the man becomes oversaturated; and with such a mixture they pour over his face and feet and hands, and placing him in the open they cause him to be baked by the sun, and thus they do this to him each day. So then flies and wasps and bees, gathering because of the sweetness of what has been poured over him, settle on his face and on his other limbs, which, as has been said, have been left outside the boats, some annoying, others wounding the wretched one. And his stomach, having been filled with the honey and the milk, sends forth liquid excrement, from the putrefaction of which 1.192 maggots and worms swarm; and he, lying in the moisture and his flesh putrefying in it and being consumed by the worms, thus dies more pitifully and more slowly. It is recorded that Parysatis, the mother of Cyrus and Artaxerxes, used this punishment against the one who boasted of having killed Cyrus, who was fighting for the kingdom against his brother, with the punishment of the boats lasting for fourteen days. So the punishment of the boats is recorded to be something like this. But "Arise, devour flesh" is not of one permitting, but of one foretelling the things that will be; for a great destruction of the Assyrians and their allies came about by the Persians and Medes. One might also say that "devour much flesh" is significant of the nation's cruelty. The three ribs or wings, which it held in its mouth, were prefiguring the rule of the three parts of the inhabited world. For Cyrus, having destroyed the kingdom of the Assyrians, subjugated all the East as far as the Hellespont. And his son Cambyses held both Egypt and Ethiopia under his power; and these countries are southern. And Darius, son of Hystaspes, also subdued the nomadic Scythians; and these inhabit the northern region. And Xerxes, the son of Darius, indeed set out against Europe, trying to master this also, but he was driven back, having been defeated in a naval battle by the Athenians, and he retreated in shame. The beast standing on one side signifies not falling completely from power, but being confined to a small part of it. For that kingdom, formerly ruling over all of Asia and the Ethiopians and Egyptians, Palestine and Phoenicia 1.193 and Libya itself, fell away from the rest, but Media and Persia were left to it. Or else the beast standing on one side will be understood, that for a certain time the kingdom of the Persians was to be at leisure and inactive. For after Alexander had destroyed it, and then died, his monarchy was divided into four realms. And as his successors moved against one another and were weakened in their battles with each other, the Persians, again seizing the opportunity, took courage and recovered much of their own dominion. The third beast was like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon it, and four heads had grown on this beast, and he says authority was given to it. This beast represented the Macedonian kingdom. For Alexander was compared to a leopard because of his swiftness and agility,

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ὑπερηφανίας τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν ὑπερνέφελον. Τὸ δὲ δεύτερον θηρίον αρκῳ ὡμοίωτο, καὶ εἰς μέρος εν εστη, καὶ τρία ειχε πλευρὰ καὶ πτερὰ ἐν τῷ στόματι. καὶ ἐλέγετο αὐτῇ "ἀνάστα, φάγε σάρκας πολλάς." τῆς Περσῶν δὲ βασιλείας ἡ αρκος ἐγένετο τύπωσις, διὰ τὸ ὠμὸν τοῦ εθνους καὶ ἀπηνές· πάντων γὰρ τῶν βαρβάρων οἱ Πέρσαι τιμωρήσασθαι ἀπηνέστεροι, σκαφεύσεσί τε καὶ δορᾶς ἀφαιρέσει πικροτάτας καὶ μακροτάτας τὰς κολάσεις τιθέμενοι. Εἰκὸς δέ τισιν ἀγνοεῖσθαι τὴν κόλασιν τῆς σκαφεύσεως· καλὸν ουν καὶ ταύτην δήλην θέσθαι τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι. δύο σκάφας ισας ἀλλήλαις προσαρμόσαντες, καὶ ταύτας ἐγκόψαντες, ωστε τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ κολαζομένου ἐκτὸς περιλελεῖφθαι τῶν σκαφῶν καὶ τὰς χεῖρας, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τοὺς πόδας, υπτιον ἐντὸς τὸν τιμωρούμενον ἀνακλίνουσι, καὶ ουτω τὰς σκάφας προσηλοῦσιν ἀλλήλαις. ειτα κρᾶμα ἐκ μέλιτός τε καὶ γάλακτος κερασάμενοι ἐγχέουσιν εἰς τὸ στόμα τοῦ ἀθλίου ἐκείνου, μέχρις αν ὑπερκορὴς ὁ ανθρωπος γένηται· καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου κράματος τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ποδῶν καὶ τῶν χειρῶν καταχέουσιν, υπαιθρόν τε θέντες αὐτὸν εἱληθερεῖσθαι τῷ ἡλίῳ ποιοῦσι, καὶ ουτως ἑκάστης ἡμέρας πράττουσιν ἐπ' αὐτῷ. μυῖαι μὲν ουν καὶ σφῆκες καὶ μέλισσαι διὰ τὴν τῶν καταχεθέντων γλυκύτητα ἀθροιζόμεναι τῷ τε προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς αλλοις ἐφιζάνουσι μέλεσιν, α τῶν σκαφῶν ἐκτός, ὡς ειρηται, περιλέλειπται, ἐνοχλοῦσαι, αἱ δὲ τὸν αθλιον καὶ τιτρώσκουσαι. ἡ δέ γε γαστὴρ ἐκείνου πληρωθεῖσα τοῦ μέλιτος καὶ τοῦ γάλακτος ὑγρὰ προΐησι σκύβαλα, ων ἐνσηπομένων 1.192 εὐλαί τε καὶ σκώληκες ἀναζέουσιν· ὁ δ' ἐγκατακείμενος τῇ ὑγρότητι καὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτῇ ἐνσηπόμενος καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν σκωλήκων αὐτὸς δαπανώμενος ουτως οἰκτρότερόν τε θνήσκει καὶ χρονιώτερον. ταύτῃ τῇ κολάσει χρήσασθαι ἱστορεῖται καὶ ἡ Παρύσατις ἡ Κύρου καὶ ̓Αρταξέρξου μήτηρ κατὰ τοῦ ἀνελεῖν τὸν Κῦρον αὐχήσαντος, μαχόμενον περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τῷ ἀδελφῷ, ἐπὶ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην ἡμέραν τῇ τιμωρίᾳ διαρκέσαντος τῆς σκαφεύσεως. ̔Η μὲν ουν σκάφευσις τοιάδε τις ειναι ἱστόρηται. τὸ δέ "ἀνάστα, φάγε σάρκας" οὐκ ἐπιτρέποντός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ προλέγοντος τὰ ἐσόμενα· πολλὴ γὰρ φθορὰ τῶν ̓Ασσυρίων καὶ τῶν συμμαχούντων ἐκείνοις ὑπὸ Περσῶν τε καὶ Μήδων ἐγένετο. ειποι δ' αν τις καὶ τό "φάγε σάρκας πολλάς" τῆς ὠμότητος τοῦ εθνους σημαντικόν. τὰ δὲ τρία πλευρὰ η πτερά, α ἐν τῷ στόματι κατεῖχε, τὴν τῶν τριῶν τμημάτων ἀρχὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης ην προχαράττοντα. Κῦρος μὲν γὰρ ὁ τὴν ̓Ασσυρίων βασιλείαν καθῃρηκὼς τὸ ἑῷον απαν μέχρι τοῦ ̔Ελλησπόντου ὑπέταξεν. ὁ δὲ τούτου υἱὸς Καμβύσης καὶ τὴν Αιγυπτον καὶ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν εσχεν ὑφ' ἑαυτόν· νότιοι δ' αἱ χῶραι αυταί εἰσι. ∆αρεῖος δὲ ὁ ̔Υστάσπου καὶ τοὺς νομάδας ἐχειρώσατο Σκύθας· ουτοι δ' οἰκοῦσι τὸ κλίμα τὸ βόρειον. ὁ δέ γε Ξέρξης ὁ τοῦ ∆αρείου ωρμησε μὲν κατὰ τῆς Εὐρώπης, κρατῆσαι καὶ ταύτης πειρώμενος, ἀπεκρούσθη δέ γε ναυμαχίᾳ πρὸς ̓Αθηναίων ἡττηθεὶς καὶ ἀναζεύξας κατῃσχυμμένος. τὸ δ' ἐν μέρει στῆναι τὸ θηρίον σημαντικὸν τοῦ μὴ πάντῃ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκπεσεῖν, ὀλίγῳ δὲ μέρει ταύτης περιγραφῆναι. πάσης γὰρ τῆς ̓Ασίας πρῴην κρατοῦσα ἡ βασιλεία ἐκείνη καὶ Αἰθιόπων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων Παλαιστίνης τε καὶ Φοινίκης 1.193 καὶ τῆς Λιβύης αὐτῆς ἐξέπεσε μὲν τῶν λοιπῶν, περιελείφθη δ' αὐτῇ Μηδία τε καὶ Περσίς. η καὶ αλλως τὸ ἐν μέρει στῆναι τὸ θηρίον ἐκληφθήσεται, ἐπὶ καιρόν τινα δηλαδὴ σχολάσαι τὴν τῶν Περσῶν βασιλείαν καὶ ἀπρακτῆσαι. τοῦ γὰρ ̓Αλεξάνδρου καθῃρηκότος αὐτήν, ειτα θανόντος, εἰς τέσσαρας ἀρχὰς ἡ ἐκείνου μοναρχία διῄρητο. κατ' ἀλλήλων δὲ τῶν διαδόχων αὐτοῦ χωρησάντων καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους μάχαις ἠσθενηκότων, οἱ Πέρσαι πάλιν καιροῦ λαβόμενοι ἀνεθάρσησαν καὶ πολλὰ τῆς σφετέρας ἀρχῆς ἀνεκτήσαντο. Τὸ δὲ τρίτον θηρίον παρδάλει ην ἐμφερές, καὶ πτερὰ ειχε τέσσαρα πετεινοῦ ὑπεράνω αὐτῆς, καὶ τέσσαρες κεφαλαὶ τούτῳ τῷ θηρίῳ ἐπεφύκεσαν, καὶ ἐξουσίαν λέγει δοθῆναι αὐτῷ. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ θηρίον τὴν Μακεδονικὴν εἰκόνιζε βασιλείαν. παρδάλει μὲν γὰρ εἰκάσθη ̓Αλέξανδρος διὰ τὸ ὀξύρροπον καὶ εὐκίνητον,