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CHAPTER 11. 1. "And it came to pass, he says, in the first year of Cyrus, I stood for strength and for power." Immediately, he says, when Cyrus began to reign, and when the term of the captivity was completed, I rose up until I procured release and freedom for the people. 2. "And now I will announce to you the truth." And I tell you with truth the things that will be. "Behold, yet three kings shall arise in Persia." After Cyrus, Cambyses reigned; the Magi, succeeding him, reigned for ten months; after them, Darius the son of Hystaspes. "And the fourth, he says, shall be enriched with great wealth beyond all." He means Xerxes, the son of Darius. "And after he has mastered his wealth, he will rise up against all the kingdoms of the Greeks." Of him also the historians and writers, sophists and orators, who are outside our discourse, make mention, and they recount both his arrogant campaign and his laughable retreat. Then, having taught the Persian affairs in summary up to this point, and having left aside those who reigned after him, as they had become weaker, he transferred the discourse to the Macedonian, and says: 3, 4. "And a mighty king shall arise, and he shall rule with great dominion, and he shall do according to his will. And when his kingdom stands, it shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven." For when Alexander, as we have already said before, had assumed the kingdom of, so to speak, the whole inhabited world, and then received the 81.1504 common end of men, his kingdom was divided four ways, as we have already often said, and here again the divine archangel spoke thus: "And it shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled." What he says is this: Alexander, having reigned twelve years in all, in the last six years, overthrew both the kingdom of the Persians and that of the Egyptians, and he brought all the nations in between under his own power. He says, therefore, that those who will reign after him will appear nothing like Alexander, neither in might, nor in the authority which he acquired in his last years. For this is what he says: "To his posterity, nor according to his dominion with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be plucked up, and shall be given to others besides these." For not only, he says, will it be divided among these four, but it will also be given to others besides these. For during their time, Arsaces the Persian also, having prevailed in war, assumed the kingdom, and recovered a certain part of the Persian rule; from whom, up to the present time, the kings of the Persians are called Arsacids, whereas their predecessors were named not Arsacids, but Achaemenids. And the Romans also, when the Macedonian kingdom was divided, gained greater power, and indeed they collected tribute from these very kings. Thus having foretold the division, he leaves out the memory of two of the kings; for neither the king of Asia, nor the king of Macedonia, lasted for a long time; and besides, nothing grievous happened to the Jews on account of them. Therefore, he only mentions the two, through whom the Jews experienced dire calamities. And these are the king of Egypt, and the one entrusted with the rule of the nations lying to the east; and they had their royal courts in both Antioch and Babylon. It is fitting for us first to state the subject of what will be said, and then to take up the interpretation part by part. The goat, which the blessed Daniel saw, after the breaking of the one horn, "put forth four horns," these same kings; "and out of one of them grew another horn," which greatly warred against Egypt, and enveloped the nation of the Jews in countless calamities; and by this horn is signified Antiochus Epiphanes. And the fourth beast also the blessed Daniel saw, having ten horns, and between the horns a little horn came up, having eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and it made war with the saints. Again also through these

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ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΑʹ. αʹ. "Καὶ ἐγένετο, φησὶν, ἐν ἔτει πρώτῳ Κύ ρου, ἔστην εἰς κράτος καὶ ἰσχύν." Εὐθὺς, φησὶ, τοῦ Κύρου βασιλεύσαντος, καὶ τοῦ ὅρου τῆς αἰχμ αλωσίας συμπληρωθέντος, ἀνέστην ἕως οὗ τὴν ἄφεσιν τῷ λαῷ καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἐπραγματευσάμην. βʹ. "Καὶ νῦν ἀναγγελῶ σοι ἀλήθειαν." Λέγω δέ σοι μετὰ ἀληθείας τὰ ἐσόμενα. "Ἰδοὺ ἔτι τρεῖς βασιλεῖς ἀναστήσονται ἐν τῇ Περσίδι." Μετὰ Κῦ ρον ἐβασίλευσε Καμβύσης· τοῦτον οἱ Μάγοι διαδεξά μενοι, δέκα μῆνας ἐβασίλευσαν· μετ' ἐκείνους ∆α ρεῖος ὁ Ὑστάσπου. "Καὶ ὁ τέταρτος, φησὶ, πλου τήσει πλοῦτον μέγαν παρὰ πάντας." Τὸν Ξέρξην λέγει, τὸν τοῦ ∆αρείου υἱόν. "Καὶ μετὰ τὸ κρατῆ σαι αὐτὸν τοῦ πλούτου, ἐπαναστήσεται πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῶν Ἑλλήνων." Τούτου καὶ οἱ ἔξω τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς λόγου ἱστοριογράφοι τε καὶ συγ γραφεῖς, σοφισταί τε καὶ ῥήτορες μέμνηνται, καὶ διηγοῦνται αὐτοῦ τήν τε ὑπερήφανον στρατείαν, καὶ τὴν καταγέλαστον ἀναχώρησιν. Εἶτα μέχρις αὐτοῦ τὰ Περσικὰ ἐν κεφαλαίῳ διδάξας, καὶ τοὺς μετὰ τοῦτον βασιλεύσαντας, ὡς ἀσθενεστέρους γεγενημέ νους, καταλιπὼν, ἐπὶ τὸν Μακεδόνα τὸν λόγον μετ ήνεγκε, καί φησι· γʹ, δʹ. "Καὶ ἀναστήσεται βασιλεὺς δυνατὸς, καὶ κυριεύσει κυρείας πολλῆς, καὶ ποιήσει κατὰ τὸ θέλημα αὑτοῦ. Καὶ ἐὰν στῇ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ συντριβήσεται, καὶ διαιρεθήσεται εἰς τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀνέμους τοῦ οὐρανοῦ." Τοῦ γὰρ Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὡς καὶ ἤδη προειρήκαμεν, τὴν ἁπάσης, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀναδησαμένου βασιλείαν, εἶτα τὸ 81.1504 κοινὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων δεξαμένου τέλος, τετραχῆ ἡ βασιλεία διῃρέθη, ὡς καὶ ἤδη πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα δὲ πάλιν ὁ θεῖος ἀρχάγγελος οὕτως ἔφη· "Καὶ διαιρεθήσεται εἰς τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀνέμους τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν κυρείαν αὐτοῦ, ἢν ἐκυρίευσεν." Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος δώδεκα ἔτη τὰ πάντα βασιλεύσας, ἐν τοῖς ἓξ τοῖς τελευταίοις ἔτεσι, καὶ τὴν Περσῶν, καὶ τὴν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων κατέλυσε βασι λείαν, καὶ τὰ ἐν μέσῳ δὲ ἔθνη ἅπαντα ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐποιήσατο. Λέγει τοίνυν, ὅτι οἱ μετ' αὐτὸν βασιλεύ σοντες οὐδὲν ἐοικότες ὀφθήσονται τῷ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, οὔτε κατὰ τὴν ῥώμην, οὔτε κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἣν ἐν τοῖς ἔτεσι τοῖς τελευταίοις ἐκτήσατο. Τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει· "Εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν κυ ρείαν αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἐκυρίευσεν. Ὅτι ἐκτιλήσεται ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, καὶ δοθήσεται ἑτέροις ἐκτὸς τού των." Οὐ μόνον γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς τούτους τέσσαρας διαιρεθήσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέροις χωρὶς τούτων δοθή σεται. Ἐπὶ γὰρ τούτων καὶ Ἀρσάκης ὁ Πέρσης πολέμῳ κρατήσας ἀνεδήσατο τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ μέρος τι τῆς Περσικῆς ἀρχῆς ἀνεκτήσατο· ἐξ οὗ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος οἱ Περσῶν βασιλεῖς Ἀρσακίδαι προσαγορεύονται, τῶν προτέρων οὐκ Ἀρσακιδῶν, ἀλλὰ Ἀχαιμενιδῶν ὀνομαζομένων. Καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ, τῆς Μακεδονικῆς διαιρεθείσης βασιλείας, μεί ζονα ἔσχον τὴν ἰσχὺν, ἀμέλει καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν τούτων τῶν βασιλέων δασμὸν ἐκομίζοντο. Οὕτω τὴν διαίρεσιν προμηνύσας, τῶν μὲν δύο βασιλέων καταλιμπάνει τὴν μνήμην· οὔτε γὰρ ὁ τῆς Ἀσίας, οὔτε ὁ τῆς Μακεδονίας, ἐπὶ πολὺν διήρκεσαν χρόνον· ἄλλως τε δὲ οὔτε συνέβη τι λυπηρῶν διὰ τούτων Ἰουδαίοις. Μόνον οὖν τῶν δύο μέμνηται, δι' ὧν τῶν χαλεπῶν συμφορῶν ἐπειράθησαν Ἰουδαῖοι. Οὗτοι δέ εἰσιν, ὅ τε τῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλεὺς, καὶ ὁ τῶν πρὸς ἕω κει μένων ἐθνῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν πεπιστευμένος· εἶχον δὲ τὰ βασίλεια ἔν τε Ἀντιοχείᾳ καὶ Βαβυλῶνι. Προσήκει δὲ πρότερον ἡμᾶς τῶν ῥηθησομένων εἰπεῖν τὴν ὑπόθεσιν, εἶθ' οὕτως τῆς κατὰ μέρος ἑρμηνείας ἅψα σθαι. Ὁ τράγος, ὃν ὁ μακάριος εἶδε ∆ανιὴλ, μετὰ τὴν συντριβὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς κέρατος, "τέσσαρα ἐβλάστησε κέρατα" τούτους αὐτοὺς τοὺς βασιλέας· "ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς αὐτῶν ἕτερον ἔφυ κέρας," ὃ τήν τε Αἴγυπτον σφόδρα κατεπολέμησε, καὶ μυρίαις συμφοραῖς τὸ Ἰουδαίων περιέβαλεν ἔθνος· σημαίνεται δὲ διὰ τού του τοῦ κέρατος Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής. Καὶ τὸ τέταρτον δὲ θηρίον ὁ μακάριος εἶδε ∆ανιὴλ, δέκα κέρατα ἐσχηκέναι, καὶ μεταξὺ τῶν κεράτων μικρὸν κέρας ἀνέβαινεν, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχον, καὶ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα, καὶ ἐποίει πόλεμον μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων. Πάλιν δὲ διὰ τούτων