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I will raise him up with righteousness; all his ways are straight. This man will build my city, and he will turn back the captivity of my people, not with ransom, nor with gifts. said the Lord of Sabaoth." And king Cyrus, upon hearing this, fell at the feet of Daniel, saying, "As the Lord your God lives, I will release Israel from my land, so that they may worship their God in Jerusalem." And having armed himself, he drew up in battle against Croesus. And Croesus, having heard the oracle's response, went out against Cyrus with a great force, and having crossed the Halys river of Cappadocia, he clashed with Cyrus, it being deep winter. And having been defeated, he wanted to flee, but with the river flooding he was not able and was taken captive. And his multitudes perished, four hundred thousand. And Cyrus took those who were left, along with Croesus, as captives. And having placed him on a wooden tripod, bound on high, he triumphed over him and brought him down to Persia. This same Cyrus released all the sons of Israel from captivity to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, as the account will show as it proceeds. But not all the Jews wished to go out with Zerubbabel, but only two and a half tribes, about fifty thousand. But nine and a half tribes remained in Persian lands by their own choice, fearing the nations surrounding the land of Judaea. And he released them at Daniel's request. And after the kingdom of the Lydians was destroyed, the Samians, 1.243 ruling the sea, became kings of those parts. And after some time, Cyrus heard and campaigned against them. And engaging them in a naval battle, he was defeated and fled, and having come to his own country he was slain. About which war of Cyrus and the Samians, Pythagoras the Samian wrote; who also said that he died there in the war. And after the reign of Cyrus, his son Darius, also known as Cambyses, and the rest reigned over the Assyrians. Therefore, in the times of the reign of this Darius, Anaximander was philosophizing among the Greeks, who also set forth the equinoxes and the solstices. But also Pythagoras wrote on arithmetic, and introduced a doctrine to the Greeks that the first principles are incorporeal. And in the reign of Darius son of Cyrus, a war was stirred up against him by the Ethiopians, who were treating him badly. When the Jews dwelling in the land of Media learned this, they departed and seized Jerusalem; and there was a great multitude of the Jews. And when Darius son of Cyrus learned this, he sent his general, named Holofernes, with a great force to Jerusalem against the Jews; and he besieged Jerusalem. And it happened that something terrible occurred then. For Judith, a Hebrew woman, devised a plot against the Persian Holofernes, pretending that she wished to betray the nation of the Jews; and she came in secret to Holofernes, who, having seen her beauty, fell in love with her. And she says to him, "Do not allow anyone here to be near you on my account; for they come upon me, 1.244 wanting to fornicate with me." And being persuaded, he spent time with her alone. And she, having persevered there for three days, when he was sleeping, being strong, took off his head, and at night, as was her custom, through the side-gate by which she went to him, she entered Jerusalem and brought his head away; for he had pitched his pavilion near the wall for her sake. Therefore, the Jews, having received the head of Holofernes from her, fixed it on a pole on top of the wall, showing it to his army. And when morning came, having seen the head of Holofernes impaled, they all fled, and the war was dissolved, and the Jews gained the victory over the Persians. And after Darius, Artaxerxes reigned over the Assyrians. And Nehemiah, a Jew of the seed of David, who had freedom of speech with him (for he loved him, because he also had made him chief of the eunuchs), besought him; and having taken much money, he persuaded him to depart and build Jerusalem which had been sacked; for this was the first capture of Jerusalem

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ἐγὼ ἐγερῶ αὐτὸν μετὰ δικαιοσύνης· πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ εὐθεῖαι. οὗτος οἰκοδομήσει τὴν πόλιν μου, καὶ τὴν αἰχμα λωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἀποστρέψει, οὐ μετὰ λύτρων, οὐ μετὰ δώ ρων. εἶπε κύριος Σαβαώθ." ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Κῦρος ἀκούσας ἔπεσεν εἰς τοὺς πόδας τοῦ ∆ανιήλ, λέγων "ζῇ κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ἐγὼ ἀπολύσω ἐκ τῆς γῆς μου τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἵνα λατρεύσωσι τῷ θεῷ αὐτῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις." καὶ ὁπλισάμενος παρετάξατο τῷ Κροίσῳ. ὁ δὲ Κροῖσος ἀκούσας τὴν τοῦ χρησμοῦ ἀπόκρισιν ἐξῆλθε κατὰ Κύρου μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς, καὶ παρελθὼν τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν τῆς Καππαδοκίας συνέκρουσε τῷ Κύρῳ, χειμῶνος ὄντος πολλοῦ. καὶ ἡττηθεὶς ἠθέλησε φυγεῖν, πλημμυρήσαντος δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ οὐκ ἠδυνήθη καὶ ἐλήφθη αἰχμάλωτος. καὶ ἀπώλετο τὰ πλήθη αὐτοῦ, χιλιάδες τετρακόσιαι. τοὺς δὲ ὑπολειφθέντας ἅμα τῷ Κροίσῳ ἔλαβεν αἰχμαλώτους ὁ Κῦρος. καὶ στήσας αὐτὸν ἐν ξυ λίνῳ τρίποδι, ἐν ὕψει δεδεμένον, ἐθριάμβευσεν αὐτὸν καὶ κατή γαγεν ἐν Περσίδι. ὁ αὐτὸς Κῦρος ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἀπέλυσε πάντας ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα μετὰ Ζοροβάβελ, καθὼς προϊὼν ὁ λόγος δηλώσει. οὐκ ἠθέλησαν δὲ ἐξελθεῖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πάντες μετὰ Ζοροβάβελ, εἰ μὴ σκῆπτρα δύο ἥμισυ μό νον, ὡσεὶ χιλιάδες πεντήκοντα. ἔμειναν δὲ εἰς τὰ Περσικὰ ἰδίᾳ προαιρέσει σκῆπτρα ἐννέα ἥμισυ, φοβηθέντες τὰ ἔθνη τὰ πέριξ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς χώρας. ἀπέλυσε δὲ αὐτοὺς τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ αἰτησα μένου. Μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἀπολέσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν Λυδῶν οἱ Σάμιοι 1.243 θαλασσοκρατοῦντες ἐβασίλευσαν τῶν μερῶν ἐκείνων. καὶ ἀκούσας μετὰ χρόνον ὁ Κῦρος ἐπεστράτευσε κατ' αὐτῶν. καὶ συμβαλὼν αὐτοῖς ναυμαχίᾳ ἡττήθη καὶ ἔφυγε, καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐ τοῦ ἐσφάγη. περὶ οὗ πολέμου Κύρου καὶ Σαμίων Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεγράψατο· ὃς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ τεθνάναι εἰς τὸν πόλεμον. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν Κύρου ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ∆αρεῖος ὁ καὶ Καμβύσης καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἐβασίλευσαν Ἀσσυρίων. ἐπὶ τῶν χρόνων οὖν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ τοιούτου ∆αρείου ἐφιλοσόφει παρ' Ἕλλη σιν Ἀναξίμανδρος, ὃς καὶ τὰς ἰσημερίας καὶ τὰς τροπὰς ἐξέθετο. ἀλλὰ καὶ Πυθαγόρας τὴν ἀριθμητικὴν συνεγράψατο, καὶ δόγμα παρεισήγαγεν Ἕλλησιν ἀσωμάτους εἶναι ἀρχάς. ἐν δὲ τῇ βασιλείᾳ ∆αρείου υἱοῦ Κύρου πόλεμος ἐκινήθη ἀπὸ τῶν Αἰθιόπων κατ' αὐτοῦ, οἵτινες κακῶς αὐτὸν ἔφερον. ὅπερ γνόντες οἱ ἐν τῇ Μη διανῇ χώρᾳ κατοικοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι ἀφέντες κατέλαβον τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ· ἦν δὲ πλῆθος πολὺ τῶν Ἰουδαίων. καὶ μαθὼν τοῦτο ∆αρεῖος ὁ Κύρου ἀπέστειλε στρατηγὸν αὐτοῦ, ὀνόματι Ὁλοφέρνην, μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα κατὰ Ἰουδαίων· καὶ ἐπολιόρκει τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ. καὶ συνέβη τι φοβερὸν τότε γενέσθαι. Ἰουδὶθ γὰρ Ἑβραία ἐμηχανήσατο κατὰ τοῦ Πέρσου Ὁλοφέρνουπροσποιητῶς ὡς τὸ ἔθνος τῶν Ἰουδαίων θέλουσα προδοῦναι· ἥτις καὶ παρεγένετο κρυπτομένη πρὸς Ὁλοφέρνην, ὃς ἑωρακὼς τὴν εὐ μορφίαν αὐτῆς εἰς ἔρωτα ἔπεσεν αὐτῆς. ἡ δὲ λέγει αὐτῷ "μηδένα ἐάσῃς ἐνταῦθα ἔγγιστά σου εἶναι δι' ἐμέ· ἐπέρχονται γάρ μοι, 1.244 πορνεῦσαί με βουλόμενοι." καὶ πεισθεὶς μόνος διῆγε μετ' αὐτῆς. τρεῖς δ' ἐκεῖ αὕτη προσκαρτερήσασα ἡμέρας, ὡς καθεύδει, ἰσχύ σασα τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἀφείλετο, καὶ νυκτὸς κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, δι' οὗ ἀπήρχετο πρὸς αὐτὸν παραπυλίου, εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα εἰσ ελθοῦσα τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπήγαγε· πλησίον γὰρ τοῦ τείχους δι' αὐτὴν τὸν παπυλεῶνα αὐτοῦ ἔστησε. λαβόντες οὖν οἱ Ἰου δαῖοι παρ' αὐτῆς τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ Ὁλοφέρνου εἰς κοντὸν ἄνω τοῦ τείχους ἔπηξαν, ἐπιδεικνύντες αὐτὴν τῷ στρατῷ αὐτοῦ. πρωΐας δὲ γενομένης ἑωρακότες τὴν κεφαλὴν Ὁλοφέρνου κοντευθεῖσαν ἔφυ γον ἅπαντες, καὶ διελύθη ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ ἔλαβον τὴν νίκην οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι κατὰ τῶν Περσῶν. Μετὰ δὲ ∆αρεῖον ἐβασίλευσεν Ἀσσυρίων Ἀρταξέρξης. καὶ Νεεμίας Ἰουδαῖος ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος ∆αβίδ, ὃς παρρησίαν ἔχων πρὸς αὐτόν (ἠγάπα γὰρ αὐτόν, ὅτι καὶ ἀρχὴν εὐνούχων οὗτος ἐποίησεν), ἐδυσώπησεν αὐτόν· καὶ λαβὼν χρήματα πολλὰ ἔπεισεν αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν καὶ κτίσαι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ πορθηθεῖσαν· πρώτη γὰρ αὕτη τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἅλωσις