be paid unto him. "b But the imposture was soon discovered; and the reign of Smerdis was, short. For Otanes and six of the Persian nobles entered into a conspiracy against him, and put him to death. They "entered into the palace, and there falling on the Usurper and his brother Patizithes, who had been the contriver of the whole plot, slew them, both, and then bringing out their heads to the people, declared unto them the whole imposture." c

C

As soon as Smerdis was dead, the conspirators resolved that the monarchy should continue as it had been established by Cyrus. But "the next question was to know, which of them should be king, and how they should proceed to the election. This they thought fit to refer to the Gods. Accordingly they agreed to meet the next morning, by Sun rising, on horseback, at a certain place in the suburbs of the city; and that he, whose horse first neighed, should be king. For the Sun being the chief Deity of the Persians, they imagined, that taking this course, would be giving him the honour of the election. Darius' groom, hearing of the agreement, made use of the following artifice to secure the crown to his Master. The night before he carried a mare to the place appointed for their meeting the next day, and brought his Master's horse. The Lords assembled the next morning at the rendezvous; no sooner was Darius' horse come to the place, where he had smelt the mare, than he fell a neighing: Whereupon Darius was saluted king by the others, and placed on the throne. He was the Son of Hystaspis, a Persian by birth, and of the royal family of Achæmenes." d The reign of Darius was

b Prid. an. 522.

d Rollin. v. 2. p. 265-6. Ed. 1813.

c Prid. an. 522.

Herod. L. iii. c. 84-87.

long and prosperous, continuing about thirty six years.

"Darius was a prince of wisdom, clemency, and justice, and hath the honour to have his name recorded in holy writ for a favourer of God's people, a restorer of his temple at Jerusalem, and a promoter of his worship therein; For all which God was pleased to make him his instrument, and in respect hereof, I doubt not, it was that he blessed him with a numerous issue, a long reign, and great prosperity... He added many large and rich provinces to the empire, especially those of India, Thrace, Macedon, and the isles of the Ionian sea,' " e

Darius was succeeded in the empire by his son Xerxes, who was the fourth king of Persia, after Cyrus; and who "shall be far richer than they all; and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia." ( v. 2). In Xerxes two things are chiefly to be explained, his riches, and his expedition against Greece. Of Xerxes, says Justin, if you consider the king, you would praise his riches, but not him as a general: His riches were so great, that though rivers were drunk up by the multitude of his troops, yet the royal wealth was still redundant. Xerxes employed three years in preparing his forces for the Grecian expedition, and in accumulating treasure for the pay of his troops: And having "resolved on the Grecian war, entered into a league with the Carthaginians; whereby it was agreed that while the Persians invaded Greece, the Carthaginians should fall on all those who were of the Grecian name in Sicily and Italy, that thereby they might be diverted from helping one the other. And the Carthaginians

of

made choice of Hamilcar to be their general in this war, who not only raised what forces he could in Africa, but also with the money sent him by Xerxes hired a great number of Mercenaries out of Spain, Gallia, and Italy, so that he got together an army three hundred thousand men, and a fleet proportionable thereto, for the prosecuting of the intent of this league. And thus Xerxes, according as was foretold by the prophet Daniel, having by his strength and through his great riches, stirred up all the then known world against the realm of Grecia, that is, all the West under the command of Hamilcar, and all the East under his own, he did in the fifth year of his reign, which was the tenth after the battle of Marathon, set out from Susa to begin the war, and having marched as far as Sardis wintered there.... The whole number of forces by sea and land, which Xerxes brought with him out of Asia to invade Greece, amounted to two Millions three hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten men." But though his riches and forces were so exceedingly great, yet his expedition ended in defeat and disgrace. He entered into Greece, but was soon obliged to return, and to recross the Hellespont in a poor fishing boat, for fear of being delayed or taken prisoner. And, as Justin says, "It was a thing worth the sight, and a rare example of human frailty and change of things in this world, to see him lie skulking in a little wherry, whom a little before, the whole sea seemed too little to contain; and him destitute of a page to wait upon him, under whose army the very earth had seemed to groan because of its weight." After the defeats and disgrace which Xerxes sustained in his

f Prid.

an. 482.

8 Justin, L. 2. c. 13. and L. 3. c. 1.

war against Greece he gave himself up to ease and luxury, and fell into contempt with his people. And therefore in the twenty first year of his reign was taken off by Artabanus the captain of his guards; who with seven very valiant men entered into the palace in the night, and slew him in his bedchamber.

But the Greeks shall revenge the injuries inflicted upon them by the Persians; for "a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will" (v. 3). This mighty king is Alexander the Great; who was represented before, in the eighth chapter, by the notable horn of an he goat between his eyes. He soon subdued the Persian empire, and revenged the evils which the Greeks had formerly suffered; his success was rapid, and his power was absolute. But on Alexander we shall not enlarge, as we have already done it: But shall just state that, by some, this prophecy is supposed to have been shewn to him, when he came to Jerusalem; though it seems as probable, or indeed more so, that it was the prophecy in chapter eighth, verse twenty one, where Daniel says, "The rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes, is the first king." Josephus thus relates the story: "After this discourse to Parmenio, the king (Alexander) embraced Jaddus, and was conducted into the city by the rest of the priests, where he went up to the temple, and sacrificed in form, according to order; paying also a singular veneration to the High Priest himself, who shewed the king, when the ceremony was over, the book of the prophet Daniel; and in it, the prediction of a certain Greek in time to come, that should make himself master of the Persian empire; which Alexander interpreted of himself," h

But the Grecian as well as the Persian empire was to decay and be overthrown; its rise was to be rapid, and also its diminution: for "when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those" (v. 4). When Alexander had arrived at the height of his power, he gave himself up to most inordinate drinking, and died at Babylon from his excesses, as we have formerly shewn. His empire after a few years of war and contention, was divided into four parts-to" the four winds of heaven:" For four of his Captains divided it among themselves, and reigned each over his own part. These four were Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus; and they divided the whole empire between them. Cassander had Macedon and Greece in the West; Lysimachus, Thrace and those parts of Asia, which lay upon the Hellespont and the Bosphorus in the North; Ptolemy, Egypt, Lybia, and Arabia, Palestine, and Cole-Syria in the South; and Seleucus all the rest in the East. So that Alexander's empire was divided "toward the four winds of heaven." And as each of these Successors to Alexander had but a part of the empire, so they ruled not "according to his dominion; for they neither possessed his authority, nor extent of empire. And as to Alexander's posterity they were soon all destroyed: "His wife Statira, the daughter of Darius, was murdered out of jealousy by his other wife Roxana; and her body was thrown into a well, and earth cast upon it. His natural brother Aridæus, who succeeded him in the throne, by the name of

i

i Prid. an. 323.