1 II. We are informed by Strabo | In the time of Alexander the Great, the river had A. M. 3880. and Pliny, that the Macedonians, quitted its ordinary channel, by reason of the outlets Ant. J. C. 124. who succeeded the Persians, did and canals which Cyrus had made, and of which we not only neglect it, and forbear to have already given an account; the outlets being embellish or even repair it, but that moreover they badly stopped up, had occasioned a great inundation built Seleucia in the neighbourhood, on purpose to in the country. Alexander, designing to fix the seat draw away its inhabitants, and cause it to be deserted. of his empire at Babylon, projected the bringing back Nothing can better explain what the prophet had fore- of the Euphrates into its natural and former channel, told; "It shall not be inhabited." Its own masters and had actually set his men to work. But the Alendeavour to make it desolate. mighty, who watched over the fulfilling of his prophecy, and who had declared, he would destroy even to the very remains and footsteps of Babylon ["I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant," defeated this enterprise by the death of Alexander, which happened soon after. It is easy to comprehend how, after this, Babylon being neglected to such a degree as we have seen, its river was converted into an inaccessible pool, which covered the very place where that impious city had stood, as Isaiah had foretold: "I will make it pools of water." And this was necessary, lest the place where Babylon had stood should be discovered hereafter by the course of the Euphrates. III. The new kings of Persia, who afterwards became masters of Babylon, completed the ruin of it, by building Ctesiphon, which carried away all the remainder of the inhabitants; so that from the time the curse was pronounced against that city, it seems as if those very persons that ought to have protected her, were become her enemies; and had all thought it their duty to reduce her to a state of solitude, though by indirect means, and without using any violence; that it might more manifestly appear to be the hand of God, rather than the hand of man, which brought about her destruction. IV. She was so totally forsaken, that nothing of her was left remaining but the walls. And to this condition she was reduced at the time when Pausanias wrote his remarks upon Greece. VII. By means of all these changes Babylon became an utter desert, and all the country round fell Il-into the same state of desolation and horror; so that the most able geographers at this day cannot determine the place where it stood. In this manner God's prediction was literally fulfilled: "I will cut off from Babylon the name-I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction saith the Lord of hosts."10 I myself, saith the Lord, will examine with a jealous eye, to see if there be any remains of that city, which was an enemy to my name and to Jerusalem. I will thoroughly sweep the place where it stood, and will clear it so effectually, by defacing every trace of the city, that no person shall be able to preserve the memory of the place chosen by Nimrod, and which I, the Lord, have abolished. "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." A. D. 96. la autem Babylon omnium quas unquam sol aspexit urbium maxima, jam præter muros nihil habet reliqui. Paus. in Arcad. pag. 509. V. The kings of Persia finding their place deserted, made a park of it, in which they kept wild beasts for hunting. Thus did it become, as the prophet had foretold, a dwelling-place for ravenous beasts, that are enemies to man; or for timorous animals, that flee before him. Instead of citizens, she was now inhabited by wild boars, leopards, bears, deer, and wild asses. Babylon was now the retreat of fierce, savage, deadly creatures, that hate the light, and delight in darkness. "Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and dragons shall dwell in their pleasant palaces."4 St. Jerome has transmitted to us A. D. 400. the following valuable remark which VIII. God was not satisfied with causing all these he had from a Persian monk, that he alterations to be foretold, but, to give the greater ashad himself seen what he had related to him. Didi-surance of their certainty, thought fit to seal the precimus à quodam fratre Elamitâ, qui de illis finibus egrediens, nunc Hierosolymis vitam exigit monachorum, venationes regias esse in Babylone, et omnis generis bestias murorum ejus ambitu tantum contineri. In cap. Isa. xiii. 22. diction of them by an oath. "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." But if we would take this dreadful oath in its full latitude, we must not confine it either to VI. But it was still too much that the walls of Babylon or to its inhabitants, or to the princes that Babylon were standing. At length they fell down in reigned therein. The malediction relates to the whole several places, and were never repaired. Various ac-world: it is the general anathema pronounced against cidents destroyed the remainder. The animals, which were to be subservient to the pleasure of the Persian kings, abandoned the place; serpents and scorpions remained, so that it became a dreadful place for persons that should have the curiosity to visit, or search after, its antiquities. The Euphrates, that used to run through the city, having no longer a free channel, took its course another way; so that in Theodoret's time, there was nothing more than a very stream of water left, which ran across the ruins, and, not meeting with a slope or free passage, necessarily degenerated into a marsh. 5 1 Partem urbis Persæ diruerunt, partem tempus, consumpsit et Macedonum negligentia; maximè postquam Seleucus Nicator Seleuciam ad Tigrim condidit, stadiis tantùm trecentis à Babylone dissitam. Strab. 1. xvi. p. 738. In solitudinem rediit exhausta vicinitate Seleuciæ, ob id condita a Nicatore intra nonagesimum (or quadragesimum) lapidem. Plin. l. vi. c. 26. 2 Pro illà Seleuciam et Ctesiphontem urbes Persarum inclytas fecerunt. S. Hieron. in cap. xii. Isa. He wrote in the reign of Antoninus, successor to Adrian. Isa. xiii. 21, 22. Euphrates quondam urbem ipsam mediam dividebat; nunc autem fluvius conversus est in aliam viam, et per ru dera minimus aquarum meatus fluit. Theodor. in cap. I. Jerem. ver. 38, 39. the wicked; it is the terrible decree, by which the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem shall be separated for ever, and an eternal divorce be put between the saints and the reprobate. The Scriptures that have foretold it, shall subsist till the day of its execution. The sentence is written therein, and deposited, as it were, in the public archives of religion. "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, As I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." What I have said of this prophecy concerning Babylon is almost entirely taken out of an excellent treatise upon Isaiah, which is still in manuscript.12 10 Isa. xiv. 22, 23. Ibid. 24. 12 Babylon stood in a large plain, 35 English miles south of the ancient wall of Media, mentioned by Xenophon and Strabo in direct distance. This wall ran across the narrowest part of the isthmus formed by the approximation of these two rivers, separating the great plain of Babylon, or Babylonia, from the upper part of the intermediate tract watered by these two streams. We are not able to determine exactly the circumference and extent of ancient Babylon, so as to decide with precision and accuracy its dimensions, and which of those various statements of He SECTION IV. WHAT FOLLOWED UPON THE TAKING | manner, that every part should have a dependence OF BABYLON. upon, and mutually contribute to support each other; CYRUS,' having entered the city in the manner we and that the strength of one should not exert itself but have described, put all to the sword that were found for the benefit and advantage of the rest. Each perin the streets: he then commanded the citizens to son had his district, and his particular sphere of busibring him all their arms, and afterwards to shut them-ness, of which he gave an account to another above selves up in their houses. The next morning, by break of day, the garrison which kept the citadel being apprised that the city was taken, and their king killed, surrendered themselves to Cyrus. Thus did this prince, almost without striking a blow, and without any resistance, find himself in peaceable possession of the strongest place in the world. 2 The first thing he did was, to thank the gods for the success they had given him. And then, having assembled his principal officers, he publicly applauded their courage and prudence, their zeal and attachment to his person, and distributed rewards to his whole army. After which he represented to them, that the only means of preserving what they had acquired was to persevere in their ancient virtue; that the proper end of victory was not to give themselves up to idleness and pleasure; that, after having conquered their enemies by force of arms, it would be shameful to suffer themselves to be overcome by the allurements of pleasure; that, in order to maintain their ancient glory, it behoved them to keep up amongst the Persians at Babylon the same discipline they had observed in their own country, and for that purpose, to take particular care to give their children a good education. This (says he) will necessarily engage us daily to make further advances in virtue, as it will oblige us to be diligent and careful in setting them good examples: nor will it be easy for them to be corrupted, when they shall neither hear nor see any thing amongst us, but what excites them to virtue, and shall be continually employed in honourable and laudable exercises. 3 Cyrus committed the different parts and offices of his government to different persons, according to their various talents and qualifications; but the care of forming and appointing general officers, governors of provinces, ministers and ambassadors, he reserved to himself, looking upon that as the proper duty and employment of a king, upon which depended his glory, the success of his affairs, and the happiness and tranquillity of his kingdom. His great talent was to study the particular character of men, in order to place every one in his proper sphere, to give them authority in proportion to their merit, to make their private advancement concur with the public good, and to make the whole machine of the state move in so regular a rodotus, Pliny, Strabo, Solinus, Ctesias, Diodorus, Cletar- p. Ibid. him, and he again to a third, and so on, till, by these different degrees, and regular subordination, the cognizance of affairs came to the king himself, who did not remain idle in the midst of all this motion, but was, as it were, the soul to the body of the state, which, by this means, he governed with as much ease as a father governs his private family. When he afterwards sent governors, called satrapa,* into the provinces under his subjection, he would not suffer the particular governors of places, nor the commanding officers of the troops maintained for the security of the country, to be dependent upon those provincial governors, or to be subject to any one but himself; in that, if any of these satrapa elate with his power or riches, made an ill use of his authority, there might be found witnesses and censors of his maleadministration within his own government. For there was nothing he so carefully avoided, as the trusting of any one man with absolute power, well knowing that a prince will quickly have reason to repent of having exalted one person so high, if all others are thereby abused and kept under. Thus Cyrus established a wonderful order with respect to his military affairs, his treasury, and civil government. In all the provinces he had persons of approved integrity, who gave him an account of every thing that passed. He made it his principal care to honour and reward all those that distinguished themselves by their merit, or were eminent in any respect whatever. He infinitely preferred clemency to martial courage, because the latter is often the cause of ruin and desolation to whole nations, whereas the He was former is always beneficent and useful. sensible that good laws contribute very much to the forming and preserving of good manners; but in his opinion, the prince by his example was to be a living law to his people. Nor did he think a man worthy to reign over others, unless he was more wise and virtuous than those he governed: he was also persuaded, that the surest means for a prince to gain the respect of his courtiers, and of such as approached his person, was to have so much regard for them, as never to do or to say any thing before them, contrary to the rules of decency and good manners. Liberality he looked upon as a virtue truly royal ; nor did he think there was any thing great or valuable in riches, but the pleasure of distributing them to others. I have prodigious riches, 10 says he to his courtiers, I own, and I am glad the world knows it; but you may assure yourselves, they are as much yours as mine. For to what end should I heap up wealth? For my own use, and to consume it myself? That would be impossible, even if I desired it. No: the chief end I aim at is to have it in my power to reward those who serve the public faithfully, and to succour and relieve those that will acquaint me with their wants and necessities. Creesus one day represented to him," that by continual largesses he would at last make himself poor, whereas he might have amassed infinite treasures, and have been the richest prince in the world. And to what sum, replied Cyrus, do you think those treasures might have amounted? Cræsus named a certain sum which was immensely great. Cyrus thereupon ordered a short note to be written to the lords of his court, in which it was signified to them that he had occasion for money. Immediately a much larger sum was brought to him than Croesus had mentioned. Look here, says Cyrus to him, here are my treasures; the chests I keep my riches in, are the hearts and affection of my subjects. Cyrop. 1. viii. p. 229. 10 Ib. 225. Ibid. p. 205. 11 lb. 210. But much as he esteemed liberality, he laid a still But the good emperors, such as Alexander, Sevegreater stress upon kindness and condescension, affa- rus, held the eunuchs in abhorrence, looking upon bility and humanity, which are qualities still more en- them as creatures sold and attached only to their forgaging, and more apt to acquire the affection of a peo- tune, and enemies by principle to the public good; ple, which is properly to reign. For a prince to be more persons, whose sole view was to get possession of the generous than others in giving, when he is infinitely prince's mind, to conceal the knowledge of public more rich than they, has nothing in it so surprising or business as much as possible from him, to preclude extraordinary, as to descend in a manner from the access to him from any person of real merit, and to throne, and to put himself upon a level with his subjects. keep him shut up and imprisoned, in a manner, withBut what Cyrus preferred to all other things, was the in the narrow circle of three or four officers, who had worship of the gods, and a respect for religion. Upon an entire ascendant and dominion over him; Clauthis therefore he thought himself obliged to bestow dentes principem suum, et agentes ante omnia ne quid his first and principal care, as soon as he became sciat. more at leisure, and more master of his time, by the conquest of Babylon. He began by establishing a number of Magi, to sing daily a morning service of praise to the honour of the gods, and to offer sacrifices; which was always practised amongst them in succeeding ages. The prince's disposition quickly became, as is usual, the prevailing disposition among his people; and his example became the rule of their conduct. The Persians, who saw that Cyrus's reign had been but one continued chain and series of prosperity and success, believed that by serving the gods as he did, they should be blessed with the like happiness and prosperity: besides, they were sensible it was the surest way to please their prince, and to make their court to him successfully. Cyrus, on the other hand, was extremely glad to find them have such sentiments, being convinced, that whosoever sincerely fears and worships God, will at the same time be faithful to his king, and preserve an inviolable attachment to his person, and to the welfare of the state, All this is excellent, but is only true and real in the true religion. Cyrus, being resolved to establish his chief residence at Babylon," a powerful city, which could not be very well affected to him, thought it necessary to be more cautious than he had been hitherto, in regard to the safety of his person. The most dangerous hours for princes within their palaces, and the most likely for treasonable attempts upon their lives, are those of bathing, eating, and sleeping. He determined therefore to suffer nobody to be near him at those times, but such persons on whose fidelity he could absolutely rely; and on this account he thought eunuchs preferable to all others; because, as they had neither wives, children, nor families, and besides were generally despised on account of the meanness of their birth and the ignominy of their condition, they were engaged by every consideration to attach themselves solely to their masters, on whose life their whole fortune depended, and on whose account alone it was, that they possessed either wealth or consequence. Cyrus therefore intrusted all the offices of his household to eunuchs: and this practice, which was not unknown before his time, from thenceforth became the general custom of all the eastern countries. It is well known, that in after times it prevailed also amongst the Roman emperors, with whom the eunuchs were the reigning all-powerful favourites; nor is it any wonder. It was very natural for the prince, after having confided his person to their care, and experienced their zeal, fidelity, and merit, to intrust them also with the management of some public business, and by degrees to give himself up to them. These expert courtiers knew how to improve those favourable moments, when sovereigns, delivered from the weight of their dignity, which is a burden to them, become men, and familiarize themselves with their officers. And by this policy, having got possession of their masters' minds and confidence, they came to possess great influence at court, to have the administration of public affairs, and the disposal of employments and honours, and to arrive themselves at the highest offices and dignities of the state. When Cyrus had established his regulations in every thing relating to the government, he resolved to show himself publicly to his own people, and to his newly conquered subjects, in a solemn, august ceremony of religion, by marching in a pompous cavalcade to the places consecrated to the gods in order to offer sacrifices to them. In this procession Cyrus thought fit to display all possible splendour and magnificence, to catch and dazzle the eyes of the people. This was the first time that prince ever aimed at procuring respect towards himself, not only by the attractions of virtue (says the historian,) but by such an external pomp as was calculated to attract the multitude, and work like a charm or enchantment upon their imagi nations. He ordered the superior officers of the Persians and allies to attend him, and gave each of them a dress after the Median fashion; that is to say, long robes, which hung down to the feet. These were of various colours, all of the finest and brightest dye, and richly embroidered with gold and silver. Besides those that were for themselves, he gave them others, very splendid also, but less costly, to present to the subaltern officers. It was on this occasion the Persians first dressed themselves after the manner of the Medes, and began to imitate them in colouring their eyes, to make them appear more sparkling, and in painting their faces, in order to enliven their complexions. When the day appointed for the ceremony was come, the whole company assembled at the king's palace by break of day. Four thousand of the guards, drawn up four deep, placed themselves in front of the palace, and 2000 on the two sides of it ranged in the same order. The whole cavalry were also drawn out, the Persians on the right, and that of the allies on the left. The chariots of war were ranged half on one side, and half on the other. As soon as the palace gates were opened, a great number of bulls of exquisite beauty were led out by four and four: these were to be sacrificed to Jupiter and the other gods, according to the ceremonies prescribed by the Magi. Next followed the horses that were to be sacrificed to the Sun. Immediately after them a white chariot, crowned with flowers, the pole of which was gilt: this was to be offered to Jupiter. Then came a second chariot of the same colour, and adorned in the same manner, to be offered to the Sun. After these followed a third, the horses of which were caparisoned with scarlet housings. Behind came the men who carried the sacred fire on a large hearth. When all these were on their march, Cyrus himself began to appear upon his car, with his upright tiara upon his head, encircled with a royal diadem. His under tunic was of purple mixed with white, which was a colour peculiar to kings. Over his other garments he wore a large purple cloak. His hands were uncovered. A little below him sat his master of the horse, who was of a comely stature, but not so tall as Cyrus, for which reason the height of the latter appeared still more advantageously. As soon as the people perceived the prince, they all fell prostrate before him, AT HIS RETURN FROM THENCE TO BABYLON, HE and worshipped him; whether it was, that certain | SECTION I.-CYRUS TAKES A JOURNEY INTO PERSIA. persons appointed on purpose, and placed at proper distances, led others on by their example, or that the people were moved to do it of their own accord, being struck with the appearance of so much pomp and magnificence, and with so many awful circumstances of majesty and splendour. The Persians had never prostrated themselves in this manner before Cyrus, till on this occasion. WHEN Cyrus judged he had sufficiently regulated his affairs at Babylon, he thought proper to take a journey into Persia. In his way thither he went through Media, to visit his uncle Čyaxares, to whom he carried very magnificent presents, telling him at When Cyrus's chariot was come out of the palace, the same time that he would find a noble palace at the 4000 guards began to march: the other 2000 Babylon, all ready prepared for him, whenever he moved at the same time, and placed themselves on would please to go thither; and that he was to look each side of the chariot. The eunuchs, or great offi- upon that city as his own. Indeed Cyrus, as long a cers of the king's household, to the number of 300, his uncle lived, held the empire only in co-partnership richly clad, with javelins in their hands, and mounted with him, though he had entirely upon stately horses, marched immediately after the conquered and acquired it by his chariot. After them followed 200 led horses of the own valour. Nay, so far did he carking's stable, each of them having embroidered furni-ry his complaisance, that he let his ture and bits of gold. Next came the Persian cavalry, divided into four bodies, each consisting of 10,000 men; then the Median horse, and after those the cavalry of the allies. The chariots of war, four abreast, closed the procession. 2 A. M. 3466 Ant. J. C. 538 uncle enjoy the first rank. It is Cyaxares who i called in Scripture Darius the Mede; and we shal find, that under his reign, which lasted but two years, Daniel had several revelations. It appears that Cyrus, when he returned from Persia, carried Cyaxares with him to Babylon. When they came to the fields consecrated to the gods, they offered their sacrifices first to Jupiter, and When they were arrived there, they concerted tothen to the Sun. To the honour of the first were gether a scheme of government for the whole empire. burnt bulls, and to the honour of the second, horses. They divided it into 120 provinces. And that the They likewise sacrificed some victims to the Earth, prince's orders might be conveyed with the greater exaccording to the appointment of the Magi; then to pedition, Cyrus caused posthouses to be erected at the demi-gods, the patrons and protectors of Syria. proper distances, where the courtiers that travelled day In order to afford the people some recreation after and night, found horses always ready, and by that this grave and solemn ceremony, Cyrus thought fit means performed their journeys with incredible desthat it should conclude with games, and horse and patch. The government of these provinces was given chariot-races. The place where they were was large to those persons that had assisted Cyrus most, and and spacious. He ordered a certain portion of it to rendered him the greatest service in the war. Over be marked out, about five stadia, and proposed these governors were appointed three superintendents, prizes for the victors of each nation, which were to who were always to reside at court, and to whom the encounter separately and among themselves. He governors were to give an account from time to time himself won the prize in the Persian horse-races, for of every thing that passed in their respective provinces, nobody was so complete a horseman as he. The and from whom they were to receive the prince's or chariots ran but two at a time, one against another. ders and instructions; so that these three principal This kind of procession continued a long time af-ministers had the superintendency over, and the chief terwards amongst the Persians, except only that it administration of, the affairs of the whole empire. was not always attended with sacrifices. All the these three, Daniel was made the chief. He highly deceremonies being ended, they returned to the city in served such a preference, not only on account of his the same order. great wisdom, which was celebrated throughout all the East, and had been displayed in a distinguished manner at Belshazzar's feast, but likewise on account of his great age and consummate experience: for at that time it was full sixty-seven years, from the fourth of Nabuchodonosor, that he had been employed as prime minister of the kings of Babylon. Some days after, Cyrus, to celebrate the victory he had obtained in the horse-races, gave a great entertainment to all the chief officers, as well foreigners as Medes and Persians. They had never yet seen any thing of the kind so sumptuous and magnificent. At the conclusion of the feast he made every one a noble present; so that they all went home with hearts overflowing with joy, admiration, and gratitude: and allpowerful as he was, master of all the East, and so many kingdoms, he did not think it derogatory to his majesty to conduct the whole company to the door of his apartment. Such were the manners of those ancient times, when men understood how to unite great simplicity with the highest degree of human grandeur. ARTICLE III. THE HISTORY OF CYRUS, FROM THE TAKING OF BABY LON TO THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. Cyrus, finding himself master of all the East by the taking of Babylon, did not imitate the example of most other conquerors, who sully the glory of their victories by a voluptuous and effeminate life; to which they fancy they may justly abandon themselves after their past toils, and the long course of hardships they have gone through. He thought it incumbent upon him to maintain his reputation by the same methods he had acquired it, that is, by a prudent conduct, by a laborious and active life, and a constant application to the duties of his high station. Of As this distinction made him the second person in the empire, and placed him immediately under the king, the other courtiers conceived so great a jealousy of him, that they conspired to destroy him. As there was no hold to be taken of him, unless it were on account of the law of his God, to which they knew him inviolably attached, they obtained an edict from Darius, whereby all persons were forbidden to ask any thing whatsoever, for the space of thirty days, either of any god or any man, save of the king; and that upon pain of being cast into the den of lions. Now, as Daniel was saying his usual prayers, with his face turned towards Jerusalem, he was surprised, accused, and cast into the den of lions. But being miraculously preserved, and coming out safe and unhurt, his accusers were thrown in, and immediately devoured by those animals. This event still augmented Daniel's credit and reputation. Towards the end of the same year," 10 which was reckoned the first of Darius the Mede, Daniel knowing by the computation he made, that the seventy years of Judah's captivity, determined by the prophet Jere miah, were drawing towards an end, prayed earnestly | place to insert that edict at length, which is certainly to God that he would vouchsafe to remember his people, rebuild Jerusalem, and look with an eye of mercy upon his holy city, and the sanctuary he had placed therein. Upon which the angel Gabriel assured him | in a vision, not only of the deliverance of the Jews from their temporal captivity, but likewise of another deliverance, much more considerable, namely, a deliverance from the bondage of sin and Satan, which God would procure, to his church, and which was to be accomplished at the end of seventy weeks, that were to elapse from the time the order should be given for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, that is, after the space of 430 years. For, taking each day for a year, according to the language used sometimes in Holy Scripture, those seventy weeks of years, made up exactly 490 years. Cyrus,' upon his return to Babylon, had given orders for all his forces to join him there. On the general review made of them, he found they consisted of 120,000 horse, of 2000 chariots armed with scythes, and 600,000 foot. When he had furnished the garrisons with so many of them as were necessary for the defence of the several parts of the empire, he marched with the remainder into Syria, where he regulated the affairs of that province, and then subdued all those countries as far as the Red Sea, and the confines of Ethiopia. It was probably in this interval of time, that Daniel was cast into the den of lions, and miraculously delivered from them, as we have just now related. Perhaps in the same interval also were those famous pieces of gold coined, which are called Darics, from the name of Darius the Mede, which for their fineness and beauty were for several ages preferred to all other money throughout the whole East. SECTION II.—THE BEGINNING OF THE UNITED EMPIRE OF THE PERSIANS AND MEDES. THE FAMOUS EDICT HERE, properly speaking, begins the empire of the Persians and Medes united under one and the same authority. This empire, from Cyrus, the first king and founder of it, to Darius Codomannus, who was vanquished by Alexander the Great, lasted for the space of 206 years, namely, from the year of the world 3468 to the year 3674. But in this volume I propose to speak only of the first three kings; and little remains to be said of the founder of this new empire. A. M. 3468. Ant. J. C. 536. CYRUS. Cyaxares dying at the end of two years, and Cambyses likewise ending his days in Persia, Cyrus returned to Babylon, and took upon him the government of the empire. The years of Cyrus's reign are computed differently. Some make it thirty years, beginning from his first setting out from Persia, at the head of an army, to succour his unele Cyaxares: others make it to be but seven years, because they date it only from the time, when, by the death of Cyaxares and Cambyses, he be came sole monarch of the whole empire. the most glorious circumstance in the life of Cyrus, and for which, it may be presumed, God had endowed him with so many heroic virtues, and blessed him with such an uninterrupted series of glorious victories and success. Thus "In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the true God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem."4 Cyrus, at the same time, restored to the Jews all the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had brought from Jerusalem, and placed in the temple of his god. Shortly after the Jews departed under the conduct of Zorobabel, to return into their own country. 5 The Samaritans, who had long been the declared enemies of the Jews, did all they possibly could to hinder the building of the temple; and though they could not alter Cyrus's decree, yet they so far prevailed by bribes and underhand dealings with the ministers and other officers concerned therein, as to obstruct the exe cution of it; so that for several years the building went on very slowly. A. M. 3470. Ant. J. C. 534. It seems to have been through grief at seeing the execution of this decree, so long retarded, that in the third year of Cyrus, in the first month of that year, Daniel gave himself up to mourning and fasting for three weeks together. He was then near the river Tigris in Fersia. When this time of fasting was ended, he saw the vision concerning the succession of the kings of Persia, the empire of the Macedonians, and the conquest of the Romans. This revelation is related in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters of the prophecies of Daniel, of which I shall soon speak. By what we find in the conclusion of the last chapter, we have reason to conjecture, that he died soon after; and, indeed, his great age makes it unlikely that he could live much longer; for at this time he must have been at least eighty-five years of age, if we suppose him to have been twelve when he was carried to Babylon with the other captives; and some suppose him to have been eighteen years of age at that time: from that early age he had given proofs of wisdom, more than human, in the judgment of Susannah. He was ever afterwards very much esteemed by all the princes who reigned at Babylon, and was always employed by them with distinction in the administration of their affairs. In the first of these seven years precisely expired the seventieth year of the Babylonish captivity, when Cyrus published the famous edict whereby the Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem. There is no Daniel's wisdom did not only reach to things divine question but this edict was obtained by the care and and political, but also to arts and sciences, and particusolicitations of Daniel, who possessed great influence larly to that of architecture. Josephus speaks of a faat court. That he might the more effectually induce mous edifice built by him at Susa, in the manner of a the king to grant him this request, he showed him un-castle, which he says still subsisted in his time, finished doubtedly the prophecies of Isaiah, wherein, above 200 years before his birth, he was marked out by name as a prince appointed by God to be a great conqueror, and to reduce a multitude of nations under his dominion; and, at the same time, to be the deliverer of the captive Jews, by ordering their temple to be rebuilt, and Jerusalem and Judea to be repossessed by their ancient inhabitants. I think it may not be improper in this with such wonderful art, that it then seemed as fresh and beautiful as if it had been but newly built. Within this palace the Persian and Parthian kings were usually rest Ezra, i. 1-4. • Ib. iv. 1-5. Dan. x. 1-3. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Dan. xii. 13. 9 Antiq. 1. x. cap. 12. So it ought to be read, according to St. Jerome, who relates the same fact; Comm. in Dan. viii. 2. and not Ecbatana, as it is now read in the text of Josephus. |