Chapter IV: Part I (3)

Now the Senate and people and principality of _Rome_ I take to be the third King the little horn overcame, and even the chief of the three. For this people elected the Pope and the Emperor; and now, by electing the Emperor and making him Consul, was acknowledged to retain the authority of the old _Roman_ Senate and people. This city was the Metropolis of the old _Roman_ Empire, represented in _Daniel_ by the fourth Beast; and by subduing the Senate and people and Duchy, it became the Metropolis of the little horn of that Beast, and completed _Peter_'s Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. Besides, this victory was attended with greater consequences than those over the other two Kings. For it set up the _Western Empire_, which continues to this day. It set up the Pope above the judicature of the _Roman_ Senate, and above that of a Council of _Italian_ and _French_ Bishops, and even above all human judicature; and gave him the supremacy over the _Western_ Churches and their Councils in a high degree. It gave him _a look more stout than his fellows_; so that when this new religion began to be established in the minds of men, he grappled not only with Kings, but even with the _Western_ Emperor himself. It is observable also, that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honour superior to that of Kings and Emperors, began about this time. There are some instances of it in the ninth century: _Platina_ tells us, that the feet of Pope _Leo_ IV were kissed, according to antient custom, by all who came to him: and some say that _Leo_ III began this custom, pretending that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. The Popes began also about this time to canonize saints, and to grant indulgences and pardons: and some represent that _Leo_ III was the first author of all these things. It is further observable, that _Charles_ the great, between the years 775 and 796, conquered all _Germany_ from the _Rhine_ and _Danube_ northward to the _Baltic_ sea, and eastward to the river _Teis_; extending his conquests also into _Spain_ as far as the river _Ebro_: and by these conquests he laid the foundation of the new Empire; and at the same time propagated the _Roman_ Catholic religion into all his conquests, obliging the _Saxons_ and _Hunns_ who were heathens, to receive the _Roman_ faith, and distributing his northern conquests into Bishopricks, granting tithes to the Clergy and _Peter-pence_ to the Pope: by all which the Church of _Rome_ was highly enlarged, enriched, exalted, and established.

In the forementioned _dissertation upon some coins of _Charles_ the great, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors, stamped at _Rome__, there is a draught of a piece of _Mosaic_ work which Pope _Leo_ III. caused to be made in his Palace near the Church of _John Lateran_, in memory of his sending the standard or banner of the city of _Rome_ curiously wrought, to _Charles_ the great; and which still remained there at the publishing of the said book. In the _Mosaic_ work there appeared _Peter_ with three keys in his lap, reaching the _Pallium_ to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to _Charles_ the great with his left. By the Pope was this inscription, SCISSIMUS D.N. LEO PP; by the King this, D.N. CARVLO REGI; and under the feet of _Peter_ this, BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET BICTORIAM CARVLO REGI DONA. This Monument gives the title of King to _Charles_, and therefore was erected before he was Emperor. It was erected when _Peter_ was reaching the _Pallium_ to the Pope, and the Pope was sending the banner of the city to _Charles_, that is, A.C. 796. The words above, _Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi_, relate to the message; and the words below, _Beate Petre, dona vitam Leoni Papæ & victoriam Carolo regi dona_, are a prayer that in this undertaking God would preserve the life of the Pope, and give victory to the King over the _Romans_. The three keys in the lap of _Peter_ signify the keys of the three parts of his Patrimony, that of _Rome_ with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed and was conquering, those of _Ravenna_ with the Exarchate, and of the territories taken from the _Lombards_; both which he had newly conquered. These were the three dominions, whose keys were in the lap of St. _Peter_, and whose Crowns are now worn by the Pope, and by the conquest of which he became the little horn of the fourth Beast. By _Peter_'s giving the _Pallium_ to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the city to the King with his left, and by naming the Pope before the King in the inscription, may be understood that the Pope was then reckoned superior in dignity to the Kings of the earth.

After the death of _Charles_ the great, his son and successor _Ludovicus Pius_, at the request of the Pope, [13] confirmed the donations of his grandfather and father to the see of _Rome_. And in the confirmation he names first _Rome_ with its Duchy extending into _Tuscany_ and _Campania_; then the Exarchate of _Ravenna_, with _Pentapolis_; and in the third place, the territories taken from the _Lombards_. These are his three conquests, and he was to hold them of the Emperor for the use of the Church _sub integritate_, entirely, without the Emperor's medling therewith, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope therein, unless called thereto in certain cases. This ratification the Emperor _Ludovicus_ made under an oath: and as the King of the _Ostrogoths_, for acknowledging that he held his kingdom of _Italy_ of the _Greek_ Emperor, stamped the effigies of the Emperor on one side of his coins and his own on the reverse; so the Pope made the like acknowledgment to the _Western_ Emperor. For the Pope began now to coin money, and the coins of _Rome_ are henceforward found with the heads of the Emperors, _Charles_, _Ludovicus Pius_, _Lotharius_, and their successors, on the one side, and the Pope's inscription on the reverse, for many years.

Notes to Chap. VII.

[1] Chap. vii. 8.

[2] Ver. 20, 21.

[3] Ver. 24.

[4] Ver. 25.

[5] Sigonius de Regno Italiæ, ad Ann. 726.

[6] Sigonius ib. ad Ann. 726, 752.

[7] Sigon. ib. Ann. 750.

[8] Sigon. ib. Ann. 753, 754, 755.

[9] Sigon. ib. Ann. 773.

[10] Sigon. de Regno Ital. ad Ann. 796.

[11] Vide Anastasium.

[12] Sigon. de Regno Ital.

[13] Confirmationem recitat Sigonius, lib. 4. de Regno Italiæ, ad An. 817.

* * * * *

CHAP. VIII.

_Of the power of the eleventh horn of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, to change times and laws_.

In the reign of the _Greek_ Emperor _Justinian_, and again in the reign of _Phocas_, the Bishop of _Rome_ obtained some dominion over the _Greek_ Churches, but of no long continuance. His standing dominion was only over the nations of the _Western Empire_, represented by _Daniel_'s fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors _Gratian_ and _Valentinian.--[1] Volumus ut quicunque judicio Damasi, quod ille cum Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum, vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab illustribus viris Præfectis Prætorio Galliæ atque Italiæ, authoritate adhibitâ, ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive à Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit, sine delatione contendat.----Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur_. This Edict wanting the name of both _Valens_ and _Theodosius_ in the Title, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or the beginning of 379. It was directed to the _Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ_, and therefore was general. For the _Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ_ governed _Italy_, _Illyricum occidentale_ and _Africa_; and the _Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ_ governed _Gallia_, _Spain_, and _Britain_.

The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws to the _Western_ Churches by such Epistles. _Himerius_ Bishop of _Tarraco_, the head city of a province in _Spain_, writing to Pope _Damasus_ for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, and the Letter not arriving at _Rome_ till after the death of _Damasus_, A.C. 384; his successor _Siricius_ answered the same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: _Cum hoc fieri--missa ad Provincias à venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant_. Of another: _Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritate, dejectos_. Of another: _Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antistites, quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam_. And the Epistle he concludes thus: _Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quæ digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia constituta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua sunt dioecesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Boeticos, Lusitanos atque [2] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur; quatenus & quæ à nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus_, A.C. 385. Pope _Liberius_ in the reign of _Jovian_ or _Valentinian_ I. sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the _Arians_ should not be rebaptized: and this he did in favour of the Council of _Alexandria_, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope _Damasus_ is said to have decreed in a _Roman_ Council, that _Tithes_ and _Tenths_ should be paid upon pain of an _Anathema_; and that _Glory be to the Father_, &c. should be said or sung at the end of the _Psalms_. But the first decretal Epistle now extant is this of _Siricius_ to _Himerius_; by which the Pope made _Himerius_ his Vicar over all _Spain_ for promulging his Decrees, and seeing them observed. The Bishop of _Sevill_ was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for _Simplicius_ wrote thus to _Zeno_ Bishop of that place: _Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas_. And Pope _Hormisda_ [3] made the Bishop of _Sevill_ his Vicar over _Boetica_ and _Lusitania_, and the Bishop of _Tarraco_ his Vicar over all the rest of _Spain_, as appears by his Epistles to them.

Pope _Innocent_ the first, in his decretal Epistle to _Victricius_ Bishop of _Rouen_ in _France_, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of _Gratian_, made this Decree: _Si quæ autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat, [4] Romanæ Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit; & ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad Sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referantur_. By these Letters it seems to me that _Gallia_ was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time, and that the Bishop of _Rouen_ was then his Vicar or one of them: for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of _Rome_, according to custom. But the Bishop of _Arles_ soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all _Gallia_: for Pope _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon _Patroclus_ the Bishop of _Arles_ this authority over all _Gallia_, by the following Decree.

_Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem Provincias constitutis_.

_Placuit Apostolicæ Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel aliò terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat per quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissà supradicti Formatâ sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus_. And that the Bishop of _Arles_ was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all _France_, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocess of _Arles_ in their Letter to Pope _Leo_ I. _Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est_, say they, _ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret_. And Pope _Pelagius_ I. A.C. 556, in his Epistle to _Sapaudus_ Bishop of _Arles_: _Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per universam Galliam, sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus, vices injungimus_.

By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only _Spain_ and _Gallia_, but also _Illyricum_ became subject to the Pope. _Damasus_ made _Ascholius_, or _Acholius_, Bishop of _Thessalonica_ the Metropolis of _Oriental Illyricum_, his Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, _Acholius_ being summoned by Pope _Damasus_, came to a Council at _Rome_. Pope _Siricius_ the successor of _Damasus_, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in _Illyricum_ without the consent of _Anysius_ the successor of _Acholius_. And the following Popes gave _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_, a power of calling Provincial Councils: for in the Collections of _Holstenius_ there is an account of a Council of _Rome_ convened under Pope _Boniface_ II. in which were produced Letters of _Damasus_, _Syricius_, _Innocent_ I. _Boniface_ I. and _Cælestine_ Bishops of _Rome_, to _Ascholius_, _Anysius_ and _Rufus_, Bishops of _Thessalonica_: in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in _Illyricum_, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro'out that Province. And Pope _Siricius_ saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit_. And a little after: _Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ & moribus probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare_. And Pope _Innocent_ I. saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Cui_ [Anysio] _etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quæ in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ, quæ plena justitiæ est, traderent cognoscenda_. And in his Epistle to _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_: _Ita longis intervallis disterminatis à me ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris, Epiri novæ, & Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Moesiæ, Dardaniæ, & Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ & virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc statuentes, sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt_. And _Boniface_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Rufus_ and the rest of the Bishops in _Illyricum_: _Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus_ [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] _conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ cuncta committimus_. And Pope _Cælestine_, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops thro'out _Illyricum_, saith: _Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis_ [Rufo] _esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam illi Provinciam; colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non præsumat_. And in the cause of _Perigenes_, in the title of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: _Rufo & cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, & Daciam constitutis_. And Pope _Xistus_ in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: _Illyricanæ omnes Ecclesiæ, ut à decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid à singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit_. And Pope _Leo_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_: _Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committitur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos Metropolitanos à te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto judicio_.

_Occidental Illyricum_ comprehended _Pannonia prima_ and _secunda_, _Savia_, _Dalmatia_, _Noricum mediterraneum_, and _Noricum ripense_; and its Metropolis was _Sirmium_, till _Attila_ destroyed this city. Afterwards _Laureacum_ became the Metropolis of _Noricum_ and both _Pannonias_, and _Salona_ the Metropolis of _Dalmatia_. Now [5] the Bishops of _Laureacum_ and _Salona_ received the _Pallium_ from the Pope: and _Zosimus_, in his decretal Epistle to _Hesychius_ Bishop of _Salona_, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own, as to those of the neighbouring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of _Rome_ seems to have begun in _Anemius_, who was ordained Bishop of _Sirmium_ by _Ambrose_ Bishop of _Millain_, and who in the Council of _Aquileia_ under Pope _Damasus_, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: _Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei æternum, & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico_. The next year _Anemius_ and _Ambrose_, with _Valerian_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, _Acholias_ Bishop of _Thessalonica,_ and many others, went to the Council of _Rome_, which met for overruling the _Greek_ Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic See, as was attempted before in the Council of _Sardica_.

_Aquileia_ was the second city of the _Western Empire_, and by some called the second _Rome_. It was the Metropolis of _Istria_, _Forum Julium_, and _Venetia_; and its subjection to the See of _Rome_ is manifest by the decretal Epistle of _Leo_ I. directed to _Nicetas_ Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: _Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his à nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ Sedis acciperes, quæ quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre_. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by _Nicetas_, and concludes thus: _Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1-2 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos._ A.C. 458. _Gregory_ the great A.C. 591, [6] cited _Severus_ Bishop of _Aquileia_ to appear before him in judgment in a Council at _Rome_.

The Bishops of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ created one another, and therefore were of equal authority, and alike subject to the See of _Rome_. Pope _Pelagius_ about the year 557, testified this in the following words: [7] _Mos antiquus fuit_, saith he, _ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi se invicem Mediolanensis & Aquileiensis ordinare Episcopos debuissent_. These words imply that the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the See of _Rome_. When _Laurentius_ Bishop of _Millain_ had excommunicated _Magnus_, one of his Presbyters, and was dead, [8] _Gregory_ the great absolved _Magnus_, and sent the _Pallium_ to the new elected Bishop _Constantius_; whom the next year [9] he reprehended of partiality in judging _Fortunatus_, and commanded him to send _Fortunatus_ to _Rome_ to be judged there: four years after [10] he appointed the Bishops of _Millain_ and _Ravenna_ to hear the cause of one _Maximus_; and two years after, viz. A.C. 601, when _Constantius_ was dead, and the people of _Millain_ had elected _Deusdedit_ his successor, and the _Lombards_ had elected another, [11] _Gregory_ wrote to the Notary, Clergy, and People of _Millain_, that by the authority of his Letters _Deusdedit_ should be ordained, and that he whom the _Lombards_ had ordained was an unworthy successor of _Ambrose_: whence I gather, that the Church of _Millain_ had continued in this state of subordination to the See of _Rome_ ever since the days of _Ambrose_; for _Ambrose_ himself acknowledged the authority of that See. _Ecclesia Romana_, [12] saith he, _hanc consuetudinem non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & formam_. And a little after: _In omnibus cupio sequi Ecclesiam Romanam_. And in his Commentary upon 1 _Tim_. iii. _Cum totus mundus Dei sit, tamen domus ejus Ecclesia dicitur, cujus hodie rector est Damasus_. In his Oration on the death of his brother _Satyrus_, he relates how his brother coming to a certain city of _Sardinia_, _advocavit Episcopum loci, percontatusque est ex eo utrum cum Episcopis Catholicis hoc est cum Romana Ecclesia conveniret?_ And in conjunction with the Synod of _Aquileia_ A.C. 381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor _Gratian_, he saith: _Totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandæ communionis jura dimanant_. The Churches therefore of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ were subject to the See of _Rome_ from the days of the Emperor _Gratian_. _Auxentius_ the predecessor of _Ambrose_ was not subject to the see of _Rome_, and consequently the subjection of the Church of _Millain_ began in _Ambrose_. This Diocese of _Millain_ contained _Liguria_ with _Insubria_, the _Alpes Cottiæ_ and _Rhætia_; and was divided from the Diocese of _Aquileia_ by the river _Addua_. In the year 844, the Bishop of _Millain_ broke off from the See of _Rome_, and continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus related by [13] _Sigonius_: _Eodem anno Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanæ obedientiam auctoritatemque redierit_.

The Bishop of _Ravenna_, the Metropolis of _Flaminia_ and _Æmilia_, was also subject to the Pope: for _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that Church, and wrote a commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch of the _Roman_ Church: _In sua_, saith he, _hoc est, in Ecclesia nostra Romana_. When those of _Ravenna_, having elected a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope _Sixtus_, the Pope set him aside, and [14] ordained _Peter Chrysologus_ in his room. _Chrysologus_ in his Epistle to _Eutyches_, extant in the Acts of the Council of _Chalcedon_, wrote thus: _Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanæ civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus_. Pope _Leo_ I. being consulted by _Leo_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about some questions, answered him by a decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope _Gregory_ the great, [15] reprehending _John_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about the use of the _Pallium_, tells him of a Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope _John_, commanding that all the Privileges formerly granted to the Bishop and Church of _Ravenna_ should be kept: to this _John_ returned a submissive answer; and after his death Pope _Gregory_ ordered a visitation of the Church of _Ravenna_, confirmed the privileges heretofore granted them, and sent his _Pallium_, as of antient custom, to their new Bishop _Marinian_. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the Church of _Rome_, but returned again to its obedience.

The rest of _Italy_, with the Islands adjacent, containing the _suburbicarian_ regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar of _Rome, viz._ 1_Campania_, 2_Tuscia_ and _Umbria_, 3_Picenum suburbicarium_, 4_Sicily_, 5_Apulia_ and _Calabria_, 6_Brutii_ and _Lucania_, 7_Samnium_, 8_Sardinia_, 9_Corsica_, and 10_Valeria_, constituted the proper Province of the Bishop of _Rome_. For the Council of _Nice_ in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held every spring and autumn in every Province; and according to this Canon, the Bishops of this Province met at _Rome_ every half year. In this sense Pope _Leo_ I. applied this Canon to _Rome_, in a decretal Epistle to the Bishops of _Sicily_, written _Alippio & Ardabure Coss_. A.C. 447. _Quia saluberrime_, saith he, _à sanctis patribus constitutum est, binos in annis singulis Episcoporum debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum Octobrium Romam æterno concilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter à vobis hæc consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratiâ, faciliùs poterit provideri, ut in Ecclesiis Christi nulla scandala, nulli nascantur errores; cum coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione tractatum fuerit, ut omnia Canonum Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes inviolata permaneant_. The Province of _Rome_ therefore comprehended _Sicily_, with so much of _Italy_ and the neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of _Rome_; but extended not into the Provinces of _Ravenna_, _Aquileia_, _Millain_, _Arles_, &c. those Provinces having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the _Roman_ Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or Bishop of the head city of the Province, and this Bishop presided in that Council: but the Bishop of _Rome_ did not only preside in his own Council of the Bishops of the _suburbicarian_ regions, but also gave Orders to the Metropolitans of all the other Provinces in the _Western Empire_, as their universal governor; as may be further perceived by the following instances.

Pope _Zosimus_ A.C. 417, cited _Proculus_ Bishop of _Marseilles_ to appear before a Council at _Rome_ for illegitimate Ordinations; and condemned him, as he mentions in several of his Epistles. Pope _Boniface_ I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the Clergy of _Valentia_ against _Maximus_ a Bishop, summoned the Bishops of all _Gallia_ and the seven Provinces to convene in a Council against him; and saith in his Epistle, that his Predecessors had done the like. Pope _Leo_ I. called a general Council of all the Provinces of _Spain_ to meet in _Gallæcia_ against the _Manichees_ and _Priscillianists_, as he says in his decretal Epistle to _Turribius_ a _Spanish_ Bishop. And in one of his decretal Epistles to _Nicetas_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, he commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against the _Pelagians_, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which had been already ratified by the See of _Rome_ against this heresy. And in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_, he ordained that Bishop should hold two Provincial Councils every year, and refer the harder causes to the See of _Rome_: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops under him, but content himself with two Bishops out of every Province, and not detain them above fifteen days. In the same Epistle he describes the form of Church-Government then set up, to consist in a subordination of all the Churches to the See of _Rome_: _De qua forma_, saith he, _Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis Provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, & rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem sumerent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri Sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura conflueret, & nihil usque à suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se quibusdam esse præpositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse præpositum; sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat; et sicut non vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat aliis importabile pondus imponere_. These words sufficiently shew the monarchical form of government then set up in the Churches of the _Western Empire_ under the Bishop of _Rome_, by means of the imperial Decree of _Gratian_, and the appeals and decretal Epistles grounded thereupon.

The same Pope _Leo_, having in a Council at _Rome_ passed sentence upon _Hilary_ Bishop of _Arles_, for what he had done by a Provincial Council in _Gallia_, took occasion from thence to procure the following Edict from the _Western_ Emperor _Valentinian_ III. for the more absolute establishing the authority of his See over all the Churches of the _Western Empire_.

_Impp. Theodosius & Valentinianus AA. Aetio Viro illustri, Comiti & Magistro utriusque militiæ & Patricio._

_Certum est & nobis & imperio nostro unicum esse præsidium in supernæ Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum præcipue Christiana fides & veneranda nobis religio suffragatur. Cum igitur Sedis Apostolicæ Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis coronæ & Romanæ dignitas civitatis, sacræ etiam Synodi firmavit auctoritas: ne quid præter auctoritatem Sedis istius illicitum præsumptio attemperare nitatur: tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur, si Rectorem suum agnoscat Universitas. Hæc cum hactenus inviolabiliter suerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis, sicut venerabilis viri Leonis Romani Papæ fideli relatione comperimus, contumaci ausu illicita quædam præsumenda tentavit, & ideo Transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis tumultus invasit, quod recens maximè testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiæ Romanæ urbis inconsulto Pontifice indebitas sibi ordinationes Episcoporum solâ temeritate usurpans invasit. Nam alios incompetenter removit; indecenter alios, invitis & repugnantibus civibus, ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, & claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel aggressione reserabat, & ad sedem quietis pacem prædicaturus per bella ducebat: His talibus contra Imperii majestatem, & contra reverentiam Apostolicæ Sedis admissis, per ordinem religiosi viri Urbis Papæ cognitione discussis, certa in eum, ex his quos malè ordinaverat, lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine Imperiali Sanctione valitura: quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non liceret? Sed nostram quoque præceptionem hæc ratio provocavit. Nec ulterius vel Hilario, quem adhuc Episcopum nuncupare sola mansueta Præsulis permittit humanitas, nec cuiquam alteri ecclesiasticis rebus arma miscere, aut præceptis Romani Antistitis liceat obviare: ausibus enim talibus fides & reverentia nostri violatur Imperii. Nec hoc solum, quod est maximi criminis, submovemus: verum ne levis saltem inter Ecclesias turba nascatur, vel in aliquo minui religionis disciplina videatur, hoc perenni sanctione discernimus; nequid tam Episcopis Gallicanis quam aliarum Provinciarum contra consuetudinem veterem liceat, sine viri venerabilis Papæ Urbis æternæ auctoritate, tentare. Sed illis omnibusque pro lege sit, quicquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritas: ita ut quisquis Episcoporum ad judicium Romani Antistitis evocatus venire neglexerit, per Moderatorem ejusdem Provinciæ adesse cogatur, per omnia servatis quæ Divi parentes nostri Romanæ Ecclesiæ detulerunt, Aetî pater carissime Augusti. Unde illustris & præclara magnificentia tua præsentis Edictalis Legis auctoritate faciet quæ sunt superius statuta servari, decem librarum auri multa protinus exigenda ab unoquoque Judice qui passus fuerit præcepta nostra violari. Divinitas te servet per multos annos, parens carissime. Dat. _viii._ Id. Jun. Romæ, Valentiniano A. _vi._ Consule_, A.C. 445. By this Edict the Emperor _Valentinian_ enjoined an absolute obedience to the will of the Bishop of _Rome_ thro'out all the Churches of his Empire; and declares, that for the Bishops to attempt any thing without the Pope's authority is contrary to antient custom, and that the Bishops summoned to appear before his judicature must be carried thither by the Governor of the Province; and he ascribes these privileges of the See of _Rome_ to the concessions of his dead Ancestors, that is, to the Edict of _Gratian_ and _Valentinian_ II. as above: by which reckoning this dominion of the Church of _Rome_ was now of 66 years standing: and if in all this time it had not been sufficiently established, this new Edict was enough to settle it beyond all question thro'out the _Western Empire_.

Hence all the Bishops of the Province of _Arles_ in their Letter to Pope _Leo_, A.C. 450, petitioning for a restitution of the privileges of their Metropolitan, say: _Per beatum Petrum Apostolorum principem, sacrosancta Ecclesia Romana tenebat supra omnes totius mundi Ecclesias principatum_. And _Ceratius_, _Salonius_ and _Veranus_, three Bishops of _Gallia_, say, in their Epistle to the same Pope: _Magna præterea & ineffabili quadam nos peculiares tui gratulatione succrescimus, quod illa specialis doctrinæ vestræ pagina ita per omnium Ecclesiarum conventicula celebratur, ut vere consona omnium sententia declaretur; merito illic principatum Sedis Apostolicæ constitutum, unde adhuc Apostolici spiritus oracula reserentur_. And _Leo_ himself, in [16] his Epistle to the metropolitan Bishops thro'out _Illyricum_: _Quia per omnes Ecclesias cura nostra distenditur, exigente hoc à nobis Domino, qui Apostolicæ dignitatis beatissimo Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei sui remuneratione commisit, universalem Ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate constituens_.

While this Ecclesiastical Dominion was rising up, the northern barbarous nations invaded the _Western Empire_, and founded several kingdoms therein, of different religions from the Church of _Rome_. But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the _Roman_ faith, and at the same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The _Franks_ in _Gaul_ submitted in the end of the fifth Century, the _Goths_ in _Spain_ in the end of the sixth; and the _Lombards_ in _Italy_ were conquered by _Charles_ the great A.C. 774. Between the years 775 and 794, the same _Charles_ extended the Pope's authority over all _Germany_ and _Hungary_ as far as the river _Theysse_ and the _Baltic_ sea; he then set him above all human judicature, and at the same time assisted him in subduing the City and Duchy of _Rome_. By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the _Roman_ religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, but did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast. It was his temporal dominion which made him one of the horns: and this dominion he acquired in the latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns as above. And now being arrived at a temporal dominion, and a power above all human judicature, he reigned [17] _with a look more stout than his fellows_, and [18] _times and laws were_ henceforward _given into his hands, for a time times and half a time_, or three times and an half; that is, for 1260 solar years, reckoning a time for a Calendar year of 360 days, and a day for a solar year. After which [19] _the judgment is to sit, and they shall take away his dominion_, not at once, but by degrees, _to consume, and to destroy it unto the end. [20] And the kingdom and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall_, by degrees, _be given unto the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him_.

Notes to Chap. VIII.

[1] _See the Annals of _Baronius__, Anno 381. Sect. 6.

[2] Populos Galliciæ.

[3] Hormisd. Epist. 24. 26.

[4] _The words, _sine auctoritate_, seem wanting._

[5] Vide Caroli a S. Paulo Geographiam sacram, p. 72, 73.

[6] Greg. M. lib. 1. Indic. 9. Epist. 16.

[7] Apud Gratianum de Mediolanensi & Aquileiensi Episcopis.

[8] Greg. M. lib. 3. Epist. 26. & lib. 4. Epist. 1.

[9] Greg. lib. 5. Epist. 4.

[10] Greg. lib. 9. Epist. 10 & 67.

[11] Greg. lib. 11. Epist. 3, 4.

[12] Ambros l. 3. de sacramentis, c. 1.

[13] Sigonius de Regno Italiæ, lib. 5.

[14] _See _Baronius__, Anno 433. Sect. 24.

[15] Greg. M. lib. 3. Epist. 56, 57. & lib. 5. Epist. 25, 26, 56.

[16] Epist. 25. apud Holstenium.

[17] Dan. vii. 20.

[18] Ver. 25.

[19] Ver. 26.

[20] Ver. 27.

* * * * *

CHAP. IX.

_Of the kingdoms represented in _Daniel_ by the Ram and He-Goat_.

The second and third Empires, represented by the Bear and Leopard, are again represented by the Ram and He-Goat; but with this difference, that the Ram represents the kingdoms of the _Medes_ and _Persians_ from the beginning of the four Empires, and the Goat represents the kingdom of the _Greeks_ to the end of them. By this means, under the type of the Ram and He-Goat, the times of all the four Empires are again described: _I lifted up mine eyes_, saith [1] _Daniel_, _and saw_, _and behold there stood before the river_ [Ulai] _a Ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.--And the Ram having two horns, are the kings of _Media_ and _Persia__: not two persons but two kingdoms, the kingdoms of _Media_ and _Persia_; and the kingdom of _Persia_ was the higher horn and came up last. The kingdom of _Persia_ rose up, when _Cyrus_ having newly conquered _Babylon_, revolted from _Darius_ King of the _Medes_, and beat him at _Pasargadæ_, and set up the _Persians_ above the _Medes_. This was the horn which came up last. And the horn which came up first was the kingdom of the _Medes_, from the time that _Cyaxares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ overthrew _Nineveh_, and shared the Empire of the _Assyrians_ between them. The Empires of _Media_ and _Babylon_ were contemporary, and rose up together by the fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire; and the Prophecy of the four Beasts begins with one of them, and that of the Ram and He-Goat with the other. As the Ram represents the kingdom of _Media_ and _Persia_ from the beginning of the four Empires; so the He-Goat represents the Empire of the _Greeks_ to the end of those Monarchies. In the reign of his great horn, and of the four horns which succeeded it, he represents this Empire during the reign of the Leopard: and in the reign of his little horn, which stood up in the latter time of the kingdom of the four, and after their fall became mighty but not by his own power, he represents it during the reign of the fourth Beast.

_The rough Goat_, saith _Daniel, is the King of_ Grecia, that is, the kingdom; _and the great horn between his eyes is the first King_: not the first Monarch, but the first kingdom, that which lasted during the reign of _Alexander_ the great, and his brother _Aridæus_ and two young sons, _Alexander_ and _Hercules_. [2] _Now that_ [horn] _being broken off, whereas four_ [horns] _stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation_ [of the _Greeks_], _but not in his_ [the first horn's] _power_. The four horns are therefore four kingdoms; and by consequence, the first great horn which they succeeded is the first great kingdom of the _Greeks_, that which was founded by _Alexander_ the great, _An. Nabonass._ 414, and lasted till the death of his son _Hercules_, _An. Nabonass._ 441. And the four are those of _Cassander_, _Lysimachus_, _Antigonus_, and _Ptolemy_, as above.

[3] _And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a King_ [or new kingdom] _of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up: and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power_. This King was the last horn of the Goat, the little horn which came up out of one of the four horns, and waxed exceeding great. The latter time of their kingdom was when the _Romans_ began to conquer them, that is, when they conquered _Perseus_ King of _Macedonia_, the fundamental kingdom of the _Greeks_. And at that time the transgressors came to the full: for then the High-priesthood was exposed to sale, the Vessels of the Temple were sold to pay for the purchase; and the High-priest, with some of the _Jews_, procured a licence from _Antiochus Epiphanes_ to do after the ordinances of the heathen, and set up a school at _Jerusalem_ for teaching those ordinances. Then _Antiochus_ took _Jerusalem_ with an armed force, slew 4000 _Jews_, took as many prisoners and sold them, spoiled the Temple, interdicted the worship, commanded the Law of _Moses_ to be burnt, and set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all _Judea_. In the very same year, _An. Nabonass._ 580, the _Romans_ conquered _Macedonia_, the chief of the four horns. Hitherto the Goat was mighty by its own power, but henceforward began to be under the _Romans_. _Daniel_ distinguishes the times, by describing very particularly the actions of the Kings of the north and south, those two of the four horns which bordered upon _Judea_, until the _Romans_ conquered _Macedonia_; and thenceforward only touching upon the main revolutions which happened within the compass of the nations represented by the Goat. In this latter period of time the little horn was to stand up and grow mighty, but not by his own power.

The three first of _Daniel_'s Beasts had their dominions taken away, each of them at the rise of the next Beast; but their lives were prolonged, and they are all of them still alive. The third Beast, or Leopard, reigned in his four heads, till the rise of the fourth Beast, or Empire of the _Latins_; and his life was prolonged under their power. This Leopard reigning in his four heads, signifies the same thing with the He-Goat reigning in his four horns: and therefore the He-Goat reigned in his four horns till the rise of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, or Empire of the _Latins_: then its dominion was taken away by the _Latins_, but its life was prolonged under their power. The _Latins_ are not comprehended among the nations represented by the He-Goat in this Prophecy: their power over the _Greeks_ is only named in it, to distinguish the times in which the He-Goat was mighty by his own power, from the times in which he was mighty but not by his own power. He was mighty by his own power till his dominion was taken away by the _Latins_; after that, his life was prolonged under their dominion, and this prolonging of his life was in the days of his last horn: for in the days of this horn the Goat became mighty, but not by his own power.

Now because this horn was a horn of the Goat, we are to look for it among the nations which composed the body of the Goat. Among those nations he was to rise up and grow mighty: he grew mighty [4] _towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land_; and therefore he was to rise up in the north-west parts of those nations, and extend his dominion towards _Egypt_, _Syria_ and _Judea_. In the latter time of the kingdom of the four horns, it was to rise up out of one of them and subdue the rest, but not by its own power. It was to be assisted by a foreign power, a power superior to itself, the power which took away the dominion of the third Beast, the power of the fourth Beast. And such a little horn was the kingdom of _Macedonia_, from the time that it became subject to the _Romans_. This kingdom, by the victory of the _Romans_ over _Persius_ King of _Macedonia_, _Anno Nabonass._ 580, ceased to be one of the four horns of the Goat, and became a dominion of a new sort: not a horn of the fourth Beast, for _Macedonia_ belonged to the body of the third; but a horn of the third Beast of a new sort, a horn of the Goat which grew mighty but not by his own power, a horn which rose up and grew potent under a foreign power, the power of the _Romans_.

The _Romans_, by the legacy of _Attalus_ the last King of _Pergamus_, _An. Nabonass._ 615, inherited that kingdom, including all _Asia Minor_ on this side mount _Taurus_. _An. Nabonass._ 684 and 685 they conquered _Armenia_, _Syria_ and _Judea_; _An. Nabonass._ 718, they subdued _Egypt_. And by these conquests the little horn [5] _waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven; and cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them_, that is, upon the people and great men of the _Jews_. [6] _Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the Host_, the _Messiah_, the Prince of the _Jews_, whom he put to death, _An. Nabonass._ 780. _And by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down_, viz. in the wars which the armies of the _Eastern_ nations under the conduct of the _Romans_ made against _Judea_, when _Nero_ and _Vespasian_ were Emperors, _An. Nabonass._ 816, 817, 818. [7] _And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered_. This transgression is in the next words called _the transgression of desolation_; and in _Dan._ xi. 31. _the abomination which maketh desolate_; and in _Matth._ xxiv. 15. _the abomination of desolation, spoken of by _Daniel_ the prophet, standing in the holy place_. It may relate chiefly to the worship of _Jupiter Olympius_ in his Temple built by the Emperor _Hadrian_, in the place of the Temple of the _Jews_, and to the revolt of the _Jews_ under _Barchochab_ occasioned thereby, and to the desolation of _Judea_ which followed thereupon; all the _Jews_, being thenceforward banished _Judea_ upon pain of death. _Then I heard_, saith [8] _Daniel, one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed._ _Daniel_'s days are years; and these years may perhaps be reckoned either from the destruction of the Temple by the _Romans_ in the reign of _Vespasian_, or from the pollution of the Sanctuary by the worship of _Jupiter Olympius_, or from the desolation of _Judea_ made in the end of the _Jewish_ war by the banishment of all the _Jews_ out of their own country, or from some other period which time will discover. Henceforward the last horn of the Goat continued mighty under the _Romans_, till the reign of _Constantine_ the great and his sons: and then by the division of the _Roman_ Empire between the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Emperors, it separated from the _Latins_, and became the _Greek_ Empire alone, but yet under the dominion of a _Roman_ family; and at present it is mighty under the dominion of the _Turks_.

This last horn is by some taken for _Antiochus Epiphanes_, but not very judiciously. A horn of a Beast is never taken for a single person: it always signifies a new kingdom, and the kingdom of _Antiochus_ was an old one. _Antiochus_ reigned over one of the four horns, and the little horn was a fifth under its proper kings. This horn was at first a little one, and waxed exceeding great, but so did not _Antiochus_. It is described great above all the former horns, and so was not _Antiochus_. His kingdom on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the _Romans_, and he did not enlarge it. The horn was a _King of fierce countenance, and destroyed wonderfully, and prospered and practised_; that is, he prospered in his practises against the holy people: but _Antiochus_ was frighted out of _Egypt_ by a mere message of the _Romans_, and afterwards routed and baffled by the _Jews_. The horn was mighty by another's power, _Antiochus_ acted by his own. The horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of heaven, the Prince of Princes; and this is the character not of _Antiochus_ but of _Antichrist_. The horn cast down the Sanctuary to the ground, and so did not _Antiochus_; he left it standing. The Sanctuary and Host were trampled under foot 2300 days; and in _Daniel_'s Prophecies days are put for years: but the profanation of the Temple in the reign of _Antiochus_ did not last so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end, till the last end of the indignation against the _Jews_; and this indignation is not yet at an end. They were to last till the Sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed, and the Sanctuary is not yet cleansed.

This Prophecy of the Ram and He-Goat is repeated in the last Prophecy of _Daniel_. There the Angel tells _Daniel_, that [9] _he stood up to strengthen _Darius_ the _Mede_, and that there should stand up yet three kings in _Persia__, [_Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Darius Hystaspis_] _and the fourth_ [_Xerxes_] _should be far richer than they all; and by his wealth thro' his riches he should stir up all against the realm of _Grecia__. This relates to the Ram, whose two horns were the kingdoms of _Media_ and _Persia_. Then he goes on to describe the horns of the Goat by the [10] _standing up of a mighty king, which should rule with great dominion, and do according to his will_; and by the breaking of his kingdom into four smaller kingdoms, and not descending to his own posterity. Then he describes the actions of two of those kingdoms which bordered on _Judea_, _viz_. _Egypt_ and _Syria_, calling them the Kings of the _South_ and _North_, that is, in respect of _Judea_; and he carries on the description till the latter end of the kingdoms of the four, and till the reign of _Antiochus Epiphanes_, when transgressors were come to the full. In the eighth year of _Antiochus_, the year in which he profaned the Temple and set up the heathen Gods in all _Judea_, and the _Romans_ conquered the kingdom of _Macedon_; the prophetic Angel leaves off describing the affairs of the kings of the _South_ and _North_, and begins to describe those of the _Greeks_ under the dominion of the _Romans_, in these words: [11] _And after him Arms_ [the _Romans_] _shall stand up, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength_. As [Hebrew: MMLK] signifies _after the king_, Dan. xi. 8; so here [Hebrew: MMNW] may signify _after him_: and so [Hebrew: MN-H'CHT] may signify _after one of them_, Dan. viii. 9. Arms are every where in these Prophecies of _Daniel_ put for the military power of a kingdom, and they stand up when they conquer and grow powerful. The _Romans_ conquered _Illyricum_, _Epirus_ and _Macedonia_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 580; and thirty five years after, by the last will and testament of _Attalus_ the last King of _Pergamus_, they inherited that rich and flourishing kingdom, that is, all _Asia_ on this side mount _Taurus_: and sixty nine years after, they conquered the kingdom of _Syria_, and reduced it into a Province: and thirty four years after they did the like to _Egypt_. By all these steps the _Roman_ arms stood up over the _Greeks_. And after 95 years more, by making war upon the _Jews, they polluted the sanctuary of strength, and took away the daily sacrifice, and_, in its room soon after, _placed the abomination which made_ the Land _desolate_: for this abomination was placed after the days of Christ, _Matth._ xxiv. 15. In the 16th year of the Emperor _Hadrian_, A. C. 132, they placed this abomination by building a Temple to _Jupiter Capitolinus_, where the Temple of God in _Jerusalem_ had stood. Thereupon the _Jews_ under the conduct of _Barchochab_ rose up in arms against the _Romans_, and in that war had 50 cities demolished, 985 of their best towns destroyed, and 580000 men slain by the sword: and in the end of the war, A.C. 136, they were all banished _Judea_ upon pain or death; and that time the land hath remained desolate of its old inhabitants.