winged Lion soone came vp and by his seuen yeres madnes was in such disgrace that Greekes the babes as plato recordeth in Timmo hauing not at home in Solons age anie storie of a graye heade scant coulde heare of anie great Empire Eastward of his And Ctesias who pleadeth Persian court-rolles for his monumēts doth passe ouer the Babylonians as vnheard of This beeing duely considered the Greekes will be frendes to me for old acquaintance who of a childe was more acquainted with them than with Latines and will confesse that they neuer meant to trouble me for the Persians rule ouer the Iewes but to shewe what the Persians in their glorie claime since Cyrus youth and first successe in warres If they will not stand with me thus I will bewray them and shewe the worlde that commonly they deserue but suche credit as Epimenides their prophet and Paule our Apostle giueth to the Cretes that Cretes are aey lyars Of Greekes nullitie I might disgrace their skil for antiquity in their great diuersitie for Homers age who hauing written fortie and eight books with mention of most townes in Grece yet hath halfe a score of auncient writers differring some foure hundred yeeres from others when he shoulde liue by gathering his distance from the warres of Troy which Greeke diuines as Tatianus Clemens Africanus Eusebius ioine to Salomons times But I will combat with them touching matter most litigious in my case for their diuersitie after Alexander sonne to Amyntas of Darius Hystaspis age which Alexander kild Darius Ambassadours and was with Mardonius Xerxes Generall Him Perdiccas did succeede of whom Thucidides writeth that he died in the third yere of the Peloponnesian warres That Perdiccas reigned yeres by Nicomedes fortie and one by Theopompus thirtie and fiue by Anaximenes fortie by Hieronymus eight and twentie by Marsias and Philochorus but three and twentie This difference citeth Athenaeus mentioned in a most learned assemblie of men most skilfull in Greeke auctours As was Masurius a Lawier Monius a Poet famous Plutarch Leonides Eleus Aemylianus Maurusius and Zoilus a most fine Grammarian Also philosophers manie Pontianus Democritus and Philadelphus Oratours manie with Vulpian that woulde not admit one worde without authoritie If these heathen Greekes of all countries and professions knewe no certeintie nor regarde Grekes for their owne age should we to disturbance of all diuines reuiue their fame Neuer by my consent An obiection from Thucidides Thucidides an Athenian being aliue in the Peloponnesian warres maketh it fall out fiftie after Xerxes wars he for so late times might see the truth Thuc. bell 1. Answer M. Ioseph Scaliger noteth that somtime writers speake against their owne knowledge touching times Conceits best knowne to them selues moue them And Thucidides might hope that his citie of Athens might in time be thought a long ruler of Greece and thereupon woulde not sticke to spare some vntruths Or otherwise as men busied slippe muche in plaine matter he might likewise And if all were granted him yet from other partes so much maie be subducted as we neede But I will bring an instance from the tripping of a greater man for times neere him Plato is the man euen the stateliest of all Greeke prophane auctours Athenaeus bringeth in one that checketh Plato for mentioning of Pericles death as past a litle tine while ago of a matter in the same speech done the last yeere afore the telling which yet was foure and twentie yeres after Pericles death If Piato was knowne to be so negligēt in marking times Thucidides alone hath no great authoritie against whome I will haue more if I see occasion to examine by partes Eratosthenes account Thucidides condemnation of Greekes He blameth the Athenians as grosse for report of late and most famous matters of Athens as not knowing mistaking which of Pisistratus sons was kild by Harmodius and Aristogiton yet they were kings in Athens Likewise he blames other Grecians for manie famous present thinges and not forgotten by reason of time in which as touching kinges of Lacedemon writers extreamelie missed There he laieth downe this sentence That the most parte take no paines in seeking the truth And blameth euen historiques for fauouring acceptation of the hearers more than the truth amongst whom his commēter noteth that he nipped Herodotus We might as well thinke him touched with the errours of his times Pausanias testimonie He blameth them no whit lesse For this report he affoordeth them that Greeke recordes for the most part differ one from an other and for the most thinges Greekes haue sundrie opinions in Arcad. pag. 280. and Boeot pag. 294. and Messen pag. 112. of the Greeke printed in 1584. Plutarchs testimonie Plutarch in Solon sheweth that Greeke Chroniclers thought by reason of times difference that Solon coulde neuer be with Cresus whome he answereth that their chronicall cannons coulde neuer be brought to agreement by anie thing commonly acknowledged for all the paines bestowed in the kind And in Numa he sheweth that times gathered from Olympionicae deserue no credit Continuall disagreements The differences betwixt Phaneas Ephorus Timeus Clitarchus Eratosthenes and Duris in Clemens Alexandrinus from Trois fall that is from Salomons reigne vnto Alexanders voiage is tedious to be repeated By Duris it is one thousande yeeres whereof by Scripture about 410. are past by Nabucadnetzars reigne and so by a consequent the Persians should reigne not one hundred and thirtie yeeres but aboue fiue hundred So Greekes haue from Adam to the flood in him two thousande two hundred fortie and eight for one thousande six hundred fiftie and six from Sem to Abraham one thousande two hundred and fiftie for foure hundred fiftie from Isaak to the partition of the land yeres six hundred sixteene for foure hundred fiftie two Thence to Samuel foure hundred sixtie and three for three hundred fiftie and for the kings fiue hundred seauentie and two that came somewhat neere About fiue hundred and tenne it was and for the Persians one hundred thirtie fiue If when Scripture directeth to a most exact summe men misse so much we should hold only the plainenes of Gods word as in the Ebrewe text it was most purely kept and not mans opinion our square Neither should we maruell at heathen missing for the Persians as we expounde them when Greeke Christians who haue scripture to direct them giue the iudges foure hundred sixtie and three whereas from the Lambe vnto the temple all is but foure hundred and foure score 1. Kinges 6. 1. whence must be subducted fortie for the wildernes seauen for conquest fortie for Samuel and Saul fortie for Dauid and three for Salomon A kinde of helpe But as diuines haue bin deceaued for the Iudges reckoning the oppressors yeeres seuerall from theirs which were within theirs in deede and shoulde nothing haue augmented the summe euen so were prophane Greekes as we vnderstande them both for reckoning Paras first times seuerall from the Babylonians which
of our Parliament who thought that all myght and must aduenture their soules vpon the proprietie of Gods worde and thereby setled vs lawes for Religion VVe may not dispute agaynst our owne groundes our owne frame our owne pyllers our owne whole buyldyng for triall or brauery of skill from colored old Astrologers This matter shalbe made so playne that euen the simplest may see the weakenesse of that iudgement which leaneth vpon such rotten reedes Ptolomy was a man cunnyng in the course of the yeere which men are taught to measure by the course of the Sunne His dexteritie was late For his dayes were about 130. yeeres after our Lord his redemption yet to make his art honorable he bryngeth to vs recordes not heard of before his tyme of Chaldeans commyng neare the antiquitie of a thousande yeeres For he nameth not Robbin-hood but Nabonassar yet one of Vtopia or no place matching in ancienty Ezekias king of Iudah His first yeere of gouernement he placeth 424. yeeres before the death of Alexander Macedon The same Ptolomy hath an accompt from Nabonassar to one Darius the first whose yeere of reigne 31. he maketh to be 256. from Nabonassar and by a consequent 168. before the death of Alexander Thus standeth Ptolomyes testimony How an aduersary doth cite this agaynst the proprietie of Scripture Thus the aduersary doth reason IF from Darius that folowed Cyrus sonne Cambyses who reigned 7. yeeres after Cyrus tooke Babylon vnto Alexanders death yeeres be 168. it must needes be granted that the Persians reigned aboue 130. yeeres ouer the Iewes and seeing 360. thence are agreed vpon to our Lordes death and the limites of Daniels seuens agreed vpon also betwixt both parties it must needes be that the Angell meant vncertenly Answere Many thinges for this testimony must be explaned Simply this wyll stande That neuer any Darius was beginnyng to reigne 7. yeeres after Cyrus tooke Babylon whose reigne was 168. yeeres before Alexanders death But for shewyng how the testimony is nothyng worth these poyntes may be layde downe 1 A testimony vnknowen or despised neare 1000. yeeres and afterward despised more then 1000. yeeres is more vayne then vanitie Such is this of supposed Chaldeans 2 Christians may admit no testimony where proprietie must beare sway agaynst Scripture For playne ought that to be which playneth the rough But by Daniel Darius the first came none after Darius the Mede who tooke Babylon 〈…〉 who then was 62. yeeres olde But his age 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 this accompt of 32. yeeres reigne 〈…〉 3 The Queene of Englande sworne to the Gospell is to satisfie her subiectes and they in obedience to satisfie her by proprietie of Scripture To regarde the most lying nation of Chaldeans neuer before cited to crosse proprietie of Scripture it is no part of the learned and godly This might haue warrented mee 4 A Shypmans hose wyll not elegantly distinguyshe and set foorth the legges But this Chaldean testimony is such For of Nabonassar and Nabopollasar Scal. 1584. condemneth al former opinions Christmannus holdeth them forged names Genebrarde thinketh them forged or corrupt H. Wolphius learnedly damneth all such helpe from Heathen for Scripture A sounde iudgement shoulde not trouble his Countrey with such stuffe Obiection But Clemens 1. Strom. hath a Darius the first after Cambyses Therefore Chaldeans onely are not to be blamed Answere 1 The Grecians could not so well take notise of Chaldean kinges as Chaldeans myght For whom Daniel had penned his sixt Chapter in the Chaldy tongue but they meant the first Darius that they heard of 2 That Darius Hystaspis cannot be meant by Darius the first Herodotus conferred with Ctesias wil proue For Ctesias a Physician in the Persian court and hauing as Diodorus writeth of hym the court rolles for warrant recordeth that Darius Hyâ—taspis liued but fourty three yeeres and reigned from his princehood at twelue yeeres of age but 31. yeeres Now Herodotus in Clio maketh him about 20. yeeres olde when Cyrus presently vppon Babels conquest prepareth Tomyris warres And this vtterly ouerthroweth my Aduersaries cause 3 Maximinus Monachus somwhat folowyng Grekes yet more reuerencing the open phrase of most holy Scripture and lothing rediculous distinctions where playnenesse ought to be he maketh Darius that foloweth Cambyses to be Darius the Mede But to differ from the Chaldeans either forged autours or forgers geueth hym in all but twenty eyght yeeres 4 Aben Ezra vppon Daniel the 9. testifieth that he saw recordes for the Persian kinges by whiche he founde from the surprysing of Babel vnto the twentieth of Artaxerxes fourtie nyne yeeres These be his wordes And beholde Ninteene yeeres were of the reigne of Cyrus and Achashuerosh and two of Darius and he reigned twelue And so it is written in a Booke of the Kinges of Paras and 〈◊〉 yeeres of Artaxasta the king So beholde the whole is 〈◊〉 seuens vntill Neheâ—ias came as it is written in the booke of Ezra Thus testifieth Aben Ezra who liued aboue 400. yeeres ago a great Astronomer in Sebastian Munsters iudgement whereby he coulde not be ignoraunt of Ptolomyes Chaldeans A deadly enemy he was to Christ and therefore deserueth better credite speakyng for vs agaynst his owne purpose then Chaldeans more wicked and perpetuall haters of Daniel 5 All they who make 49. yeeres for the buylding of Ierusalem who are full manv wyl be founde as well damners of these Chaldeans whereof amongst Romistes in Spayne Hector Pintus gaue the same reuerence to Daniels playnnes as dyd Iohn Calum in Geneuah and careth not for humane credite where Greekes thought them selues strongest And the Diuines in the last Frenche edition haue despised this Chaldy dreame Genebrard for the French Romistes is no small man honored now as I heard at Rome whom Adricomius folowed in the Chronicle ioyned to his Mappes Henry VVolphius is a learned godly and zelous reuerencer of the Scriptures playnnes who friendly controlleth M. Scaliger and confirmeth Beroaldus departyng euen from his owne Fathers iudgement for the holy trueth Agaynst all this must it be my particuler lot in so many of myne opinion to be onely counted new 6 Learned men by them haue gon too farre For I. Sc. condemneth all the thousandes of Diuines who do thinke that Darius the Mede Dan. 5. gate Babylon by conquest A strange thing Such wryters shoulde be hated who deceyue so learned men as M. Scaliger is knowen to be of all Learned men Two more deceites from these Chaldeans deceyuing him and an other Scholer wel deseruing of learnyng should make vs thinke no better of these staâ—e Chaldy forgery then â—â—iamus shoulde haue done of Epeus wordy Horse and hurtfull Sinons tale Cateles Vcalegon his house with others was not more ouertaken thereby of Vulâ—anes flames then our wrytinges shoulde be yf those Babylonians might beare sway Take fyrst an example of Ezekiel where he writeth in this manner Ch â— 1. In the thirteth yeere I was in the Captiuitie From whence
yet fell out together and afterwardes fellow rulers as seuerall And the curing is not hard with tractable iudges Iudge what I say Darius Hystaspis liued about sixe and twentie yeeres while Iaddue was vnder Persia After his death two breethren haue the famous gentle strife Iust Xerxes in warres reigneth Artaxerxes at home the same time otherwise Themistocles coulde not flie to them both Artaxerxes reigning one and fortie yeeres dieth in the seauenth of the Peloponnesian warres Thucid. Diod. Thereby Thucidides is contrould for making the Peloponnesian warres fiftie yeeres after that of Xerxes wherein Aristicles the iust bare swaye whose daughter Socrates married Suid. in Socrates and he was but seauentie at seauen and twentie yeres after that warres when he died Though by a shift one say that he might beget that daughter in his olde age at the warres end yet she shoulde be seauen yeeres elder than Socrates without anie reason of likelihoode Nowe to this Artaxerxes Ioseph Scaliger will no◠sticke to ioyne presently Artaxerxes Mnemon with Darius Nothus which Mnemon commeth within nine yeeres in Clemens of Alexanders monarchie and reigneth yeres but fortie and two Thus scantly wil that be made vp which might make the rest vnder Greekes and Romanes three hundred and sixtie to agree with Gabriels foure hundred and ninetie yeeres Therefore Plutarch to fill vp the common summe giueth him sixtie and two yeeres of reigne and ninetie foure of life not knowing Daniels vision against the Persians at sharpe swift Tigris not bookes opened before the firie throne iudging the Persian beare nor comparing Leuites a score Neh. 12. with the Persians nor yet Amyntas king in Macedon the thirde of the Peloponnesian warres whose sonne Philip reigned but twentie yeeres Athen. and Alexander but six before his monarchie Moreouer Amyntas him selfe reigned but few yeeres two of his elder sonnes not long Philip died at seauen and fortie who was brought vp in Epaminondas fathers house Thus the Persians by Greekes will not exceede Against Eratosthenes account This standing thus howe can Eratosthenes say true whom in Clemens pag. 126. though Clemens reiecteth him as deceaued yet some great men greatly follow He hath these distances From Xerxes voiage to Archidamus warres eight and fortie yeeres That ended at seauen and twentie There Athens lost the superiority of Grecia and Lacedemon by Lysander gate it which they lost at Leuctra where Epaminondas the Theban victor died after 34. yeeres And thence to Philips death who died 47. yeeres old he reckoneth yeres 35. But how could he be a fit companion for Epaminondas or yet sonne to Amyntas reigning young and but a little while Polybius granteth the Lacedemonians but twelue yeeres of quiet superioritie pag. 1. Iustine abridging Trogus Pompeius maketh Amyntas son to Menelaus brother to Alexander who reigned in Darius Hystaspis daies whereby it appereth how little credit old Latines or some Greekes gaue the other Greekes for these times and how Plutarch had iust occasion to condemne the Greeke Chronicles Of Olympiades Romes antiquitie and Chaldeans This threefold thred was spunne against me though I had cut the knottinesse of them as Alexander did the Gordian knot For Olympiades Phlegon is the most famous auctour whom Christians cite ioyning his Olympiade two hundred and two in the fourth yeere to our Lord his death If I grant anie thing good in this account I must bring Cyrus reigne ouer Iuda vnto Olympiade the eightith For the vse of studentes I will affoord Phlegons whole treatise that young men may see what stuffe men bring against proprietie of Scripture afterwards I will shew further their nullitie how the citers of them by their owne auctours are condemned I will abridge and translate anone so muche as I neede The Grecian may take all He shall finde their antiquitie not greatly farre from Hercules whose sonne Tlepolemus was Agamemnons souldier whereby Cyrus may well be cast to Olympiad eightie or yeere three hundred twentie after their beginning which thing will finish this combat Yet I loth that helpe where Apollo is the counseller of the games a pestilence ioined to their beginning a spiders webbe couering of their garlande and Choraebus the first man in Pausanias whence the accoūt is fetched And I maruell at my aduersarie who counted my doctrine against Choraebus and him to be Chorebus harnes The defence of this Olympike stuffe best deserued that name But now looke to Phlegon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here Lycurgus is the tenth from Hercules he vvith Jphitus restored Olympikes Koroebus is the first gamester though not expressely Apollo gave counsell at the first they neglected the game A famine follovved For that vanitie say I that it vvas at all begun for contempt of it said Apollo Of vvhome sundry counsels they tooke of vvhich this vvas one that they shoulde not make the garland or crovvne of a fruitfull tree but of a vvild olive beset vvith cobvvebs of vvhich kinde one among many vvas found in a vvood there and was vvalled about for to be kept still OF THE OLYMPIA by Phlegon freeman of Adrianus Caesar I Thinke it behooveable to tel the cause why the Olympia chansed to be set up And this was it After Pisus and Pelops and also Hercules the first erecters of the solemnitie game in Olympiades the Peloponnesians left off the religion a certain time for which are numbred 28 Olympiades unto Iphitus Choroebus Eleus When they had thus neglected the game a sedition arose in Peloponnesus Then Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian the sonne of Prytaneus of Europus of Sosus of Procleus of Aristodemus of Aristomachus of Cleodaeus of Hyllus of Hercules and Deianira And Iphitus sonne of Aemon or by some of Praxonides a man of Elis of Hercules lineage Cleosthenes sonne of Cleonicus a man of Pisa willing to restore the people to amity peace derermined to renue the Olympique solemnitie to keep the gymnike game Then some are sent unto Delphos to consult with Apollo whether he also advised to doe thus Apollo said it was best to doe it commanded to proclaime truce for the cities that would be partakers
being Ephorus Olympiade the sixt by Sosigenes fifty sixt a full 200. difference proueth a great diuersitie receiued in these accomptes which being graunted all this worke of Olympiade reckoninges by fyre of iudgement wylbe consumed as straw 12 Africanus twise striketh hym selfe For he beginneth Olympiades 1020. from Moses In Eusâ—b praeâ—â— and in Dem. 8. geueth the Macedonians 370. yeeres of geuernement VVith suche thornes do they pricke theyr eyen who mary Scriptures to prophane Heathen and marre the lyght of our happy Redemption 13 Thus it appeareth what the testimony is worth which so certaynely placeth Cyrus reigne in Olympiade 55. which is fortified by the names of Phlegon Thallus Castor Diodorus and all that handle Olympiades Euseb praep 10. 14 By some Heathen who make hym lyue 100. yeres the matter commeth neare some famous reckonyngs for his fyrst princehood but not for his last yeeres VVhere olde Diuines cite Heathen agaynst theyr meanyng For Heathen place Cyrus fyrst tymes in Olympiade 55. and not his Monarchy as doth Eusebius And storyes make hym reigne 70. afore that as I haue touched afore But I wyll more fully handle Cyrus with Olympike confusion after I haue once briefly gon through vnto Alexanders tymes Of Darius Hystaspis Darius Hystaspis reigne by Lilius Gyraldus toucheth Olympiade 80. whereby Cyrus after Phlegon commyng to the same tyme it myght seeme by this as by other argumentes that Cyrus and Cambyses last yeeres were at Babylons fall And they also be holden true who thynke that Darius Madai is no other then he whom Greekes call Darius the fyrst And reason would gather that his warres agaynst Scythia in reuenge of Cyrus death and agaynst Athens vpon his returne shoulde be soone after of whiche the later was tenne yeeres afore Xerxes voyage into Grece And that wyll somewhat agree with Ctesias and Horod conferd for Darius tyme and it may drawe Xerxes warres within lesse then 30. yeeres of Babels fall Of the Olympiade 75. ioyned to Xerxes warre 1 By the former it may appeare that Xerxes warre falleth not in any agreement stablyshed on Olympiade 75. for which tyme Pausanias hath a singuler example of vnpossibility in this kinde For Oebotas an Olympionike wan the race in Olympiade the sixt and fought agaynst Mardonius in the 75. that is neare 280. yeeres after Pausanias demaundeth And howe can that be and telleth that he must recorde as he findeth but must not beleeue all Thus the recorder of them woundeth them with as great a blow as euer Lygdamis or Poulydamas gaue in them 2 Pindarus scholiast maketh hym 40. yeere olde at Xerxes warre to lyue in all 55. yeeres to dye when Bion or Abion was Maior at Athens in Olympiad 86. And this commeth somewhat neare the 80. yeere for Cyrus and Darius 3 Suidas placeth Isocrates byrth in Olympiade 86. and after the Peloponnesian warres whereby the confusion of Greekes appeareth But I had rather place Isocrates birth nigh Xerxes warres and that by an other collection I can proue He lyued by his owne reckonyng neare 100. yeeres and Plutarch maketh hym to speake that apopthegim to Sophocles the praise whereof Tully gaue to Pericles That a Senator must as wel bridle his eyen as his handes which fitnes of age woulde not suffer well done vnlesse he were borne about Xerxes warre 4 The same Suidas placeth Socrates byrth at the Peloponnesian styrres who was borne neare Xerxes and lyued 60. yeeres at the least his death is knowen vnder the 30. Tyrantes the next yeere after Lysander at Hellespontus Aegospotamos and Attens ouercome the nation Socrates byrth by Suidas was in Olympiade 77. VVhat can we make of such Greeke recordes whiche care not what they vtter Yet this much may be gathered hence that Xerxes and Archidamus Peloponnesian troubles were nothyng neare 50. yeeres as I hucidides woulde haue it whom Demosthenes agaynst Neaera foloweth VVhat they meant or cared for trueth I wyll tell hereafter 5 Lysias byrth by Plutarch is in Olympiade 82. the seconde yeere when Philocles was Maior whose maioralty falleth out 8. yeeres sooner by Diodorus 6 Pliny booke 35. Cha. 9. blameth some who place the paynter Xeuxis opening of his trade in Olympiad 89. whiche he woulde haue to be in the fourth yeere of the 95. marueylyng at 24. yeeres difference But he myght marke that 24. or rather 30. yeeres be added more betwixt Lysander in Olympiede 94. and Philip Macedon then euer the fyery masse of the Sunne lyghtened 7 So in Pliny hymselfe Mausolus whom Demosthenes commenter maketh alyue when that Rhetor accused Timocrates in Philip Macedons dayes Pliny placeth his death in Olympiad 100. the second yeere 8 In the same sort Suidas placeth Philips agones or triumphs in Olympiade 100. which by Athenaeus accompt in whom Philip reigneth but 20. yeres before Alexander whose reigne began the 111. Olympiade shoulde be Olympiade 106. So in Zeuxis Mausolus and Philip the theeuyshe Olympiades fallyng out bryng trueth to lyght This speciall matter I would aske yf Antiochus Epiphanes dyed in the 154. Olympiade and Alexander in the 114. the fyrst yeere How coulde Antiochus in the sixt yeere of his reigne set vpon Ptolomy Philometor made king 143. after Alexanders death by the Mathematician Ptolemy lib. 6. cap. 4. Philometor shoulde be king 6. yeere afore Antiochus In the same errour is the beginnyng of the Greekes Kingdome from the 14. yeere after Alexanders death For in the seauenth yeere of his kingdome Mach. 1. in 143. of the Greekes he setteth vppon Egypt Seeing the same is the number from Alexanders death to Philometors reygne the same begynnyng also must the date of the same number haue and presently from Alexanders death must beginne the date of the Greekes kingdome as Codoman ryghtly prooueth And here most haue lympâ—ades deceyued our best learned the late and aucient Also here Liuies copies would Codoman haue amended that for 488. the yeere afore the first Punik warre he woulde naue 476. put in all copies that the famous Eclipse which was at Aemylius victory ouer Perseus recorded when it was might haue agreement of Antiochus sixt yeere which is ioyned to Aemylius victory So all copies must be amended and iudgementes reformed and playne made rough or Olympiades must be holden but games Cyrus in particularitie specially conferred with Olympiades disagreeing extreamely I Wyll returne to ioyne some of these former tymes which I haue touched with others extreamly striuing at ancient Cyrus tymes whereupon a great part of our debate standeth that not onely by a particuler vew of all the Greeke times some lytle in each but in the chiefe vnspeakable discorde may appeare euen by theyr testimony who haue been the principall folowers of them Afterwardes I wyll shew some further store of absurdities bred by them in other matters But chiefly must his age be examined For the most vse of diuersitie disanullyng Olympiades wylbe about Cyrus for those whole troupes that haue been thought to agree that he reigned in Olympiade
55. Thallus Castor Phlegon Polybius Diodorus and all that handle Olympiades Africanus in Eusebius is authour Now marke their diuersitie 1 Africanus placeth Cyrus dimission of Iudah in the same tyme as I mentioned aboue 2 The rare man M. Ioseph Scaliger somewhat correcteth it He would haue Cyrus to reigne 27. yeeres of his 30. before Zorobabels gouernement 3 And I shewed my mynde that prophane wryters regarded his fyrst reigne not his Monarchy who heard not before Alexanders tyme the name of any Babylonians who reigned ouer Iudah but otherwyse then Scripture doth recorde them and farre in an other number 4 By Eusebius admittyng Menelaus to be of Salomons tymes and Olympiades about Nabuchadnezars so I proued that the accompt of Diodorus doth cast them Cyrus being after Olympiades 220. yeeres in the 55. Olympiade he should be as late as Alexander Clemens and Africanus be in Eusebius blame also 5 Africanus former counters twise marre his summes And whereas he fortifieth hym selfe by makyng Ogygos and Phoroneus of Moses tymes and all three 1020. yeeres afore any Olympiade by his owne collection by Acousilaus Hellanicus Philochorus by Castor and Thallus by Diodorus and Alexander Polyhistor this fortification of his maketh Cyrus to be as lately as Iudas Machabaeus 6. Moreouer yf Africanus former number of the Macedonians 370. yeeres be not corrupt for 270. whyle he geueth Persians 230. By descendyng from Tiberius and by the Romanes 60. yeeres of empire by the Macedonians 370. and by the Persians 230. he wyll cast Cyrus to Ezekias dayes in their eyes which admit Daniels seauens properly spoken as he doth and by myne aduersaries graunt of certayntie in the limittes Ad thus the Greekes helpe for tymes count beyng layde in a ballance wylbe lyghter then vanity it selfe 7 Or yf we say that Africanus number of 370. be for 270. of the Macedonians whiche from Alexanders death Ptolemy maketh to be 294. he doth shorten it 24. yeeres And more then the Iewes in Seder Olamdoe And so Cyrus shoulde take Babylon in Olympiade 61. by collection from hym 8 Neare that accompt commeth Theophilus who placeth Cyrus death in Olympiade 62. where Diodorus lib. 2. placeth Cambyses reigne 9 Also neare that accompt commeth Clemens by a consequent in whom as for an other purpose hereafter I wyll shew Iechonias captiuity is in Olympiade 48. sixty two yeeres more wyll make more then other 15. Olympiades and all 63. Olympiades Herodotus bringeth Croesus fall to that tyme. For Gyges is king in Olympiad 18. by Clemens Olympiad 23. by Tatianus After 170. yeeres by Herodotus or 42. Olympiades Croesus becommeth poore Irus when Cyrus had taken him 10 The reader may remember how Suidas placeth Cyrus with Cambyses at lesse then halfe 55. Olympiades and Polycrates at 52. and agayne Cyrus taking of Sardis at Olympiade 55. whiche dealynges myght well be in Nebucadnezars dayes And whereas Lilius Gyraldus in Anacreon blameth Suidas copy and so doth my aduersary and VVolphius to though all printes agree and yf they were faulty Suidas must be amended not onely for Cyrus but for Polycrates and for Thales also Here it may be seene what force these games haue in these saddest wittes that for them all the course of writers must be altered but where they best agree with Scripture as Phlegons 100. difference from Diodorus casteth Cyrus fitly for Daniel I coulde wyshe that Satans testimony shoulde stande onely when he is forced to speake for the Sunne of God and not when all trueth and story by it is troubled 〈◊〉 Lastly yf Solon was borne by Suidas in Olympiade fifty sixe and was doubtles farre ancienter then Cyrus Monarchy how should Cyrus reigne in Olympiade 55 The conclusion touching Cyrus And thuâ— I turne for that testimony thought vnuincible of Thallus Castor Phlegon Diodorus Africanus Eusebius and all I turne Thallus agaynst Thallus Castor agaynst Castor Phlegon agaynst Phlegon to set them all on flame and all agayn them selues all And the grounde of this I layde in my first Booke after the yeere of the worlde 3000. vnder Salomons reigne hereby well myght I despise Olympike numbryng of the Sunnes iourneys damned by the approuers of it And yf I woulde descant vpon Cyrus name fitly myght I compare the name of Cyrus with this For Greekes expounde his name to signifie the Sunne It falleth out that men myght as well deny the Sunnes course as deny the proprietie of Danielâ— Seauens for the course of the Sonne of Iustice to shyne to all soules euen from Cyrus first yeere vnto the Redemption And as nothing is more enemious to saluation then gamestery so experience teacheth that nothyng hath hurted the prophecies more then a gamelyke and negligent accompt of prophecies tryall from gamesters accomptes of Olympian Belial-like playes Aratus the Greeke Poet prayseth God diuinely for his workes of the Creation and placing the Starres for a fit vse of humane lyfe for ploughing and digging for sowing and planting and therein holdeth God a ioyfull father a great helpe for men To Athenianes S. Paule citeth Aratus euen in a cause wherein by their wicked lawes he was gilty of most hygh punishment For they helde it death to speake agaynst their Goddes and Socrates felt that though afterwardes they mourned for killying of him Now Athenians onely of Grece to accompt of disturbe though they disturbe them selues also yet they disturbe our accomptes To whom I will oppose the witt of the plougher and ditcher who folow the playne experience of that that by nature is planted in them The same iudgement for propriety of speech in Daniel alwayes holden shoulde preuayle that he who neuer deceyued the ploughmen or ditchers in course of the yeere shoulde not deceyue them that from Gabriel and Daniel tolde when the Figge tree shoulde bâ—dde and the voyce of the Turtle shoulde be hearde on mountaynes I must depart from these ioyfull speeches to the lothsome errours of Olympiades whereby our youthes haue a mynde to please them selues rather then to lyue by Moses and the Prophetes whyle they deeme of some deepe skill in prophane writers wherein I trow it wyll not fall out that they can be thought able to alter lew and Gentile from the meanyng which bytherto they haue had for the last Prophetes or the ordinary course of lyneall succession of Abiud and Rhesa For whom I am sory that my aduersary tearmed them Autoris Concentus obscura syâ—era Where the age of Irus or Thersites would serue if their lyne were in recorde for posterity The sonnes of Dauides kingdom of whom all the worlde is and was alwayes bound to take notise they may not be holden obscure but to shyne as the Moone among the Starres on nyght and they do disgrace so many erroneous authours that all copyes of those which haue been written or printed myght be thought enough to fyll Paules church all from the floore to the roofe Such glory and such vse the wysedome of Christ hath