Chronicle 1.1–1.6

Adam, when he was 230 years old, begot Seth. Seth, when he was 205 years old, begot Enos. Enos, when he was 190, begot Cainan. Cainan, when he was 165, begot Malaleel. Malaleel, at 165, begot Jared. Jared, when he was 162, begot Enoch. Enoch, when he was 165 [printed 160], begot Mathusalem. Mathusalem, when he was 167 [printed 297], begot Lamech. Lamech, when he was 188 [printed 292], begot Noe. Noe was 500 years old when he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. A hundred years later, when he begot Sem, the flood came, when he was 600 years old. To establish the reliability of the dates, these generations are traced again from the beginning, with the number of years assigned to each. For the posterity of Cain the fratricide was not worthy to be counted with the people of God. But when sin had crept more widely, and the greatest part of the good had mixed themselves in marriages with foreign women, the crime of that unlawful union deserved to be expiated by the flood, Noe alone, a just man, being kept with his wife, his three sons, and as many daughters-in-law, to restore the human race. From Adam to the flood, then, there were ten generations, 2,242 years.

After the flood these generations follow. Sem, son of Noe, when he was a hundred, begot Arphaxad, in the second year after the flood. Arphaxad, when he was 135, begot Cainan. Cainan, when he was 130, begot Salem. Then Salem, when he was 130, begot Heber. Heber, when he was 134, begot Phalec. At this time, to throw into confusion the building of the proud tower, the languages were divided, and the nations were scattered over the whole earth. Phalec, when he was 130, begot Ragau. Ragau, when he was 132, begot Seruch. Seruch, when he was 130, begot Nachor. Nachor, when he was 79, begot Thare. Thare, at 70, begot Abraham, who, when he was 75, is admonished by a divine word to go out from his land and from his father's house and pass into the land of Chanaan. At this time the promise was made to Abraham that he would be the father of nations. And from the seventy-fifth year of Abraham, in which the promise begins, to Moses and the departure of the Hebrew nation from Egypt, 430 years are found. From the flood to the first year of the promise, then, there are 1,166 years [figure as printed], and from Adam 3,398. Abraham, at ninety, had begotten Ismael of the slave woman Agar; from him come the Ismaelites, later called Agarenes, and lastly Saracens. At this time Abraham, justified by faith, by which he believed that all nations would be blessed in his seed, received the command of circumcision, which, until the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, was the bodily sign of the promise, and which passed over into the spiritual sacrament of the true circumcision of the heart. Abraham, in the hundredth year of his age and the twenty-fifth of the promise, begot Isaac of the free woman. Isaac, when he was 60, begot twins, of whom the first was Esau, also called Edom, from whom come the Idumaeans. At this time Inachus reigned at Argos; his daughter was Io, whom the Egyptians called Isis and worshipped with divine honor. Next came Jacob, later called Israel, from whom come the Israelites, who are now the Jews. This was the twenty-sixth year of the promise. From the first year of Jacob to the rule of Joseph in Egypt there are 121 years. In the fifteenth year of this period, which is the hundredth of the promise, Abraham dies at 175 years old. In these times, as the Greeks relate, Jupiter lay with Niobe, and from that union Apis was born, whom they call Serapis. So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are older than Serapis. At this time Messana, also called Mamertina, was founded. Jacob, in his seventy-eighth year, went down to Mesopotamia and served with Laban for seven years. Jacob, when he was 92, had begotten Joseph, who, when he was 17, was sold by his brothers, in the 102nd year of his father Jacob. Isaac dies in the 180th year of his age, leaving his son Jacob, who was 102 years old. At this time Memphis was founded in Egypt by Apis. Joseph was ruler of Egypt for 80 years; in the twenty-sixth of them Jacob died, in the 147th year of his age, prophesying of Christ and the calling of the nations.

In the ninth year of Joseph's rule, which was the second year of the famine, Jacob went into Egypt with his sons. Joseph himself dies in the 110th year of his age. The servitude of the Hebrews in Egypt lasted 164 years. In the twentieth year of this servitude, Atlas the astrologer, brother of Prometheus, was held to be famous. In the sixty-fifth year of this servitude, which is the 350th year of the promise, Aram begot Moses, when he was 70 years old. At this time Epidaurus was founded, and the temple of Delphic Apollo was founded by Erisichthon. In the seventy-seventh year of the Hebrews' servitude, Haemon first reigned in Thessaly. In the eightieth year, Phorbas took Rhodes. In the eighty-second year, Hercules overcame Antaeus in a wrestling match. In the eighty-seventh year, Trochilus is said to have been the first to yoke a four-horse chariot. In the ninetieth year, Xanthus Triopas founded Lesbos. In the hundredth year, Cecrops reigned in Attica; under him the olive sprang up on the citadel, and from the name of Minerva, who in Greek is called Athena, Athens was named. In the 113th year, the Curetes and Corybantes founded Cnossus; they invented the dance in arms set to rhythm.

Moses, in the eightieth year of his age, when 430 years from the beginning of the promise were complete, is made the leader of the Hebrew nation's journey out of Egypt, giving them the law in the desert over 40 years. At this time Corinth is founded, which was formerly called Ephyre. In the fifth year of this period, Aaron, the brother of Moses, was appointed the first high priest among the Hebrews. At this time the temple of Delphic Apollo was built by Erisichthon. Up to this point the five books of Moses contain the history of 3,700 years according to the Seventy Translators.

After Moses died, Joshua is made leader; he held the rule 27 years and distributed the land of the Palestinians to the Jews by lot. At this time Eleazar took up the high priesthood among the Hebrews. After the death of Joshua foreigners held the Hebrews subject for eight years, which, according to the tradition of the Jews, are joined to the times of Gothoniel. In this age Phinees was high priest among the Hebrews. So all the years of Gothoniel are reckoned at 40. He was of the tribe of Juda. After Gothoniel the Hebrews were subject to foreigners for 18 years, which, according to the tradition of the Jews, are joined to the times of Aod. So all the years of Aod the judge, of the tribe of Ephrem, are reckoned at eighty. At the end of this age Amphion reigned at Thebes. Debbora with Barach, 40 years, among which are the 30 years in which, after the death of Aod, foreigners held the Hebrews subject. Debbora was of the tribe of Ephrem, Barach of the tribe of Nephtalim. In the seventeenth year of this age, Ilium was founded by Ilus. Gedeon of the tribe of Manasse, 40 years, among which are the seven years in which foreigners held the Hebrews subject, according to the tradition of the Hebrews. At this time Tyre was founded. The Argonauts lived in these times. Cyzicus was founded at this time. Orpheus the Thracian was held to be famous. Abimelech son of Gedeon, three years. These are also the times of Hercules. Thola, 23 years [or 22, from another manuscript]. To this age is ascribed the war of the Lapiths and Centaurs. Priam reigns after Laomedon. Medea in Colchis, the death of Androgeus, and the tale of the Minotaur belong to this time. Jair of the tribe of Manasse, 22 years. In this age Agamemnon reigned at Mycenae, Menelaus at Lacedaemon. In the sixth of these years the Tyrians founded Carthage. This age had Atreus reigning at Argos, and also Phaedra and Hippolytus. Jephte, 6 years; Esbon, 7 years. This was the time of the rape of Helen. The Trojan War. Labdon, 18 years [or 8]. In the third year of his rule Troy was taken. And in the eighth year of the same Labdon, Aeneas reigns over the Latins three years. Samson, 20 years. In his third year Ascanius, son of Aeneas, founded Alba. Ascanius reigns over the Latins 37 years, or 38. After him Silvius, the posthumous son of Aeneas, 27 years [or 29]; from him the kings of the Albans were called Silvii. Heli the priest, 40 years. When Heli the priest had died, the ark of the covenant is held by the foreigners. Samuel and Saul, 40 years. Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was the first king of the Hebrews; in the ninth year of his reign Aeneas Silvius reigns over the Latins 31 years. After him Latinus Silvius reigns fifty years. From the beginning of the rule of Moses to the start of David's reign, 439 years. David, of the tribe of Juda, was the first of it to reign, for 40 years; at that time Abiathar the high priest was famous, and Gad, Nathan, and Asaph prophesied. Solomon son of David, 40 years; he began to build the temple at Jerusalem and completed it in eight years.

At this time Sadoc was famous as priest of the Hebrews. In the fortieth year of Solomon's reign, Alba Silvius, the sixth, begins to reign over the Latins, for 38 years. Roboam, 17 years. After Solomon's death the kingdom of the Hebrews was divided by sedition, and those who were in Samaria were called Israel; over them Jeroboam reigned first. Roboam, son of Solomon, reigned in Jerusalem, with two tribes subject to him, which were called Juda, after the king of the Jews of the stock of Juda. At this time Aegyptus Silvius, the seventh, reigns among the Latins 23 years. In the seventh year of Jeroboam's reign, Susachim king of Egypt, making war on the Jews, plunders the temple. Abia, three years; Abimelech, high priest of the Hebrews, was illustrious, and Athias, Sameas, Jemoded, and Azarias, also called Addo, and Anani prophesied. Asa the just, 41 years. Josaphat the just, 65 years [figure as printed]. Abdias, Jehu, and Micheas prophesied among the Hebrews. In the twelfth year of this reign, Capys Silvius reigns among the Latins seven years. Then, ninth, Carpentus Silvius, five years. Joram, eight years; at that time Elias and Eliseus prophesied. Ochozias, one year. Jonadab son of Rechab was famous. Gotholia the mother, seven years. At this time the poet Homer was famous in Greece. Joas, 40 years. In these times Joiada was a notable high priest among the Hebrews; he alone after Moses lived 130 years. At this time the prophet Azarias is killed, and the prophet Zacharias too is slain by King Joas. Among the Latins, twelfth, Aremulus Silvius, 19 years. After him Aventinus Silvius reigned 37 years; from him the Aventine hill is named. After him, fourteenth, Procas Silvius, 26 years. After him, fifteenth, Amulius Silvius, 43 years. Amasias, 29 years. Azarias, also called Osias, 52 years. The sixth year of this reign was passing when the kings of the Assyrians came to an end and the empire passed to the Medes. Among the Hebrews Osee, Amos, Isaias, and Jonas prophesied, in the twenty-first year of Osias. In the forty-ninth year of the same king the first Olympiad is established: the Eleans held a contest every fifth year, with four years between; and this period between contests they called an Olympiad, Iphitus being its founder. Joathan, 16 years. Osee, Amos, Isaias, and Joel, also called Jobeth, prophesied. Achaz, 16 years. In the fifth year of this reign Romulus, having founded Rome, began to reign. In the eleventh year of the same reign of Achaz the ten tribes of the Hebrew nation, which were called Israel and lived in the region of Samaria, were conquered by Sennacherim, also called Salmanasar, king of the Chaldeans, and carried away to the mountains of the Medes, the kingdom in Samaria having lasted 250 years. Sennacherim sent Assyrian settlers to guard the region of Judaea; they became imitators of the law of the Jews and were called Samaritans, which in Latin means "guardians." Ezechias, 29 years, under whom Isaias and Osee prophesied among the Hebrews. Romulus took his first soldiers from the people, and a hundred noble old men, whom he called senators for their age and fathers for their care. At the same time Syracuse and Catana in Sicily were founded. Manasses, 55 years. At the beginning of his reign Numa Pompilius reigned among the Romans, for 41 years, the senate having ruled for one year after Romulus. Ammon, 12 years. At the beginning of this reign Tullus Hostilius was in the seventeenth year of his rule at Rome; he reigned 32 years. Josias, 32 years; during his reign Chelcias was a notable high priest of the Hebrews, and at the same time Jeremias, Sophonias, and Olda, a woman, prophesied. Among the Romans Ancus reigned, who founded the city of Ostia; he reigned 23 years. After him Tarquinius Priscus reigns 37 years. Josias king of the Jews is killed in battle with Nechao, king of the Egyptians. Thales of Miletus is recognized as the first natural philosopher. In the twenty-first year of the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, Massilia was founded. Joachaz, three months. Joachim, also called Eliachim, 11 years. In the third year of Joachim, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylonia takes Judaea, and having brought very many of the Jews under his power, seized part of the vessels of the temple, and made Joachim tributary, he returned victorious to his own country. Joatham, or Joachim, also called Jechonias, three months. In Babylon Ananias, Daniel, Azarias, and Misael were famous. The Babylonian king took Jechonias captive and carried him off with him when he came to Judaea a second time. Sedecias, 11 years. Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, having taken Jerusalem, burned the temple, which had stood from the beginning of its building 342 years [or 352].

The 70 years of the captivity of the Jews, which are reckoned up to the second year of Darius. Among the Romans, after Tarquinius Priscus, Servius reigns 34 years. Tarquinius Superbus succeeded him and reigned 35 years. In the twenty-fifth year of his reign Aggeus, Zacharias, and Malachias prophesied among the Hebrews, Jesus son of Josedech being high priest. At this time the philosopher Pythagoras was famous. From David to the 70 years of the captivity of the Jews, 555 years are reckoned. From the seventieth year of the captivity of the Jews are reckoned the 33 years of Darius king of the Persians. In the tenth year of his reign the rule of kings came to an end among the Romans; that power had lasted among them 240 years. From then on the Romans had consuls, beginning with Brutus; then tribunes of the people and dictators, and again consuls held the republic for 464 or 444 years, until Julius Caesar. Xerxes son of Darius reigns 20 years; at that time Sophocles and Euripides were famous. The same age had Herodotus, the writer of histories. After Xerxes, Artabanus reigned seven months. Artaxerxes, 40 years. In his reign Esdras the priest was notable among the Hebrews; in his age the high priest was Eliachim, otherwise Eliasib, son of Joachin, son of Jesus, son of Josedech. The philosophers Empedocles and Parmenides, Zeno and Heraclitus flourished. Then too lived Pherecydes the historian, Cratinus the comic poet, and Aristarchus the tragic poet. In the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemias, a Hebrew and the king's servant, came by his master's leave from Babylon to Judaea, and in the thirty-second year restored the walls and the city. If anyone counts from this time the seventy weeks written of by Daniel, which make 490 years, he will find them completed in the reign of Nero, under whom the siege of Jerusalem began; it was taken afterward, in the second year of Vespasian. In these times Hippocrates the physician and Socrates the philosopher were illustrious. Xerxes, two months. Plato is born. Sogdianus, seven months; one year is reckoned for these. Darius surnamed Nothus, 19 years, otherwise 18. Dionysius exercises tyranny in Sicily. The Romans sought laws from the Athenians through envoys, and from them the Twelve Tables were written. Artaxerxes Mnemon, son of Darius and Parysatis, 40 years. In the fifteenth year of this reign the Senonian Gauls occupied Rome, except the Capitol. Aristotle in the eighteenth year of his age becomes a pupil of Plato. Artaxerxes, also called Ochus, 26 years. At the beginning of his reign Camillus defeated the Gauls who had made war on the Romans. At the same time Alexander son of Philip is born. The same age had the orator Demosthenes famous. Arses son of Ochus, four years. At this time a census was taken at Rome, and 160,000 citizens were found. Among the Jews Jaddus the high priest was famous. Darius son of Arsames, six years. At this time, among the Romans, the consul Manlius Torquatus had his son beaten with rods and struck with the axe, because he had fought the enemy against orders. In this season Alexander son of Philip began to reign; in the sixth year of his rule he overthrew the kingdom of the Persians, and he founded the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Appius Claudius the Blind is famous among the Romans; he brought in the Claudian aqueduct and paved the Appian Way. The Romans subdue the Samnites. ALEXANDER reigned seven years after the end of the kingdom of the Persians, and dies at Babylon in the thirty-second year of his age. The kingdom of the Alexandrians begins, which Ptolemy son of Lagus held 40 years. In the fourth year of his reign he brought Jerusalem and Judaea under his power and carried very many captives into Egypt. Then Onias son of Jaddus was famous as high priest of the Jews. The Hebrew history of the Maccabees reckons the kingdom of the Greeks from this point. But these books are not received by the Hebrews among the divine Scriptures. The Romans defeat the Marsi, the Hernici, and the Peligni. In these years Seleucus founded the cities of Antioch, Laodicea, Apamea, Edessa, Beroea, and Pella, in which he gave citizen rights to the Jews he had transplanted. Seleucus took Babylon. In the twenty-fifth year of Ptolemy's reign, Simon son of Onias was notable as high priest of the Jews. At Rome a census was taken, and 270,000 citizens were found. Eleazar, the brother of Simon, took up the high priesthood among the Jews, because Simon's son Onias, being still a boy, had not been able to succeed his father. At that time Beneventum and Ariminum were founded by the Romans. Ptolemy, also called Philadelphus, 38 years. He let the Jews who were in Egypt go free, and, sending votive vessels to Eleazar, high priest of Jerusalem, had the divine Scriptures translated from the Hebrew language into the Greek tongue by the Seventy Translators, and kept them in the library of Alexandria, which he had gathered for himself from every kind of literature.

The silver coin was first struck in the City in the thirteenth year of this reign. In the twenty-fourth year of this reign the Romans defeat the Carthaginians in a naval battle and take a hundred cities of Libya. After Eleazar, his uncle Manasses received the high priesthood of the Jews; after him Onias, son of Simon the Just, was famous as high priest; by not paying Ptolemy the customary tribute he roused him to anger. But Joseph, a man noble among his people, sent by the Jews as envoy to Ptolemy, having earned the king's friendship by many services, is appointed governor of Judaea and the neighboring regions. When the Parthians broke away from the empire of the Macedonians, Arsaces reigned first, from whom the Arsacids are named. Ptolemy Euergetes, 26 years. In this period Simon son of Onias was famous as high priest of the Jews; under him Jesus son of Sirach composed the book of Wisdom which they call Panaretos. The poet Ennius is born at Tarentum. Rhodes is shaken by an earthquake, and the Colossus falls. About 40,000 Gauls were slain by the Romans. Ptolemy Philopator, 17 years. The Jews were defeated and 40,000 of their armed men slain. The Romans subdue Capua and Sicily. Antiochus king of Syria, having defeated Philopator, takes Judaea for himself. Ptolemy Epiphanes, 24 years. Having appointed Scopas commander of his army, he takes Judaea and very many cities of Syria. The second book of Maccabees contains the deeds of this time. In this season, when the Romans through envoys demanded back from Antiochus Hannibal, who after his defeat by Scipio had allied himself with him, Hannibal fled to Prusias king of Bithynia; and when he was demanded back from him too, through Flaminius, and was about to be handed over, he drank poison, and was buried at Libyssa in Bithynia. Caecilius the comic poet. Ptolemy Philometor, 25 or 35 years. In his fourth year Hyrcanus, son of Joseph the governor of Judaea, went to Ptolemy and was honorably received by him. But his brothers raised a sedition against him and became the cause of great calamities for the Jewish nation. Aristobulus, a Jew by birth and a Peripatetic philosopher, flourished; he wrote for Ptolemy Philometor commentaries explaining Moses. At the same time Antiochus Epiphanes, having withdrawn, frightened by the command of the Roman senate, from the territory of the Ptolemies which he had suddenly invaded, came to Judaea, and there gave the high priesthood to Jesus, also called Jason, the brother of Onias. When he was later expelled, Antiochus gave him a successor, Onias surnamed Menelaus. So, as a sedition arose among the leaders over the dignity of the priesthood, the seeds of enormous miseries sprouted. Samaritans and Jews at Alexandria contend before Ptolemy as judge over the honors to be paid by each side to its own temple, and the Jews win. In the twentieth year of the same reign, the priesthood and the leadership were decreed to Judas Maccabaeus by the favor of all the Jews, after the death of his enemy Alcimus. Having taken up this dignity, he sent envoys to Rome and obtained by decree of the senate that the Jews should be considered friends and allies of the Romans. The same Judas drove out of Judaea the generals of Antiochus, who had attacked the law of the Jews with great profanity, and, cleansing the temple of the images of idols, restored the ancestral rites to his fellow citizens after three years. The poet Ennius dies and is buried in the tomb of the Scipios on the Appian Way. Judas Maccabaeus, after holding the high priesthood for three years, is killed fighting against the generals of Demetrius. Terence of Carthage, the writer of comedies, dies. Pacuvius the tragic poet is famous, the grandson of the poet Ennius through his daughter; he lived at Rome while he practiced painting and sold his plays; then he moved to Tarentum and died at nearly ninety. A census was taken at Rome and 332,000 citizens were found; at this time Carthage is brought under Roman power by Scipio. Ptolemy Euergetes, 29 years. Jonathas, high priest of the Jews, is killed by Tryphon, and Simon, Jonathas's brother, is taken into the priesthood; when he was killed, his son John succeeded him, who, waging war against the Hyrcanians, took the name Hyrcanus, and was enrolled among the friends of the Romans by decree of the senate. He also took Samaria by siege and leveled it to the ground; Herod later rebuilt it and wished it to be called Sebaste in honor of Augustus. Attalus at his death left the Roman people his heir. Ptolemy Physcon, also called Soter, 27 years [or 17]. In the eighth year of this reign Cicero is born at Arpinum; his mother was Helvia, his father of the equestrian order, of the royal race of the Volsci. Three years later Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus is born. In the seventeenth year of this reign the consul Gaius Marius defeats the Cimbri near the Rhone, killing 200,000 of them and capturing 80,000, and he triumphs over them with Catulus.

Jugurtha, fighting against the Romans, is captured. In Sicily the slave war breaks out again. The Thracians are defeated by the Romans. Aristobulus son of Jonathas (John), king and high priest together, was the first among the Jews to take the emblem of the diadem. After him reigned Jannaeus, surnamed Alexander, who also held the high priesthood and ruled his fellow citizens most cruelly. Ptolemy, also called Alexander, eight years. Philip reigned in Syria; the Roman general Gabinius captured him, after Antiochus before him, fleeing to the Parthians, had then given himself up to Pompey. So Syria passed into Roman power. Lucius Pomponius of Bononia, writer of Atellan farces, was famous. The poet Titus Lucretius lived at this time; driven mad by a love potion, he killed himself with his own hand. Plotius Gallus was the first to teach Latin rhetoric at Rome. Ptolemy son of Cleopatra, eight years. Sallust, the writer of Histories, is born at Amiternum in the Sabine country. A census was taken at Rome, and 463,000 men were found. Publius Terentius Varro is born at the village of Atax in the province of Narbonne; in his thirty-fifth year he learned Greek letters. Ptolemy Dionysius, 30 years. From the sixth year of this reign Alexandra, also called Selina, wife of Alexander, reigned at Jerusalem for nine years; from her time confusion and various disasters oppressed the Jews. Soon Jerusalem was taken by Gnaeus Pompey, and the temple opened as far as the Holy of Holies; the Jews were made tributaries of the Romans, Hyrcanus being appointed their high priest, and Antipater, son of Herod of Ascalon, made procurator of Palestine. Marcus Porcius Cato is recognized as a Stoic philosopher. What Sallust writes about Catiline took place at this time. In the tenth year of Ptolemy's reign, Virgil Maro is born in the village called Andes near Mantua, when Pompey and Crassus were consuls. Seven years later the satiric and lyric poet Horatius Flaccus is born at Venusia of a freedman father. The consul Crassus is captured with his son at Carrhae. Pompey, hailed as imperator, takes Lusitania and certain islands in the Ocean. Cleopatra, 22 years, of which only two are to be counted, because the continuous rule of the Romans now begins; their times are to be numbered from here on from Gaius Julius Caesar, who first among the Romans held sole rule, and from whom the Roman emperors were called Caesars. Caesar, crossing the Rhine, lays waste the Germans and subdues the Gauls. The beginning of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. From this point the continuous reigns of the Romans are recorded, and the first of all to reign among them is Gaius Julius Caesar.

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR, first, four years and six months. Pompey, defeated and in flight, is killed by the eunuchs of the Alexandrian king. A decree of the senate and of the Athenians is sent to the Jews, who had asked for friendship through envoys. Cleopatra entered the City with a royal retinue. Antony decrees that the month Quintilis should be called July, because Julius had been born in it. Cassius, having taken Judaea, plunders the temple. On the Ides of March Gaius Julius Caesar is killed in the senate house.

CAESAR AUGUSTUS, also called Octavian, 56 years; from him the rulers of the Romans were called Augusti. Ovidius Naso is born in the Pelignian country. Cicero is killed at his villa at Formiae by Herennius and Popilius. Antony makes war against Augustus. From a hostel across the Tiber oil burst out of the ground and flowed a whole day without stopping, signifying the grace of Christ from among the Gentiles. Antiochus, defeated by Augustus, returns to his friendship through the senate's intervention. Herod, son of Antipater of Ascalon and of Cypris, an Arabian mother, receives the rule of the Jews from the Romans. In his time, with the birth of Christ drawing near, the kingdom and priesthood of Judaea, which had previously been held by succession from their elders, was destroyed, fulfilling the prophecy which speaks thus through Moses: "A prince shall not fail from Juda, nor a king from his thighs, until the seed comes for whom it is laid up, and he shall be the expectation of the nations." At this point too the anointed one of whom Daniel writes came to an end. For up to Herod the anointed ones, that is, the priests, were kings of the Jews; they began to rule from the sixty-fifth Olympiad, and from the restoration of the temple under Darius to Hyrcanus and the 186th Olympiad 484 years passed, which Daniel also indicated when he said: "And you shall know and understand, from the going out of the word to answer and to build Jerusalem until the rule of the anointed one, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks." These sixty-nine weeks, in which anointed ones, that is, priests consecrated by anointing, reigned, make 483 years, up to Hyrcanus.