Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John · Isaac Newton
CHAP. III.
For the _Romans_ were very much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of _Valentinian_ and _Valens_: _Hoc tempore_, saith _Ammianus_, _velut per universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus buccinis, excitæ gentes sævissimæ limites sibi proximos persultabant: Gallias Rhætiasque simul Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatæ Pannonias & Quadi: Picti, Saxones, & Scoti & Attacotti Britannos ærumnis vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricæque aliæ gentes Africam solito acriùs incursabant: Thracias diripiebant prædatorii globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex manus Armeniis injectabat_. And whilst the Emperors were busy in repelling these enemies, the _Hunns_ and _Alans_ and _Goths_ came over the _Danube_ in two bodies, overcame and slew _Valens_, and made so great a slaughter of the _Roman_ army, that _Ammianus_ saith: _Nec ulla Annalibus præter Cannensem ita ad internecionem res legitur gesta_. These wars were not fully stopt on all sides till the beginning of the reign of _Theodosius_, A.C. 379 & 380: but thenceforward the Empire remained quiet from foreign armies, till his death, A.C. 395. So long the four winds were held: and so long there was silence in heaven. And the seventh seal was opened when this silence began. Mr. _Mede_ hath explained the Prophecy of the first six trumpets not much amiss: but if he had observed, that the Prophecy of pouring out the vials of wrath is synchronal to that of sounding the trumpets, his explanation would have been yet more complete.
The name of _Woes_ is given to the wars to which the three last trumpets sound, to distinguish them from the wars of the four first. The sacrifices on the first four days of the feast of Tabernacles, at which the first four trumpets sound, and the first four vials of wrath are poured out, are slaughters in four great wars; and these wars are represented by four winds from the four corners of the earth. The first was an east wind, the second a west wind, the third a south wind, and the fourth a north wind, with respect to the city of _Rome_, the metropolis of the old _Roman_ Empire. These four plagues fell upon _the third part of the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars_; that is, upon the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars of the third part of the whole scene of these Prophecies of _Daniel_ and _John_. The plague of the eastern wind [7] at the sounding of the first trumpet, was to fall upon the _Earth_, that is, upon the nations of the _Greek_ Empire. Accordingly, after the death of _Theodosius_ the great, the _Goths_, _Sarmatians_, _Hunns_, _Isaurians_, and _Austorian_ Moors invaded and miserably wasted _Greece_, _Thrace_, _Asia minor_, _Armenia_, _Syria_, _Egypt_, _Lybia_, and _Illyricum_, for ten or twelve years together.
The plague of the western wind at the sounding of the second trumpet, was to fall upon the _Sea_, or _Western_ Empire, by means of _a great mountain burning with fire_ cast into it, and _turning it to blood_. Accordingly in the year 407, that Empire began to be invaded by the _Visigoths_, _Vandals_, _Alans_, _Sueves_, _Burgundians_, _Ostrogoths_, _Heruli_, _Quadi_, _Gepides_; and by these wars it was broken into ten kingdoms, and miserably wasted: and _Rome_ itself, the burning mountain, was besieged and taken by the _Ostrogoths_, in the beginning of these miseries. The plague of the southern wind at the sounding of the third trumpet, was to cause _a great star, burning as it were a lamp, to fall from heaven upon the rivers and fountains of waters_, the _Western_ Empire now divided into many kingdoms, and to turn them to _wormwood_ and _blood_, and make them _bitter_. Accordingly _Genseric_, the King of the _Vandals_ and _Alans_ in _Spain_, A.C. 427, enter'd _Africa_ with an army of eighty thousand men; where he invaded the _Moors_, and made war upon the _Romans_, both there and on the sea-coasts of _Europe_, for fifty years together, almost without intermission, taking _Hippo_ A.C. 431, and _Carthage_ the capital of _Africa_ A.C. 439. In A.C. 455, with a numerous fleet and an army of three hundred thousand _Vandals_ and _Moors_, he invaded _Italy_, took and plundered _Rome_, _Naples_, _Capua_, and many other cities; carrying thence their wealth with the flower of the people into _Africa_: and the next year, A.C. 456, he rent all _Africa_ from the Empire, totally expelling the _Romans_. Then the _Vandals_ invaded and took the Islands of the _Mediterranean_, _Sicily_, _Sardinia_, _Corsica_, _Ebusus_, _Majorca_, _Minorca_, &c. and _Ricimer_ besieged the Emperer _Anthemius_ in _Rome_, took the city, and gave his soldiers the plunder, A.C.
472. The _Visigoths_ about the same time drove the _Romans_ out of _Spain_: and now the _Western_ Emperor, the _great star which fell from heaven, burning as it were a lamp_, having by all these wars gradually lost almost all his dominions, was invaded, and conquered in one year by _Odoacer_ King of the _Heruli_, A.C. 476. After this the _Moors_ revolted A.C. 477, and weakned the _Vandals_ by several wars, and took _Mauritania_ from them. These wars continued till the _Vandals_ were conquered by _Belisarius_, A.C. 534. and by all these wars _Africa_ was almost depopulated, according to _Procopius_, who reckons that above five millions of men perished in them. When the _Vandals_ first invaded _Africa_, that country was very populous, consisting of about 700 bishopricks, more than were in all _France_, _Spain_ and _Italy_ together: but by the wars between the _Vandals_, _Romans_ and _Moors_, it was depopulated to that degree, that _Procopius_ tells us, it was next to a miracle for a traveller to see a man. In pouring out the third vial it is [8] said: _Thou art righteous, O Lord,--because thou hast judged thus: for they have shed the blood of thy Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy_. How they shed the blood of Saints, may be understood by the following Edict of the Emperor _Honorius_, procured by four Bishops sent to him by a Council of _African_ Bishops, who met at _Carthage_ 14 _June_, A.C. 410.
_Impp. Honor. &. Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric._ _Oraculo penitus remoto, quo ad ritus suos hæreticæ superstitionis abrepserant, sciant omnes sanctæ legis inimici, plectendos se poena & proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum, execrandâ sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint. Dat. _viii._ Kal. Sept. Varano V.C. Cons._ A.C. 410. Which Edict was five years after fortified by the following. _Impp. Honor. & Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric._ _Sciant cuncti qui ad ritus suos hæresis superstitionibus obrepserant sacrosanctæ legis inimici, plectendos se poenâ & proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum exercendi sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint: ne quâ vera divinaque reverentia contagione temeretur. Dat. _viii._ Kal. Sept. Honorio _x._ & Theod. _vi._ AA. Coss._ A.C. 415. These Edicts being directed to the governor of _Africa_, extended only to the _Africans_. Before these there were many severe ones against the _Donatists_, but they did not extend to blood. These two were the first which made their meetings, and the meetings of all dissenters, capital: for by _hereticks_ in these Edicts are meant all dissenters, as is manifest by the following against _Euresius_ a _Luciferan_ Bishop. _Impp. Arcad. & Honor. AA. Aureliano Proc. Africæ._ _Hæreticorum vocabulo continentur, & latis adversus eos sanctionibus debent succumbere, qui vel levi argumento à judicio Catholicæ religionis & tramite detecti fuerint deviare: ideoque experientia tua Euresium hæreticum esse cognoscat. Dat. _iii._ Non. Sept. Constantinop. Olybrio & Probino Coss._ A.C. 395.
The _Greek_ Emperor _Zeno_ adopted _Theoderic_ King of the _Ostrogoths_ to be his son, made him master of the horse and _Patricius_, and Consul of _Constantinople_; and recommending to him the _Roman_ people and Senate, gave him the _Western_ Empire, and sent him into _Italy_ against _Odoacer_ King of the _Heruli_. _Theoderic_ thereupon led his nation into _Italy_, conquered _Odoacer_, and reigned over _Italy_, _Sicily_, _Rhætia_, _Noricum_, _Dalmatia_, _Liburnia_, _Istria_, and part of _Suevia_, _Pannonia_ and _Gallia_. Whence _Ennodius_ said, in a Panegyric to _Theoderic_: _Ad limitem suum Romana regna remeâsse._ _Theoderic_ reigned with great prudence, moderation and felicity; treated the _Romans_ with singular benevolence, governed them by their own laws, and restored their government under their Senate and Consuls, he himself supplying the place of Emperor, without assuming the title. _Ita sibi parentibus præfuit_, saith _Procopius_, _ut vere Imperatori conveniens decus nullum ipsi abesset: Justitiæ magnus ei cultus, legumque diligens custodia: terras à vicinis barbaris servavit intactas_, &c. Whence I do not reckon the reign of this King, amongst the plagues of the four winds.
The plague of the northern wind, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet, was to cause _the Sun, Moon and Stars_, that is, the King, kingdom and Princes of the _Western_ Empire, _to be darkned_, and to continue some time in darkness. Accordingly _Belisarius_, having conquered the _Vandals_, invaded _Italy_ A.C. 535, and made war upon the _Ostrogoths_ in _Dalmatia_, _Liburnia_, _Venetia_, _Lombardy_, _Tuscany_, and other regions northward from _Rome_, twenty years together. In this war many cities were taken and retaken. In retaking _Millain_ from the _Romans_, the _Ostrogoths_ slew all the males young and old, amounting, as _Procopius_ reckons, to three hundred thousand, and sent the women captives to their allies the _Burgundians_. _Rome_ itself was taken and retaken several times, and thereby the people were thinned; the old government by a Senate ceased, the nobles were ruined, and all the glory of the city was extinguish'd: and A.C. 552, after a war of seventeen years, the kingdom of the _Ostrogoths_ fell; yet the remainder of the _Ostrogoths_, and an army of _Germans_ called in to their assistance, continued the war three or four years longer. Then ensued the war of the _Heruli_, who, as _Anastasius_ tells us, _perimebant cunctam Italiam_, slew all _Italy_.
This was followed by the war of the _Lombards_, the fiercest of all the _Barbarians_, which began A.C. 568, and lasted for thirty eight years together; _factâ tali clade_, saith _Anastasius_, _qualem à sæculo nullus meminit_; ending at last in the Papacy of _Sabinian_, A.C. 605, by a peace then made with the _Lombards_. Three years before this war ended, _Gregory_ the great, then Bishop of _Rome_, thus speaks of it: _Qualiter enim & quotidianis gladiis & quantis Longobardorum incursionibus, ecce jam per triginta quinque annorum longitudinem premimur, nullis explere vocibus suggestionis valemus_: and in one of his Sermons to the people, he thus expresses the great consumption of the _Romans_ by these wars: _Ex illa plebe innumerabili quanti remanseritis aspicitis, & tamen adhuc quotidiè flagella urgent, repentini casus opprimunt, novæ res & improvisæ clades affligunt_. In another Sermon he thus describes the desolations: _Destructæ urbes, eversa sunt castra, depopulati agri, in solitudinem terra redacta est. Nullus in agris incola, penè nullus in urbibus habitator remansit. Et tamen ipsæ parvæ generis humani reliquiæ adhuc quotidiè & sine cessatione feriuntur, & finem non habent flagella coelestis justitiæ.
Ipsa autem quæ aliquando mundi Domina esse videbatur, qualis remansit Roma conspicimus innumeris doloribus multipliciter attrita, defolatione civium, impressione hostium, frequentiâ ruinarum.--Ecce jam de illa omnes hujus fæculi potentes ablati sunt.--Ecce populi defecerunt.--Ubi enim Senatus? Ubi jam populus? Contabuerunt ossa, consumptæ sunt carnes. Omnis enim sæcularium dignitatum ordo extinctus est, & tamen ipsos vos paucos qui remansimus, adhuc quotidié gladii, adhuc quotidié innumeræ tribulationes premunt.--Vacua jam ardet Roma. Quid autem ista de hominibus dicimus? Cum ruinis crebrescentibus ipsa quoque destrui ædificia videmus. Postquam defecerunt homines etiam parietes cadunt. Jam ecce desolata, ecce contrita, ecce gemitibus oppressa est,_ &c. All this was spoken by _Gregory_ to the people of _Rome_, who were witnesses of the truth of it. Thus by _the plagues of the four winds_, the Empire of the _Greeks_ was shaken, and the Empire of the _Latins_ fell; and _Rome_ remained nothing more than the capital of a poor dukedom, subordinate to _Ravenna_, the seat of the Exarchs.
The fifth trumpet sounded to the wars, which the _King of the_ South, as he is called by _Daniel_, made _in the time of the end_, in _pushing at the King who did according to his will_. This plague began with the _opening of the bottomless pit_, which denotes the letting out of a false religion: the _smoke which came out of the pit_, signifying the multitude which embraced that religion; and the _locusts which came out of the smoke_, the armies which came out of that multitude. This pit was opened, to let out smoke and locusts into the regions of the four monarchies, or some of them. _The King of these locusts_ was the _Angel of the bottomless pit_, being chief governor as well in religious as civil affairs, such as was the Caliph of the _Saracens_. Swarms of locusts often arise in _Arabia fælix_, and from thence infest the neighbouring nations: and so are a very fit type of the numerous armies of _Arabians_ invading the _Romans_. They began to invade them A.C. 634, and to reign at _Damascus_ A.C. 637. They built _Bagdad_ A.C. 766, and reigned over _Persia_, _Syria_, _Arabia_, _Egypt_, _Africa_ and _Spain_. They afterwards lost _Africa_ to _Mahades_, A.C.
910; _Media_, _Hircania_, _Chorasan_, and all _Persia_, to the _Dailamites_, between the years 927 and 935; _Mesopotamia_ and _Miafarekin_ to _Nasiruddaulas_, A.C. 930; _Syria_ and _Egypt_ to _Achsjid_, A.C. 935, and now being in great distress, the Caliph of _Bagdad_, A.C. 936, surrendred all the rest of his temporal power to _Mahomet_ the son of _Rajici_, King of _Wasit_ in _Chaldea_, and made him Emperor of Emperors. But _Mahomet_ within two years lost _Bagdad_ to the _Turks_; and thenceforward _Bagdad_ was sometimes in the hands of the _Turks_, and sometimes in the hands of the _Saracens_, till _Togrul-beig_, called also _Togra_, _Dogrissa_, _Tangrolipix_, and _Sadoc_, conquered _Chorasan_ and _Persia_; and A.C. 1055, added _Bagdad_ to his Empire, making it the seat thereof. His successors _Olub-Arflan_ and _Melechschah_, conquered the regions upon _Euphrates_; and these conquests, after the death of _Melechschah_, brake into the kingdoms of _Armenia_, _Mesopotamia_, _Syria_, and _Cappadocia_. The whole time that the Caliphs of the _Saracens_ reigned with a temporal dominion at _Damascus_ and _Bagdad_ together, was 300 years, viz. from the year 637 to the year 936 inclusive. Now locusts live but five months; and therefore, for the decorum of the type, these locusts are said to _hurt men five months and five months_, as if they had lived about five months at _Damascus_, and again about five months at _Bagdad_; in all ten months, or 300 prophetic days, which are years.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.