Isaac Newton, Observations Upon The Prophecies Of Daniel and The Apocalypse Of St. John

For this Prophecy is a commentary upon the Vision of the Ram and He- Goat.

Behold, saith he, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, [Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius Hytaspes] and the fourth [Xerxes] shall be far richer than they all; and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king [Alexander the Great] shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity [but after their death,] nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides those. Alexander the great having conquered all the Persian Empire, and some part of India, died at Babylon a month before the summer Solstice, in the year of Nabonassar 425: and his captains gave the monarchy to his bastard brother Philip Aridaeus, a man disturbed in his understanding; and made Perdiccas administrator of the kingdom. Perdiccas with their consent made Meleager commander of the army, Seleucus master of the horse, Craterus treasurer of the kingdom, Antipater governor of Macedon and Greece, Ptolemy governor of Egypt; Antigonus governor of Pamphylia, Lycia, Lycaonia, and Phrygia major; Lysimachus governor of Thrace, and other captains governors of other Provinces; as many as had been so before in the days of Alexander the great. The Babylonians began now to count by a new AEra, which they called the AEra of Philip, using the years of Nabonassar, and reckoning the 425th year of Nabonassar to be the first year of Philip.

Roxana, the wife of Alexander being left big with child, and about three or four months after brought to bed of a son, they called him Alexander, saluted him King, and joined him with Philip, whom they had before placed in the throne. Philip reigned three years under the administratorship of Perdiccas, two years more under the administratorship of Antipater, and above a year more under that of Polyperchon; in all six years and four months; and then was slain with his Queen Eurydice in September by the command of Olympias the mother of Alexander the great. The Greeks being disgusted at the cruelties of Olympias, revolted to Cassander the son and successor of Antipater. Cassander affecting the dominion of Greece, slew Olympias; and soon after shut up the young king Alexander, with his mother Roxana, in the castle of Amphipolis, under the charge of Glaucias, An. Nabonass. 432. The next year Ptolemy, Cassander and Lysimachus, by means of Seleucus, formed a league against Antigonus; and after certain wars made peace with him, An. Nabonass. 438, upon these conditions: that Cassander should command the forces of Europe till Alexander the son of Roxana came to age; and that Lysimachus should govern Thrace, Ptolemy Egypt and Lybia, and Antigonus all Asia. Seleucus had possessed himself of Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana and Media, the year before. About three years after Alexander’s death he was made governor of Babylon by Antipater; then was expelled by Antigonus; but now he recovered and enlarged his government over a great part of the East: which gave occasion to a new AEra, called AEra Seleucidarum. Not long after the peace made with Antigonus, Diodorus saith the same Olympic year; Cassander, seeing that Alexander the son of Roxana grew up, and that it was discoursed throughout Macedonia that it was fit he should be set at liberty, and take upon him the government of his father’s kingdom, commanded Glaucias the governor of the castle to kill Roxana and the young king Alexander her son, and conceal their deaths. Then Polyperchon set up Hercules, the son of Alexander the great by Barsine, to be king; and soon after, at the solicitation of Cassander, caused him to be slain. Soon after that, upon a great victory at sea got by Demetrius the son of Antigonus over Ptolemy, Antigonus took upon himself the title of king, and gave the same title to his son. This was An. Nabonass. 441. After his example, Seleucus, Cassander, Lysimachus and Ptolemy, took upon themselves the title and dignity of kings, having abstained from this honor while there remained any of Alexander’s race to inherit the crown. Thus the monarchy of the Greeks for want of an heir was broken into several kingdoms; four of which, seated to the four winds of heaven, were very eminent. For Ptolemy reigned over Egypt, Lybia and Ethiopia; Antigonus over Syria and the lesser Asia; Lysimachus over Thrace; and Cassander over Macedon, Greece and Epirus, as above.