It was an advertisement to the world that
Persia's might was broken. The prophecy treats it so, and deals no
further with Persian history.
AEschylus at the time celebrated the passing of Persia's prestige in the
lines,--
"With sacred awe
The Persian law
No more shall Asia's realms revere;
To their lord's hand
At his command,
No more the exacted tribute bear.
* * * * *
Before the Ionian squadrons Persia flies,
Or sinks engulfed beneath the main;
Fallen! fallen! is her imperial power,
And conquest on her banners waits no more."
--_"Persae," Potter's translation._
The next great world change was to be the rise of Grecia to dominion.
So, although a number of kings followed Xerxes in Persia, the prophecy
passes from his disastrous invasion directly to the coming of Grecia
under its "mighty king," Alexander the Great.
Grecia
_Prophecy._--"A mighty king 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 toward the four winds of
heaven; and not to his posterity.
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