as was _Hadad_ before: and these Gods, together with _Arathes_ the wife of
_Hadad_, were worshipt in their Sepulchres or Temples, 'till the days of
_Josephus_ the _Jew_; and the _Syrians_ boasted their antiquity, not
knowing, saith _Josephus_, that they were novel.
844. The _Æolic_ Migration. _Bœotia_, formerly called _Cadmeis_, is seized
by the _Bœotians_.
838. _Cheops_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He built the greatest Pyramid for his
sepulchre, and forbad the worship of the former Kings; intending to have
been worshipped himself.
825. The _Heraclides_, after three Generations, or an hundred years,
reckoned from their former expedition, return into _Peloponnesus_.
Henceforward, to the end of the first _Messenian_ war, reigned ten Kings of
_Sparta_ by one Race, and nine by another; ten of _Messene_, and nine of
_Arcadia_: which, by reckoning (according to the ordinary course of nature)
about twenty years to a Reign, one Reign with another, will take up about
190 years. And the seven Reigns more in one of the two Races of the Kings
of _Sparta_, and eight in the other, to the battle at _Thermopylæ_; may
take up 150 years more: and so place the return of the _Heraclides_, about
820 years before _Christ_.
824. _Cephren_ Reigns in _Egypt_, and builds another great Pyramid.
808. _Mycerinus_ Reigns there, and begins the third great Pyramid. He shut
up the body of his daughter in a hollow ox, and caused her to be worshipped
daily with odours.
804. The war, between the _Athenians_ and _Spartans_, in which _Codrus_,
King of the _Athenians_, is slain.
801. _Nitocris_, the sister of _Mycerinus_, succeeds him, and finishes the
third great Pyramid.
794. The _Ionic_ Migration, under the conduct of the sons of _Codrus_.
790. _Pul_ founds the _Assyrian_ Empire.
788. _Asychis_ Reigns in _Egypt_, and builds the eastern Portico of the
Temple of _Vulcan_ very splendidly; and a large Pyramid of brick, made of
mud dug out of the Lake of _Mœris_. _Egypt_ breaks into several Kingdoms.
_Gnephactus_ and _Bocchoris_ Reign successively in the upper _Egypt_;
_Stephanathis_; _Necepsos_ and _Nechus_, at _Sais_; _Anysis_ or _Amosis_,
at _Anysis_ or _Hanes_; and _Tacellotis_, at _Bubaste_.
776. _Iphitus_ restores the Olympiads. And from this _Æra_ the Olympiads
are now reckoned. _Gnephactus_ Reigns at _Memphis_.
772. _Necepsos_ and _Petosiris_ invent Astrology in _Egypt_.
760. _Semiramis_ begins to flourish; _Sanchoniatho_ writes.
751. _Sabacon_ the _Ethiopian_, invades _Egypt_, now divided into various
Kingdoms, burns _Bocchoris_, slays _Nechus_, and makes _Anysis_ fly.
747. _Pul_, King of _Assyria_, dies, and is succeeded at _Nineveh_ by
_Tiglathpilasser_, and at _Babylon_ by _Nabonassar_. The _Egyptians_, who
fled from _Sabacon_, carry their Astrology and Astronomy to _Babylon_, and
found the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ in _Egyptian_ years.
740. _Tiglathpilasser_, King of _Assyria_, takes _Damascus_, and captivates
the _Syrians_.
729. _Tiglathpilasser_ is succeeded by _Salmanasser_.
721. _Salmanasser_, King of _Assyria_, carries the Ten Tribes into
captivity.
719. _Sennacherib_ Reigns over _Assyria_. _Archias_ the son of _Evagetus_,
of the stock of _Hercules_, leads a Colony from _Corinth_ into _Sicily_,
and builds _Syracuse_.
717. _Tirhakah_ Reigns in _Ethiopia_.
714. _Sennacherib_ is put to flight by the _Ethiopians_ and _Egyptians_,
with great slaughter.
711. The _Medes_ revolt from the _Assyrians_. _Sennacherib_ slain.
_Asserhadon_ succeeds him. This is that _Asserhadon-Pul_, or
_Sardanapalus_, the son of _Anacyndaraxis_, or _Sennacherib_, who built
_Tarsus_ and _Anchiale_ in one day.
710. _Lycurgus_, brings the poems of _Homer_ out of _Asia_ into _Greece_.
708. _Lycurgus_, becomes tutor to _Charillus_ or _Charilaus_, the young
King of _Sparta_. _Aristotle_ makes _Lycurgus_ as old as _Iphitus_, because
his name was upon the Olympic Disc. But the Disc was one of the five games
called the _Quinquertium_, and the _Quinquertium_ was first instituted upon
the eighteenth Olympiad. _Socrates_ and _Thucydides_ made the institutions
of _Lycurgus_ about 300 years older than the end of the _Peloponnesian_
war, that is, 705 years before _Christ_.
701. _Sabacon_, after a Reign of 50 years, relinquishes _Egypt_ to his son
_Sevechus_ or _Sethon_, who becomes Priest of _Vulcan_, and neglects
military affairs.
698. _Manasseh_ Reigns.
697. The _Corinthians_ begin first of any men to build ships with three
orders of oars, called _Triremes_. Hitherto the _Greeks_ had used long
vessels of fifty oars.
687. _Tirhakah_ Reigns in _Egypt_.
681. _Asserhadon_ invades _Babylon_.
673. The _Jews_ conquered by _Asserhadon_, and _Manasseh_ carried captive
to _Babylon_.
671. _Asserbadon_ invades _Egypt_. The government of _Egypt_ committed to
twelve princes.
668. The western nations of _Syria_, _Phœnicia_ and _Egypt_, revolt from
the _Assyrians_. _Asserhadon_ dies, and is succeeded by _Saosduchinus_.
_Manasseh_ returns from Captivity.
658. _Phraortes_ Reigns in _Media_. The _Prytanes_ Reign in _Corinth_,
expelling their Kings.
657. The _Corinthians_ overcome the _Corcyreans_ at sea: and this was the
oldest sea fight.
655. _Psammiticus_ becomes King of all _Egypt_, by conquering the other
eleven Kings with whom he had already reigned fifteen years: he reigned
about 39 years more. Henceforward the _Ionians_ had access into _Egypt_;
and thence came the _Ionian_ Philosophy, Astronomy and Geometry.
652. The first _Messenian_ war begins: it lasted twenty years.
647. _Charops_, the first decennial Archon of the _Athenians_. Some of
these Archons might dye before the end of the ten years, and the remainder
of the ten years be supplied by a new Archon. And hence the seven decennial
Archons might not take up above forty or fifty years. _Saosduchinus_ King
of _Assyria_ dies, and is succeeded by _Chyniladon_.
640. _Josiah_ Reigns in _Judæa_.
636. _Phraortes_> King of the _Medes_, is slain in a war against the
_Assyrians_. _Astyages_ succeeds him.
635. The _Scythians_ invade the _Medes_ and _Assyrians_.
633. _Battus_ builds _Cyrene_, where _Irasa_, the city of _Antæus_, had
stood.
627. _Rome_ is built.
625. _Nabopolassar_ revolts from the King of _Assyria_, and Reigns over
_Babylon_. _Phalantus_ leads the _Parthenians_ into _Italy_, and builds
_Tarentum._
617. _Psammiticus_ dies. _Nechaoh_ reigns in _Egypt_.
611. _Cyaxeres_ Reigns over the _Medes_.
610. The Princes of the _Scythians_ slain in a feast by _Cyaxeres_.
609. _Josiah_ slain. _Cyaxeres_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ overthrow _Nineveh_,
and, by sharing the _Assyrian_ Empire, grow great.
607. _Creon_ the first annual Archon of the _Athenians_. The second
_Messenian_ war begins. _Cyaxeres_ makes the _Scythians_ retire beyond
_Colchos_ and _Iberia_, and seizes the _Assyrian_ Provinces of _Armenia_,
_Pontus_ and _Cappadocia_.
606. _Nebuchadnezzar_ invades _Syria_ and _Judæa_.
604. _Nabopolassar_ dies, and is succeeded by his Son _Nebuchadnezzar_, who
had already Reigned two years with his father.
600. _Darius_ the _Mede_, the son of _Cyaxeres,_ is born.
599. _Cyrus_ is born of _Mandane_, the Sister of _Cyaxeres_, and daughter
of _Astyages_.
596. _Susiana_ and _Elam_ conquered by _Nebuchadnezzar_. _Caranus_ and
_Perdiccas_ fly from _Phidon_, and found the Kingdom of _Macedon_. _Phidon_
introduces Weights and Measures, and the Coining of Silver Money.
590. _Cyaxeres_ makes war upon _Alyattes_ King of _Lydia_.
588. The Temple of _Solomon_ is burnt by _Nebuchadnezzar_. The _Messenians_
being conquered, fly into _Sicily_, and build _Messana_.
585. In the sixth year of the _Lydian_ war, a total Eclipse of the Sun,
predicted by _Thales_, _May_ the 28th, puts an end to a Battel between the
_Medes_ and _Lydians_: Whereupon they make Peace, and ratify it by a
marriage between _Darius Medus_ the son of _Cyaxeres_, and _Ariene_ the
daughter of _Alyattes_.
584. _Phidon_ presides in the 49th Olympiad.
580. _Phidon_ is overthrown. Two men chosen by lot, out of the city _Elis_,
to preside in the Olympic Games.
572. _Draco_ is Archon of the _Athenians_, and makes laws for them.
568. The _Amphictions_ make war upon the _Cirrheans_, by the advice of
_Solon_, and take _Cirrha_. _Clisthenes_, _Alcmæon_ and _Eurolicus_
commanded the forces of the _Amphictions_, and were contemporary to
_Phidon_. For _Leocides_ the son of _Phidon_, and _Megacles_ the son of
_Alcmæon,_ at one and the same time, courted _Agarista_ the daughter of
_Clisthenes_.
569. _Nebuchadnezzar_ invades _Egypt_. _Darius_ the _Mede_ Reigns.
562. _Solon_, being Archon of the _Athenians_, makes laws for them.
557. _Periander_ dies, and _Corinth_ becomes free from Tyrants.
555. _Nabonadius_ Reigns at _Babylon_. His Mother _Nitocris_ adorns and
fortifies that City.
550. _Pisistratus_ becomes Tyrant at _Athens._ The Conference between
_Crœsus_ and _Solon_.
549. _Solon_ dies, _Hegestratus_ being Archon of _Athens_.
544. _Sardes_ is taken by _Cyrus_. _Darius_ the _Mede_ recoins the _Lydian_
money into _Darics_.
538. _Babylon_ is taken by _Cyrus_.
536. _Cyrus_ overcomes _Darius_ the _Mede_, and translates the Empire to
the _Persians_. The _Jews_ return from Captivity, and found the second
Temple.
529. _Cyrus_ dies. _Cambyses_ Reigns,
521. _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_ Reigns. The _Magi_ are slain. The
various Religions of the several Nations of _Persia_, which consisted in
the worship of their ancient Kings, are abolished; and by the influence of
_Hystaspes_ and _Zoroaster_, the worship of One God, at Altars, without
Temples is set up in all _Persia_.
520. The second Temple is built at _Jerusalem_ by the command of _Darius_.
515. The second Temple is finished and dedicated.
513. _Harmodius_ and _Aristogiton_, slay _Hipparchus_ the son of
_Pisistratus_, Tyrant of the _Athenians._
508. The Kings of the _Romans_ expelled, and Consuls erected.
491. The Battle of _Marathon_.
485. _Xerxes_ Reigns.
480. The Passage of _Xerxes_ over the _Hellespont_ into _Greece_, and
Battles of _Thermopylæ_ and _Salamis_.
464. _Artaxerxes Longimanus_ Reigns.
457. _Ezra_ returns into _Judæa_. _Johanan_ the father of _Jaddua_ was now
grown up, having a chamber in the Temple.
444. _Nehemiah_ returns into _Judæa_. _Herodotus_ writes.
431. The _Peloponnesian_ war begins.
428. _Nehemiah_ drives away _Manasseh_ the brother of _Jaddua_, because he
had married _Nicaso_ the daughter of _Sanballat_.
424. _Darius Nothus_ Reigns.
422. _Sanballat_ builds a Temple in _Mount Gerizim_ and makes his
son-in-law _Manasseh_ the first High-Priest thereof.
412. Hitherto the Priests and Levites were numbered, and written in the
Chronicles of the _Jews_, before the death of _Nehemiah_: at which time
either _Johanan_ or _Jaddua_ was High-Priest, And here Ends the Sacred
History of the _Jews_.
405. _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ Reigns. The end of the _Peloponnesian_ war.
359. _Artaxerxes Ochus_ Reigns.
338. _Arogus_ Reigns.
336. _Darius Codomannus_ Reigns.
332. The _Persian_ Empire conquered by _Alexander_ the great.
331. _Darius Codomannus_, the last King of _Persia_, slain.
* * * * *
THE
CHRONOLOGY
OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS AMENDED.
* * * * *
CHAP. I.
_Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the _Greeks_._
All Nations, before they began to keep exact accounts of Time, have been
prone to raise their Antiquities; and this humour has been promoted, by the
Contentions between Nations about their Originals. _Herodotus_ [3] tells
us, that the Priests of _Egypt_ reckoned from the Reign of _Menes_ to that
of _Sethon_, who put _Sennacherib_ to flight, three hundred forty and one
Generations of men, and as many Priests of _Vulcan_, and as many Kings of
_Egypt_: and that three hundred Generations make ten thousand years; _for_,
saith he, _three Generations of men make an hundred years_: and the
remaining forty and one Generations make 1340 years: and so the whole time
from the Reign of _Menes_ to that of _Sethon_ was 11340 years. And by this
way of reckoning, and allotting longer Reigns to the Gods of _Egypt_ than
to the Kings which followed them, _Herodotus_ tells us from the Priests of
_Egypt_, that from _Pan_ to _Amosis_ were 15000 years, and from _Hercules_
to _Amosis_ 17000 years. So also the _Chaldæans_ boasted of their
Antiquity; for _Callisthenes_, the Disciple of _Aristotle_, sent
Astronomical Observations from _Babylon_ to _Greece_, said to be of 1903
years standing before the times of _Alexander_ the great. And the
_Chaldæans_ boasted further, that they had observed the Stars 473000 years;
and there were others who made the Kingdoms of _Assyria_, _Media_ and
_Damascus_, much older than the truth.
Some of the _Greeks_ called the times before the Reign of _Ogyges_,
Unknown, because they had No History of them; those between his flood and
the beginning of the Olympiads, Fabulous, because their History was much
mixed with Poetical Fables: and those after the beginning of the Olympiads,
Historical, because their History was free from such Fables. The fabulous
Ages wanted a good Chronology, and so also did the Historical, for the
first 60 or 70 Olympiads.
The _Europeans_, had no Chronology before the times of the _Persian_
Empire: and whatsoever Chronology they now have of ancienter times, hath
been framed since, by reasoning and conjecture. In the beginning of that
Monarchy, _Acusilaus_ made _Phoroneus_ as old as _Ogyges_ and his flood,
and that flood 1020 years older than the first Olympiad; which is above 680
years older than the truth: and to make out this reckoning his followers
have encreased the Reigns of Kings in length and number. _Plutarch_ [4]
tells us that the Philosophers anciently delivered their Opinions in Verse,
as _Orpheus_, _Hesiod_, _Parmenides_, _Xenophanes_, _Empedocles_, _Thales_;
but afterwards left off the use of Verses; and that _Aristarchus_,
_Timocharis_, _Aristillus_, _Hipparchus_, did not make Astronomy the more
contemptible by describing it in Prose; after _Eudoxus_, _Hesiod_, and
_Thales_ had wrote of it in Verse. _Solon_ wrote [5] in Verse, and all the
Seven Wise Men were addicted to Poetry, as _Anaximenes_ [6] affirmed. 'Till
those days the _Greeks_ wrote only in Verse, and while they did so there
could be no Chronology, nor any other History, than such as was mixed with
poetical fancies. _Pliny_, [7] in reckoning up the Inventors of things,
tells us, _that _Pherecydes Syrius_ taught to compose discourses in Prose
in the Reign of _Cyrus_, and _Cadmus Milesius_ to write History._ And in
[8] another place he saith _that _Cadmus Milesius_ was the first that wrote
in Prose_. _Josephus_ tells us [9] that _Cadmus Milesius_ and _Acusilaus_
were but a little before the expedition of the _Persians_ against the
_Greeks_: and _Suidas_ [10] calls _Acusilaus_ a most ancient Historian, and
saith that _he wrote Genealogies out of tables of brass, which his father,
as was reported, found in a corner of his house_. Who hid them there may be
doubted: For the _Greeks_ [11] had no publick table or inscription older
than the Laws of _Draco_. _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, in the Reign of _Darius
Hystaspis_, or soon after, wrote of the Antiquities and ancient Genealogies
of the _Athenians_, in ten books; and was one of the first _European_
writers of this kind, and one of the best; whence he had the name of
_Genealogus_; and by _Dionysius [12] Halicarnassensis_ is said to be second
to none of the Genealogers. _Epimenides_, not the Philosopher, but an
Historian, wrote also of the ancient Genealogies: and _Hellanicus_, who was
twelve years older than _Herodotus_, digested his History by the Ages or
Successions of the Priestesses of _Juno Argiva_. Others digested theirs by
those of the Archons of _Athens_, or Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_.
_Hippias_ the _Elean_ published a Breviary of the Olympiads, supported by
no certain arguments, as _Plutarch_ [13] tells us: he lived in the 105th
Olympiad, and was derided by _Plato_ for his Ignorance. This Breviary seems
to have contained nothing more than a short account of the Victors in every
Olympiad. Then [14] _Ephorus_, the disciple of _Isocrates_, formed a
Chronological History of _Greece_, beginning with the Return of the
_Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and ending with the Siege of _Perinthus_,
in the twentieth year of _Philip_ the father of _Alexander_ the great, that
is, eleven years before the fall of the _Persian_ Empire: but [15] he
digested things by Generations, and the reckoning by the Olympiads, or by
any other _Æra_, was not yet in use among the _Greeks_. The _Arundelian_
Marbles were composed sixty years after the death of _Alexander_ the great
(_An._ 4. _Olymp._ 128.) and yet mention not the Olympiads, nor any other
standing _Æra_, but reckon backwards from the time then present. But
Chronology was now reduced to a reckoning by Years; and in the next
Olympiad _Timæus Siculus_ improved it: for he wrote a History in Several
books, down to his own times, according to the Olympiads; comparing the
_Ephori_, the Kings of _Sparta_, the Archons of _Athens_, and the
Priestesses of _Argos_ with the Olympic Victors, so as to make the
Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of Kings and Priestesses,
and the Poetical Histories suit with one another, according to the best of
his judgment: and where he left off, _Polybius_ began, and carried on the
History. _Eratosthenes_ wrote above an hundred years after the death of
_Alexander_ the great: He was followed by _Apollodorus_; and these two have
been followed ever since by Chronologers.
But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was reputed by
the _Greeks_ of those times, may be understood by these passages of
_Plutarch_. _Some reckon _Lycurgus__, saith he, [16] _contemporary to
_Iphitus_, and to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic
festivals, amongst whom was _Aristotle_ the Philosopher; arguing from the
Olympic Disc, which had the name of _Lycurgus_ upon it. Others supputing
the times by the Kings of _Lacedæmon_, as _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_,
affirm that he was not a few years older than the first Olympiad._ He began
to flourish in the 17th or 18th Olympiad, and at length _Aristotle_ made
him as old as the first Olympiad; and so did _Epaminondas_, as he is cited
by _Ælian_ and _Plutarch_: and then _Eratosthenes_, _Apollodorus_, and
their followers, made him above an hundred years older.
And in another place _Plutarch_ [17] tells us: _The Congress of _Solon_
with _Crœsus_, some think they can confute by Chronology. But a History so
illustrious, and verified by so many witnesses, and which is more, so
agreeable to the manners of _Solon_, and worthy of the greatness of his
mind, and of his wisdom, I cannot persuade my self to reject because of
some Chronological Canons, as they call them, which hundreds of authors
correcting, have not yet been able to constitute any thing certain, in
which they could agree amongst themselves, about repugnancies._
As for the Chronology of the _Latines_, that is still more uncertain.
_Plutarch_ [18] represents great uncertainties in the Originals of _Rome_,
and so doth _Servius_ [19]. The old Records of the _Latines_ were burnt
[20] by the _Gauls_, an hundred and twenty years after the Regifuge, and
sixty-four years before the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Quintus
Fabius Pictor_, [21] the oldest Historian of the _Latines_, lived an
hundred years later than that King, and took almost all things from
_Diocles Peparethius_, a _Greek_. The Chronologers of _Gallia_, _Spain_,
_Germany_, _Scythia_, _Swedeland_, _Britain_ and _Ireland_ are of a date
still later; for _Scythia_ beyond the _Danube_ had no letters, 'till
_Ulphilas_ their Bishop formed them; which was about six hundred years
after the death of _Alexander_ the great: and _Germany_ had none 'till it
received them, from the western Empire of the _Latines_, above seven
hundred years after the death of that King. The _Hunns_, had none in the
days of _Procopius_, who flourished 850 years after the death of that King:
and _Sweden_ and _Norway_ received them still later. And things said to be
done above one or two hundred years before the use of letters, are of
little credit.
_Diodorus_, [22] in the beginning of his History tells us, that he did not
define by any certain space the times preceding the _Trojan_ War, because
he had no certain foundation to rely upon: but from the _Trojan_ war,
according to the reckoning of _Apollodorus_, whom he followed, there were
eighty years to the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_; and
that from that Period to the first Olympiad, there were three hundred and
twenty eight years, computing the times from the Kings of the
_Lacedæmonians_. _Apollodorus_ followed _Eratosthenes_, and both of them
followed _Thucydides_, in reckoning eighty years from the _Trojan_ war to
the Return of the _Heraclides_: but in reckoning 328 years from that Return
to the first Olympiad, _Diodorus_ tells us, that the times were computed
from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_; and _Plutarch_ [23] tells us, that
_Apollodorus_, _Eratosthenes_ and others followed that computation: and
since this reckoning is still received by Chronologers, and was gathered by
computing the times from the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, that is from
their number, let us re-examin that Computation.
The _Egyptians_ reckoned the Reigns of Kings equipollent to Generations of
men, and three Generations to an hundred years, as above; and so did the
_Greeks_ and _Latines_: and accordingly they have made their Kings Reign
one with another thirty and three years a-piece, and above. For they make
the seven Kings of _Rome_ who preceded the Consuls to have Reigned 244
years, which is 35 years a-piece: and the first twelve Kings of _Sicyon_,
_Ægialeus_, _Europs_, &c. to have Reigned 529 years, which is 44 years
a-piece: and the first eight Kings of _Argos_, _Inachus_, _Phoroneus_, &c.
to have Reigned 371 years, which is above 46 years a-piece: and between the
Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and the end of the first
_Messenian_ war, the ten Kings of _Sparta_ in one Race; _Eurysthenes_,
_Agis_, _Echestratus_, _Labotas_, _Doryagus_, _Agesilaus_, _Archelaus_,
_Teleclus_, _Alcamenes_, and _Polydorus_: the nine in the other Race;
_Procles_, _Sous_, _Eurypon_, _Prytanis_, _Eunomus_, _Polydectes_,
_Charilaus_, _Nicander_, _Theopompus_: the ten Kings of _Messene_;
_Cresphontes_, _Epytus_, _Glaucus_, _Isthmius_, _Dotadas_, _Sibotas_,
_Phintas_, _Antiochus_, _Euphaes_, _Aristodemus_: and the nine of
_Arcadia_; _Cypselus_, _Olæas_, _Buchalion_, _Phialus_, _Simus_, _Pompus_,
_Ægineta_, _Polymnestor_, _Æchmis_, according to Chronologers, took up 379
years: which is 38 years a-piece to the ten Kings, and 42 years a-piece to
the nine. And the five Kings of the Race of _Eurysthenes_, between the end
of the first _Messenian_ war, and the beginning of the Reign of _Darius
Hystaspis_; _Eurycrates_, _Anaxander_, _Eurycrates II_, _Leon_,
_Anaxandrides_, Reigned 202 years, which is above 40 years a-piece.