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Sect. VI.
Of the last horn of the He-Goat, and of the King who doth according to his will
, and magnifies himself above every God, and honours Mahuzzims and regards not the God of his fathers, nor the desire of weomen

Some Egyptians flying from Sab. carry to Babylon the Astronomy Astrology & year of Egypt & found the Æra of Nabonassar in Egy{p}tian years. 747 Nabonassar reigns at Babylon.

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except that Acusilaus in his brazen tables put 1020 years from the flood of Ogyges to the beginning of the Olympiads, [ which is above 700 years too much. And for making out this interval, the Greeks have stretched their Antiquities ] So then the religion of believing that the world was formed & is governed by one supreme God, & of loving & worshipping this God & loving our neighbour as our selves & being mercifull even to bruit Beasts, is the oldest religion in the world. [ And nothing more has been added to it with relation to Jesus Christ then to beleive in the predictions of the holy Ghost in the Prophets concerning him, videlicet that he is the Messiah & the son of man predicted by Daniel & the son of God predicted by David in the 2d Psalm, & the Lamb of God predicted in the Paschal Lamb by Moses, &c

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Dacia revolted in the re{i}gn of the Emperors Philip & Decius. And first the Goths ( not yet divided into Ostrogoths & Visigoths ) under their king Ostrogotha ( being assisted by the T{h}aphili & the Ast{ir}ingi ( a Vandalic nation ) & the Carpi ) revolted & made war upon the Romans. In the mean time the Gepides another Gothic nation under their king Fastida routed the Burgundians with a great slaughter & conquered some other nations & then invaded the Goths under Ostrogot{h}a & was routed, & retired home. Ostrogotha was succeeded by Cniva who presently invaded the Empire & routed the army of Decius & slew him , but soon after made peace with the Emperors Gallus & Volusian. Aftewards in the reign of Gallienus they infested Asia minor & Trace, but in the reign of Dioclesian & Maximianus & Constantine the great they assisted those Emperors against their enemies

Iornandes tells us that the Kings of the Vandals were of the stock of the Asdingi or Astingi a people eminent among them & that the Astingi were in the army of the Goth who revolted from the Romans & made war upon them, & Dio that the Astingi under the conduct of Rhaus & Rhaptus entred Dacia in the reign of the Emperor Marcus & had seats granted them there by that Emperor. [ & Iornandes c. 16 that they were in the army of the Goths who in the rein of Philip revolted from the Romans & invaded Mœsia & Thrace, & ( c. 22 ) that the Kings of the Vandals were of the stock of the Asdingi a people eminent among them. ] The Gepides were seated upon the Vistula. And the Burgiones & Phrugundiones whom Ptolomy places between the Vistula & the Bonsthenes I take to be the Burgundians another Gothic nation who were conquered by the Gepides in the reign of the Emperor Philip & at length invaded Gallia. The Quadi ( according to Zosimus { ) } were a branch of the Saxons

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Dacia was conquered by Trajan

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In the {year} 376 the Hunns a fierce & bruitish nation came from beyond the Lake Mœotis & the river Tanais & under the conduct of their king Balamber or Balamir invaded the nations which lay between them & Dacia & chiefly the Alans a Gothic nation. Hermaneric heard of their coming & then died, & soon after his death they entred Dacia – – – – – – – – against the Alemans & Sueves. This rout was in the year 377.

The Goths being seated – – – – – Gruthungi by Radagaisus.

In the time of these commotions the Lombards seem to have come over the Danube under the conduct of Ibor & Ayon. For Paulus Warnefridus tells that under these captains they overcame the Vandals in battel. And Prosper places this victory in the consulship of Ausonius & Olybrius A. C. 379. And the Vandals were at this time in Pannonia having lived there quietly 40 years from the time that Constantine the great granted them seats in that Province.

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The Emperor Dioclesian {in} 285 divided the Roman Empire be{tween him}self & Maxi{mian} his colleague keeping the western nations under his own government & committing the government of the eastern to Maximian. And thus the Roman Empire began to be divided into the three parts ( touched upon in the Apocalys, ) that anciently subject to the Greeks, that of the Latines & that of the Dacians which in a short time {became} great & potent.

Constantine the great built – – – Empire became divided.

Dacia was a large country bounded – – – – Christian religion among them was much promoted. [ The chief inhabitants were the Goths called Ostrogoths & Visigoths & other Gothic nations called Vandals, Gepides; Lombards &c ] . They were composed of several Gothic nations which came originally from the southern parts of Scanozia or Scandinavia a great Peninsula in the Baltick sea conteining Norway & most of Sweden, & reputed an Island by the ancients Whence it came to pass that they all spake the same language & agreed in their manners Paulus Diaconus in his Historia Miscella lib. XIV, speaking of the reign of Theodosius magnus & his sons, tells us: Eodem tempore – – – – Gepidæ qui dicuntur Langobardi. Iornandes tells us that – – – – – invaded Gallia.

The Goths for want of their pay revolted from the Romans under their King Ostrogotha in the second year of the Emperor Philip, & being assisted by the Thaphili, Astringi ( or Vandals ) & Carpi ( other Gothick nations, ) made war upon the Romans . And the Gepides ( who were seated upon the Vistula ) under their king Fastida, routed the Burgundians with a great slaughter & conquered some other nations & then invaded the said Goths & were routed by them. Cniva succeeded Ostrogotha in the reign of Decius & routed the Roman army & slew Decius, & the next year ✝[1] invade Greec{o}{e} Macedon Pontus Asia & Illyricum & keep Illyricum & Macedonia almost 15 years & then being beaten by Claudius return over the Danube to their own seats. ⊕ < insertion from f 2r > ⊕ And then, invading the Empire ( as Trebellius Pollio tells us ) with an army of 320000 Scythians composed of the Peuceni, Grutungi, Austrogoths, Vitringi, Gepides, Heruli &c and being beaten in Mœsia by the Emperor Cl{u}{a}dius , returned to their seats. And the Emperor Aurelian about the year 272 ( as Vopiscus tells us ) : cum vastatum Illyricum & Mœsiam deperditam videret, provinciam trans Danubium Daciam a Trajano constitutam sublato exercitu & provincialibus reliquit, desperans eam posse retineri: abductos ex ea populos in Mœsiam collocavit appellavit suam Daciam. And Dioclesian in the year 285 divided the Empire between himself & Maximianus, retaining the government of the eastern nations to himself & leaving that of the wester{n} to Maximianus. And by these events the Empire began to be divided into the three parts touched upon in the Apocalyps, the eastern Empire, the western, & that of the Goths.

For the Goths soon grew into a great Empire, & at its fall became divided into the several nations which under their kings invaded the Western Empire & brake it into the ten kingdoms represented by the horns of the Beast. Vopiscus tells us that in the reign of the Emperor Probus, some Gepides, Grutunni & Vandals were received into the Empire but soon brake their faith & inva{ded} the Roman Provinces{ , } but were beaten in various battels by Probus & opprest, very few returning home. In the reign of Constantine the great Geberic king of the Goths, conquered the Vandals who were then seated in Dacia upon the river Teys where the rivers Maresh & Kerish run westward into it, & made them fly over the Danube into Pannonia where Constantine the great granted them seats. And Hermaneric the successor of Geberic in the kingdom of Dacia

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In the reign of Constantine the Great their King Geberic conquered the Vandals, a nation then seated on the Eastern side of the river Teys where the rivers Maresh & Keresh run westward into it, & made them fly over the Danube into Pannonia where Constantine granted them seats. And Hermaneric the successor of Ge{b}eric, conquered the Heruli, a people placed by Iornandes upon the Palus Mœotis. He conquered also the Veneti, Antes, & Sclavi & many other warlike nations of Scythia & Germany, as Iornandes informs us & particularly the nations which Iornandes calls the Thuidi, Visina{m}brocæ, Mœreus, Mordensimnis, Caris, Rocæ, Tadzans, Athual, Navigo, Bubegentæ & Coldæ, & the Æstri or Estÿ a people seated upon a long tract of the German ocean or Baltic sea in Livonia & the Ronolani on the western side of the Palus Mœotis. . Thus the kingdom of the Goths by successive conquests grew into a large & potent Empire composed of many northern nations & in the reign of Hermaneric to have comprehended Mallachia, Moldavia, Transilvania Volhima, Red Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Lifland, Coerland, Prussia the upper Hungary, the Russian Vkrain & other Scythian nations between & beyond the Vistula or Weysel & the Boristhenes or Neiper & as far Northwards as Revel & Narva & the sinus Finicus, & eastward to the side of the Euxine Sea & Lake Mœotis . And from these conquests, saith Iornandes, some have compared this king to Alexander the great . In his days the Lombards came out of Scandinavia under the conduct of Ibor & Ayon. Paulus Warnefridus tells us that they were first called Winuli & then ( from their long beards ) Longobardi.

Among the conquered nations I reccon the Burgiones – – – a Gothic nation.

Hermaneric reigned long & died about the 13th year of Valentinan & Valens A. C. 376, being as some say above an hundred years old. He left his kingdom divided amongst many successors Hunnimund, – – – – – – – kept their governments after his death.

The Goths & other Scythian nations beyond the Danube – – – them to death

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forms & modes of Expression & with some variety of circumstances to make the whole prophesy of that page more complete. For they are delive{red} by allusions to several parts of one & the same service that is {to}the trumpeting singing & drink offerings which accompanied one another at the sacrifices of the seven da{ys} of the Feast of Tabernacles. ] For upon pouring out the drink offerings of the sacrifices the Priests sounded their Trumpets & the Levites sang & plaid upon musical instruments till the service was ended Ecclesiasti{c. c} 50.

And that the prophesies of the Trumpets & Vials of Wrath are one & the same prophesy variously exprest may further appear by the following comparison.

And I saw the seven Angels which stood before the throne of God & to them were given seven trumpetsAnd I saw the seven Angels having the seven last plagues { / }{t} And there were voices & thundrings. And the Victors sing the song of Moses & the Lamb And the seven Angels which had the seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven Angels, Go & pour out the Vials of the wrath of God upon the earth And the first Angel sounded & there followed hail & fire mingled with blood & they were cast upon the earth & the third part of the earth was burnt up. And the first went & poured out his Vial upon the earth & there fell a grievous & noisome sore on the men which had the mark of the Beast. And the second Angel sounded – & the third part of the sea became blood & third part of the creatures which were in the sea & had life died. And the 2d Angel poured out his Vial upon the sea & it became as the blood of a dead man, & every living soul died in the sea. And the third Angel sounded & a great star fell upon the third part of the rivers & upon the fountains of waters – & many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And the 3d Angel poured out his vial upon the rivers & fountains of waters & they became blood And the fourth Angel sounded & the third part of the Sun was smittenAnd the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun And the fift Angel sounded – & the sun & the air were darkened with smoke – & there came out of the smoke locusts which were to hurt those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheadsAnd the fift Angel poured out his Vial upon the seat of the Beast & his kingdom was full of darkness & they gnawed their tongues for pain. And the sixt Angel sounded – & the four Angels were loosed which were bound in the great river EuphratesAnd the sixt Angel poured out his Vial upon the great river Euphrates & the water thereof was dried up that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared. In the voice of the 7th Angel the mystery of God shal be finished. And the seventh Angel sounded – & there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord & of his Christ & he shall reign for ever & ever. – And the nations were angry & thy wrath is come & the time of the dead that they should be judgedThe kings of the earth & of the whole world were gathered to the battel of the great day of God Almighty Behold I come as a thief – And the 7th Angel poured out his Vial into the air, & there came a great voice out of the temple saying It is done – And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath – & men bblasphemed God because of the plage of hail.



In these prophesies the same things are called the whole & the third part in different respects. As wine thrown upon fire increases the flame for a while so the fourth Vial poured upon the sun makes him scorch men with great heat & yet at the sounding of the 4th Trumpet the third part of the sun is darkened. These things may seem repugnant but are not: for they signify only that the king or kings represented by the Sun vex men by war & yet in the same war loose their kingdom.

And so it is in different respects That the Sun is darkened in the 4th Trumpet & yet scorches men with heat in the 4th Vial{s} , signifies that the king or kings represented by the sun shall vex men by war & yet in the same war loos their kingdom Conceive that the Victors continue to stand [ on mount Sion & ] on the sea of glass while the Vials are poured out.

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signify that they are the plagues of the last seal & the plagues last mentioned w{h}erewith the two Witnesses saith the earth as often as they will & the plagues of the seven thunders which in the Visions were described after the plagues of the first six Trumpets . There they were sealed up & not written here they are written because they were left unwritten before.

And conceive that they appeared in this manner at the end of the half hours silence werein the 144000 were sealed out of the 12 tribes of Israel & the rest received the mark of the Beast, & that they are the 144000

For The victory here spoken of being over the mark of the Beast & over the number of his name must be a spiritual victory, such a victory as in all the Epistles to the seven churches is called overcoming Those are overcome by the beast & his image & his mark & the number of his name who fall away to worship the beast & his Image & to receive his mark & the number of his name & those get the victory over the Beast & over his Image & over his mark & the number of his name who do not go along with the multitude to worship the Beast & his image & receive his mark & the number of his name, but resist the temptation & continue to worship God & Christ & are sealed with the seale of God in their foreheads.

And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God & the song of the Lamb saying Great & marvellous – – – – manifest. The song of the Lamb is the song which the Lamb & the 144000 sang on mount Sion before the throne & before the four Beasts & the Elders where these Victors now stand. This was a song of victory & therefore the victory was a spiritual one such as was gained by the Lamb & the 144000 & in all the epistles to the seven Churches is called overcoming . Both victors gained a victory over the Beast & over his Image & over his Mark & name & for this victory sang the same song in the same place, & therefore are the same victors.

This song is also called the song of Moses. For in the Prophesy of the Woman & Dragon the story of Moses is thus alluded unto. The Dragon alludes to Egypt & the woman crowned – – – – is spiritually called Egypt Apoc. 11. And upon account of the same allusions the song which the 144000 sang with the Lamb on Mount Sion & now sing upon the sea of glass is is called the Song of Moses.

And after that I looked{ , } &{ , } behold{ , } the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was opened & the seven Angels came out of the temple having the seven plagues, cloathed in pure & white linnen & having their breasts girded with golden girdles , that is, being in the habit of Priests. And one of the four Beasts gave – – – – were fulfilled. By this filling of the temple of the Tabernacle of the testimony with smoke the dedications of the Tabernacle & first Temple are alluded unto. For the second Temple had not testimony in it. After Moses had led Israel into the wildernes & sung a song of triumph over the Egyptians at the red sea represented here by the sea of glass he set up the Tabernacle & dedicated it. And From the time that the Tabernacle was set up it was covered with a cloud during all the stay of the woman in the wilderness. {T}he dedication of Solomon's Temple was kept upon the Feast of the seventh month which began upon the 15th day of the month & when the Priests had brought in the Ark & were came out of the holy place & the Levites arrayed in white linen having cymbals & psalteries & Harps, stood at the east end of the Altar & with them an hundred & twenty priests sounding with trumpets & the trumpers & singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising & thanking the Lord & lift up their voice with the trumpets & cymbals & instruments & praised the Lord saying For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever, then the house was filled with a cloud even the house of the Lord so that the Priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God 2 Chron. 5. This dedication continued seven days that is all the days of the Feast of Tabernacles & was kept with exceeding great sacrifices besides the sacrifices of the feast . For Solomon sacrificed 22000 Oxen & 120000 sheep Conceive that the drink offerings of these sacrifices are alluded unto in the seven vials of wrath & that the noise of Trumpets & singing with musicall instruments at these sacrifices are alluded unto in the seven Trumpets & seven thunders . [ You may conceive also that the victors stand upon the sea of glass & sing at all these sacrifices, they being the cloud encompassing the Angel who stood upon the sea & earth with a little book in his hand & the seven thunders being the voice of that cloud & by consequence of the Victors. For the prophesies of the Angels with the seven trumpets, the seven thunders, & the Angels with the 7 Vials of wrath, are all of them the prophesy of the second page of the 7th leaf of the sealed book. They are one & the same prophesy of that page delivered in seve{n}

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After Dacia, a very large country on the northern side of the Danube inhabited by the Goths was conquered by Trajan & became a province of the Roman Empire the Christian religion was as freely propagated into that country as {o}{u}{i}nto the rest of the Roman Provinces. In the reign of Decius the Goths revolting made war upon the Empire ( being assisted by other barbarous northern nations ) slew Decius with the greatest part of his army & made the Empire tributary, & in the reign of the next Emperor Gallus invaded Thrace Mœsia Thessaly Macedonia & some parts of Asia, & repeated these invasions several times in the reigns of Valerian & his son Gallienus carrying away many Christian captives from Greece & Asia into their own country by whom & the Christians who fled from the several persecutions of Decius Gallus Valerian Aurelian & Dioclesian , the Christian religion was much propagated from Asia & Greece into those countries. And the Churches of all Dacia were at this time subject to one common bishop . & sent their bishops to the Council of Nice. His name was Theophilus a name derived from the Greeks. Afterwards Dacia in the reign of Athanaric king of all the Goths being invaded by a great army of Hunns from the regions of the river Tanais. they conquered the eastern parts of the Goths thenceforward called Ostrogoths & made the rest of the Goths who lived westward & were thence called Visigoths ch{u}se new captains & fly over the Danube into Pannonia where they made war upon the Romans, routed the Emperor Valens & slew him but were checkt by his successor Theodosius & had seats granted them in Pannonia, & their Bishop Vlfilas invented their letters & translated the scriptures into their language. For the Visigoths had now a bishop of their own, & therefore the Ostrogoth{} Christians had also their bishop, but with this difference that the kings of the Visigoths were now converted to the Christian religion but those the Ostrogoths not yet. For At{ha}naricus king of the Ostrogoths persecuted the Christians.

After the death of Theodosius the Visigoths under Alaric their king invaded first the Greek Empire & then the Latin & sackt Rome & then retired over the Alps into Gallia, & there seated themselves & in Spain . And the Church of this nation under its bishop being descended from the Churches of Asia & constantly seated within the bounds of the old Roman Empire including Dacia, may justly be represented in this prophesy by a Candlestick And so may the Church of the Ostrogoths under their Bishop, they being also descended from the Churches of Asia & Greece & constantly {seated}{seated}{sealed} within the bounds of the old Roman Empire & at length conquering & reigning over Italy & Rome the seat of the western Empire for many years together.

These two Candlesticks or Churches were witnesses of the religion which they received from the Churches of Asia & Greece They were very remarkable witnesses against the Church of Rome because both of them conquered Italy & reigned over that City the Metropolis of the Empire. In wars of the four first Trumpets fire proceeded out of their mouth & devoured their enemies & they had power to turn the waters into blood & to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they would: which is the proper character of the two witnesses.

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They had



Now as the Beast is said to have ten horns & the other Beast two horns because that was their number at their first rise, & as the first Temple has seven Candlesticks because that was their first number so the second Temple has two Candlesticks to signify that that was their first number. And therefore we are to look for the number of two Candlesticks at the time when the second Temple was newly built & the Candlesticks were first placed in it: the history of which was as follows.

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They affirmed the father to be greater then the Son & for that reason were falsly called Arians by {the} uncharitable spirit of the Roman Catholick Church. . For they did not say that the son was ex non extantibus nor that there was a time when he was not nor allowed that he should be called a creature nor can I find that they medled with those metaphysical disputes , or judged those that did. Theodorit tells us Quamobrem Gothi hactenus Patrem quidem filio majorem esse dicunt; Filium tamen creaturam dicere non sustinent, licet cum iis cummunicent qui ita dicunt. Theod. l 4 c 37. And this religion they derived from the seven Churches of Asia. These two Churches were very remarkable witnesses against – – – – – – – – – character of the two witnesses. In the end of the wars of those four Trumpets when the kingdom of the Ostrogoths fell & the kings of the Visigoth{s} embraced the Roman Catholick religion, these witnesses put on sackcloth. But they began to prophesy before. For they had power to shut heaven that it should not rain in the days of their prophesy, & therefore they began to prophesy when the rain ceased & the woman fled into the spiritually dry & baren wilderness, & left a remnant of her seed ( the remnant of the seven Churches ) to be persecuted in the eastern Empire by the Dragon. They were the Candlesticks of the second Temple & therefore prophesied from the time of measuring or building that Temple As the seven Churches of Asia were not all the Churches of Asia but were chosen to represent them all, so the two Churches of the Goths might not be all the Churches of God in the western Empire but for their eminence might be chosen to represent them all. And as the seven Candlesticks or Churches of Asia after the flight of the woman into the wilderness signifie the remnant of her seed which she left in the eastern Empire when she fled & which the Dragon went to make war upon when he turned from pursuing her, & the remnant of that remnant after the Dragon had made war upon them so the two Witnesses after they put on sackcloth signify the remnant of all the true Christians in the western Empire in a state of affliction mourning & oppression. And in this disconsolate condition the people of God continue in both Empires till the fall of Babylon the great, the preaching of the Gospel to all nations, & the second coming of Christ.

[1] ✝ with the Carpi Borani Orugundi Heruli & Peuci &c

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