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.

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.

Thus the Greek Chronologers, who follow Timæus and Eratosthenes, have made the Kings of their several Cities, who lived before the times of the Persian Empire, to Reign about 35 or 40 years a-piece, one with another; which is a length so much beyond the course of nature, as is not to be credited. For by the ordinary course of nature Kings Reign, one with another, about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and if in some instances they Reign, one with another, five or six years longer, in others they Reign as much shorter: eighteen or twenty years is a medium. So the eighteen Kings of Judah who succeeded Solomon, Reigned 390 years, which is one with another 22 years a-piece. The fifteen Kings of Israel after Solomon, Reigned 259 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The eighteen Kings of Babylon, Nabonassar &c. Reigned 209 years, which is 11⅔ years a-piece. The ten Kings of Persia; Cyrus, Cambyses, &c. Reigned 208 years, which is almost 21 years a piece. The sixteen Successors of Alexander the great, and of his brother and son in Syria; Seleucus, Antiochus Soter, &c. Reigned 244 years, after the breaking of that Monarchy into various Kingdoms, which is 15¼ years a-piece. The eleven Kings of Egypt; Ptolomæus Lagi, &c. Reigned 277 years, counted from the same Period, which is 25 years a-piece. The eight in Macedonia; Cassander, &c. Reigned 138 years, which is 17¼ years a-piece. The thirty Kings of England; William the Conqueror, William Rufus, &c. Reigned 648 years, which is 21½ years a-piece. The first twenty four Kings of France; Pharamundus, &c. Reigned 458 years, which is 19 years a-piece: the next twenty four Kings of France; Ludovicus Balbus, &c. 451 years, which is 18¾ years a-piece: the next fifteen, Philip Valesius, &c. 315 years, which is 21 years a-piece: and all the sixty three Kings of France, 1224 years, which is 19½ years a-piece. Generations from father to son, may be reckoned one with another at about 33 or 34 years a-piece, or about three Generations to an hundred years: but if the reckoning proceed by the eldest sons, they are shorter, so that three of them may be reckoned at about 75 or 80 years: and the Reigns of Kings are still shorter, because Kings are succeeded not only by their eldest sons, but sometimes by their brothers, and sometimes they are slain or deposed; and succeeded by others of an equal or greater age, especially in elective or turbulent Kingdoms. In the later Ages, since Chronology hath been exact, there is scarce an instance to be found of ten Kings Reigning any where in continual Succession above 260 years: but Timæus and his followers, and I think also some of his Predecessors, after the example of the Egyptians, have taken the Reigns of Kings for Generations, and reckoned three Generations to an hundred, and sometimes to an hundred and twenty years; and founded the Technical Chronology of the Greeks upon this way of reckoning. Let the reckoning be reduced to the course of nature, by putting the Reigns of Kings one with another, at about eighteen or twenty years a-piece: and the ten Kings of Sparta by one Race, the nine by another Race, the ten Kings of Messene, and the nine of Arcadia, above mentioned, between the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus, and the end of the first Messenian war, will scarce take up above 180 or 190 years: whereas according to Chronologers they took up 379 years.

For confirming this reckoning, I may add another argument. Euryleon the son of Ægeus, ^[24] commanded the main body of the Messenians in the fifth year of the first Messenian war, and was in the fifth Generation from Oiolicus the son Theras, the brother-in-law of Aristodemus, and tutor to his sons Eurysthenes and Procles, as Pausanias ^[25] relates: and by consequence, from the return of the Heraclides, which was in the days of Theras, to the battle which was in the fifth year of this war, there were six Generations, which, as I conceive, being for the most part by the eldest sons, will scarce exceed thirty years to a Generation; and so may amount unto 170 or 180 years. That war lasted 19 or 20 years: add the last 15 years, and there will be about 190 years to the end of that war: whereas the followers of Timæus make it about 379 years, which is above sixty years to a Generation.

By these arguments, Chronologers have lengthned the time, between the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus and the first Messenian war, adding to it about 190 years: and they have also lengthned the time, between that war and the rise of the Persian Empire. For in the Race of the Spartan Kings, descended from Eurysthenes; after Polydorus, reigned ^[26] these Kings, Eurycrates, Anaxander, Eurycratides, Leon, Anaxandrides, Clomenes, Leonidas, &c. And in the other Race descended from Procles; after Theopompus, reigned ^[27] these, Anaxandrides, Archidemus, Anaxileus, Leutychides, Hippocratides, Ariston, Demaratus, Leutychides II. &c. according to Herodotus. These Kings reigned 'till the sixth year of Xerxes, in which Leonidas was slain by the Persians at Thermopylæ; and Leutychides II. soon after, flying from Sparta to Tegea, died there. The seven Reigns of the Kings of Sparta, which follow Polydorus, being added to the ten Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of Eurysthenes; make up seventeen Reigns of Kings, between the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus and the sixth year of Xerxes: and the eight Reigns following Theopompus, being added to the nine Reigns above mentioned, which began with that of Procles, make up also seventeen Reigns: and these seventeen Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto three hundred and forty years. Count these 340 years upwards from the sixth year of Xerxes, and one or two years more for the war of the Heraclides, and Reign of Aristodemus, the father of Eurysthenes and Procles; and they will place the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus, 159 years after the death of Solomon, and 46 years before the first Olympiad, in which Coræbus was victor. But the followers of Timæus have placed this Return two hundred and eighty years earlier. Now this being the computation upon which the Greeks, as you have heard from Diodorus and Plutarch, have founded the Chronology of their Kingdoms, which were ancienter than the Persian Empire; that Chronology is to be rectified, by shortening the times which preceded the death of Cyrus, in the proportion of almost two to one; for the times which follow the death of Cyrus are not much amiss.

The Artificial Chronologers, have made Lycurgus, the legislator, as old as Iphitus, the restorer of the Olympiads; and Iphitus, an hundred and twelve years, older than the first Olympiad: and, to help out the Hypothesis, they have feigned twenty eight Olympiads older than the first Olympiad, wherein Coræbus was victor. But these things were feigned, after the days of Thucydides and Plato: for Socrates died three years after the end of the Peloponnesian war, and Plato ^[28] introduceth him saying, that the institutions of Lycurgus were but of three hundred years standing, or not much more. And ^[29] Thucydides, in the reading followed by Stephanus, saith, that the Lacedæmonians, had from ancient times used good laws, and been free from tyranny; and that from the time that they had used one and the same administration of their commonwealth, to the end of the Peloponnesian war, there were three hundred years and a few more. Count three hundred years back from the end of the Peloponnesian war, and they will place the Legislature of Lycurgus upon the 19th Olympiad. And, according to Socrates, it might be upon the 22d or 23d. Athenæus ^[30] tells us out of ancient authors (Hellanicus, Sosimus and Hieronymus) that Lycurgus the Legislator, was contemporary to Terpander the Musician; and that Terpander was the first man who got the victory in the Carnea, in a solemnity of music instituted in those festivals in the 26th Olympiad. He overcame four times in those Pythic games, and therefore lived at least 'till the 29th Olympiad: and beginning to flourish in the days of Lycurgus, it is not likely that Lycurgus began to flourish, much before the 18th Olympiad. The name of Lycurgus being on the Olympic Disc, Aristotle concluded thence, that Lycurgus was the companion of Iphitus, in restoring the Olympic games: and this argument might be the ground of the opinion of Chronologers, that Lycurgus and Iphitus were contemporary. But Iphitus did not restore all the Olympic games. He ^[31] restored indeed the Racing in the first Olympiad, Coræbus being victor. In the 14th Olympiad, the double stadium was added, Hypænus being victor. And in the 18th Olympiad the Quinquertium and Wrestling were added, Lampus and Eurybatus, two Spartans, being victors: And the Disc was one of the games of the Quinquertium. ^[32] Pausanias tells us that there were three Discs kept in the Olympic treasury at Altis: these therefore having the name of Lycurgus upon them, shew that they were given by him, at the institution of the Quinquertium, in the 18th Olympiad. Now Polydectes King of Sparta, being slain before the birth of his son Charillus or Charilaus, left the Kingdom to Lycurgus his brother; and Lycurgus, upon the birth of Charillus, became tutor to the child; and after about eight months travelled into Crete and Asia, till the child grew up, and brought back with him the poems of Homer; and soon after published his laws, suppose upon the 22d or 23d Olympiad; for he was then growing old: and Terpander was a Lyric Poet, and began to flourish about this time; for ^[33] he imitated Orpheus and Homer, and sung Homer's verses and his own, and wrote the laws of Lycurgus in verse, and was victor in the Pythic games in the 26th Olympiad, as above. He was the first who distinguished the modes of Lyric music by several names. Ardalus and Clonas soon after did the like for wind music: and from henceforward, by the encouragement of the Pythic games, now instituted, several eminent Musicians and Poets flourished in Greece: as Archilochus, Eumelus Corinthius, Polymnestus, Thaletas, Xenodemus, Xenocritus, Sacadas, Tyrtæus, Tlesilla, Rhianus, Alcman, Arion, Stesichorus, Mimnermnus, Alcæus, Sappho, Theognis, Anacreon, Ibycus, Simonides, Æschylus, Pindar, by whom the Music and Poetry of the Greeks were brought to perfection.

Lycurgus, published his laws in the Reign of Agesilaus, the son and successor of Doryagus, in the Race of the Kings of Sparta descended from Eurysthenes. From the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus, to the end of the Reign of Agesilaus, there were six Reigns: and from the same Return to the end of the Reign of Polydectes, in the Race of the Spartan Kings descended from Procles, there were also six Reigns: and these Reigns, at twenty years a-piece one with another, amount unto 120 years; besides the short Reign of Aristodemus, the father of Eurysthenes and Procles, which might amount to a year or two: for Aristodemus came to the crown, as ^[34] Herodotus and the Lacedæmonians themselves affirmed. The times of the deaths of Agesilaus and Polydectes are not certainly known: but it may be presumed that Lycurgus did not meddle with the Olympic games before he came to the Kingdom; and therefore Polydectes died in the beginning of the 18th Olympiad, or but a very little before. If it may be supposed that the 20th Olympiad was in, or very near to the middle time between the deaths of the two Kings Polydectes and Agesilaus, and from thence be counted upwards the aforesaid 120 years, and one year more for the Reign of Aristodemus; the reckoning will place the Return of the Heraclides, about 45 years before the beginning of the Olympiads.

Iphitus, who restored the Olympic games, ^[35] was descended from Oxylus, the son of Hæmon, the son of Thoas, the son of Andræmon: Hercules and Andræmon married two sisters: Thoas warred at Troy: Oxylus returned into Peloponnesus with the Heraclides. In this return he commanded the body of the Ætolians, and recovered Elea; ^[36] from whence his ancestor Ætolus, the son of Endymion, the son of Aethlius, had been driven by Salmoneus the grandson of Hellen. By the friendship of the Heraclides, Oxylus had the care of the Olympic Temple committed to him: and the Heraclides, for his service done them, granted further upon oath that the country of the Eleans should be free from invasions, and be defended by them from all armed force: And when the Eleans were thus consecrated, Oxylus restored the Olympic games: and after they had been again intermitted, Iphitus their King ^[37] restored them, and made them quadrennial. Iphitus is by some reckoned the son of Hæmon, by others the son of Praxonidas, the son of Hæmon: but Hæmon being the father of Oxylus, I would reckon Iphitus the son of Praxonidas, the son of Oxylus, the son of Hæmon. And by this reckoning the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus will be two Generations by the eldest sons, or about 52 years, before the Olympiads.

Pausanias ^[38] represents that Melas the son of Antissus, of the posterity of Gonussa the daughter of Sicyon, was not above six Generations older than Cypselus King of Corinth; and that he was contemporary to Aletes, who returned with the Heraclides into Peloponnesus. The Reign of Cypselus began An. 2, Olymp. 31, according to Chronologers; and six Generations, at about 30 years to a Generation, amount unto 180 years. Count those years backwards from An. 2, Olymp. 31, and they will place the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus 58 years before the first Olympiad. But it might not be so early, if the Reign of Cypselus began three or four Olympiads later; for he reigned before the Persian Empire began.

Hercules the Argonaut was the father of Hyllus; the father of Cleodius; the father of Aristomachus; the father of Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristodemus, who led the Heraclides into Peloponnesus and Eurystheus, who was of the same age with Hercules, was slain in the first attempt of the Heraclides to return: Hyllus was slain in the second attempt, Cleodius in the third attempt, Aristomachus in the fourth attempt, and Aristodemus died as soon as they were returned, and left the Kingdom of Sparta to his sons Eurysthenes and Procles. Whence their Return was four Generations later than the Argonautic expedition: And these Generations were short ones, being by the chief of the family, and suit with the reckoning of Thucydides and the Ancients, that the taking of Troy was about 75 or eighty years before the return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus; and the Argonautic expedition one Generation earlier than the taking of Troy. Count therefore eighty years backward from the Return of the Heraclides into Peloponnesus to the Trojan war, and the taking of Troy will be about 76 years after the death of Solomon: And the Argonautic expedition, which was one Generation earlier, will be about 43 years after it. From the taking of Troy to the Return of the Heraclides, could scarce be more than eighty years, because Orestes the son of Agamemnon was a youth at the taking of Troy, and his sons Penthilus and Tisamenus lived till the Return of the Heraclides.

Æsculapius and Hercules were Argonauts, and Hippocrates was the eighteenth inclusively by the father's side from Æsculapius, and the nineteenth from Hercules by the mother's side: and because these Generations, being taken notice of by writers, were most probably by the principal of the family, and so for the most part by the eldest sons; we may reckon about 28 or at the most about 30 years to a Generation. And thus the seventeen intervals by the father's side, and eighteen by the mother's, will at a middle reckoning amount unto about 507 years: which counted backwards from the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, at which time Hippocrates began to flourish, will reach up to the 43d year after the death of Solomon, and there place the Argonautic expedition.

When the Romans conquered the Carthaginians, the Archives of Carthage came into their hands: And thence Appian, in his history of the Punic wars, tells in round numbers that Carthage stood seven hundred years: and ^[39] Solinus adds the odd number of years in these words: Adrymeto atque Carthagini author est a Tyro populus. Urbem istam, ut Cato in Oratione Senatoria autumat; cum rex Hiarbas rerum in Libya potiretur, Elissa mulier extruxit, domo Phœnix & Carthadam dixit, quod Phœnicum ore exprimit civitatem novam; mox sermone verso Carthago dicta est, quæ post annos septingentos triginta septem exciditur quam fuerat extructa. Elissa was Dido, and Carthage was destroyed in the Consulship of Lentulus and Mummius, in the year of the Julian Period 4568; from whence count backwards 737 years, and the Encænia or Dedication of the City, will fall upon the 16th year of Pygmalion, the brother of Dido, and King of Tyre. She fled in the seventh year of Pygmalion, but the Æra of the City began with its Encænia. Now Virgil, and his Scholiast Servius, who might have some things from the archives of Tyre and Cyprus, as well as from those of Carthage, relate that Teucer came from the war of Troy to Cyprus, in the days of Dido, a little before the Reign of her brother Pygmalion; and, in conjunction with her father, seized Cyprus, and ejected Cinyras: and the Marbles say that Teucer came to Cyprus seven years after the destruction of Troy, and built Salamis; and Apollodorus, that Cinyras married Metharme the daughter of Pygmalion, and built Paphos. Therefore, if the Romans, in the days of Augustus, followed not altogether the artificial Chronology of Eratosthenes, but had these things from the records of Carthage, Cyprus, or Tyre; the arrival of Teucer at Cyprus will be in the Reign of the predecessor of Pygmalion: and by consequence the destruction of Troy, about 76 years later than the death of Solomon.

Dionysius Halicarnassensis ^[40] tells us, that in the time of the Trojan war, Latinus was King of the Aborigines in Italy, and that in the sixteenth Age after that war, Romulus built Rome. By Ages he means Reigns of Kings: for after Latinus he names sixteen Kings of the Latines, the last of which was Numitor, in whose days Romulus built Rome: for Romulus was contemporary to Numitor, and after him Dionysius and others reckon six Kings more over Rome, to the beginning of the Consuls. Now these twenty and two Reigns, at about 18 years to a Reign one with another, for many of these Kings were slain, took up 396 years; which counted back from the consulship of Junius Brutus and Valerius Publicola, the two first Consuls, place the Trojan war about 78 years after the death of Solomon.

The expedition of Sesostris was one Generation earlier than the Argonautic expedition: for in his return back into Egypt he left Æetes in Colchis, and Æetes reigned there 'till the Argonautic expedition; and Prometheus was left by Sesostris with a body of men at Mount Caucasus, to guard that pass, and after thirty years was released by Hercules the Argonaut: and Phlyas and Eumedon, the sons of the great Bacchus, so the Poets call Sesostris, and of Ariadne the daughter of Minos, were Argonauts. At the return of Sesostris into Egypt, his brother Danaus fled from him into Greece with his fifty daughters, in a long ship; after the pattern of which the ship Argo was built: and Argus, the son of Danaus, was the master-builder thereof. Nauplius the Argonaut was born in Greece, of Amymone, one of the daughters of Danaus, and of Neptune, the brother and admiral of Sesostris: And two others of the daughters of Danaus married Archander and Archilites, the sons of Achæus, the son of Creusa, the daughter of Erechtheus King of Athens: and therefore the daughters of Danaus were three Generations younger than Erechtheus; and by consequence contemporary to Theseus the son of Ægeus, the adopted son of Pandion, the son of Erechtheus. Theseus, in the time of the Argonautic expedition, was of about 50 years of age, and so was born about the 33d year of Solomon: for he stole Helena ^[41] just before that expedition, being then 50 years old, and she but seven, or as some say ten. Pirithous the son of Ixion helped Theseus to steal Helena, and then ^[42] Theseus went with Pirithous to steal Persephone, the daughter of Aidoneus, or Orcus, King of the Molossians, and was taken in the action: and whilst he lay in prison, Castor and Pollux returning from the Argonautic expedition, released their sister Helena, and captivated Æthra the mother of Theseus. Now the daughters of Danaus being contemporary to Theseus, and some of their sons being Argonauts, Danaus with his daughters fled from his brother Sesostris into Greece about one Generation before the Argonautic expedition; and therefore Sesostris returned into Egypt in the Reign of Rehoboam. He came out of Egypt in the fifth year of Rehoboam, ^[43] and spent nine years in that expedition, against the Eastern Nations and Greece; and therefore returned back into Egypt, in the fourteenth year of Rehoboam. Sesac and Sesostris were therefore Kings of all Egypt, at one and the same time: and they agree not only in the time, but also in their actions and conquests. God gave Sesac ממלכות הארצות the Kingdoms of the lands, 2 Chron. xii. Where Herodotus describes the expedition of Sesostris, Josephus ^[44] tells us that he described the expedition of Sesac, and attributed his actions to Sesostris, erring only in the name of the King. Corruptions of names are frequent in history; Sesostris was otherwise called Sesochris, Sesochis, Sesoosis, Sethosis, Sesonchis, Sesonchosis. Take away the Greek termination, and the names become Sesost, Sesoch, Sesoos, Sethos, Sesonch: which names differ very little from Sesach. Sesonchis and Sesach differ no more than Memphis and Moph, two names of the same city. Josephus ^[45] tells us also, from Manetho, that Sethosis was the brother of Armais, and that these brothers were otherwise called Ægyptus and Danaus; and that upon the return of Sethosis or Ægyptus, from his great conquests into Egypt, Armais or Danaus fled from him into Greece.

Egypt was at first divided into many small Kingdoms, like other nations; and grew into one monarchy by degrees: and the father of Solomon's Queen, was the first King of Egypt, who came into Phœnicia with an Army: but he only took Gezir, and gave it to his daughter. Sesac, the next King, came out of Egypt with an army of Libyans, Troglodites and Ethiopians, 2 Chron. xii. 3. and therefore was then King of all those countries; and we do not read in Scripture, that any former King of Egypt; who Reigned over all those nations, came out of Egypt with a great army to conquer other countries. The sacred history of the Israelites, from the days of Abraham to the days of Solomon, admits of no such conqueror. Sesostris reigned over all the same nations of the Libyans, Troglodites and Ethiopians, and came out of Egypt with a great army to conquer other Kingdoms. The Shepherds reigned long in the lower part of Egypt, and were expelled thence, just before the building of Jerusalem and the Temple; according to Manetho; and whilst they Reigned in the lower part of Egypt, the upper part thereof was under other Kings: and while Egypt was divided into several Kingdoms, there was no room for any such King of all Egypt as Sesostris; and no historian makes him later than Sesac: and therefore he was one and the same King of Egypt with Sesac. This is no new opinion: Josephus discovered it when he affirmed that Herodotus erred, in ascribing the actions of Sesac to Sesostris, and that the error was only in the name of the King: for this is as much as to say, that the true name of him who did those things described by Herodotus, was Sesac; and that Herodotus erred only in calling him Sesostris; or that he was called Sesostris by a corruption of his name. Our great Chronologer, Sir John Marsham, was also of opinion that Sesostris was Sesac: and if this be granted, it is then most certain, that Sesostris came out of Egypt in the fifth year of Rehoboam to invade the nations, and returned back into Egypt in the 14th year of that King; and that Danaus then flying from his brother, came into Greece within a year or two after: and the Argonautic expedition being one Generation later than that invasion, and than the coming of Danaus into Greece, was certainly about 40 or 45 years later than the death of Solomon. Prometheus stay'd on Mount Caucasus ^[46] thirty years, and then was released by Hercules: and therefore the Argonautic expedition was thirty years after Prometheus had been left on Mount Caucasus by Sesostris, that is, about 44 years after the death of Solomon.

All nations, before the just length of the Solar year was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon; and years by the ^[47] returns of winter and summer, spring and autumn: and in making Calendars for their Festivals, reckoned thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve Lunar months to a year; taking the nearest round numbers: whence came the division of the Ecliptic into 360 degrees. So in the time of Noah's flood, when the Moon could not be seen, Noah reckoned thirty days to a month: but if the Moon appeared a day or two before the end of the month, ^[48] they began the next month with the first day of her appearing: and this was done generally, 'till the Egyptians of Thebais found the length of the Solar year. So ^[49] Diodorus tells us that the Egyptians of Thebais use no intercalary months, nor subduct any days [from the month] as is done by most of the Greeks. And ^[50] Cicero, est consuetudo Siculorum cæterorumque Græcorum, quod suos dies mensesque congruere volunt cum Solis Lunæque ratione, ut nonnumquam siquid discrepet, eximant unum aliquem diem aut summum biduum ex mense [civili dierum triginta] quos illi εξαιρεσιμους dies nominant. And Proclus, upon Hesiod's τριακας mentions the same thing. And ^[51] Geminus: Προθεσις γαρ ην τοις αρχαιοις, τους μεν μηνας αγειν κατα σεληνην, τους δε ενιαυτους καθ' ‛ηλιον. Το γαρ ‛υπο των νομων, και των χρησμων παραγγελλομενον, το θυειν κατα γ', ηγουν τα πατρια, μηνας, ‛ημερας, ενιαυτους: τουτο διελαβον απαντες ‛οι ‛Ελληνες τωι τους μεν ‛ενιαυτους συμφωνως αγειν τωι ‛ηλιωι· τας δε ‛ημερας και τους μηνας τηι σεληνη. εστι δε το μεν καθ' ‛ηλιον αγειν τους ενιαυτους, το περι τας αυτας ‛ωρας του ενιαυτου τας αυτας θυσιας τοις θεοις επιτελειθαι, και την μεν εαρινην θυσιαν δια παντος κατα το εαρ συντελειθαι· την δε θερινην, κατα το θερος· ‛ομοιως δε και κατα τους λοιπους καιρους του ετους τας αυτας θυσιας πιπτειν. Τουτο γαρ ‛υπελαβον προσηνες, και κεχαρισμενον ειναι τοις θεοις. Τουτο δ' αλλως ουκ αν δυναιτο γενεσθαι, ει μη ‛αι τροπαι, και ‛αι ισημεριαι περι τους αυτους τοπους γιγνοιντο. Το δε κατα σεληνην αγειν τας ‛ημερας, τοιουτον εστι· το ακολουθως τοις της σεληνης φωτισμοις τας προσηγοριας των ‛ημερων γινεσθαι. απο γαρ των της σεληνης φωτισμων ‛αι προσηγοριαι των ‛ημερων κατωνομασθησαν. Εν ‛ηι μεν γαρ ‛ημεραι νεα ‛η σεληνη φαινεται, κατα συναλοιφην νεομηνια προσηγορευθη· εν ‛ηι δε ‛ημεραι την δευτεραν φασιν ποιειται, δευτεραν προσηγορευσαν· την δε κατα μεσον του μηνος γινομενην φασιν της σεληνης, απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος διχομηνιαν εκαλεσαν. και καθολου δε πασας τας ‛ημερας απο των της σεληνης φωτισματων προσωνομασαν. ‛οθεν και την τριακοστην του μηνος ‛ημεραν εσχατην ουσαν απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος τριακαδα εκαλεσαν. Propositum enim fuit veteribus, menses quidem agere secundum Lunam, annos vero secundum Solem. Quod enim a legibus & Oraculis præcipiebatur, ut sacrificarent secundum tria, videlicet patria, menses, dies, annos; hoc ita distincte faciebant universi Græci, ut annos agerent congruenter cum Sole, dies vero & menses cum Luna. Porro secundum Solem annos agere, est circa easdem tempestates anni eadem sacrificia Diis perfici, & vernum sacrificium semper in vere consummari, æstivum autem in æstate: similiter & in reliquis anni temporibus eadem sacrificia cadere. Hoc enim putabant acceptum & gratum esse Diis. Hoc autem aliter fieri non posset nisi conversiones solstitiales & æquinoctia in iisdem Zodiaci locis fierent. Secundum Lunam vero dies agere est tale ut congruant cum Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum. Nam a Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum sunt denominatæ. In qua enim die Luna apparet nova, ea per Synalœphen, seu compositionem νεομηνια id est, Novilunium appellatur. In qua vero die secundam facit apparitionem, eam secundam Lunam vocarunt. Apparitionem Lunæ quæ circa medium mensis fit, ab ipso eventu διχομηνιαν, id est medietatem mensis nominarunt. Ac summatim, omnes dies a Lunæ illuminationibus denominarunt. Unde etiam tricesimam mensis diem, cum ultima sit, ab ipso eventu τριακαδα vocarunt.

The ancient Calendar year of the Greeks consisted therefore of twelve Lunar months, and every month of thirty days: and these years and months they corrected from time to time, by the courses of the Sun and Moon, omitting a day or two in the month, as often as they found the month too long for the course of the Moon; and adding a month to the year, as often as they found the twelve Lunar months too short for the return of the four seasons. Cleobulus, ^[52] one of the seven wise men of Greece, alluded to this year of the Greeks, in his Parable of one father who had twelve sons, each of which had thirty daughters half white and half black: and Thales ^[53] called the last day of the month τριακαδα, the thirtieth: and Solon counted the ten last days of the month backward from the thirtieth, calling that day ενην και νεαν, the old and the new, or the last day of the old month and the first day of the new: for he introduced months of 29 and 30 days alternately, making the thirtieth day of every other month to be the first day of the next month.

To the twelve Lunar months ^[54] the ancient Greeks added a thirteenth, every other year, which made their Dieteris; and because this reckoning made their year too long by a month in eight years, they omitted an intercalary month once in eight years, which made their Octaeteris, one half of which was their Tetraeteris: And these Periods seem to have been almost as old as the religions of Greece, being used in divers of their Sacra. The ^[55] Octaeteris was the Annus magnus of Cadmus and Minos, and seems to have been brought into Greece and Crete by the Phœnicians, who came thither with Cadmus and Europa, and to have continued 'till after the days of Herodotus: for in counting the length of seventy years ^[56], he reckons thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve such months, or 360 days, to the ordinary year, without the intercalary months, and 25 such months to the Dieteris: and according to the number of days in the Calendar year of the Greeks, Demetrius Phalereus had 360 Statues erected to him by the Athenians. But the Greeks, Cleostratus, Harpalus, and others, to make their months agree better with the course of the Moon, in the times of the Persian Empire, varied the manner of intercaling the three months in the Octaeteris; and Meton found out the Cycle of intercaling seven months in nineteen years.

The Ancient year of the Latines was also Luni-solar; for Plutarch ^[57] tells us, that the year of Numa consisted of twelve Lunar months, with intercalary months to make up what the twelve Lunar months wanted of the Solar year. The Ancient year of the Egyptians was also Luni-solar, and continued to be so 'till the days of Hyperion, or Osiris, a King of Egypt, the father of Helius and Selene, or Orus and Bubaste: For the Israelites brought this year out of Egypt; and Diodorus tells ^[58] us that Ouranus the father of Hyperion used this year, and ^[59] that in the Temple of Osiris the Priests appointed thereunto filled 360 Milk Bowls every day: I think he means one Bowl every day, in all 360, to count the number of days in the Calendar year, and thereby to find out the difference between this and the true Solar year: for the year of 360 days was the year, to the end of which they added five days.

That the Israelites used the Luni-solar year is beyond question. Their months began with their new Moons. Their first month was called Abib, from the earing of Corn in that month. Their Passover was kept upon the fourteenth day of the first month, the Moon being then in the full: and if the Corn was not then ripe enough for offering the first Fruits, the Festival was put off, by adding an intercalary month to the end of the year; and the harvest was got in before the Pentecost, and the other Fruits gathered before the Feast of the seventh month.

Simplicius in his commentary ^[60] on the first of Aristotle's Physical Acroasis, tells us, that some begin the year upon the Summer Solstice, as the People of Attica; or upon the Autumnal Equinox, as the People of Asia; or in Winter, as the Romans; or about the Vernal Equinox, as the Arabians and People of Damascus: and the month began, according to some, upon the Full Moon, or upon the New. The years of all these Nations were therefore Luni-solar, and kept to the four Seasons: and the Roman year began at first in Spring, as I seem to gather from the Names of their Months, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December: and the beginning was afterwards removed to Winter. The ancient civil year of the Assyrians and Babylonians was also Luni-solar: for this year was also used by the Samaritans, who came from several parts of the Assyrian Empire; and the Jews who came from Babylon called the months of their Luni-solar year after the Names of the months of the Babylonian year: and Berosus ^[61] tells us that the Babylonians celebrated the Feast Sacæa upon the 16th day of the month Lous, which was a Lunar month of the Macedonians, and kept to one and the same Season of the year: and the Arabians, a Nation who peopled Babylon, use Lunar months to this day. Suidas ^[62] tells us, that the Sarus of the Chaldeans contains 222 Lunar months, which are eighteen years, consisting each of twelve Lunar months, besides six intercalary months: and when ^[63] Cyrus cut the River Gindus into 360 Channels, he seems to have alluded unto the number of days in the Calendar year of the Medes and Persians: and the Emperor Julian ^[64] writes, For when all other People, that I may say it in one word, accommodate their months to the course of the Moon, we alone with the Egyptians measure the days of the year by the course of the Sun.

At length the Egyptians, for the sake of Navigation, applied themselves to observe the Stars; and by their Heliacal Risings and Settings found the true Solar year to be five days longer than the Calendar year, and therefore added five days to the twelve Calendar months; making the Solar year to consist of twelve months and five days. Strabo ^[65] and ^[66] Diodorus ascribe this invention to the Egyptians of Thebes. The Theban Priests, saith Strabo, are above others said to be Astronomers and Philosophers. They invented the reckoning of days not by the course of the Moon, but by the course of the Sun. To twelve months each of thirty days they add yearly five days. In memory of this Emendation of the year they dedicated the ^[67] five additional days to Osiris, Isis, Orus senior, Typhon, and Nephthe the wife of Typhon, feigning that those days were added to the year when these five Princes were born, that is, in the Reign of Ouranus, or Ammon, the father of Sesac: and in ^[68] the Sepulchre of Amenophis, who Reigned soon after, they placed a Golden Circle of 365 cubits in compass, and divided it into 365 equal parts, to represent all the days in the year, and noted upon each part the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars on that day; which Circle remained there 'till the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses King of Persia. 'Till the Reign of Ouranus, the father of Hyperion, and grandfather of Helius and Selene, the Egyptians used the old Lunisolar year: but in his Reign, that is, in the Reign of Ammon, the father of Osiris or Sesac, and grandfather of Orus and Bubaste, the Thebans began to apply themselves to Navigation and Astronomy, and by the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars determined the length of the Solar year; and to the old Calendar year added five days, and dedicated them to his five children above mentioned, as their birth days: and in the Reign of Amenophis, when by further Observations they had sufficiently determined the time of the Solstices, they might place the beginning of this new year upon the Vernal Equinox. This year being at length propagated into Chaldæa, gave occasion to the year of Nabonassar; for the years of Nabonassar and those of Egypt began on one and the same day, called by them Thoth, and were equal and in all respects the same: and the first year of Nabonassar began on the 26th day of February of the old Roman year, seven hundred forty and seven years before the Vulgar Æra of Christ, and thirty and three days and five hours before the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion; for it is not likely that the Equation of the Sun's motion should be known in the infancy of Astronomy. Now reckoning that the year of 365 days wants five hours and 49 minutes of the Equinoctial year; the beginning of this year will move backwards thirty and three days and five hours in 137 years: and by consequence this year began at first in Egypt upon the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion, 137 years before the Æra of Nabonassar began; that is, in the year of the Julian Period 3830, or 96 years after the death of Solomon: and if it began upon the next day after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin four years earlier; and about that time ended the Reign of Amenophis: for he came not from Susa to the Trojan war, but died afterwards in Egypt. This year was received by the Persian Empire from the Babylonian; and the Greeks also used it in the Æra Philippæa, dated from the Death of Alexander the great; and Julius Cæsar corrected it, by adding a day in every four years, and made it the year of the Romans.

Syncellus tells us, that the five days were added to the old year by the last King of the Shepherds: and the difference in time between the Reign of this King, and that of Ammon, is but small; for the Reign of the Shepherds ended but one Generation, or two, before Ammon began to add those days. But the Shepherds minded not Arts and Sciences.

The first month of the Luni-solar year, by reason of the Intercalary month, began sometimes a week or a fortnight before the Equinox or Solstice, and sometimes as much after it. And this year gave occasion to the first Astronomers, who formed the Asterisms, to place the Equinoxes and Solstices in the middles of the Constellations of Aries, Cancer, Chelæ, and Capricorn. Achilles Tatius ^[69] tells us, that some antiently placed the Solstice in the beginning of Cancer, others in the eighth degree of Cancer, others about the twelfth degree, and others about the fifteenth degree thereof. This variety of opinions proceeded from the precession of the Equinox, then not known to the Greeks. When the Sphere was first formed, the Solstice was in the fifteenth degree or middle of the Constellation of Cancer: then it came into the twelfth, eighth, fourth, and first degree successively. Eudoxus, who flourished about sixty years after Meton, and an hundred years before Aratus, in describing the Sphere of the Ancients, placed the Solstices and Equinoxes in the middles of the Constellations of Aries, Cancer, Chelæ, and Capricorn, as is affirmed by ^[70] Hipparchus Bithynus; and appears also by the Description of the Equinoctial and Tropical Circles in Aratus, ^[71] who copied after Eudoxus; and by the positions of the Colures of the Equinoxes and Solstices, which in the Sphere of Eudoxus, described by Hipparchus, went through the middles of those Constellations. For Hipparchus tells us, that Eudoxus drew the Colure of the Solstices, through the middle of the great Bear, and the middle of Cancer, and the neck of Hydrus, and the Star between the Poop and Mast of Argo, and the Tayl of the South Fish, and through the middle of Capricorn, and of Sagitta, and through the neck and right wing of the Swan, and the left hand of Cepheus; and that he drew the Equinoctial Colure, through the left hand of Arctophylax, and along the middle of his Body, and cross the middle of Chelæ, and through the right hand and fore-knee of the Centaur, and through the flexure of Eridanus and head of Cetus, and the back of Aries a-cross, and through the head and right hand of Perseus.

Now Chiron delineated σχηματα ολυμπου the Asterisms, as the ancient Author of Gigantomachia, cited by ^[72] Clemens Alexandrinus informs us: for Chiron was a practical Astronomer, as may be there understood also of his daughter Hippo: and Musæus, the son of Eumolpus and master of Orpheus, and one of the Argonauts, ^[73] made a Sphere, and is reputed the first among the Greeks who made one: and the Sphere it self shews that it was delineated in the time of the Argonautic expedition; for that expedition is delineated in the Asterisms, together with several other ancienter Histories of the Greeks, and without any thing later. There's the golden RAM, the ensign of the Vessel in which Phryxus fled to Colchis; the BULL with brazen hoofs tamed by Jason; and the TWINS, CASTOR and POLLUX, two of the Argonauts, with the SWAN of Leda their mother. There's the Ship ARGO, and HYDRUS the watchful Dragon; with Medea's CUP, and a RAVEN upon its Carcass, the Symbol of Death. There's CHIRON the master of Jason, with his ALTAR and SACRIFICE. There's the Argonaut HERCULES with his DART and VULTURE falling down; and the DRAGON, CRAB and LION, whom he slew; and the HARP of the Argonaut Orpheus. All these relate to the Argonauts. There's ORION the son of Neptune, or as some say, the grandson of Minos, with his DOGS, and HARE, and RIVER, and SCORPION. There's the story of Perseus in the Constellations of PERSEUS, ANDROMEDA, CEPHEUS, CASSIOPEA and CETUS: That of Callisto, and her son Arcas, in URSA MAJOR and ARCTOPHYLAX: That of Icareus and his daughter Erigone in BOOTES, PLAUSTRUM and VIRGO. URSA MINOR relates to one of the Nurses of Jupiter, AURIGA to Erechthonius, OPHIUCHUS to Phorbas, SAGITTARIUS to Crolus the son of the Nurse of the Muses, CAPRICORN to Pan, and AQUARIUS to Ganimede. There's Ariadne's CROWN, Bellerophon's HORSE, Neptune's DOLPHIN, Ganimede's EAGLE, Jupiter's GOAT with her KIDS, Bacchus's ASSES, and the FISHES of Venus and Cupid, and their Parent the SOUTH FISH. These with DELTOTON, are the old Constellations mentioned by Aratus: and they all relate to the Argonauts and their Contemporaries, and to Persons one or two Generations older: and nothing later than that Expedition was delineated there Originally. ANTINOUS and COMA BERENICES are novel. The Sphere seems therefore to have been formed by Chiron and Musæus, for the use of the Argonauts: for the Ship Argo was the first long ship built by the Greeks. Hitherto they had used round vessels of burden, and kept within sight of the shore; and now, upon an Embassy to several Princes upon the coasts of the Euxine and Mediterranean Seas, ^[74] by the dictates of the Oracle, and consent of the Princes of Greece, the Flower of Greece were to sail with Expedition through the deep, in a long Ship with Sails, and guide their Ship by the Stars. The People of the Island Corcyra ^[75] attributed the invention of the Sphere to Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, King of the Pheaces in that Island: and it's most probable that she had it from the Argonauts, who ^[76] in their return home sailed to that Island, and made some stay there with her father. So then in the time of the Argonautic Expedition, the Cardinal points of the Equinoxes and Solstices were in the middles of the Constellations of Aries, Cancer, Chelæ, and Capricorn.

In the end of the year of our Lord 1689 the Star called Prima Arietis was in Aries. 28°. 51'. 00", with North Latitude 7°. 8'. 58". And the Star called ultima caudæ Arietis was in Taurus. 19°. 3'. 42", with North Latitude 2°. 34'. 5". And the Colurus Æquinoctiorum passing through the point in the middle between those two Stars did then cut the Ecliptic in Taurus. 6°. 44': and by this reckoning the Equinox in the end of the year 1689 was gone back 36°. 44'. since the Argonautic Expedition: Supposing that the said Colure passed through the middle of the Constellation of Aries, according to the delineation of the Ancients. The Equinox goes back fifty seconds in one year, and one degree in seventy and two years, and by consequence 36°. 44'. in 2645 years, which counted back from the end of the year of our Lord 1689, or beginning of the year 1690, will place the Argonautic Expedition about 25 years after the Death of Solomon: but it is not necessary that the middle of the Constellation of Aries should be exactly in the middle between the two Stars called prima Arietis and ultima Caudæ: and it may be better to fix the Cardinal points by the Stars, through which the Colures passed in the primitive Sphere, according to the description of Eudoxus above recited. By the Colure of the Equinoxes, I mean a great Circle passing through the Poles of the Equator, and cutting the Ecliptic in the Equinoxes in an Angle of 66½ degrees, the complement of the Sun's greatest Declination; and by the Colure of the Solstices I mean a great Circle passing through the same Poles, and cutting the Ecliptic at right Angles in the Solstices: and by the Primitive Sphere, that which was in use before the motions of the Equinoxes and Solstices were known: now the Colures passed through the following Stars according to Eudoxus.