OCR Text |
Show ~ . Thefirft Booke of the firSt part - oe Cuar.io.Si - ae -7 _ s)W a by and paintedCanuafes(called the - ofGhrifi,our Ladiesand C WAR. U§.1. ) ofthe Fiftorie of the $1of ieof tehWorld. " ie a wee pal derftanding. Onthefe flocks we call faith the Brame .ifedome ee . Us - +8 bip# the.$ than rottes waore ks the-raging wanes,o8 thefefloc finite multitude ofgods,that they were forced to diftinguith them into oe - dexs3.as Dy confentes, fewmatornmgentinm felecti, were eee = = r fellinggods, or gods ofthe mighticf Nobilitie, feletigeds, Patrian,gods of 7 eva; rial andterrctt twfims, dij ) Adedioxum called Remanes whichthe mougods ( multitudes of other gods: of which Saint 4uga/line hath made large a i in his tibit4, Capt7U.t8. 31. 647,445 rou Bookede Cinitate Dei. But(faith Laclamtins) among al] thofe miferable foules bodies,worfhipped by men moreliketo their Idols, did Epimenides Cretenfis y wha good Angell moued I knownot )erect inthe Athenian Fields, Altars to the vn oy God, whichftood with the fametitle and dedication euento the times of S.P aw: w 4 made themfirft knowto whomthefe Altars belonged, and openedtheir eyes were capable ofgrace,that they mightdifcernethe difference betwixt that light whic lighteneth euery man,and the ob{cure and ftinking mift wherein the Deuill oe nie yeeres led and mif-led them. And‘it fufficed not that the multitude of the hea was fo great in generall,or thateuery Nation had fome one which tooke particulara fingular care of them, as Jupiter in Creete, Ifis in Egypt, in Athens ertee, I ve il Iwao, in Paphos Venus,and {o ofall other parts; but euery Citic, and almoft eucry ol mily hada god a-part. For,as it is written in thefecond of Kéigs, the meh of Ba . made Saccoth Benoth,and the men of Cath made Nereal, and the men of Hamath made Afbima,and the Asites madé Nibhazand Tartak,.and the Sepberuaims burnt theit a dren in the fireto Adramelech, ail which fehagana ~ Prophe Efay ee Men cut downe Treesrinde them,burne apart of them, make readie their meate,and W themfelues by the fire thereof, and ofthe refiduehe maketh agod; an Idol, andprayeth unre it :but God hath [but their eyesfromfight, andtheir heartfrom underftanding. (It is theres fore fafeft fot a Chriftian to belecue theCommandements ofGadfo directagaint Idolatrie, to beleeue the Prophets,and to beleeue S.Pasls who fpeaketh thusplainly and} feelingly, My beloned,fhefrom Idolatries 1(peakeas onto them which bane under/landing indge ye what Ifzy. ofiudgement,I wil pafle ouer:theaéts of this third Affyrian,in as few words as I canex- preflethem. S. Adgufline affirmes that Ninus matteredall Afia, India excepted. Others fay that he wanneit all,faue India, Batiria,and Arabia:For he made Aricusof Arabiathe companion of his Conquetts, with whom heentredintoa ftraight leagne ofamitie,becaufehe commanded many people;and washis kinfman; anda Chufite, and the neereft xo Princeconfronting Babylonia.His firft enterPrize was vpon Syria,whichhe might cafily fubdue;both becaufe he inuaded iton the fodairi¢,and becaufe it lay next him:and alfo becaufe the Arabiazs and their king Aricus (which bordeted-syria) affited him inthe Conqueft thereof. The king ofArmenia,Barzanes,heferced to acknowledge himjandtoaide him in his Warreagainft Zoroafter: forfrom Armenia he bent himfelfethat way toward the Eaft< butthat.euer he commandedtheleffer Afia;I doenot beleeue; for none ofhis. Succeffors had any poffeffion therein. His thitd Warre was againft Pharnus, king ofthe Medes; whomitis that he 0uerthrew;andcruelly murthered withhis feuen Children, thoughothersfayd affirme, that 20 they.all died in one battaile againft him. Whetherhe inuaded Zoroafter beforethe building or amplifying ofNineue,orafter, it is vncertaine. Icis {aid that he made two expeditions into Baciria:and that finding little orill facceffe in the firft, he returned, andfet the worke of Wivewe forward : and thenafecondtimeentred Baéiric with 1 7000900; Foot,and 200000.Horfe,and 1ocoo:fixe hundred Chariots: being-encountred by Zo7os/ler wich foure hundred thoufand. But Nizus preuayling, and Zoroafter being flaine, 4 he entred farther into the Countrie, and befieged the chiefe Citie, thereof, called Dei. Battra orBadlrion (faith Stephanns:) which by apafla ge found, by Seviramis (the wife of Atenon) he entred and poflefe:Vpon and:anaffault SVEN srepb.ceiDe this-occafion Minus N : both admiring her iudgementand valour,together withherperfon. andexternal! beau¢° tic, fancied herfo ftrongly, a s (neglecting all Princel y.refpectsyhe tooke-herfrom her husband,whofe eyes he threatnéd to thruft outifie refuled to confent yeelding tothe paffion oflouein Nizus,and to the paffion offorrow . He therefore in himfelfe,by, the Te nc ofthame and difhonour, caft himfelfe head-long jinto the water; and died, §. VIII. Ofthe Warres ofNinus : and laflly ofbiswarre azaixft Loroatter. Crap, XI. WNtothis Belws fucceeded Winus, the firft that commanded the exercife ofIdo\ / latriethe firft that injurionfly inuaded his NeighbourPrinicesjandithe firft that t4 ; without fhameorfeare committed adultericin publique. Butas: of Be/wsthett 1S. N9.certaine memoric (as touching particulars:) fo ofthis Ninus (whofe Stories g*4 thered out of Prophane Authors )I find nothing {6 warrantable,b ur that the!fame my be.difputedjand inthe greateft part doubted. Foralthou ghthat piece ofBero/as ero" and commented vponby, .anmins hath many good thingsi n it, ‘andgiueth great light (as Chryteus noteth)to the vnderftanding of Diedarys Siculsis; Dion, Haticarnaffens, others : yet Ledewicas Vines,B.Rhenanussand others after them,hau e layed openthem Athen.Lrg. petfection and:defeats ofthe Fragment; proouing directly that itcannot be the fame 2 Tofeph,cont.Ap5 ich liue Ii il i Alexa ng * rofus Which A ; din 4 nders time,cited b y Atheneus andilofephus.: and whole sat the.dthensans erected, faith Pini. Yevitisfromhim chiefely,that many hanegathet® the flicceffion of the Babylonian & Affyrian Princes.e ven from Nimrod tothe eighteen King Afcatades,and to thetimes of F Joftay.\ For ofMetafthenesan Hiftorianjofthe Rates ofthe Perfian Priefts,there are fou ad but certaine Papers;orfomne.fewlines ofithe aegnand Affjirian Menarchies: but heafrerwar ds in the colle@tion. ofthe Perfiaw Kings not withour hisierrours....1, . pictefias ofCridas (a Citie adioyning to. Halitarnaffe#3) Who liveditogethériwith. theyounger,andwith Artaxer-ves.Mneinom Sords,& reachethas farre vpwards.as.avig gathered his Hiftorieontofthe Penfise "ad Cra és and Semmixamis:andthoughinthe ee JUStAyounger,Xenephon approoueth him. in fone things, and dthemeus, Paulas and. Tertulliag cite himsyen fo 2 : Pri bafeand app arant ave his; flatteriesiofthe timesand PF ces a Gps ces with whonit he litied,& foritictedible arethe numbers which he finds in the Armies ofNizas,andefpecially ofSemiramis,as whatfoeuerhis reports were,times have confumedhis workes; {auing fomevery few excerptions lately, publithed. And therfore inthings vncertaine,feeing along difcourfe;cannotbe pleafing to men ; {ands of ignorant people,not onely adored,but panacea haue . : Saar "7 This Heathen inuention of Images becamefo fruitful in after-times, ae a 40 Of Zoroaster, uppofed to.haue beeae.the chiefe Aurhor ofMagick Arts : andofthe diners kinds of Magicke. eels \ That Loroatter wasnot Cham, zor the firft Inuenter of Astrelogic, or of Mazicke:and that there were diners great Magicians of this name. ae | Oreaster King ofthe Badc?rians, Vincentius fuppofethto be Cham the fonne of Noah: A fancie oflittle probabilitic. For Cham was the "Z| Paternall Ancefter of Nénas, the Father of Chas, the Grand-father of Nimrodwhofe fonne was Belus, the Father ofNivus. Itmay ‘be that Vincentius had heard ofthat booke vvhich wvas called scripture '| Cham, deuifed by fome wicked Knane, and fo intituled : of which 's hath made the due miention. by Cafstanus, that Serenus LAtbbas gaue the intention of Magiche or fonne of Noah: fo did Comeffor in his Scholafticall Hiftorie: which cutc ththe 7.liberall Sciences he writ in 14. Pillers:{euen of which we cc made of braffe, Oo ft the defacing by the watersof the Floud; and 7. of bricke a. gaintt the iniurie of fire, There was allo another denifed difcourfe, which went vndey P the |