1Yada Yahowah

Babel

…Confusion

 

1

Shalatan | Government

 

Rule of Man…

Our review of the book of Dany’el | Daniel will commence in the 7^th chapter for reasons that may be surprising. The first six chapters were not written for me to translate or explain to you. Some of the characters, such as Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar were real, but the stories associated with them are universally inconsistent with Yahowah’s approach throughout the Prophets and His testimony elsewhere.

Yes, you read that correctly. Daniel’s soliloquies, his praise of kings, interpretations of dreams and writings on the wall, the lion’s den, and the persistent political and religious intrigue, were not meant to be historically accurate but, instead, prophetic. It speaks to why Jews were there and why they remain captives in a prison they have fabricated in their minds.

Daniel 1 opens badly, showing that Jews had become, and would remain, so infected and indoctrinated by Babylon that it would occlude and distort, ultimately upending, their view of Yahowah. The stench in the air remained so pervasive, and the first six chapters of Daniel were so irritating, I elected to pass over them and began with chapter seven.

But even then, I could not avoid the haunting echoes of days past and future, because Daniel drags us into his 2perverted world of politics and religion. Even as the future of the world plays out before him in images and words, he is at a loss to understand any of it. And in this way, he unwittingly reveals why these visions have gone unexplained for nearly 2,600 years. The world remains blinded by these same villains.

I have come back in time to share these insights with you, because I did not fully grasp the implications until after having composed my translations and commentary on Daniel 9, the pivotal chapter in this story. Daniel claims that Darius was the king of Babylon, that he was Xerxes’ son, and that he would precede Cyrus. Since none of this is true, I began to question why such well-known history was deliberately inverted. Was Daniel simply wrong, or was I looking at all of this incorrectly?

The clues were abundant, and I had seen some but missed others. Fortunately, the blinders came off when, beginning my translation of Daniel 10, I was forced to confront our narrator’s new name: Beltasha’tsar | May the Lord Protect the King.

In the midst of celebrating the first day of Sukah, only four years removed from one of the events foretold in the 9^th chapter, as I wrestled with all of this, I found myself twisted in knots trying to understand why history was upended at the beginning of the 9^th chapter. Why were the first six chapters so religious and political? Why were Daniel’s comments so inappropriate? Why did he fail to understand anything he had seen or was told? Why was his name changed, and why was Yahowah’s name omitted until the 9^th chapter? Why was I so irritated by him? Why was such profound truth enveloped within these distortions? How was it possible, I asked myself, that this could have been inspired by Yahowah, and pass His test for authenticity, with so many aberrations?

The answer was presented up front, in the opening 3dialog of the 1^st chapter, which I had passed over to unravel the prophecies which are presented at the beginning of Daniel 7. So I missed the most relevant prophecy of them all – the one explaining why Jews were captives and would remain so, even after being freed. They are dany’el | judged and convicted by God. You see, it is all true from the proper perspective.

Frankly, it should have been obvious. There are so many dark twists and turns with Dany’el, it is readily apparent that he was mired in Babylon. It is all so disgusting, it’s also readily apparent why Yahowah wants His people to leave and is still calling them out of Babel.

Daniel is being used to portray Israel yesterday and today. He is the living embodiment of the Haredim.

While I am not going to translate very much of the first six chapters of Daniel, I will point readers in the right direction. When considered from the proper perspective, if you are a Jew, you will see your people in it. You will witness Ultra-Orthodox indoctrination and then watch the religious kiss up to the politicians for favors. You will see and hear the story of Judaism – a religion fixated on eating Kosher while the rabbis stuff their minds with rubbish. You will find a world where the author of every ridiculous interpretation is ascribed a distinctive name while God’s name is never mentioned. You will be brought face to face with the emergence of the rabbis and the underpinnings of the Babylonian Talmud.

In Dany’el 1, we are told that the name Beltasha’tsar was given to the story’s narrator by sar ha sarys | the leader of the eunuchs, the Prince of Castration, so to speak. The story as told by Dany’el, who is renamed, Beltasha’tsar, is that he was better than everyone else, one of four Yisra’elite princes, someone who was perfectly proportioned, especially good-looking, and particularly intelligent. Yes, he would foreshadow the rabbis.

4Daniel and his pals were chosen for three years of indoctrination, of religious training in the culture of their hosts – the Babylonians. It would be like spending a similar time in a Haredim seminary studying the Babylonian Talmud.

They were “schooled in the literature and language of Babylon” – which, with the exception of Latin and possibly castration, was also the equivalent of a Roman Catholic seminary. It may be even more similar to a yeshiva in that Babylonian religious writings are featured in each.

After these three years of programming and propaganda, wherein the food and beverages were said to be fit for a king, they were prepared to serve the king personally. It is predictive of the Haredi parties sucking up to the secular Netanyahu and forming an alliance that empowers the one bringing them into the political process while enriching themselves.

All the while, Dany’el, excuse me, May the Lord Bel Protect the King, was allegedly special. He had no issue being corrupted by all manner of Babylonian mythology, tales of military conquest and subjugation, justifications for the caste system, enslaving people, or their religion and politics. He drew the line at good food, and he made a stink of it. He would not defile himself with what the king was eating. He chose a very restrictive diet, one not prescribed in the Towrah, but of his own creation. This somehow made the rebranding as Beltasha’tsar less disturbing. And therein are haunting echoes of the great pains the Ultra-Orthodox will go to comply with their dietary laws while still poisoning their brains.

We know that it had no effect on Daniel’s soaring ego because the narrator of our story would claim that “in all of the things the king sought from him, he was ten hands above all of the soothsayers and enchanters, even the necromancers and professional sorcerers throughout the 5entire kingdom.” (You’ll have to excuse my unwillingness to dignify this with the customary bold font, but you’ll find it, nevertheless, in Daniel 1:20) Isn’t that the same attitude manifest by the Haredi as they turn up their snotty noses and ugly grey beards at everyone else – including other Jews?

Of course, the stellar accolades may have been the result of flattering the king just as religious Jews have groveled at the feet of politicians willing to cater to them…

“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. (Daniel 4:1) I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. (Daniel 4:2) How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:3) – so sayeth the rabbis, excuse me, Belteshazzar. Oh, and I must have missed it, what did you say was the name of your g-d?

Just as the rabbis now claim of Yisra’el…

“I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace: (Daniel 4:4) I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. (Daniel 4:5) Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. (Daniel 4:6) Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.” (Daniel 4:7) Fact is, the overtly egotistical, religious, and political still consult with their loyalists and sycophants, and as a result, are as blind as ever.

But alas, the man playing the part of the rabbis entered the scene… “Daniel came in before me, whose name was 6Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, (Daniel 4:8) O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.” (Daniel 4:9 courtesy of the KJV)

This is bad, really bad. Beyond being a kiss-ass and willing to say things that were not even remotely true to garner preferential treatment, Daniel knew, as did Nebuchadnezzar, as do we, that he was named after the Babylonian god, Bel – the Lord. But of course, this didn’t defile him. It’s just a name…

But what about being the “master of the magicians (from chartom – those who write on behalf of the occult)” and having the “spirit of the holy gods inside of thee?” Following his cultural and linguistic indoctrination, Dany’el was comfortable being described as overly religious.

So what are we to make of this other than to conclude that my conclusions are correct? Was God so desperate to convey the future implications of Babylon as Satan’s playground that He sent Gabriel and Michael to speak to one of the Devil’s playmates? Were Yahuwdym so far gone by this time that this was the best God could find?

Or is this prophetic, accurately depicting through this tragic parable precisely why His people were enslaved in Babylon and why they would remain? It certainly appears to be the story of Rabbinic Judaism commingled with its impetus – the emergence of the Christian religion.

As a result of the revolting religious rhetoric which permeates the first six chapters of Daniel, it is apparent that prophetically, Yahowah is revealing the inception and consequence of Judaism’s beginnings, especially as it grew out of an ill-fated attempt to counter the rise of Christianity. 7We are afforded many clues that this is so, from the rhetoric to the backward nature of the world from which we are emerging.

After telling us that King Belshazzar was murdered and replaced with Darius based upon Daniel’s interpretations at the conclusion of the 5^th chapter, we are told that Daniel was judged and found to be perfect. It all reads like the Christian New Testament, with Babylonian priests and government officials scheming against the paradigm of perfection. Evidently unable to convict him with their laws, we read that they sought to use the Towrah against him – an incredulous notion since the Jews, themselves, didn’t understand it, which is why they were there. So in rabbinic fashion, they proposed the imposition of new laws and a prophetic trip to the lion’s den for anyone breaching their rules.

The trip to the upper room, a night of anguished prayers, and being privy to the plot were all incorporated into the New Testament. Daniel is, after all, the only “prophet” willing to predict the possibility of a dying Messiah, so he remains a favorite.

Then in his meeting with “Darius,” there is another blunder, where the king speaks of the laws of the Persians and the Medes. If the Persians were now in control, the Medes were gone, and he would have been talking to Cyrus, not Darius. But revisionist history is the wellspring of religion, particularly Judaism and Christianity.

The rest of Daniel 6 reads like the Christian New Testament. The trial Jewish religious leaders were said to have arranged for the mythical Jesus before Pontius Pilate, and Daniel’s supposed death sentence, his divine protection, and morning resurrection from his intended tomb, including having the stone rolled away for him to escape unharmed, all served as fodder for the gospel writers.

8The mythical king would provide further fodder for Paul, saying on behalf of the unnamed god of the man whose life had been saved: “He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” (Daniel 6:27-28)

There is yet another myth being exposed by this prophetic narrative. Rabbinic Judaism first emerged as a response to the Christian interpretation of Jesus as the Son of God and Christ – a.k.a., the Messiah. And so with the 9^th chapter of Daniel poised to condemn Judaism while refuting the application of the title Messiah to Jesus, we are witnessing God dismantle the incredulous underpinnings of both religions.

The opening six chapters of Daniel are not only prophetic of the origins of the most menacing foes his people would ever know, the presentation is as specific and detailed as it is sweeping and brilliant. Yes, Daniel 1 through 6 is true when viewed from the proper perspective. It isn’t an ode to religion and politics, nor the ego of the narrator but, instead, an explanation of why Yahowah would have to resolve these problems by fulfilling the Miqra’ey.

As we then commence on what is historically relevant, the narrator turns back the clock to the first year of Belshazzar to begin the 7^th chapter. That is not by accident.

Right at the outset of Daniel 9, it becomes patently obvious that the order of things has been inverted. It is all symbolic of the emergence of Judaism and Christianity preceding the path that would take God’s people into the religious lion’s den by misreading the words that had been written. Prior to the arrival of Cyrus in the 10^th chapter, the 9^th commences in reverse order. Darius is presented as the son of Xerxes, and as a descendant of the Medians, 9reigning as king over the Chaldeans after Belshazzar and before Cyrus. Since the transitions in power between Assyria, Babylon, and Persia is something that all of the other prophets get right, this complete upending of exceedingly well-known historical figures was deliberate.

Darius I was the fourth king of Persia, coming to the throne seventeen years after Belshazzar’s death. He was the son of Hystaspes, the satrap of Bactria, and became the spear bearer of Cyrus’ son Cambyses II. Xerxes was actually Darius I’s son, not his father. Further, while Xerxes would rule Persia from 486 to 465 BCE, and had a son named Darius, that Darius was murdered by Artabanus so that Xerxes’ third son, Arses, could claim the throne, ruling as Artaxerxes beginning in 464 BCE. These names all loom large in the ongoing story.

Further, Cyrus was the noted descendant of the Medians, as was an interloping Magi, Gaumata, but not Darius I, 0, II, or III. Darius I, known as ‘The Great,’ ruled over Persia for eight years and two kings following Cyrus the Great. Cyrus came to power by attacking and defeating the Medes from whom he was descended. Claiming the throne in 550, he died in 530 BCE after conquering Babylon in 539 BCE without a fight. His is a life surrounded by myth and legend, as he amassed the largest Empire the world had ever known.

On the Cyrus Cylinder, chronicling these events, the king claims to have taken Babylon’s king, Nabonidus, Belshazzar’s father, prisoner. And that means that Belshazzar was still ruling over Babylon as his father’s co-regent upon Cyrus’ arrival. Therefore, Cyrus the Great is responsible for ending the reign of Belshazzar, not Darius. Adding credibility to this historical reality, Cyrus would claim that it was the Babylonian preference for his sun god, Marduk, over the moon god, Sin, of Nabonidus, that proved decisive.

10As for Darius, who was the first to favor Zoroastrianism, he would come later. Cambyses II, Cyrus’ son, would follow in his father’s footsteps and rule from 530 to 522 BCE. While some say it was an accident and others an assassination, Cambyses died en route from Egypt to Persia to suppress a rebellion led by his dead brother, Bardiya. While that sounds confusing, Cambyses had ordered his brother’s assassination shortly before his own. The rebellion was actually mustered by a Median Magi named Gaumata. With Cambyses having been a covetous despot, Gaumata gained instant acceptance by promising to remit all taxes for three years. He became so popular, he is likely the inspiration for Buddha.

But the good times didn’t last. Seven Persian noblemen, including Darius, plotted to murder the Magi. They were successful, so now with seven suitors for the throne, they set up a contest, lining up their horses to face the rising sun. Whoever’s horse was the first to whinny and greet their god would be king. To ensure his master’s victory, Darius’ groom rubbed his hand on the genitals of the mare his master’s stallion favored, and then placed his hand on the horse’s nostrils, causing it to be excited and neigh. Since you just can’t make this stuff up, that is the story of how Darius I became king of Persia in 522 BCE. He would go on to conquer Macedonia and set up the rivalry between Darius III and Alexander in 331 BCE.

Xerxes I was Darius’ son. He inherited the Persian throne in 485 and remained enshrined to 465 BCE. He was particularly ruthless in his suppression of revolts, particularly in Egypt and Babylon before torching Athens.

Artaxerxes I followed after having his elder brother, the virtually unknown and thus unnumbered Darius killed. After a bit of political intrigue, he ruled from 464 to 424 BCE. He was succeeded by his son, Xerxes II, who, after 45 days on the throne was murdered by his brother, Sogdianus, who was murdered by his stepbrother, Ochus, 11who had killed his other brother, Arsites, So needing an alibi and an alias, he took the name Darius II, and ruled Persia from 424 to 404 BCE.

Artaxerxes II, III, and IV would finagle and murder their way to power before the return of the III^rd and final Darius who prevailed over the Persian Empire from 336 to 330 BCE. He was killed while fleeing Alexander.

So long story short, Darius the Great was king of Persia, not Babylon. His son was Xerxes, not his father. And he ruled after, not before Cyrus. These were some of history’s most famed rulers, and they were all known and addressed in the proper sequence and setting by Yahowah’s prophets. And that is to say, the inverted presentation of Darius, Xerxes, and Cyrus in Daniel 9 and 10 was deliberate – awakening us to the realization that the Jewish and Christian religious Odyssey was presented before their historical Iliad.

Throughout the first six chapters, Daniel is the prototypical rabbi. He was indoctrinated in a Babylonian seminary or yeshiva for 3 years, which is akin to studying the Babylonian Talmud to the exclusion of all else. He was given a religious name and never mentions Yahowah’s name. He claims to be superior in intellect and wisdom to all others, presenting himself as a sage. He is defiled in all ways except food, where he is shown limiting his diet to those things he deems acceptable while pretending that his restrictive diet makes him pious. He craves political power and will flatter whoever will share it with him. He is exceedingly egotistical. But even when evaluating God’s testimony, he understands nothing of it. He pretends to be a prophet and, yet, he cannot even present his own history accurately. All the while, he becomes a master commentator, attributing even his misinterpretations to his unnamed god. Worse, his alleged meeting before Darius serves as the basis of the gospels which were used to torment Jews, affirming that Christianity arose out of a 12misguided rabbinical response.

And that brings us to the story of the words written on the wall in Daniel 5, Belshazzar’s subsequent death, Darius’ coronation, and the story of the lion’s den, all serving as metaphors for Rabbinic Judaism.

Among the most adroit is the inscription mene’ mene’ teqel ‘upharsin. Written in Aramaic, anyone in the room could have read it. A mene’ is a unit of measure by weight or value, a teqel is a shekel or coin, representing money, and a ‘upharsin is half a mene’. When presented as a sentence, it reads: He is a known quantity based upon the money he values, and is thus worth half of his weight. Also interesting, pharsin is a homonym for Persians.

Daniel, however, in rabbinic fashion would extrapolate, even exaggerate, well past the words and claim: “This is the interpretation of the message: Mene’ – God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel – you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient, Peres – your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:26-28)

Fortunately, we can read the words for ourselves and determine their meaning. And the first six chapters are actually a bonus, prophetically revealing the rise of Judaism and Christianity before sharing the history of nations and individuals who would haunt the Jewish people.

We are commencing on this quest to learn the future of the world and the fate of God’s people beginning in the 7^th chapter, after the religious shenanigans are over. And we will be rewarded for the effort.

Also interesting, apart from the deliberate historical reversal, the 9^th chapter of Dany’el is devoted to conveying Yahowah’s message as I have been doing, not as a prophet, but as one who studies them. And in so doing, he comes to understand for the first time in his life that Yahuwdym | 13Jews were confined because they were Babel | Confused by Mixing with the Lord. This was painstakingly portrayed in the 25^th chapter of Yirma’yah / Jeremiah – which was written well in advance of their arrival – and which Daniel reads and announces.

Lastly, before we commence our review of Daniel 7 through 12, even coming out of the darkness of the preceding chapters, there is some good news. Dany’el could write and there was a real prophet who spoke with him and who definitely knew what he was talking about. In due time we will discover the identity of Gabriel and Michael, and learn that neither were “angels.” The first is the star of this story and the other, his witness. Rest assured, they know what is going to occur and Daniel was kind enough to write it all down for us to read.

Between them, we are afforded a picture of the Devil taken within his lair. Everything Gabriel foretold would come true. And along the way Yahowah revealed His cure for what ailed and estranged His people.

So, we will hold our noses as we listen to Belteshazzar brag, flatter, and pray, while we open our ears to Gabry’el and Myka’el who will enter the scene as men. And while I cannot speak for everyone, I’d swim through a swamp of excrement to listen to the most brilliant and articulate prophet.

The 7^th and 8^th chapters of Dany’el | Daniel contain a broad presentation of history. Much of it has now occurred as it was proclaimed, while some of it is poised to play out in our immediate future. The 9^th chapter returns our focus to Yahuwdym, explaining why they were in Babylon and what God would do to resolve the issues which had kept 14them apart. It is also prophetic of Christianity, upending the religion’s basis.

These prophetic proclamations were written nearly twenty-six hundred years ago, around 555 BCE. Evidence that chapters 7 through 12 were inspired by Yahowah abounds. Its proof statements are now irrefutable – especially as a result of them being authenticated within the Dead Sea Scrolls. Sixteen unique manuscripts of Dany’el have been discovered, many containing prophecies chronicled long before their fulfillment.

While a captive in Babylon, the cradle of institutionalized religion and its integration into politics, the military, and caste-system economics, in the place Yahowah asked ‘Abraham to leave before engaging in the Covenant, God revealed a vision which unlocks the mystery of time, ultimately pinpointing the very date the Passover Lamb would arrive in Yaruwshalaim: March 30, 33 CE (Julian calendar), four days before Passover, to honor His Towrah promises. He even predicted when and by whom the Temple would be destroyed, quite remarkable in that Yahowah’s House didn’t even exist at the time of the vision.

Within Dany’el’s prophecies, we discover that Yisra’el would be deforested, something the Romans achieved in 135 CE, sixty-five years after razing the Temple. But more than this, the prophetic visions witnessed by Dany’el chronicle the rise and fall of mighty empires, including Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome – and ultimately of the rise of the final Beast, the Roman and Eastern Church and the spirit worshiped within it.

But these are merely examples of what is foretold, among countless others. The second half of Dany’el | Daniel is amazing, presenting over 2,500 years of world history from Yisra’el’s perspective. It chronicles the story of civilization – which is not a pretty picture.

15The oldest extant scroll of Dany’el | Daniel was copied around 125 BCE, four hundred thirty years after the book was initially penned. It remains the only bilingual text demonstrating Divine inspiration found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. It opens in Hebrew, switches to Aramaic in the second half of the fourth verse of the second chapter, and then reverts back to Hebrew at the beginning of the eighth chapter. Since our investigation will commence with the seventh chapter, we will be relying on Aramaic initially rather than Hebrew – our constant friend and companion throughout this study.

This will initially limit our investigation of each word’s meaning because ancient Hebrew is more thoroughly researched than Aramaic. However, the languages are so similar we will not be shortchanged, especially since Yahowah explained the symbols used in the text.

Before we begin, realize that much of what you are going to experience initially speaks of civilizations long past. Looking back at the rise and fall of ancient empires may seem incongruous with a chapter devoted to the fall of man during the Time of Ya’aqob’s Troubles, yet, every word paints a picture, exposing the contrast between God and His creation, between the Covenant and human institutions, between the Towrah and the religious texts of the Talmud and New Testament.

The Beast who emerges out of the Greek and Roman Empires isn’t simply a product of Macedonia and Rome, of Alexander and his generals, or the Caesars, but of the entire edifice, beginning with Babylon. There are characteristics of every kingdom from Babylonia to Persia, from Greece to Rome, comprising the final Beast – the Roman Catholic and Eastern Church.

Reading between the lines, the tactic honed in Babylon of using the military as an economic resource, will return 16to the forefront. Nations were conquered for tribute, not assimilation. Compelling vassal peoples to pay for Babylonian indulgences became more expedient than working. This was particularly prevalent with Imperial Rome.

Turning to Persia, it was the antithesis of Babylon in substantive ways. It grew through integration. For the Persians, the known world was one world – their world. They developed and deployed the means to effectively communicate, and thus influence people, over large distances by way of a common language, a postal system, taxation, a State religion, and roadways – all designed to integrate the different cultures into a common empire. Their control mechanism was a centralized, bureaucratic administration under the dictatorial control of an emperor. His designs were conveyed by civil servants and imposed by a large professional military. But with so many cultures and ethnicities covering such a vast area, the king’s authority was often challenged, causing the constant deployment of troops to quell rebellions, a burden that became economically unsustainable.

Greece by contrast was a loose collection of independent city-states – wholly decentralized. They were as likely to war against one another as they were to band together to ward off a common foe. While there were kings, Greece is considered the birthplace of democracy, even though it was actually a suppressed oligarchy. Philosophy and rhetoric were revered, as were knowledge and the pretense of understanding. The Greeks were the merchants of the ancient world – rivaled only by the Carthaginians.

Having sapped their own resources, they purchased wood and wheat by trading wine and olives – commodities that would grow in dry, impoverished soils. This seafaring nation was no less religious or militaristic than its predecessors, but it was the Greeks who discovered the benefit of turning warriors into heroes. All means of 17propaganda were deployed to fan the flames of patriotism and militarism, from theater to oratory, from epic poems to actual worship, as if their warriors were gods. This collection of independent communities with a common spirit became a unified empire briefly as a result of Alexander’s conquests. But then as quickly as his weapons and strategy had built it, without any organizational control, it disintegrated, first into four kingdoms and then into many more.

Rome was also dissimilar from the others because it is still with us. The Imperial Empire is gone but not its legacy: the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church. As for the Empire, no civilization prior to or since has been as perverted or cruel. The Romans and their Legions were vicious and duplicitous. They made carnality and killing an art form. The Caesars were vile, ruthless men who acted like their pagan gods.

Having flirted with representative government, the most covetous men and the most effective warriors ascended to become dictators, with a litany of spoiled children inheriting the throne thereafter. Their names are now infamous and include in chronological order the likes of: Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41), Nero (54-68), Domitian (81-96), Commodus (176-192), Caracalla (198-217), Elagabalus (218-222), Carinus (283-285), and Constantine, whose life we will examine in some detail.

They were known for their massive civil projects, from roadways to aqueducts, from amphitheaters to public forums, and from lavish temples to decadent palaces. But it was their flawed character that brought them down. Dependent upon slaves to perform every task, from cleaning the streets to protecting the empire, wanton abuse of everyone who wasn’t Roman ultimately caused the world to rebel against them, and they collapsed from within before they were routed by those they had abused.

18The epitome of Roman animosity toward Yahuwdym was manifest when in 70 CE Rome razed Yahowah’s Temple in Yaruwshalaim, hauling off its precious metals to finance their Colosseum – which was built by Jewish slaves. Ponder the contrast between what was said and done in these places if you want to understand why God loves one and hates the other.

But it would only get worse. Prior to the Imperial Empire’s decline, one of the worst of a bad lot of generals-turned-emperor is said to have seen a vision before the sun, and out of it opened the floodgates for a religion as perverted and cruel as the empire and its Legions. It became known as Roman Catholicism. It could be argued that no institution in all of human history has been as menacing or debilitating.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches which grew out of this Roman legacy include: the Greek, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Cypriot, Georgian, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Moldovan, Albanian, Montenegrin, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Syriac (Syrian), Ethiopian, and Copt (Egyptian) Orthodox Churches – all places where Romans fought, killed, and died. They are as much a part of the Roman legacy as the Roman Catholic Church. And as we shall soon learn, since the Beast that will terrorize the world right through the end of the Time of Ya’aqob’s Troubles emerges out of both Rome and Greece, the Eastern Orthodox Church will be as culpable as Roman Catholicism.

The Beast who will continue to oppose all things Yah – His Word, Name, Towrah, Covenant, Invitations, and People – will embody the religious, political, military, and economic systems manifest in Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity. So as we progress through history past, stay focused, because everything we witness will be menacing again in our immediate future.

19We will learn precisely and irrefutably from which country the Towrahless One will emerge. His approach to power will be disclosed as will his retort to those who sponsored him. But especially shocking to many, we will discover that the man thought to be the “Antichrist” by Christians will be indistinguishable from the Roman who wrote and inspired most of their New Testament.

And speaking of interesting connections, the historical presentation we are about to witness begins in Babylon and never manages to leave. The first nation to die is Babylonia, but the victor, Cyrus of Persia, uses Babylon as his seat of power. Then when Alexander defeats Darius, Babylon retains its deadly reputation, claiming the life of the Macedonian general within days of him entering Satan’s most nefarious lair. Even Rome was infected because after having battled the Persians and their derivatives, the Parthian and Sassanid Empires, its Church became the reincarnation of Babylon, incorporating its every rite, doctrine, and celebration. This plague of death was infused into every aspect of the Church and Beast it spawned, both of which will become the most adroit exemplars of the worldwide influence of the Whore of Babylon.

And while Yahowah has taken both Judaism and Islam to task in other prophetic books, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Rabbinic Judaism was codified in the Babylonian Talmud. And it is this collection of religious arguments against Yahowah’s Towrah that was twisted by Muhammad to create the only credible portions of his Qur’an, giving birth to today’s most vicious religion. Simply stated, every soul Babylon infects becomes diseased, is destroyed, and dies.

In Bare’syth / Genesis, Babylon is the first place Yahowah asks us to walk away from if we want to engage in a relationship with Him. In Yirma’yah | Jeremiah 51:6-8, Babylon is the last place Yahowah calls His people out 20of prior to His return. And throughout God’s testimony there is a trinity of evil – Satan, the Beast, and Babylon – all shown to be united in their opposition to everything God desires. Therefore, we should not be surprised that, throughout this prophecy, these associations are firmly established.

Aware of these factors, let’s commence our review...

“In the first year of (ba chad shanah la) Belsha’tsar (Belsha’tsar – Bel (the Lord) Protects the King, commonly transliterated Belshazzar, last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire), the ruler of (melek – highest governing authority in) Babel | to Commingle and Confuse with the Lord (Babel – to Intermix and Confound in Conjunction with the Lord, commonly transliterated Babylon; from ba – with bel – the lord and balal – to mix, mingle, confuse, and confound), Dany’el | My God Judges, Vindicates, and Condemns (Dany’el – God is My Means to Judge; from dyn – to judge and be judgmental, to vindicate or condemn, ‘any – my, and ‘el – God) saw (chazah – was able to look at and watch, observe, perceive, and witness) a revealing vision (chelem – a prophetic revelation) and (wa) distinguishing insights (chazuw – sensory perceptions deployed to convey what will occur visually) in his mind (re’sh huw’ – in his head) while upon his bed (‘al mishkab huw’ – on the place where he lies down to relax).

Thereupon, during (ba ‘edayn – in the transition, then) the prophetic revelation (chalam – the revealing and restorative vision), he was prompted to write a complete copy of (kathab – he was facilitated in the writing about) the things (milah – the matters, events, affairs, and dialogue) being communicated (‘amar – being told and spoken).” (Dany’el / My God Judges, 21Vindicates, and Condemns / Daniel 7:1)

The awkward phrase “he related the sum of the words” found in most English Bible translations does not exist in Qumran’s 4QDan, the only scroll that preserves this verse. Should you be reading along in a translation influenced by the Masoretic Text, you’ll understand why it was omitted.

In the preceding chapters, we are regaled with Belshazzar’s death, so this is a flashback. Belshazzar was the son of Nabonydus (Nabu is Praised). Nabonidus, as it is more commonly transliterated, was an elderly courtier at the time of Belshazzar’s conniving insurrection and murder of King Labashi-Marduk. Whether or not Nabonydus was an accomplice, he nonetheless served Belshazzar’s interests because he had married one of Nebuchadnezzar II’s daughters, making him part of the royal family. Therefore, when Belshazzar instigated the coup d’etat which brought him to power, he was able to confiscate the previous king’s estates and wealth and claim them for himself. And since his father was a religious recluse, off worshiping the moon god, Sin, Belshazzar did not have to share Babylon’s riches and power with anyone.

With an absentee father, the manipulative son ruled over Babylon from 556 to 539 BCE. Much of what is known about this dubious duo historically is gleaned from four terracotta cylinders housed in the British Museum. Upon them, Nabonidus claims to have orchestrated repairs to the Temple of Sin in Charan | Haran – the same shrine and deity that would influence Islam and explain its fixation with the moon. In a bit of irony, it was in Haran where the Assyrian Empire would ultimately succumb to superior forces.

As a devotee of Sin, Nabonydus would have been at odds with the Babylonian priesthood. They favored Lord Bel and Marduk. In fact, this religious conflict is what caused Nabonydus to flee to the desert oasis of Tayma in 22Arabia. And as we learned from Cyrus, it was the Babylonian preference for Marduk over Sin that enabled him to conquer Babylon without a fight.

Dany’el 4 contains Daniel’s assessment of Nabonydus, explaining his seven years of self-imposed exile in the desert surrounding Tayma. Dany’el surmised that the king’s hubris would cost him his sanity. He claimed that he would live like an animal, fending for himself. The account states that he was smitten, which is why Belsha’tsar ruled in his absence. And as for the power-hungry and money-grubbing Belshazzar, he was killed during Cyrus’ invasion of Babylonia in 539 BCE.

If ever evil nomenclature spoke to us, it is through Babel. As a compound of ba and bel, it means “With the Lord.” More incriminating still, whether it is spelled Ba’al in Hebrew or Bel in Aramaic, the Lord is Satan’s name and title. To be ba-ba’al or ba-bel is to be a proponent of the Devil’s desire to rule over and control humankind, as well as his ambition to be worshiped as the Lord God of religion. And this is particularly concerning because the Hebrew spelling of BaBeL is the same as it would be if writing ‘Bible.’

Yahowah explains the basis of this name in its first use, revealing that to babel is to commingle and confuse. Babel is also to confound by intermixing truth and lies in conjunction with the Lord, who is the Adversary. This is why Yahowah inspired Yasha’yah to inform us that Satan would draw his power from Babel | Babylon as the Adversary sought to be perceived as greater than the Most High.

These connections are particularly relevant in this context because they serve as an indictment against Judaism and its Babylonian Talmud, Christianity and its Bible, and Islam, because its Qur’an was first written in Babylon. Further, all three religions have become 23institutionalized and integrated into the cultures and governments of the people most affected by them.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are predicated upon babel – with each intermixing deception with the truth in order to confuse. They are all babel | controlling and confounding. Within the ‘Scriptures’ of each religion, we find copious corrupted citations from the Towrah wa Naby’ – all perverted and twisted to confuse the unwary.

Dany’el’s name is also informative, revealing that Yahowah is judgmental, both vindicating and condemning. Further, it states that “God is my means to decide between vindication or condemnation, between being right or wrong.” The purpose of this name is to equip us with these capabilities.

Daniel experienced a number of revelations, receiving them in different ways. In this case, his chelem | revealing vision provided chazuw | distinguishing insights in his head. However, had it remained solely in his memory, that would have thwarted God’s intent.

Dany’el’s contribution to all that follows is contained in these words: “Thereupon, during (ba ‘edayn) the prophetic revelation (chalam), he was prompted to write a complete copy of (kathab) the things (milah) being communicated (‘amar).” While this has been Yahowah’s approach since the first and greatest of the naby’, Moseh with His Towrah | Guidance, it is particularly important here.

Based upon what preceded this and follows it, Dany’el was used in two ways, both meaningful. His own words and deeds represent all that is wrong with Judaism and Christianity while his recording of these visual and audible revelations serves to bring them to us in a way we can now decipher.

A written record can be used to validate the prophecies, especially when scrolls are found which were 24copied long before the events they predict transpired. Moreover, with the written word, the message is far less corruptible, providing later readers such as ourselves unparalleled access to the original discussion. It is as if we were there – because we are brought forward and back in time by these words.

“Dany’el | God is My Means to Decide Between Vindication and Condemnation (Dany’el – My God is Judgmental; from dyn – to judge and be judgmental, to vindicate or condemn, ‘any – my, and ‘el – God) responded (‘anah – answered, reacted, and replied) and then said (wa ‘amar – stated), ‘I am able to see (hawah chazah – I can envision, observe, perceive, and realize), with my sensory perceptions, the vision (ba chazuw ‘anah – in my supernatural revelation) during the night (‘im lyly – in the darkness).’

And then (wa), behold, right there (‘aruw), four (‘arba’) spirits (ruwachy – winds) of the heavens (shamayn – of the sky, atmosphere, universe, or spiritual realm) were churning up (guwah – they were stirring up having burst forth upon) that which corresponds to the Great Sea (la yam rab).” (Dany’el / My God is Judgmental / Daniel 7:2)

At this moment, Dany’el was a considerable distance away from the Great Sea – which is the Mediterranean bordering Yisra’el on the west. Therefore, with the ‘erets | Land representing Yisra’el, the yam rab | Great Sea is a reference to humankind’s most prominent and powerful empires – particularly those existing or emerging to the west of the Promised Land. And in that this was a prophetic revelation, the interaction he was foreseeing is what would transpire in Dany’el’s future.

The most notable empires to arise west of Yisra’el after 600 BCE would include Greece, Imperial Rome, and the Roman Catholic Church and, by extension, Europe and 25the United States. But keep in mind that not every western power qualifies for consideration because only those which have left their fingerprints or bootprints on Yisra’el are of interest to Yahowah. Prophetically, we know that Yahowah predicted that multitudes of Gentiles would combatively crash into the Promised Land.

Aramaic and Hebrew share many words in common. Among them is ruwach, which can mean “spirit” or “wind.” Since these beings were from shamayn | the heavens (as scribed in Aramaic), this statement suggests that the ruwach Dany’el witnessed were spiritual beings with the capacity to enter and influence the physical world.

Until we learn more about what Dany’el witnessed these four ruwach doing, we will have to keep an open mind, especially since shamayn also means “sky.” Therefore, ruwach shamayn can correspond to naturally occurring “atmospheric winds.”

Also relevant, should these ruwach be spiritual beings, while most continue to serve Yahowah, others are in league with the Adversary. And in this regard, while Satan is a spiritual being, wind is often associated with him, particularly when it is circular, agitating, or destructive. Wind is also an indication of war.

While there are various ways to interpret guwah | churning up, most are violent and destructive. In a physical sense, the surging waves of the sea are often the most devastating aspect of a hurricane. And metaphorically, when gowym are aroused against Yisra’el, the carnage is often horrific.

In concert with what is likely spiritual agitation…

“Then four (wa ‘arba’) great beasts (chyuwah rab – large and terrifying creatures, mighty and massive living beings, powerful animals, lordly monsters, and militant chieftains) came up from (salaq min – grew out of, arose from, ascended to project the thinking and power of) the 26Sea (yam – the swamp and large body of water), evolving, changing, and transforming (shanah – altered and differentiated to frustrate, always becoming worse, being reorganized into somewhat dissimilar defiant orders throughout the years) one to the other (da’ min da’ – one to the next, each one growing in opposition).” (Dany’el / My God Judges, Vindicates, and Condemns / Daniel 7:3)

Should there have been any question as to whether yam was addressing the sea or gentiles, it is now answered. This being the case, the four spirits from the heavens are agitating gowym on behalf of Satan. As a result, God is predicting that four beasts, horrific human constructs, pervasive and dominating, demonic and vicious creatures would emerge from Babel to adversely impact Yisra’el.

These evil empires would shanah | evolve over the years, reorganizing into more defiant and frustrating entities. The inference is that Babylon would be the birthplace of these monsters, the womb from which they would emerge and grow more menacing over time. It may be the first of them, leaving three to follow, or it may be the source of the other four – or both. Due to the amorphous and transformational aspect of their evolution, while distinct entities, they are evolving one from another. Examples of this would be that, while Rome conquered Greece, the victim metastasized within the devouring monster to influence every aspect of Roman behavior. Then in a different, albeit even more direct manner, the Roman Catholic Church grew out of Imperial Rome such that for a time they were indistinguishable.

These chyuwah rab arising out of a sea of gentiles would be terrifying beasts, powerful and mighty creatures, lordly and militant monsters. They would be large in numbers and, thus, each comprised of millions of individuals. Their lords and chieftains would be unrestrained and animalistic. Their behavior would be monstrous. Further, the four beasts would salaq min yam | 27ascend from the sea to project their thinking and power.

Therefore, we are being encouraged to consider what was unique to Babel that would spawn four exceedingly adversarial, especially demonic, overwhelmingly anti-Israel, and monstrous institutions. Who are they, when would they emerge, what would they share in common with Babel | Babylon, in addition to how would they be differentiated over time?

And while we will wait on Dany’el to describe these beasts prior to resolutely identifying them, we are already prepared to assess Babylon. It was the birthplace of institutionalized religion and its integration into the government, culture, economics, and the military. Babel | With the Lord was named after its association with Satan. Babel is defined by the process and consequence – to confuse by commingling and confound by intermixing.

“The first (qadmay – the initial one of the series) was similar to (ka – was like, corresponded to, and could be associated with) a fierce and powerful lion (‘aryeh – a predatory animal; from ‘arah – to pluck away and gather together, to remove for oneself) but with (wa) wings (gaph) of (dy) an eagle (nashar – a vulture) upon her (la hy’).

I kept watching (hawah chazah – I was totally focused and observant, continuing to look) while (‘ad – proving enduring evidence and restoring testimony) her wings were plucked off (marat gaph hy’ – her wings were torn off, pulled off, and removed, eliminating her ability to fly away). But then (wa) she was lifted up (natal – she arose and was raised up, resurrected) from the earth (min ‘ara’ – out of the world of humankind and the ground).

Upon (wa ‘al) two feet (ragalyn) like a mortal man (ka ‘enash – similar to a person, corresponding to an individual, akin to a people, nation, or manmade and human institution), she arose and was established (quwm 28– she was set up and came into existence, becoming influential and powerful).

Additionally (wa), the heart and mind, the desires and inclinations (labab – the judgment, thinking, mindset, attitude, and emotions), of a mortal man (‘enash – of a person with human characteristics) were given to it (yahab la hy’ – were ascribed to her and placed within her, granted and entrusted to it).” (Dany’el / God is My Means to Decide between Vindication and Condemnation / Daniel 7:4)

This begins with the first beast depicted as a lion. And that means our travelogue through the worst of human history begins in Babylon where lion imagery and statuary dominated the scene. There were 120 lions created in polychrome relief tiles along the processional to the Gate of Ishtar and then to Nebuchadnezzar’s Throne Room. Winged lions decorated the empire’s palaces – some also shown with the head of the Babylonian king, depicting him as a god.

The most impressive verification of this symbolism is found in Babylon’s most massive monument – a 2,600-year-old black basalt carving of a lion trampling a man. It even dates to the time of Dany’el. Wearing a saddle, the lion was once ridden by Astarte, more commonly known today as the winged Goddess Ishtar. She not only serves as the origin of “Easter,” Astarte was perceived to be the Mother of God and Queen of Heaven upon whom Roman Catholicism’s Madonna was based. She remains the inspiration behind the worship of Mary as the Blessed and Virginal Mother of the Son of God – serving as verification of Christianity’s Babylonian origins while justifying its trinity.

This enormous lion, located just inside the famed Ishtar gate of ancient Babylon, with its original winged goddess, Astarte, and a fallen man beneath, provides a 29complete picture of Yahowah’s conveyed symbolism. The whole story is depicted before our eyes. This is the Beast of Babel, replete with its Roman eagle wings that would evolve into the Roman Catholic Church. Babylon’s institutionalized religion and its political integration would be personified in Christianity’s god-man, the resurrected Jesus Christ recast with the desires and inclinations of the men who made him in their image. What’s more, as we read further into Dany’el’s revelation, we will find the final Beast treading upon the entire world, just as this statue is shown treading upon mankind.

Babylonia was the world’s leading superpower, albeit for a short period of time, just 66 years from 605 to 539 BCE. This deplorable State known for its assimilation of religion and politics continues to influence humanity. In fact, Babylon is where Christmas and Easter, Sunday worship and the trinity, reverence for the Lord, the Son of God, and the Virgin Mary all began. It is where the Babylonian Talmud was written. And it is where the Qur’an was compiled.

As we know, the entire 14^th chapter of Yasha’yah | Isaiah is devoted to explaining the connection between Satan, whose name is Heylel ben Shachar, and Babel | Babylon. In his words, we learn that a desire to be seen as above the Most High and to be revered as God instead of the Adversary, is what brought Satan down to the Earth as the Lord of religion.

Few things this clearly stated are as universally misunderstood. Satan does not want to be known as the Adversary, as an ugly and menacing beast. And that means that he does not want to be seen as ha satan. Instead, the Adversary seeks to fool the unsuspecting so that they bow down to him as if he were God. Therefore, you will never find Satan in an occult ritual but, instead, as the Lord in humankind’s most popular religions.

30Satan’s primary tool is “babel – confusion,” which is one of several reasons he is associated with Babylonia and referred to as “the Whore of Babylon.” Through religion, he confuses the masses by corrupting God’s testimony – just as he did in the Garden of Eden where he confused Chawah to the point that she misquoted, misinterpreted, and misapplied Yahowah’s testimony. Seeking to be like God, she added to and took away from God’s Guidance, a strategy that would be rehashed to conceive Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The replacement of Yahowah’s name for the title “the Lord” 7,000 times in the Towrah, Prophets, and Psalms by religious publishers was paramount in positioning Satan as God. Accepting the Babylonian and pagan preference for Sunday worship rather than enjoying the intended relationship during the Shabat led to the same result. Religious Jews just made things worse when their laborious interpretation of the Shabat became the most limiting of days, restricted by a plethora of onerous religious laws.

Ignoring Chag Matsah in favor of a prolonged Passover was among the worst ideas advanced by the rabbis because it precludes acceptance into the Covenant. Even worse, however, is celebrating Easter Sunday, where in the looming shadow of a dead god on a stick a corpse is resurrected, consistent with Babylonian lore. Following the pagan customs, families drag their children to Sunday sunrise services, then hunt brightly colored “bunny” eggs and eat ham – all giant strides in the wrong direction. The holy holiday was even named after the Babylonian Queen of Heaven and Mother of God, ‘Asherah / ‘Astarte / Ishtar whom Yahowah despises. All the while, Jews would advance the myths of Babylon by observing Purim and Rosh Hashanah. Hannukah would be an ode to the Greeks who conquered Babylon and then Judea.

Instead of concluding the year camping out with our 31Father during Sukah, honoring yet another Babylonian myth, a baby god was deemed to be born on Christmas nine months after Easter. In defiance of God’s instructions, a dead tree is brought into the home, illuminated and decorated, while families sing carols to the baby Jesus – the most popular and insidious of counterfeit gods. Replacing the Towrah with a New Testament and Babylonian Talmud also served Satan, as the religious continue to worship the Lord while spitting in God’s face.

The blame for much of this can be placed upon the rise of Rabbinic Judaism in the 1^st and 2^nd centuries as they tried unethically, ignorantly, and irrationally to deal with the erroneous claims Sha’uwl had popularized regarding Yahowsha’, the Passover Lamb. By ignoring what Yahowah had revealed about his role at that time, the rabbis allowed the Romanized Jew whom Christians know as Paul, a charlatan who even admitted to being demon-possessed, to promote the audacious claim that God authorized him to contradict His Towrah. Pretending to be inspired by God, his Lord was Satan – a point vividly portrayed in future chapters. By being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Paul would “babel – confuse” more souls on behalf of the Adversary than anyone who has ever lived.

He was not alone, however. Muhammad, another man who claimed to speak for God while also admitting to being demon-possessed, named his wannabe god, “Allah,” creating a persona that was equal parts satanic and self-portrait. And while the Islamic god’s Qur’an is the antithesis of Yahowah’s Towrah, Allah claims to author both. He covets the title, Lord, demands prostrations, terrorizes believers into fearing him, requires obedience, and spends all of his time in hell torturing those who do not submit. It should not be surprising, therefore, that Allah orders Muslims to kill Yahowah’s Chosen People.

Much of Yirma’yah | Jeremiah, the prophetic book committed to enlightening Gentiles regarding the 32consequence of aligning themselves with human institutions, particularly those in opposition to Yisra’el, is focused on explaining the connection between Babylon and religion, political power, military conquests, and economic malfeasance and, thus, between Babylon and the things which are opposed by God. Babylon is the place where the things God despises were syncretized, institutionalized, nationalized, and systemized. And sadly, most everything that Babylon represents endures in Christianity, borne out through the babel of the Roman Catholic Church.

Babylonia’s wings were plucked over 2,550 years ago, and yet, the text of this prophecy revealed: “I kept watching (hawah chazah) while (‘ad) her wings were plucked off (marat gaph hy’). So then (wa) she was lifted up, even resurrected (natal), from the earth (min ‘ara’). Upon (wa ‘al) two feet (ragalyn) like a mortal man (ka ‘enash), she arose and was established, becoming influential and powerful (quwm). Even (wa), the heart and mind, the desires and inclinations (labab), of a mortal man (‘enash) were given to it (yahab la hy’).” And as I have shared, these and other clues point to the reincarnation of Babylon into Christianity where the myth of a man is worshiped as God.

In this regard, there has been one man, one beating heart, one stream of human consciousness that was lifted up who represented Babylon in opposition to Yahowah to such an extent that he and his letters would warrant this kind of notoriety. He is the inspiration behind the Christian New Testament and the founder of the religion. And in exactly 600 years, he would be preaching his Towrahless mantra to Rome.

There is another connection we should not forget. In 586 BCE, the Babylonians pummeled Yaruwshalaim and much of Yahuwdah, forcing Yahuwdym into slavery. In this way, Babylonia foreshadows not only Rome’s assault 33on Judea and the rebuilt Temple in 70 CE but, also, Roman Catholicism’s war upon everything Yahowah cherishes and has sought to achieve.

The most relevant and discussed king of Babylon from Yisra’el’s perspective is Nebuchadnezzar II, known in Akkadian as “Nabu-kudurri-usur – God Nabu Defend My Firstborn Son.” Nabu, the son of Marduk, was the god of wisdom in the Babylonian pantheon. By choosing this name, Nebuchadnezzar was claiming to be the preferred firstborn son of his god as well as wise. He ruled from 605 through 562 BCE.

His father, Nabopolassar, is credited with achieving Babylon’s independence from Assyria. In alliance with the Medes and Scythians, he razed Nynowah | Nineveh in 612 BCE. And while this battle didn’t destroy Assyria, it ended Babylon’s servitude as a vassal state. Thereafter, with visions of grandeur dancing in his head, Nabopolassar sent his son west at the head of a large army. In the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE near Haran, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Assyrians again, this time because their allies, the Egyptians, were waylaid in Yahuwdah. This brought western Assyria and Phoenicia under Babylonian control. But during his son’s absence, Nabopolassar died, making Nebuchadnezzar king upon his return to Babylon.

Enchanted by war and unimpressed by alliances, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Scythians. He would bypass the Medes temporarily, however, because his arranged marriage to Amytis, the daughter of the Median king, was perceived to be a vow of peace. Turning west again, he fought battles in Syria en route to Egypt, where his army was rebuffed.

Frustrated by alliances forged against him between Yahuwdah and Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention toward Yaruwshalaim in 597 BCE. Yahuwdah capitulated, and so, as was the Babylonian custom, 34Nebuchadnezzar took prominent hostages with him to encourage the vassal state to honor their agreement. But by the time his departing troops had reached the Sea of Galilee, he received word that those who had lost family and friends revolted against King Yo’shyah | Josiah for having surrendered their loved ones.

As a consequence, Nebuchadnezzar immediately decapitated every Jewish hostage and turned his army back toward Yaruwshalaim. The city was sacked, and the people were ravaged. Those who were not killed were enslaved by the Babylonian monarch.

Throughout the book of Yirma’yah | Jeremiah, Yahowah speaks vociferously of Babylon, calling the empire a “destroyer of nations.” This is often considered to be a reference to Nebuchadnezzar, because, within the kingdom’s 66-year existence, he conquered Assyria, Egypt, and Yisra’el. His siege of Yaruwshalaim and obliteration of the House of Yahowah are then depicted in the 52^nd chapter.

While not the focus of the book, Yahowah has a great deal more to say about Babylon through Yasha’yah | Isaiah, this time focusing on its religious influence and spiritual instigator and agitator. When we are introduced to Satan in Babylon, we discover that the Devil has no interest in being known as the Adversary but, instead, wants to be worshiped as if he were more important than Yahowah.

These insights help explain why the first thing Yahowah asks of ‘Abram prior to entering the Promised Land and engaging in the Covenant is to walk away from Babylon. Unfortunately, however, most have not, which is why Yahowah calls His people out of Babylon prior to His return – indicating that many remain mired in the religion of the Babylonian Talmud.

While we have just begun, and have covered but a single Beast, before we move on, here is Yahowah’s initial 35assessment of the worst of human history…

“In the first year of (ba chad shanah la) Belsha’tsar | the Lord Supports his Dictator (Belsha’tsar), the ruler of (melek) Babel | to Commingle and Confuse with the Lord (Babel), Dany’el | My God Judges, Vindicates, and Condemns (Dany’el) saw (chazah) a revealing vision (chelem) and (wa) distinguishing insights (chazuw) in his mind (re’sh huw’) while upon his bed (‘al mishkab huw’).

Thereupon, during (ba ‘edayn) the prophetic revelation (chalam), he was prompted to write a complete copy of (kathab) the things (milah) being communicated (‘amar). (Dany’el 7:1)

Dany’el | God is My Means to Decide Between Vindication and Condemnation (Dany’el) responded (‘anah) and said (wa ‘amar), ‘I am able to see (hawah chazah), with my sensory perceptions, the vision (ba chazuw ‘anah) during the night (‘im lyly).’

And (wa), behold, right there (‘aruw), four (‘arba’) spirits (ruwachy) of the heavens (shamayn) were churning up (guwah) that which corresponds to the Great Sea (la yam rab). (Dany’el 7:2)

Then four (wa ‘arba’) great beasts, powerful and mighty creatures, lordly and militant monsters (chyuwah rab) came up from, emerging to project the thinking and influence of (salaq min) the Sea (yam), evolving, changing, and transforming to frustrate and be progressively more defiant (shanah) one to the other, growing in opposition (da’ min da’). (Dany’el 7:3)

The first in the series (qadmay) corresponded to and can be associated with (ka) a fierce and powerful lion (‘aryeh) but with (wa) wings (gaph) of (dy) an eagle (nashar) upon it (la hy’).

I kept watching (hawah chazah) while (‘ad) her wings were plucked off (marat gaph hy’). So then (wa) 36she was lifted up, even resurrected (natal), from the earth (min ‘ara’).

Upon (wa ‘al) two feet (ragalyn) like a mortal man (ka ‘enash), it arose and was established, becoming influential and powerful (quwm). Additionally (wa), the heart and mind, the desires and inclinations (labab), of a mortal man (‘enash) were given to it (yahab la hy’).” (Dany’el 7:4)

The second of four beasts to evolve out of Babylon is now in view...

“So behold (wa ‘aruw – look now and pay attention), another (‘achoran) beast (chyuwah – terrifying creature, powerful being, and animalistic monster), a second one (tinyan – the next in a series), resembling (damah – appearing like) a bear (la dob – the approach of a bear).

On one side (wa la satar chad – then approaching from the side at first), it was established (quwm – it rose up and endured).

And (wa) three (telath) ribs (‘ala’ – bones or planks for having made lame) were in its mouth (ba pum hy’) between her teeth (ben shen hy’ – in the grip of her upper and lower jaws).

And (wa) therefore (ken – thusly), it was said of her (‘amar la hy’ – they spoke approaching her), ‘You have chosen to rise up (quwm – it has been your will to come forth) and devour (‘akal – consume) an abundance (sagyi’ – a large and important number) of human witnesses (basar – of people who would be heralds).’” (Dany’el / God is My Means to Judge / Daniel 7:5)

The symbolism of the bear was deployed to depict the 37fierceness and lumbering nature of the Medo-Persian Empire. After conquering Babylon, Persia overthrew Lydia and Egypt, which is why three ribs were found in its mouth. And while the Medes didn’t survive long, the Persians reigned from 539 to 331 BCE – actually much longer than that through their various derivatives.

As for being murderous, Islam would emerge from this Beast, and nothing man has ever conceived has been as deadly. Its assassins bear religious names, jihadist and mujahedeen, and they kill screaming that their wannabe god is greater than Yah: “Allahu Akbar – Allah is Greater!” Over two hundred million men, women, and children would die in the first one hundred years of the Islamic era.

Imagine being Dany’el at this moment. He and his people are enslaved by the most powerful nation on Earth and, yet, he is witnessing the demise of his captors. There would, therefore, be a beast more dominant than the one which had destroyed Yahuwdah.

Since Persia’s participation in this drama chronicling the fall of man will be reprised in the next chapter, and since Persia’s role is considerably less significant than Babylon’s, or the Beasts which follow, let’s develop Persia’s character later as the vision progresses. For now, the focus remains on the Middle East, from Mesopotamia to Egypt with Yisra’el in between.

The third beast would strike quickly and appear regal in the process...

“At another point in time in this same sequence (ba danah ‘atar – concerning this same matter and continuing to focus on these related events), by remaining observant, I was able to witness (hawah chazah – I kept watching) the revelation (wa ‘aruw) of another (‘achoran), this one resembling (ka – similar and corresponding to) a leopard (namar).

And with it (wa la hy’) were four wings (‘arba’ 38gaph) such as (dy) a bird (owp). They were on her back side (‘al gab hy’). The beast (la cheywah – the approaching terrifying entity) had four heads (wa ‘arba’ re’sh – with four top leaders), and to it (la hy’) was afforded (yahab – it was entrusted) governmental dominion (wa shalatan – the power and authority to rule, mastery and sovereignty).” (Dany’el / My God Judges, Vindicates, and Condemns / Daniel 7:6)

The leopard with wings and the power and mastery to rule describes the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great. He conquered the Persians, and most everyone else his troops encountered, rapidly, with the agility of a leopard and the speed of a bird. He never lost a battle, so by age thirty-two, he had conquered much of the known world.

The reason this empire is depicted with four heads is because, when Alexander died suddenly in Babylon, his four generals – Cassander (who claimed Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia), Lysimachus (who reigned over Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Northern Turkey), Seleucus (establishing himself over southern Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan), and Ptolemy (who became emperor over Lebanon, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and part of Libya) – divided the territory they had conquered among themselves. As a result, the Greeks were the world’s most influential civilization from 331 to 168 BCE, when their dominion was sequestered by the Romans.

As we did with Persia, we will do with Alexander and Greece. Since these characters will make a second appearance in this historic play, it’s best to retain continuity and deal with them after God identifies them for us in the next chapter.

39But thus far, it has been an interesting read. In the name of Babel, we discovered that the confounding commingling which occurred within Babylon was in conjunction with the Lord. We learned of four demonic spirits churning up and agitating a great number of Gentiles which in turn led to the emergence of four horrible beasts, creatures of enormous power and influence – each projecting the mindset of the gowym. They would evolve one from another, becoming ever more defiant and frustrating.

The lion with eagle wings was Babylon, whose religion would be resurrected to create Roman Catholicism. And with it, the myth of a man was personified as a god.

The second beast would be a bear, from which only one side of the Media – Persia empires would endure. It was then depicted with the bones of its three victims in its mouth as it devoured humanity surrounding it.

The swift and agile, even at times elegant, Macedonian leopard came next. We were even told that its far-reaching empire was divided among four generals.

It is all an intriguing match for what actually occurred. And so, we should keep this in mind as we progress through the prophecy. In that God has provided a precisely accurate picture thus far, we should logically expect that every nuance of what He says will occur in our future will take place exactly as predicted.

Here then, for your consideration, are the previous two stanzas…

“So behold (wa ‘aruw), another (‘achoran) beast (chyuwah), a second one (tinyan), resembling (damah) a bear (la dob).

On one side (wa la satar chad), it would be established (quwm). And (wa) three (telath) ribs (‘ala’) 40were in its mouth (ba pum hy’) between her teeth (ben shen hy’). And (wa) therefore (ken – thusly), it was said of her (‘amar la hy’), ‘You have chosen to rise up (quwm) and devour (‘akal) an abundance (sagyi’) of human witnesses and potential heralds (basar).’ (Dany’el 7:5)

At another point in time in this same sequence (ba danah ‘atar), by remaining observant, I was able to witness (hawah chazah) the revelation (wa ‘aruw) of another (‘achoran), this one resembling (ka) a leopard (namar).

And with it (wa la hy’) were four wings (‘arba’ gaph) such as (dy) a bird (owp). They were on her back side (‘al gab hy’). The beast (la cheywah) had four heads (wa ‘arba’ re’sh), and to it (la hy’) was afforded (yahab) governmental dominion and the power to rule (wa shalatan).” (Dany’el 7:6)

The next empire, which is also the last, was arguably the vilest in human history. We are now witnessing the rise of Rome.

“After this (ba danah ‘atar – following this sequence of events), I remained observant (chazah hawah – I kept watching) regarding this revelation during a time of enfolding darkness (ba chazuw lyly – of the vision of night).

And behold (wa ‘aruw – then paying attention), the fourth (raby’ay) awesome and monstrous beast (chywah – terrifying and animalistic creature), the most fearsome and frightening so as to be respected (dachal – formidable and dreadful, oppressive and terrifying, threatening and terrible), would be genuinely horrifying and appalling (wa ‘eymatan – dreadful and horrific, 41sickening and gruesome, inflicting tragic and horrible consequences), with (wa) an exceptionally powerful and preeminent military (yatyr taqyph – an overwhelmingly prodigious and mighty army, surpassing all others in influence).

It had (wa la hy’) teeth comprised of iron (shen dy parzel la – rows of incisors which appear as hardened metal and are perceived to be invincible).

Great multitudes, including the highly populated and powerful (rab – a great number), it devoured and devastated (‘akal – it destroyed and consumed), crushing the remainder (wa daqaq wa sha’ar – smashing and pulverizing piece by piece the rest, including whatever is left) with its feet (ba ragal hy’) by trampling them down violently (raphats – rejoicing while completely destroying and ruining them) under foot (ba ragal).

And so (wa), this one was different in its transformation (hy’ shanah) from all the other (min kol) beasts (chywah – terrifying monsters and horrible entities) which preceded it (dy qodam hy’ – that came before it).

Ten (wa ‘asar) horns (qeren – indicative of leaders and nations) were extended from her (la hy’).” (Dany’el / God is My Means to Decide between Vindication and Condemnation / Daniel 7:7)

Babylon, Persia, and Greece were militant, expansionist, and oppressive, but they were pussycats compared to Rome – the most formidable and fearsome of empires. And it isn’t just that her legions were vicious throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa, their most appalling assaults were against Yahuwdah.

Imperial Rome was everything God detests. They were resolutely religious and political, imposing both schemes upon everyone within their reach. Their emperors paraded around as gods and built shrines to their egos. They deployed the most oppressive caste system with no upward 42mobility and ran a slave economy. Their legions were ruthless killing machines, and the generals driving them were covetous and duplicitous. It was a nation without scruples, without ethics, and devoid of morality. Their agreements were onerous, and even then, they did not honor them. They ruled through terror, inventing the most excruciating forms of torture and using them publicly and prolifically – once even against Yahowah’s Passover Lamb.

Rome was a chywah dachal | the fearsome and formidable monster, a dreadful and frightening beast, an empire respected for being overtly oppressive, terrifying, threatening, and terrible. The empire was ‘eymatan | horrifyingly appalling and horribly gruesome. Their legions were yatyr taqyph | exceptionally powerful, the preeminent military of the age.

With the bite of an iron jaw, no one escaped. And those who tried, Rome pursued and crushed. Even worse, Romans celebrated their collective atrocities – doing so in the Colosseum they financed and constructed with the treasures stolen from Yahowah’s Temple and labor supplied by Jewish slaves.

While Yahuwdah was relatively easy prey for Rome, a bite-sized morsel, the empire subjugated the most heavily populated and powerful nations of the known world – devastating them.

What made Rome unique from the others was how it shanah | evolved, transforming into Beasts of a different ilk – Christianity via Roman Catholicism, the Holy Roman Empire and Feudal Europe on the way to metastasizing into the European Union. Rome’s wars were not ending – just beginning.

As for her epitaph – that of giving way to the ten horns – we will examine the implications later as Yahowah elaborates on this and explains it to us.

43Yahowah was right in saying that Rome was best known for the Empire’s horrific and ruthless military. She was born as she died, fighting – with those she abused finally trampling the empire that had oppressed them underfoot.

Some three hundred major battles were fought over twelve centuries. No nation has been as appalling or tyrannical. Rome devoured people far and wide, including consuming her own.

Since historians are typically amoral, and present the grandeur that was Rome, I think that it’s important that we look behind the shimmering shields to the slashing swords and examine the blood that stained the Empire’s soul.

So in light of Yahowah’s revelation reproaching the pervasiveness and cruelty of Roman conquests, I have prepared an accounting of Roman characters and wars for your consideration.

Rome’s first battle pitted Italians against Italians, with rival Romans vying for power. This would become a trend, occurring so often, civil wars were as common as fights with external foes. Called the Battle of Silva Arsia, in 509 BCE, the emerging Senate fought the Etruscan forces of deposed Roman King Superbus in a wooded area just outside Rome. When the Etruscans, whose territory was forty miles north of Rome, determined that the battle was not worth the cost, they gave up the fight and the Senate declared victory. Rome’s priests tell us that the Spirit of Silvanus (“the Forest” god) was heard the night after the battle saying “one more Etruscan had fallen than Romans so Rome was triumphant.”

As legend would have it, seven years later in 502 BCE, Latins would defeat the Romans, but then Rome avenged the loss when Postumius captured the Latin League’s encampment near Lake Regillus around 499 BCE. This was noteworthy only because the victorious Roman 44general, Postumius, returned to Rome as a dictator and arranged to have a temple built in his honor in the Forum. Since all of this occurred many centuries before Julius Caesar would become renowned for changing Rome from a gluttonous Oligarchic Republic to an outright dictatorship, it appears that this beast had a checkered past.

In skirmishes like this over territory and bragging rights, by the close of the 6^th century BCE, Roman military lore would claim a dozen wars against neighboring cities, with five victories, four losses, and three draws. The foes were never far afield and were usually Etruscans living in communities surrounding Rome.

In one of these battles in 458 BCE, Cincinnatus, a Roman aristocrat who became a recluse and farmer, fought the city of Aequi and their allies from the neighborhoods of Sabine and Volscians, all of which were within short riding distance of Rome. Upon his victory, and after “cutting his foes to pieces,” the Aequi begged Cincinnatus not to slaughter the remnant of his people. For that to occur, Cincinnatus told the Aequi that he would allow some of their people to live so long as they brought every leader along with their supporters to him in chains so that he could humiliate them – another preoccupation which became a Roman pastime. The surviving Aequi were then made to pass under a yoke of three spears, demonstrating their submission by bowing and admitting defeat.

His story is interesting because he was considered one of the heroes of early Rome, a model of Roman virtue, largely because he was noted for his cruel oppression of the Plebeians – the citizens at the lowest rung of Rome’s rigid caste system. He was also a horrible father, influencing his son to harass the less fortunate. He was so aggressive tormenting those beneath him socially and economically, he was convicted and condemned to death.

The first Roman conflict against a formidable foe 45occurred in 387 BCE. It was against the Gauls, who were residing in northern Italy, Germany, and France. Prior to the battle, the Senones, one of several Gallic tribes, traversed the Apennines searching for fertile land. Having reached a lightly populated area not far from modern-day Tuscany in northwestern Italy, they asked the local Clusians if they could pay them to graze and farm their land. But rather than barter directly, the Clusians solicited Roman ambassadors for help. They proved fickle, briefly engaging on behalf of both parties, but then quickly terminating negotiations. According to the Roman historian, Livy, the Roman ambassadors “broke the law of nations,” which is to say they failed to honor their oath of neutrality as negotiators, and “took up arms against the Senones, killing a Gallic chief. This breach of diplomatic ethics compelled the Gauls to dispatch one of their own ambassadors to Rome, demanding that the assassin be handed over to them for justice. The Roman priesthood was sympathetic, acknowledging the breach of ethics, but the populace mocked the clerics in mass demonstrations, prompting Rome to appease them by promoting the killer, an act which further enraged the Senones. As a result, the Gauls declared war and marched on Rome.

Livy paints the scene: “Contrary to all expectations, the Gauls (or Celts as the Romans called them) did the people of the countryside no harm, nor took anything from their fields, but even as they passed close by their cities, shouted out that they were marching on Rome and had declared war only on the Romans, but the rest of the people they regarded as friends.”

Once they were eleven miles outside Rome, along the Allia River at a tributary of the Tiber, they found that twenty-four thousand Romans had taken up positions akin to the Greek Phalanx. The force, which outnumbered the Gauls two to one, was comprised of six Roman Legions. At the time, they were a militia of Roman citizens, each 46individual supplying his own equipment, with the poor and poorly armed on the flanks and the rich and powerful protected in the middle. The Gauls, therefore, attacked the Roman flanks, routing them, and leaving the center surrounded. In so doing, they were able to slaughter Rome’s elite.

The few who survived the initial engagement fled to Rome in panic, so frightened that the last soldier through forgot to close the gates. But then retreating all the way to Capitoline Hill, they deployed barricades to slow the Gallic advance. Holding the high ground, and hiding behind overturned carts and furniture, Roman women and children were initially successful in rebuffing the Gauls, killing some. But since a woman wielding a kitchen utensil is no match for a soldier with a sword and shield, Rome fell and was plundered. The city was destroyed. But not yet satisfied, the Gauls refused to end their siege until the Romans paid them one thousand pounds of gold, leaving their chief to say, “Woe to the vanquished.”

And yet as is the case in war, it was also “victor beware.” Since the Gauls expected to bring the bodies of their dead comrades home as fallen heroes, they left their soldiers’ carcasses unburied and in their midst, causing an epidemic that claimed many additional lives. And while that was probably the end of the fighting, to quell the sting of defeat, Roman propaganda promoted the myth that Roman reinforcements arrived just at that moment, with the valiant leader, Marcus Camillus, professing: “not gold, but steel redeems the native land,” a reference to the sword he was allegedly wielding. Then to glorify war, Roman folklore would say that after fighting door to door, street to street, the Gallic army was routed, with the Romans hailing Camillus, dubbing their victorious general, the “Second Romulus” – a nod to the mythical founding wolf of Rome.

I shared the details of this battle because it would ultimately define and reshape the Empire. Romans were 47seldom trustworthy and routinely reneged on their promises. And they remained immoral and arrogant, the traits which led to their defeat on this day and again eight centuries later. But in the intervening time, war became theater, a place where myths and heroes were born.

As a result of this embarrassing defeat, Rome rebuilt its defenses and restructured its military. It developed new industries to manufacture weapons and started deploying more advanced tactics. Aristocrats would no longer bleed for the nation, but they would provide the lower classes with superior arms. The Legions would be comprised of professional soldiers, men paid a pittance for their service. And they would brutalize and plunder everyone within their reach, ultimately building an army of slaves. But this would mark the last time Rome would be captured until the Visigoths came calling in 410 CE.

Since it would take a volume of books rather than a chapter to chronicle every Roman battle, suffice it to say that the 4^th century BCE would see Romans involved in ten major conflicts. They would fight and defeat the neighboring Etruscans in 396 and 310 BCE. The Samnites, living southeast of Rome, constantly found themselves at the business end of a Legionnaire’s sword. They would battle their neighbors in 342, 341, 321, 316, and 305 BCE, losing the first two encounters, prevailing in the next two battles, but failing in the last. The Latins lost to the Romans in 339 and 338 BCE.

As we approach the 3^rd century BCE, Rome fought their neighbors to the south four times in quick succession. The Samnites defeated Rome in 298 but lost in 297, 295, and 293 BCE. Turning north, Rome’s Legions began fighting the Gauls again beginning in 285 BCE, losing the 48Battle of Arretium. But they would get revenge during rematches at Lake Vadimo in 283 and Populonia in 282 BCE, crushing the Gauls.

The first Roman battle against Greek forces occurred in 280 BCE in the Battle of Heraclea. This was a seaside Hellenistic colony on Italy’s boot. The Greeks were celebrating their annual Easter-time festival of Dionysus in the town’s theater when they saw ten Roman ships filled with soldiers and supplies enter the Gulf of Taranto – a violation of existing treaties. And even though Rome had provoked the Greeks, after toying with diplomacy, it was Rome that declared war and plundered several local communities. The Greeks, Romans, and their associated allies would spar on land and sea for some time, with the tide of war ebbing and flowing for both sides.

The ultimate battle between them was joined when thirty thousand Romans faced off against the same number of Greeks, making it the first time the Roman Legion would encounter the Macedonian Phalanx. But it was the Greek deployment of elephants that carried the day, panicking the Romans and making them vulnerable. And so while the Greeks prevailed, twenty-six thousand men on both sides lost their lives in a matter of hours, suggesting that there were no winners. Then inexplicably, these same belligerents would face off in 279 BCE, again with the same result, but this time with even greater casualties.

Few conflicts are as well-known as Rome v. Carthage. These heavyweights of the ancient world would meet for the first time in the Battle of Agrigentum in Sicily in 262 BCE inaugurating the Punic Wars. The Romans were the aggressors, attacking the Carthaginian city to gain control of shipping routes in the Mediterranean. The prelude to the conflict began twenty-seven years earlier when, in 288 BCE, the Italian mercenaries, known as the Mamertines (Sons of Mars), were hired by the Tyrant of Syracuse, the self-proclaimed king of Sicily, to do his bidding. But after 49Syracuse lost the Third Sicilian War to Carthage, he was forced to cede Messana to the victors, which left the mercenaries without an employer. So they went into business for themselves, plundering the town they once protected. The Mamertines killed the men and divided the women as spoils. These Sons of Mars held the town for twenty years, turning it into a base for pirates, and looting nearby ships and settlements. They also engaged in kidnap for ransom and conquest for tribute. Their exploits made them so rich and famous, they minted their own currency featuring their favorite collection of gods and goddesses.

Their run of good luck ran out when another tyrant, Hiero, assembled a militia to take his city back. But the Sons of Mars, after winning the first battle and losing the second, convinced the Carthaginian fleet at Sardinia to come to their rescue. They had no affinity for the mercenaries, but they had long sought to control Sicily due to its proximity to Sardinia, Spain, and their homeland in North Africa.

We are told that the mere presence of a Carthaginian fleet in the harbor caused Syracuse to flee. And because they were opposed to piracy, the Mamertines quickly grew weary of the Carthaginians. So they solicited Rome for protection. Not wanting Carthage to claim the strategic maritime island from the Greek colonies surrounding it, the Romans came to the aid of the Sons of Mars, initiating the first Punic War by signing a mutual defense pact with them.

At the time, the Romans had yet to fight a foe outside of the Italian Peninsula. But nonetheless, feeling sure of themselves, in 264 BCE, the Senate voted to declare war and sent an expedition to Sicily. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians increased their troop presence and also hired Gothic and Spanish mercenaries to induce and equip the indigenous population to attack invading Romans.

Consuls Megellus and Vitulus, as the highest-ranking 50elected Roman Patricians, brought forty thousand men to lay siege upon Agrigentum, a strategic town along Sicily’s southwest coast. The population of Agrigentum swelled to fifty thousand as the Romans approached because the local population sought refuge behind its walls. The garrison assigned to protect the town was small, but its leader bore a name Romans would come to hate – Hannibal – although this was Hannibal Gisco – and thus not the famous general who crossed the Alps to invade Rome during the Second Punic War.

Upon arrival, the Romans set up camp a mile from the town that had grown into a city and began gleaning the land for food. It was then, while soldiers were foraging, that Hannibal Gisco attacked, routing the unarmed troops and driving them back into their camp. Outnumbered ten-to-one, Hannibal skirmished with the garrison for a while, killing a substantial number of soldiers, before retreating back into the safety of the city.

The Romans then began digging siegeworks in an attempt to corral and then starve Agrigentum into submission, creating a stalemate for some five months. Concerned, Hannibal sent word to his son, Hanno, who arrived with elephants, Numidian cavalry, and an assortment of mercenaries. The numbers associated with each ranged from thirty to fifty elephants, fifteen hundred to six thousand cavalry, and thirty thousand to fifty thousand unaffiliated infantry. Hanno established his base twenty-five miles from Agrigentum and quickly set about capturing Roman supply lines. Then after frustrating the Legions for a while, Hanno ordered his Numidian cavalry to attack and then feign retreat. The pursuing Romans were thereby lured directly into the teeth of the Carthaginian line, where thousands died. Toying with his new-found foe, Hanno took the high ground above the Roman camp on Torus Hill, where he deprived his adversary of food for six months. All the while, and inexplicably, his father, 51Hannibal, was still trapped and starving inside Agrigentum. So they began communicating through smoke signals.

What happened next is hazy. The various accounts vary markedly and the inconsistencies are difficult to resolve. But it appears that the Romans prevailed, killing most of the Carthaginians, their Numidian allies, and mercenaries. The Greek historian, Polybius, claims that the Romans slaughtered and starved thirty-five thousand men and took some four thousand captives during the siege and battles. While Hannibal would escape with some of his mercenaries, the Romans would also plunder the city, selling all twenty-five thousand civilians who survived their siege into slavery.

Such obsessive cruelty and wanton disregard for life and freedom backfired on the Romans, however. Their reputation for brutality became legendary, and the world quickly grew averse to them. So for those who believe that Rome was a beacon of light during the Republic era, the birthplace of political freedom and a bastion of moral debate, think again. Rome was born and remained as Yahowah had described it.

Four years later, in 260 BCE, Carthage and the Roman Republic would meet again, this time fighting for control of the islands north of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Romans, now possessing Sicily, built a fleet to control the Mediterranean Sea. The first seventeen warships sailed to Messana to herald the new era of Roman domination. While training his navy in the strait, Consul Scipio received information that the garrison on the island of Lipari was willing to defect to Rome. Not able to resist the temptation of conquest without conflict, he sailed into a trap. As the Roman navy entered the harbor with their recently commissioned fleet, they found Hannibal waiting to ambush them. For his blunder, Rome would change Consul Scipio’s title, giving him the cognomen, Asina, a pejorative 52meaning “female donkey.”

Later that same year, Rome would win the first significant naval battle against Carthage. It was fought off the coast of northern Sicily. The Romans had built a fleet of one hundred Quinqueremes (Fives) and twenty Triremes (Threes) by reverse engineering the Carthaginian designs which were themselves copies of warships invented by Dionysius of Syracuse a century earlier. The smaller ships were called “Threes” because there were three levels of oarsmen, typically slaves, confined and shackled inside the ship. And while it was long assumed that a Quinqueremes would have five levels of oarsmen, three was the practical limit, suggesting that the Fives were wider, allowing for more men on each level and oar. But the Romans included an interesting wrinkle. Recognizing that their infantry was better trained than their navy, they added a ramp to their vessels which enabled their troops to board enemy ships. This corvi was designed to pivot so that Romans could board from the bow, port, or starboard. This enabled them to throw a grappling hook to reel in a passing ship. And once it was close and the ramp was lowered, it locked into position with an iron stake, preventing escape.

The Senate asked Rome’s Consuls, Scipio Asina and Gaius Duilius, to divide responsibility, giving the “Donkey” control of the fleet. But before the battle began, Duilius switched positions with him, and he wielded the new navy wisely. He deployed the corvus drawbridge to board the first twenty Carthaginian ships as they attempted to ram the Romans. Before the battle was over, Rome had captured thirty-one vessels, sinking another thirteen, including the Carthaginian flagship. The remaining eighty enemy ships sailed off in retreat without the Romans giving chase. In addition, Rome took booty in gold and silver worth over two million sesterces (a 2½ inch silver coin). Duilius scored Rome’s first naval Triumph.

Success at Mylae enabled the Romans to pursue 53Hannibal on Sardinia two years later. Their emerging navy prevailed again, destroying a third of the Carthaginian fleet. After another defeat, Hannibal was arrested by his own troops and taken back to Carthage where he was crucified for his failures.

These foes would meet again in the Battle of Tyndaris off the coast of Sicily in 257 BCE. This spontaneous engagement was scored eighteen to nine in favor of the Romans. But that just led to a much bigger fight with a great deal more at stake. The Battle of Cape Ecnomus was one of the largest naval engagements of the ancient world, and it is considered by some to be the largest naval battle ever fought.

The Romans now had delusions of grandeur. They were intoxicated with the idea of being able to project a force, transporting their Legions upon the seas. And their first target would be Northern Africa, the Carthaginian homeland. So realizing that Triremes and Quinqueremes had little space for cargo, Rome built a large fleet of two hundred massive transport vessels. The only equivalent in world history would be America thousands of years later with its Regan-era Navy comprised of 594 warships.

But for Rome to accomplish its goal of capturing Northern Africa, the enemy’s fleet patrolling the waters off Sicily would have to be neutralized. So as they had with their Legions, Rome divided its navy into numbered Squadrons, each commanded by a Consul. Their battle formation became a wedge with transports tucked behind attack vessels, all of which were protected by a line of Threes and Fives in the rear.

The opposing forces met off of southwestern Sicily, with the Carthaginian fleet arrayed in a long line. Rome advanced on its center and Carthage feigned a retreat, hoping to swing their flanks around quickly to attack the Roman transports. They were initially successful, pushing 54the larger ships into the Sicilian coast. But the Romans quickly regrouped, avoiding disaster. At the end of the day, they had sunk or captured half of the Carthaginian fleet, opening the door to seize Africa.

A year later, in 256 BCE, Rome would invade Carthage with Consul Marcus Regulus leading the conquest. Because the Carthaginians were not yet ready to engage in a land battle, the Roman Legions quickly forced Clupea, a town forty miles east of Carthage, to surrender. After capturing twenty thousand slaves and vast herds of cattle from the countryside, they then set their sights on Aspis. Messages were dashed off to Rome to notify the Senate of their success, seeking orders on the next move, which was punitive, plundering and destroying the countryside. Loaded with booty, both human and animal, the transports set sail for Rome, leaving Regulus with fifteen thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry.

By this time, Carthage had recalled five thousand infantry and cavalry from Sicily. The remaining army was comprised mostly of mercenaries, light infantry, militia, cavalry, and riders upon elephants. But their military was unlike Rome’s Legions, where its caste system and strict command and control structure turned Plebes and slaves into unthinking killing machines.

Rather than defend the city of Aspis, the Carthaginian army was deployed on a hill overlooking a nearby plain. It was an unwise decision because it reduced the effectiveness of their superior cavalry and elephants. Worse, unknown to them, and under the cover of darkness, the Romans deployed their Legions around the hill, attacking the Carthaginians from every side at dawn. Fighting bravely, Carthage opened a hole in the Roman line sufficient to allow their cavalry and elephants to escape. But eventually, they were beaten back and crushed, with the survivors fleeing the hill in a rout. After looting the camp, the Romans marched to Carthage, stopping at Tunis 55en route.

That created a stalemate. Consul Regulus knew that despite enslaving fifty thousand people, and slaughtering almost that many more, there would be no Triumph for him unless he took Carthage. But two Legions of fifteen thousand troops were woefully inadequate for the mission. On the other side, the weakened Carthaginians found the Numidians who they had oppressed and subjugated rising up against them. And since the Romans had stolen everything edible, they were starving. Confined to the city, they were also ravaged by disease.

So Regulus sought to earn the accolades he could not achieve militarily by humiliating his foe. His terms for ending the unimaginable human suffering he was imposing on the city were unconscionable. In a massive land grab, he demanded that Carthage cede Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica to Rome. In addition, to end the siege, Carthage would have to give its entire navy to the Romans and would have to pay an onerous annual tribute tax to maintain it. What’s more, they would have to surrender their freedom, giving Rome absolute control over Carthage and its people. It was a death sentence which the Carthaginians refused. Rome was anything but congenial.

Sometimes, when people are pushed into a corner they fight back in an unexpected way because they have nothing to lose. Within a year, during the Battle of Tunis, Carthage would defeat Rome. Rather than surrender everything to Rome, Carthage hired a Spartan mercenary general named Xanthippus. After deploying the Carthaginian cavalry and elephants on open ground to maximize their effectiveness, Xanthippus created a phalanx of civilians.

General Xanthippus sent his elephants into the heart of the Roman infantry, tying them down, while sending his cavalry against Regulus’ horsemen. Outnumbered eight to one, the Roman cavalry was quickly defeated. They fared 56poorly against the people’s phalanx, and the Carthaginian cavalry, having wiped out their Roman counterparts, split their forces and assaulted the already disarrayed infantry from both sides. Only two thousand Roman troops were able to escape, fleeing back to their ships. We do not know if Consul Regulus was captured or killed, but he was never heard from again. And during the ensuing period of global warming, vicious seaborne storms kept Rome from pursuing the war.

Carthage would successfully prosecute a Libyan revolt in 252 BCE. Following it, they dispatched troops to secure Sicily. That assault did not go as planned because, as the Punics fought to take Panormus from Rome, the Romans deployed a strategy to torment and kill the elephants that had been so effective against them. With javelins thrust into their hides, the elephants panicked and trampled the Carthaginian infantry. Then when the battle was over, the Romans captured the surviving elephants which they transported to Rome so that they could be slaughtered in the Circus to the cheers of ghoulish fans.

Rome would, however, lose its next engagement. Their attempt to siege Lilybaeum on the western tip of Sicily failed in 250 BCE. The Carthaginians would defeat the Romans again, this time offshore in a fight between the fleets. In the prelude to the battle, and during the Roman siege of Lilybaeum, another Carthaginian commander named Hannibal broke through the Roman blockade in broad daylight, supplying food while removing useless and hungry horses without the napping Romans even noticing. Successful the first time, Hannibal did it again and again, frustrating the Romans and defeating the purpose of the siege – which was to starve the inhabitants to death. Embarrassed, the Roman Consul decided to launch a surprise raid on Drepana, the homeport of the blockade runners. But during a moonless night, the Romans squandered the element of surprise by arriving in a 57disorderly fashion.

Meanwhile, on the Roman flagship, the Consul consulted religious chickens, as was a Roman custom, before the battle. If the sacred chickens ate the grain that was scattered before them, the Romans believed that their gods would support them during the battle. However, on this morning in 249 BCE, the righteous flock chickened out – which was a foreboding omen. With his superstitious crews fearing foul play, the Consul threw the sacred cluckers overboard, saying, “Let them drink, since they don’t wish to eat.”

Outpositioned, having lost the element of surprise, and with the gods against them, the blockade runners validated the faith the Romans had placed in their religious flock. While Consul Publius Pulcher escaped the chicken caper, the highest elected official in Rome was tried for incompetence and impiety and fined 120,000 asses, 1,000 each for the ships Rome lost in the battle. Soon thereafter, he committed suicide. Although the penalty for incompetence was for losing the battle and for the loss of his fleet, and not even for squandering his men’s lives, the charge of impiety was rendered for the sacrilege of sacrificing the chickens. You just can’t make this kind of stuff up.

Even enriched by countless slaves and shiploads of stolen property, a constant state of war was bankrupting Rome. The Republic had spent way too much money on its navy and legions. And a funny thing about ships: some sink and others rust and rot over time. Soldiers age and their weapons grow dull. The military had become a monster that was devouring the Oligarchy. And yet since the Senate’s Consul was Commander in Chief of the Roman war machine, and since victories over foes real or imagined turned consuls into gods, the sensible thing never occurred to the Romans.

58With the economy in a calamitous state, the treasury bankrupt, and the religious chickens in the drink, the Patricians were called to be patriotic. Aristocratic Romans weren’t asked to pay off the Republic’s national debt, they weren’t asked to start new businesses that would create jobs and invigorate the stalled economy. The privileged elite would show the way by building their own warship and donating it to the Senate. And so with two hundred bristling new Quinqueremes duly equipped and crewed, Rome scanned the horizon for a worthy foe. The Fives, with Consul Gaius Catulus at the helm, sailed off in quest of booty and slaves on a brisk spring morning in 241 BCE.

They immediately laid siege to Lilybaeum again, adding Drepana to their blockade, which was the place they had lost their fleet during the fiasco of the faithful fowl. And there they bobbed without incident or battle for the rest of the year. Then finally, a year to the day that they had set sail, the Carthaginian fleet arrived, providing the first opportunity for the Patrician Fives to prove their worth. The winds, however, were favoring Carthage, so Consul Catulus removed his ships’ masts and sails and sent his second in command, Faulto, off to play war in the stormy seas. And the Romans prevailed, but only because the Carthaginian ships were overloaded with food and supplies. Theirs had been a mission of mercy to feed the starving townsfolk. In the rough seas, they were outmaneuvered by the Roman warships. Half were sunk. The others sailed away.

Consul Catulus, of course, renewed the siege and eventually starved the Sicilians into submission. To celebrate his achievement, he built a marvelous temple to Juturna – a Roman goddess-turned-water nymph who is said to have had a secret adulterous affair with Jupiter. I suspect that she was chosen because, early in her life of make-believe, she supported her brother, Turnus, in battle, giving him a new sword after he had dropped his own. The 59replacement warships were Rome’s new sword.

And yet sadly for Rome, the Carthaginians wouldn’t play with them again for a quarter of a century, so the Aristocratic navy would rot once more. But that did not mean that the Romans were out of neighbors to antagonize. There would always be plenty of Gauls.

To set the stage, the Gauls had lived in peace with Rome in northern Italy until Rome partitioned their territory in 234 BCE. This intrusion into their lives and the subsequent loss of freedom caused the Gauls to create a federation of tribes and employ a mercenary force to protect them. This was so unacceptable to Rome, they signed a treaty giving Carthage unimpeded control over Hispania so that they could concentrate their animosity against the Gallic quest for independence.

So, in 225 BCE, the Republic issued a call to arms against the Gauls living in northern Italy. Fifty-four thousand Samnite and Etruscan boys were forcibly dragged from their homes, joining forty thousand Umbrian, Sarsinate, Veneti, and Cenomai and twenty-two thousand Roman Plebeians – all to create a massive army orchestrated by the Oligarchs. Some thirty-thousand of the one hundred sixteen thousand troops marched off to war with the Roman eagle and flags fluttering before. The remainder were given garrison duty to suppress local rebellions and make sure that everyone behaved back home.

The Gauls, however, wishing to avoid conflict, scampered away through the Apennine Mountains. But the Romans, itching for a fight, pursued them as they continued to retreat. Unable to escape, the Gauls left their cavalry behind, hidden in the woods, and they lured the Romans into a narrow pass where they ambushed them, inflicting a near-fatal blow on the hastily comprised legions.

60Regulus, who had been busy fighting for control of Sardinia, arrived just as the Romans were assessing the damage. He moved his troops ahead, overlooking a pass that he thought the Gauls might use. The result was devastating. No match for Roman weaponry or tactics, forty thousand Gauls were killed in a matter of hours and another ten thousand were taken prisoner. The few who escaped committed suicide rather than endure the torment that would have been inflicted upon them.

With the Gallic population defenseless, the Romans began a punitive expedition, plundering everyone and everything. A great celebration was held in Rome as the generals were worshiped as gods and the spoils were distributed among the wealthiest Romans. So long as there were people to plunder, slaves to serve, and Plebeians to oppress, life was good for Rome’s Oligarchs – known then as Patricians and later as Lords. No skill was required because it was all a matter of being a member of the Lucky Sperm Club.

Even though the Romans had signed peace treaties with Carthage in 509, 348, 306, 279, and 225 BCE, the Senate wasn’t trustworthy and preferred war to peace. As an example, even when their favorite sparring partner was attacked by its Libyan mercenaries for failing to pay them for having successfully defended Carthage, the Senate sent supplies to Carthage, making the resulting Carthaginian war against its own mercenaries among the most savage ever recorded. During the Battle of the Saw, Carthage’s ruling class cunningly lured the protesting mercenaries into a steep box canyon, then blockaded the open end so that they could starve their former allies to death. The mercenary leader was tortured and crucified for trying to 61negotiate a truce. And then, ostensibly because starvation wasn’t sufficiently painful, the Carthaginian leaders began breaking the arms and legs of their captives, and then cutting off their hands and castrating them, before throwing them into large pits to die a much more miserable death. It was a foreboding overture for how Rome would respond to Spartacus’ appeal for freedom – crucifying 6,000 slaves – lining the Appian Way from Rome to Capua.

It was against this backdrop in 218 BCE that Rome initiated the Second Punic War following Hannibal’s siege of Saguntum on the eastern shore of Iberia. This was remarkable in a way because just sixteen years earlier the Senate had ceded Spain to Carthage so that Rome could focus on fighting Gauls. Somehow Rome justified their duplicity by claiming that they had subsequently entered into a defense pact with the Iberian city. But that was obviously a ruse because Rome never lifted a finger to help its new ally during the eight-month siege and only responded after the city had been taken.

Anticipating what was to come, Hannibal gave his army the winter off to rest, only to reassemble it in the summer of 218 after learning of the declaration of war. Having been elected to his position, and not the least bit timid, Hannibal led ninety thousand infantry, twelve thousand cavalry, and thirty-seven elephants from the southeastern Spanish coast toward Italy. Along the way, his troops practiced plundering by subduing the Iberian tribes of Ilergetes, Bergusii, and Austani, conquering much of Catalonia in extreme northeastern Spain. Along the way, they left the Greek colonies in place and unmolested. And just offshore, Carthage shadowed Hannibal with thirty Fives and mobilized another fifty Quinqueremes in preparation for the battle that was sure to come.

While it had been Rome that had negated its own treaty to declare war, the Carthaginians struck first. Twenty of their Fives, loaded with one thousand soldiers, raided the 62Lipari Islands in the waters off northeastern Sicily. But then on the island of Vulcano, the Syracuse captured three of their ships along with their crews when they were blown off course. And after learning that the Carthaginian navy was being mobilized for a strike on Lilybaeum, Sicily, they informed Rome of the impending raid and Rome prevailed, capturing seventeen hundred Carthaginian sailors. Another two thousand were captured in Malta.

Within two months, but on a different battlefield, this one in northeastern Iberia, Gnaeus Calvus substantially outmanned and defeated the small garrison force Hannibal had left behind to protect the Iberian villages he had recently conquered. The Romans killed six thousand and captured two thousand Carthaginian soldiers, also stealing the supplies Hannibal had left behind.

The following month, in November of 218 BCE, the stage was set for a pair of epic battles. The first was waged in Gallic territory in northwestern Italy on the Pavia plains near the confluence of the Ticino and Po Rivers. It would be a fight between titans with massive forces assembled on both sides. Hannibal, who was just twenty-six years old, was in a foul mood, knowing that the Romans had wiped out his garrison forces and stolen his supplies.

The Senate realized that they were in serious trouble. Livy writes: “They knew they had never had to face a fiercer or more warlike foe. War was coming, and it would have to be fought in Italy in defense of Rome.” They issued a decree to fill out the ranks of six new Legions with twenty-four thousand infantry and eighteen hundred cavalry, enlisting another forty-two thousand allied soldiers from client territories. And while the Senate had previously declared war, and had already built its army and navy to prosecute that conflict, they actually asked free Romans to vote on whether or not to go to war. I can only imagine the propaganda and military posturing that accompanied this vote, one that was carried by the patriots.

63Consul Tiberius was in command of one hundred sixty Fives and two Legions, comprised mostly of men who had been forced into service. He set sail for Sicily to stage an assault on Carthage. Their plan, one Hannibal interrupted, was to invade Africa. Concurrently, Consul Publius was sent north with two Legions to spar with Hannibal in the north. Manlius, an elderly aristocrat, was named Praetor, and was then assigned two Legions which were to be deployed against the Gauls to keep them from using the occasion to rebel.

With their armies marching off to war with orders to invade Carthage, to subdue Gauls, and to confront Hannibal, for theater, Rome sent a delegation of old Patricians to the Carthage Senate with plenipotentiary powers to re-re-declare war should their dishonest presentation of revisionist history fail to impress the audience. Having brought copies of past treaties, they asked the Carthaginian Senate to determine if Hannibal had acted as an individual or with the approval of the Senate. But the Carthaginians denied that Rome had a treaty with Carthage, pointing out that they had repudiated the Ebro Treaty, claiming that it was not ratified in order to promote a conflicting defense agreement with Saguntum. Having lost the argument on its merits, the Roman Fabius postured, saying, “We bring you peace or war. Take which you will.” Unimpressed, and knowing that the Romans had already chosen war, the Carthaginians replied, “Whichever you want, we do not care.” Fabius then proclaimed, “We give you war,” knowing full well that he wouldn’t be fighting in it. (Livy, History of Rome, Book XXI)

Fabius, who returned through Spain, failed again when pleading with the Iberian tribes to join the Romans. The fact that Rome hadn’t come to Saguntum’s aid, after promising to do so, spoke louder than Fabius. The Gauls received Fabius even more critically.

Equally delusional, meanwhile, Hannibal (meaning 64Ba’al | the Lord is Gracious) dreamt that a god in the form of a man told him to invade Italy and not look back. During the same vision, he saw a serpent helping him destroy the Romans. So he left Spain with ninety thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry. But at the end of his five-month, one-thousand-mile ordeal, he had devastated his own army. Hannibal arrived in Italy having lost two-thirds of his men en route. His progress was slowed because he was forced to negotiate with or fight a never-ending array of tribes along the way, so his army averaged just six miles a day.

Meanwhile, Atilius was sent to relieve the elderly Manlius. The Senate also transferred five thousand allied troops from Publius and gave them to Atilius. Publius was instructed to raise another legion from tribes en route, promising them mutual defense. The Boii took the bait and offered guides and appropriate clothing for crossing the Alps.

Upon learning that Hannibal was still in the Pyrenees, the Romans dispatched Consul Scipio via naval transport to Liguria at the mouth of the Rhone, a narrow strip of land bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps, and the Apennines. There they would wait for the Carthaginians among friendly Greeks and Gauls.

At the same time, Hannibal reached the Rhone further upstream, where he was confronted by the Volcae, Gauls who were in alliance with Rome. The Carthaginians made a successful crossing by sending a third of their force to deflect the Gauls. Hannibal’s elephants floated across the Rhone on rafts. But shortly thereafter, a small number of Scipio’s cavalry encountered a Carthaginian scouting party and routed them.

Having lost track of Hannibal’s army as they vanished to the north, Scipio dispatched most of his troops to New Carthage, the very place Hannibal had left five months earlier. He then returned by ship to Pisa and then marched 65through Etruria to join Manlius and Atilius and wait for Hannibal along the Po River.

Hannibal, however, was fighting for his life. Hostile mountain tribes, avalanches, collapsed roadways, and deep snow made crossing the Alps a miserable and deadly experience. At one point, the Carthaginians had to cut a path across a thousand-foot cliff by heating and cooling the rock face to crack it sufficiently that they could pick and pry their way forward. The two-week crossing took a heavy toll and Hannibal arrived with only twenty thousand African and Iberian infantry and six thousand cavalry. Surprisingly, most of his elephants survived. But the men were emaciated, having exhausted their food supplies.

Hannibal’s next battle was against the Taurini, with whom he tried to negotiate a peace treaty and alliance. They refused, so Hannibal surrounded their village and leveled it, killing everyone as a message to other local tribes. Rather than fight him, many Gallic tribes allied with the Carthaginians in opposition to the Romans. The historian, Livy, states that they bolstered Hannibal’s force by sixty thousand foot soldiers and four thousand riders.

Publius and Scipio were bewildered, finding it incredulous that Hannibal could have crossed the Alps, arrived in Italy, massacred a tribe, and forged new alliances in a matter of weeks. Hannibal was also surprised by the presence of the Roman army, because he thought that they were in Spain.

Unaware of the size of his opponent’s army, Scipio, who as Consul outranked Publius, decided to hold his infantry in arrears and test his foe’s mettle with his cavalry and light javelin infantry. Hannibal responded similarly, but only deployed his cavalry, although they were highly motivated. The twenty-six-year-old general promised his men that if they were victorious all slaves would be freed, all allies would be afforded Carthaginian citizenship, and 66every man would win tax-free land in Italy, Spain, or Africa. Incentives duly offered, Hannibal placed his heavily armored riders in the center and his light and swift Numidian cavalry on his wings so that they could break off and attack the Romans from behind. Scipio arranged his cavalry in a straight line as if they were infantry. He then tucked his javelin throwers behind his Gallic cavalry in the center of his line. Hannibal, seeing the Roman tactic, charged, hitting his foe so quickly that not a single javelin was launched. The Roman light infantry fled, running for their lives. Then Hannibal deployed his pincer maneuver, wounding Scipio and scattering his men.

Hannibal, however, did not pursue them, knowing that his cavalry was substantially outnumbered by the Roman infantry held in reserve. During the night, Scipio left his camp, crossed the Po River on the bridge they had built and then demolished it. They were in Piacenza before Hannibal even knew that they had left camp.

But all was not well on the Roman side. As Hannibal arrived in Piacenza at dawn two days later, he was greeted by twenty-two hundred Gauls, men who just the night before had been Roman allies. The previous night, they had cut off the heads of the Romans sleeping nearest them in their tents. Festooned with their ghoulish artifacts, they crossed over to the Carthaginian side where they were well received.

Realizing that he was in serious trouble, Scipio retreated, positioning his troops on the far side of the Trebia River, a tributary of the Po. Moving slowly, Hannibal allowed the Romans to position themselves in the hills, fortify the slopes, and wait.

Enthusiastically resupplied by the Gallic population, the Carthaginians were itching for a fight. And they would get their opportunity in the Battle of the Trebia. It was a cold and snowy day, the 18^th day of December, 228 BCE. 67Scipio was licking his wounds, but Consul Sempronius was eager to exchange blows with Hannibal.

At the same time, Hannibal was laying a trap, sending eleven hundred of his best men under the cover of darkness into the underbrush to lie in wait on the near side of the river. Then at first light, he dispatched his Numidian cavalry beyond the Trebbia River to harass the Roman camp. When the cavalry retreated, they lured the Romans into an ambush. In response, an impetuous Sempronius deployed his cavalry, six thousand javelin throwers, and twelve thousand heavy infantry, along with twenty thousand allied troops, ordering them to forge the ice-cold Trebbia in pursuit. On the other side, they were so chilled that they could scarcely hold their weapons. Hannibal, however, with his trap perfectly positioned, didn’t obliterate his foe at this time. He thought that he could achieve a greater spectacle, and thereby further impress his Gallic allies, by engaging the whole Roman army. So he ordered his light infantry forward, which was comprised of javelin throwers and slingers. Behind these eight thousand men, he positioned twenty thousand African, Iberian, and Gallic infantry with ten thousand cavalry and his elephants split between his flanks.

The Numidian cavalry feasted on their Roman counterparts who were strung out in pursuit. They then harassed the opposition’s light infantry, causing the hypothermic hurlers to fling all of their missiles in vain. With his men frozen and providing no resistance, Sempronius ordered them to fall back. This left the heavily armed infantry on both sides to close ranks. Simultaneously, Hannibal assaulted the Roman wings, forcing them back into the river. With many Roman troops exposed and unable to retreat, the Carthaginians, who had been lying in wait to ambush them, sprung their trap. Panicked, the Roman infantry broke ranks and headed back into the river where Hannibal slaughtered them.

68The remaining Romans formed a hollow square, with everyone facing out to oppose the enemy on all sides. Tiberius, who had joined the battle, commanded them from within. With the Carthaginians focused on massacring the defenseless soldiers in the river, Rome antagonized their elephants, causing them to go on the rampage. Meanwhile, the troops which had formed the Roman square ignored their allies dying in the river and marched toward Piacenza, killing an untold number of Carthaginians in the process.

Tiberius would have a laundry list of excuses for not attempting to rescue his defenseless allies, but in the end, all that matters is that Rome abandoned them. Scipio also retreated, keeping the river between himself and his foe. Hannibal did not pursue them because the weather turned frigid, killing his horses, elephants, and many of his men.

The Romans were defeated, but most of their army escaped. Seven Legions were still intact. They would quickly regroup, elect new Consuls, recruit an additional four Legions, build more ships, and replenish their supplies.

In the days which followed, Hannibal attempted a small-scale assault on Placentia which failed. He then marched on a supply depot filled with anti-Carthaginian refugees from the Gallic tribes. A mob of thirty-five thousand tried without success to impede Hannibal and were driven back into the fort. After surrendering, the garrison relinquished their weapons and Hannibal’s men committed “every kind of outrage that lust, cruelty, and brutal insolence could suggest.” (Livy, History of Rome, Book XXI) While he was obviously a savage man, it is wise to discount most of Rome’s propaganda.

Having lost all but twelve thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry to winter storms, it was either courageous or arrogant, but Hannibal marched his faltering army toward Tiberius’ camp. His aggressiveness was rebuffed, 69but he later regrouped and struck again, this time succeeding. Only darkness prevented Hannibal from eliminating his enemy. Casualties were significant on both sides.

In the spring of 217 BCE, the Carthaginian navy lost a battle near the Ebro River, sacrificing thirty ships and control of the Spanish coast. It was then that the newly elected Consul, Gaius Flaminius, bearing a name that has to be spoken cautiously in politically correct circles, turned his army south to prepare for the defense of Rome. Hannibal followed but now, having mastered the craft, marched faster and passed him. The young general then devastated the region the Roman Consul had been nominated to protect. Next, he taunted him, marching his army around the Roman camp, cutting off Flaminius’ supply and communication lines with Rome. But it was only after Hannibal marched on Apulia, the southeastern Italian peninsula situated between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, that Gaius Flaminius finally reacted, foolishly sending his entire force into a battlefield of his enemy’s choosing.

As Hannibal came upon Lake Trasimene, he noticed a valley along the lakeshore that was perfectly suited for an ambush. He had his scouts light campfires in the distance to create the impression that his army was far away from his chosen battlefield. Then during the night, Hannibal positioned his heavy infantry behind a rise that would give them unimpeded access to charging down upon the enemy’s left flank as they marched forward, strung out as he expected in a long line. He concealed his cavalry and Gallic infantry at the opposite end in the wooded hills near the valley’s opening overlooking the lake, which closed the only escape route while Carthaginian troops menaced the Roman rear. Hannibal’s light troops were stationed in small groups, hidden in the foothills along the lakeshore.

The next morning, June 21, 217 BCE, eager for battle, 70the Romans broke camp and marched at an exhausting pace along the northern shore of the lake, just as Hannibal had planned. So then, to split the Roman force, Carthage initiated a small skirmish to draw the troops leading the march away from those following in the rear. Once the Romans were situated within his trap, trumpets were blown, signaling the attack. The cavalry swept down, blocked the road, and engaged the unsuspecting Romans, sending them into disarray. The heavy infantry rumbled down from the heights to slaughter the trapped men. Simultaneously, the Gallic light infantry pounced from the side, splitting the Legions into uncoordinated groups. The Roman vanguard was pushed into the lake. The center, including Gaius Flaminius, was shredded by the Gauls in a matter of hours. By lunchtime, the entire Roman army was annihilated. Only six thousand of Flaminius’ army managed to escape in the low fog, meaning that twenty-four thousand were killed that morning. Hannibal’s losses were less than two thousand. Even most of the escapees were captured by the Maharbal the following day who sold them into slavery. Two days hence, the four thousand Romans who were sent to reinforce Flaminius were intercepted and slaughtered.

Hannibal, in the Battle of Lake Trasimene, planned and executed the largest and most successful ambush in military history. In response, the Patrician Oligarch Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was appointed dictator of Rome to coordinate the war effort. He would deploy what has become known as the Fabian Strategy of avoiding direct conflict and engaging only in the most favorable circumstances. Rome would try to harass the invader and wear him down.

As for Hannibal, even though he was within a few days’ march to Rome, he elected to pillage Apulia over the next year to replenish his army. It is a matter of speculation as to why he didn’t sack Rome. He was given unimpeded 71access. There were no Legions in his way or even within the central Italian Peninsula. All we know is that his men were worn out and many had contracted scurvy. While they were equipped with confiscated Roman weapons, they would have to be trained to wield them effectively. Also, his horses were suffering from festering wounds, requiring him to use a low-grade local wine as an ointment to bring his cavalry mounts back to health.

To restore Roman confidence and instill a renewed sense of patriotism, Fabius, the political dictator and supreme military commander, positioned himself above the national hierarchy of pagan priests. He meticulously led all religious functions, fully integrating temple and state. He would go so far as to blame the defeat at Trasimene on a national deficiency regarding proper religious observations. The Roman Senate would consult the Sibylline Oracles at the direction of Emperor Fabius, assigning a Praetor to appease the Roman gods through generous and regular sacrifices. In so doing, Rome became the reincarnation of Babylon. There was no longer any distinction between the Roman military, government, or religion.

All the while, Rome’s allies were abandoned. Hannibal plundered them at will. But after a while, Hannibal grew complacent, and letting his guard down, he was nearly ambushed. Upon entering a rich valley under Roman control, the young Carthaginian general had to use trickery to survive. Unable to confront the entrenched Romans, Hannibal paralyzed them. He tied torches to the horns of two thousand oxen, stampeding them in front of Fabius in the middle of the night. The Romans, thinking that they were being lured into another trap, let the Carthaginians scamper out of the valley right before their noses. Worse, more than one thousand Romans fled before the stampede and they were systematically picked off. Hannibal had turned the tables on his tormentor by evading 72a battle he did not want to fight. It was pure Sun Tzu. Hannibal “knew his enemy and knew himself and, thus, knew that victory would be his” because “a battle avoided cannot be lost.”

With his newfound freedom, Hannibal ransacked Roman estates as Fabius shadowed him. What the Carthaginians didn’t take Fabius ordered burned, scorching his own land. This approach was beginning to wear thin. He had nurtured false hope in the Roman religion, in the Roman military, and in the Roman government, but when he failed to deliver, the people turned against him. The Senate replaced Fabius with Consuls Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus. They were given command of a newly conscripted army of unprecedented size – eight Legions, each consisting of five thousand Plebeians besides five thousand allied troops. Eighty thousand infantry and six thousand cavalry would be brought to bear against the African that had outmaneuvered them on every occasion.

Hannibal had now traversed and ransacked most of Rome, from north to south and from east to west. There was nothing left for him to do other than confront Rome’s newly marshaled conscripts. A bright fellow and knowing that, with two Consuls commanding one army, they would switch off, alternating on a daily basis, Hannibal planned his strategy accordingly. Varro would be in charge on the day the armies met, making him the intended scapegoat.

It was sad in a way because Varro was the anomaly in Rome. As the son of a butcher rather than a senator, he had been a career soldier and had risen up the ranks. By contrast, Paullus had previously led Legions against the Illyrians, done well enough in battle to win a triumph, but then was charged with unfairly dividing the spoils.

As the conflict began, Hannibal seized a large military supply depot outside of Rome. Incensed by this, Consul 73Varro attacked the small raiding party Hannibal had sent to capitalize upon Roman hubris. When they were repulsed, overconfidence became their Achilles’ heel.

On the first morning of the battle, Varro aligned his ninety-five thousand troops in typical fashion, with three straight lines, one behind the other. His plan was to have his infantry march into and through the center of the Carthaginian line. Only one problem: there was no opposing line.

Hannibal was outnumbered two-to-one, but he knew that his cavalry was substantially better than his opponent’s hastily assembled horsemen. So he positioned his forty-seven thousand troops in a wedge formation, with their backs to the wind and sun. Deploying an international force of Libyans, Iberians, Gauls, Numidians, Phoenicians, and Balearans, with slingers and hurlers, swordsmen and riders among them, each was stationed according to their ethnicity and competency. Then, to the surprise of the Romans, he positioned two-thirds of his cavalry along his left flank which was already protected by the Aufidus River. The remaining one-third he used to offset the Roman cavalry on his right flank away from the river.

With the low morning sun glaring into his enemy’s eyes, Hannibal radically changed his formation, with the point of his wedge falling back and the wings pulling forward. This created a crescent, with the appearance of an open mouth filled with menacing teeth ready to devour the Romans. Unaware that they were being lured to their death, the center of the Roman line rushed forward to fill the void. All that was needed then was to deflect the Roman cavalry so that the Carthaginian riders could push the Roman flanks back on both flanks, creating another crescent, this one convex, with the Romans now engulfed inside Hannibal’s militant mouth. Once the inferior Roman cavalry was neutered, the remainder of the Carthaginian riders menaced the Legions from the rear.

74During the mêlée, an easterly wind blew all of the dust and sand kicked up by Hannibal’s soldiers and horses directly into the eyes of his Roman foe. Then, knowing that his enemy put their best men in the center of their lines, Hannibal, who was serving in the center of his line with his least capable infantrymen, pulled the center of his line back in what the Romans would have seen as a retreat. When the Legions rushed forward, Hannibal’s most capable troops encircled them in a pincer movement. Six thousand Roman legionaries were slaughtered every minute which ensued until darkness finally brought an end to the carnage. Less than fifteen percent of the largest army ever assembled by Rome lived to see the next morning, and two-thirds of the survivors were captured. Hannibal, who had been outmanned two to one, lost just six thousand soldiers.

Livy, in the History of Rome, wrote: “Two consular armies were lost. There was no longer any Roman camp, any general, any single soldier in existence.” The Romans became so desperate, they resorted to human sacrifice to appease their gods, burying men, women, and children alive at the Forum. I’m sure their gods were thrilled.

Over the course of twenty months, Hannibal had defeated the equivalent of eight consular armies, sixteen Legions, and an equal number of allies. Rome had lost one hundred and fifty thousand Plebeians – one-fifth of the entire population of citizens over the age of seventeen. Most Roman allies abandoned them and revolts sprung up throughout the empire.

Hannibal, however, wasn’t interested in sacking Rome. He recognized that it would be a fight to the death, and it wasn’t worth sacrificing the lives of those who had fought so valiantly with him. So he offered the Roman Senate a peace treaty on very favorable terms. But Rome refused. The Senate forced the entire male population of Rome into the military, every citizen, peasant, and slave. They actually outlawed saying the word “peace.” Public 75displays of emotion over the loss of loved ones, including the tears of mothers and widows, were strictly forbidden.

The military historian, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, assessed Hannibal as follows: “Few battles of ancient times are more marked by ability...than the battle of Cannae. The position was to place every advantage on Hannibal's side. The manner in which the far from perfect Hispanic and Gallic foot was advanced in a wedge in échelon...was first held there and then withdrawn step by step, until it had reached the converse position...is a simple masterpiece of battle tactics. The advance at the proper moment of the African infantry, and its wheel right and left upon the flanks of the disordered and crowded Roman legionaries, is far beyond praise. The whole battle, from the Carthaginian standpoint, is a consummate piece of art, having no superior, few equal, examples in the history of war.” (T.A. Dodge, Hannibal, Perseus Publishing, 2004, pages 378-9)

Will Durant, in The Story of Civilization, wrote, “It was a supreme example of generalship, never bettered in history...and it set the lines of military tactics for 2,000 years.” (Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Volume III, Simon and Schuster, 1944, page 51)

Rome and Carthage would fight again. A year later, in 216 BCE, Marcus Marcellus deflected an attack by Hannibal at Nola, doing so a second time in 215. A year later, in the same place, these men fought to a draw. But with a change of scenery, Hannibal defeated Consuls Fulvius Flaccus and Appius Claudius at Capua in 212 BCE. The same year, at Silarus and then at Herdonia, Hannibal devastated the Roman army. The Carthaginians would prevail in the Battle of Baetis in 211 BCE. But later that year, Hannibal had a brief setback, failing to break the Roman siege of Capua. And yet within months, the Carthaginians would ravage the Roman army during the Second Battle of Herdonia. Also in 210 BCE, Hannibal 76defeated Marcellus a second time during the Battle of Numistro.

Against this savage backdrop, Philip V of Macedon defeated Rome’s Greek allies in 209 BCE in two battles fought at Asculum. Then in 208, Romans in Hispania, led by Scipio’s son, defeated Hannibal’s brother, Hasdrubal Barca. In retribution, Hasdrubal invaded Italy, which was a bad move since he was defeated and killed in the Battle of the Metaurus by General Gaius Nero in 207 BCE. Hannibal’s favorite general, Hasdrubal Gisco, lost the city of Carmona to Rome later that year.

By 206 BCE, Publius Scipio decisively defeated the remaining Carthaginian forces in Hispania. The Roman fleet then won a naval engagement against the Carthaginian fleet in the waters off Carteia. All the while in southern Italy, in the Battle of Crotona, Hannibal fought to a draw. But then as the Romans under Scipio defeated the Carthaginian army of Hasdrubal Gisco in the Battle of Bagbrades, annihilating them, the stage was set to bring the battlefield to Africa, recognizing that the only way to get Hannibal out of Italy was for Rome to invade Carthage.

And so it would be. In 203 BCE, Consul Scipio Africanus invaded Africa and fought successfully, thereby luring Hannibal home. On October 19, 202 BCE, the general who had fought so effectively on foreign soil would lose a battle on his home turf, ending the Second Punic War. Scipio, who was now Consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maximus, engaged Hannibal at Zama Regia, eighty miles southwest of Tunis.

Hannibal’s hastily assembled, mostly mercenary force was comprised of thirty-six thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and some eighty elephants. Scipio marched into battle with twenty-nine thousand infantry and sixty-one hundred cavalry. And while those numbers may look comparable, Hannibal’s cavalry was comprised of 77novices, and his infantry was equal parts inexperienced civilians and fickle mercenaries. Hannibal’s only experienced troops were put at the rear of his formation, thinking perhaps that, if his less able and less reliable forces were able to wear down the Roman attack, his strongest soldiers would finish the job.

But knowing that his prospects were poor, Hannibal summoned Scipio to a meeting before the battle began. He offered to cede all overseas territories to Rome, keeping only Carthage sovereign. Scipio refused, giving Hannibal two equally horrible options: unconditional surrender or a battle he could not win.

As usual, the elephants proved useless. They were stampeded into the Carthaginian cavalry, disorienting those new to battle. They were initially dispersed, which is the best Hannibal could have hoped for because his goal was to keep the Roman cavalry from controlling the engagement. They would go on fighting in the distance while the infantry lines engaged. The Romans prevailed over time, although losses were relatively even as the first lines engaged. The same was true of the second lines. When the third lines met, the fighting became especially bloody, with neither side making any headway. Finally, however, after defeating the inexperienced horsemen, the Roman cavalry returned and struck the Carthaginian rear. Hannibal would lose twenty thousand men in the battle and have another twenty thousand taken prisoner.

The Carthaginian Senate tried once again to negotiate a peace treaty with Rome, but the terms, as they had been before, were devastating. Carthage was bankrupted by Rome, a condition that proved to be short-lived because, without the cost of supporting an army and navy, the Carthaginian economy flourished. Rome, however, within fifty years would renege on the terms of their own treaty and invade Carthage a third and final time. And the next time, they would leave nothing but death and destruction 78in their wake.

In all, fifty-seven wars were fought in the 3^rd century BCE, with the expanding and contracting Roman Republic battling the Samnites, Gauls, Etruscans, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Iberians multiple times.

Rome had become what Yahowah had predicted…

“Following this sequence of events (ba danah ‘atar), I remained observant (chazah hawah) regarding this revelation during a time of enfolding darkness (ba chazuw lyly). And behold (wa ‘aruw), the fourth (raby’ay) monstrous beast (chywah) was the most fearsome and formidable, dreadful and frightening, respected only for being overtly oppressive, terrifying, and threatening (dachal), genuinely horrifying and appalling, terribly gruesome (wa ‘eymatan), with (wa) an exceptionally powerful and preeminent military (yatyr taqyph).

It had (wa la hy’) teeth comprised of iron (shen dy parzel la). Great multitudes, including the highly populated and powerful (rab), it devoured and devastated (‘akal), crushing the remainder (wa daqaq wa sha’ar) with its feet (ba ragal hy’) by trampling them down violently, celebrating while destroying them (raphats) under foot (ba ragal).

And so (wa), this one was different in its transformation and evolution (hy’ shanah) from all of the other (min kol) beasts (chywah) which preceded it (dy qodam hy’). Ten (wa ‘asar) horns (qeren) were extended from her (la hy’).” (Dany’el / Daniel 7:7)