That the Greeks from a very early period were distinguished from other nations by the use of _Brazen Armour_ is well known; and it is remarkable that in Scripture prophecy this characteristic is selected by the Spirit of God to point out the nation to which it belongs, and to predict the rise of that Universal empire which it once maintained over all the kingdoms of the known world. In the description of the different parts of the great Image which King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, Daniel ii. 31–45, and which prefigured the four Great Monarchies or Empires of antiquity, we find the _Assyrian_ or _Babylonian_ Empire denoted by the head of _gold_, the _Medo-Persian_ by the breast and arms of _silver_, the GREEK or _Macedonian_ by the belly and thighs of BRASS, and the _Roman_ by the legs and feet of _iron_. Moreover, the Greeks are commonly denominated by Homer in his Iliad, the χαλκοχίτωνες Αχαιοὶ, or _Brazen-coated Achaians_, that is, wearing brazen coats of mail; and they are described in Herodotus, according to the words of the oracle, as χαλκέων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανέντων, or _men glittering in Brazen armour_. Hence, it may be truly said with the poet, that they lived in _brazen_ houses, and performed their works in _brass_; for, they spent all their time in deeds of arms, perpetually seeking to increase their wealth, and to form new settlements, at the cost of the native inhabitants of the soil, the natural consequence of such predatory incursions was premature death in battle; and until they had gained a complete footing in Greece, by a series of splendid victories, it could not be supposed that their names would be transmitted to posterity with renown. Thus the hosts of original adventurers belonging to this age, according to the poet, descended to the grave, Νώνυμοι (pro Ἀνώνυμοι,), without name and without fame, receiving no share of honour like the men of the former ages, but sinking into irretrievable oblivion, both in this world, and in the world of souls.