NOTE.—Describing the Roman conquests, Gibbon uses the very imagery employed in the vision of Daniel 2. He says: “The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of _gold_, or _silver_, or _brass_, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the _iron_ monarchy of Rome.”—_“__Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,__”__ chap. 38, par. I, under __“__General Observations,__”__ at the close of the chapter._ 18. What was indicated by the mixture of clay and iron in the feet and toes of the image? “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, _the kingdom shall be divided_.” Dan. 2:41. 19. In what prophetic language was the varying strength of the ten kingdoms of the divided empire indicated? “And as the toes of the feet were _part of iron, and part of clay_, so the kingdom shall be _partly strong, and partly broken_ [margin, _brittle_].” Verse 42. 20. Were any efforts to be made to reunite the divided empire of Rome? “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, _they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men_: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” Verse 43. NOTES.—Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, and Napoleon all tried to reunite the broken fragments of the Roman Empire, but failed. By marriage and intermarriage ties have been formed with a view to strengthening and cementing together the shattered kingdom; but none have succeeded. The element of disunion remains. Many political revolutions and territorial changes have occurred in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D.; but its divided state still remains.