"And myriad-peopled Asia's king, a battle-eager lord, From utmost east to utmost west sped on his countless horde, In unnumbered squadrons marching, in fleets of keels untold, Knowing none dared disobey, For stern overseers were they Of the godlike king begotten of the ancient race of Gold." --_"Persae," Way's translation._ Xerxes boasted that he was leading "the whole race of mankind to the destruction of Greece." But his invasion ended in the total rout of his forces by land and by sea. It was an advertisement to the world that Persia's might was broken. The prophecy treats it so, and deals no further with Persian history. AEschylus at the time celebrated the passing of Persia's prestige in the lines,-- "With sacred awe The Persian law No more shall Asia's realms revere; To their lord's hand At his command, No more the exacted tribute bear. * * * * * Before the Ionian squadrons Persia flies, Or sinks engulfed beneath the main; Fallen! fallen! is her imperial power, And conquest on her banners waits no more." --_"Persae," Potter's translation._ The next great world change was to be the rise of Grecia to dominion. So, although a number of kings followed Xerxes in Persia, the prophecy passes from his disastrous invasion directly to the coming of Grecia under its "mighty king," Alexander the Great. Grecia _Prophecy._--"A mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity." Dan. 11:3, 4. _History._--Alexander the Great stood up and ruled with great dominion, over a kingdom stretching from India to Grecia, with kings yet farther west sending embassies to Babylon to make submission. But in the height of his power, as the prophecy suggests, he was suddenly cut down by death. All his posterity perished, and out of the struggles of his generals for supremacy came (301 B.C.) the division of the empire toward "the four winds," as the prophecy had declared so long before. Rawlinson, the historian, says: "A quadripartite division of Alexander's dominion was recognized: Macedonia [west], Egypt [south], Asia Minor [north], and Syria [stretching eastward beyond the Euphrates]."--_"Sixth Monarchy," chap. 3._ The Kings of the North and South Next, a rearrangement of these powers is noted; and it is this that gives us the key to the study of the closing portion of the long prophetic outline dealing with events of our own day. The narrative continues: _Prophecy._--"The king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes ... shall be strong above him;... his dominion shall be a great dominion." Verse 5.