The birth of Christ took place in B.C. 2, in the palmiest days of the Roman Empire. The angel Gabriel declared, thou "shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."--Luke I. 31.--The right of taxation is the prerogative of sovereign power. When therefore Augustus Caesar began to enroll the Jews for purposes of taxation in B.C. 2 the power of the holy people was at an end and the full time of prophecy had arrived. It was then that Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea. "The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."--Genesis XLIX. 10. 45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream _is_ certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth _it is_, that your God _is_ a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise _men_ of Babylon. 49. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel _sat_ in the gate of the king. CHAPTER III. [SYRIAC.] [Sidenote: B.C. 593.] 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height _was_ threescore cubits, _and_ the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. --The dream described in the previous chapter, seems to have touched the inventive genius of king Nebuchadnezzar in a way, that inspired him to produce a mechanically perfect image--a casting of gold of priceless value--especially strong in every part, and one in which there were no planes of weakness whatever. An image that seemed to bid defiance to the course of events foreshadowed by the prophet Daniel. 2. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.