7. Then others, among them especially Victor, bishop of the church of Tununa, reviewed the histories of earlier writers and filled out the deeds of subsequent ages down to the consulate of the second emperor Justinus.
8. We have noted with what brevity we could the total of these times from the beginning of the world to the emperor Augustus Heraclius and Suinthilanus, king of the Goths, adding at the side a column of dates by the evidence of which the total of past time may be known.
Chapter 39. On the ordering of times (chronology).[308]
1. The first age contains at its beginning the creation of the world. On the first day under the name of light God created the angels; on the second, under the name of firmament, the heavens; on the third, under the name of parting, the waters and the land; on the fourth day, the lights of heaven; on the fifth, living things of the waters; on the sixth, living things of the land and man, whom he called Adam.
| [Years] | |
| 2. Adam in his 230th year begat Seth, from whom [sprang] the children of God. | 230 |
| Seth in his 205th year begat Enos, who began to call upon the name of the Lord. | 435 |
| Enos in his 190th year begat Cainan. | 625 |
| Cainan in his 170th year begat Malaleel. | 795 |
| Second Age | |
| 5. Sem in the second year after the flood begat Arphaxad, from whom sprang the Chaldeans. | 2244 |
| Arphaxad in his 135th year begat Sala, from whom sprang the Samaritans and Indians. | 2379 |
| Sala in his 130th year begat Heber, from whom sprang the Hebrews. | 2509 |
| 6. Heber in his 144th year begat Phaleg. The tower was built. | 2643 |
| Phaleg in his 130th year begat Ragan. The gods are first worshiped. | 2773 |
| Ragan in his 132nd year begat Seruch. The kingdom of the Scythians begins. | 2905 |
| 7. Seruch in his 130th year begat Nachor. The king of the Egyptians appears. | 3035 |
| Nachor in his 79th year begat Tharam. The kingdom of the Scythians and the Sycionii appears. | 3114 |
| Tharam in his 70th year begat Abraham. Zoroaster discovered magic. | 3184 |
| Third Age | |
| 12. Abdon ruled eight years. Troy was captured. | 4025 |
| Samson ruled twenty years. Ascanius founded Alba. | 4045 |
| The priest Eli ruled forty years. The ark of the covenant was captured. | 4085 |
| Samuel ruled forty years. Homer is believed to have lived at this time. | 4125 |
| Fourth Age | |
| 13. David ruled forty years. Carthage is founded by Dido. Gad, Nathan and Asaph prophesied. | 4165 |
| Solomon ruled forty years. The temple at Jerusalem was built. | 4205 |
| Fifth Age | |
| 19. The captivity of the Hebrews, seventy years. Judith writes history. | 4680 |
| Darius, thirty-four years. The captivity of the Jews is ended. | 4714 |
| Xerxes, twenty years. The tragedians Sophocles and Euripides are famous. | 4734 |
| 20. Artaxerxes, forty years. Esdras renews the law which was burned. | 4774 |
| Darius, called also Nothus, nineteen years. This time possessed Plato and Gorgias, the first teacher of rhetoric. | 4793 |
| 25. Ptolemaeus, eight years. The art of rhetoric begins at Rome. | 5118 |
| Dionysius, thirty years. Pompey takes Judaea. | 5148 |
| Cleopatra, two years. Egypt is conquered by the Romans. | 5150 |
| Julius Caesar, five years. He was the first to possess sole authority. | 5155 |
| Sixth Age | |
| 26. Octavian, fifty-six years. Christ is born. | 5211 |
| Tiberius, twenty-three years. Christ is crucified. | 5234 |
| Caius Caligula, four years. Matthew wrote his gospel. | 5238 |
| 27. Claudius, fourteen years. Mark published his gospel. | 5252 |
| Nero, fourteen years. Peter and Paul are put to death. | 5266 |
| Vespasian, ten years. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus. | 5266 |
| 41. Tiberius, six years. The Lombards take Italy. | 5779 |
| Mauritius, twenty-one years. The Goths become Catholic. | 5800 |
| Phocas, eight years. The Romans are defeated by the Persians. | 5808 |
42. Eraclius is now governing the empire in his seventeenth year.
The Jews in Spain are being made Christian. The remainder of the sixth age is known to God alone.
BOOKS VI-VIII
THEOLOGY[309]