‘Behold:

• There shall stand up yet three kings of Persia
• The Fourth shall be far richer than they all and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia
• A Mighty King shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will…'(Daniel 11:2b & 3a)

565 B.C.E – 336 B.C.E: THE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS READERS OF ‘THE BOOK OF DANIEL’ ARE ASSUMED TO KNOW.

Empires, according to Nebuchadnezzar’s image, rise and fall:

After Artaxerxes I, (Co-Co, The Coconut-Throwing School-Master, Chimpanzee’s greatest Persian Ruler) The Persian Empire continued, but far away in the West – over the one hundred and twenty nine years from the death of Xerxes The Great in 486 B.C.E., Artaxerxes (465 B.C.E. – 424 B.C.E.) ‘s father, until the one – year reign of Artaxerxes V (330 B.C.E. – 329 B.C.E.) – a mighty king was to rise and conquer the vast reaches of The Persian Empire.

Achaemenid Dynasty:

• 559-530 – Cyrus the Great
• 529-522 – Cambyses (son)
• 522 – Smerdis (Bardiya) (brother)
• 521-486 – Darius I, the Great
• 485-465 – Xerxes I (son)
• 464-424 – Artaxerxes I, Longimanus (son)
• 424 – Xerxes II (son)
• 424 – Sogdianus (brother)
• 423-405 – Darius II, Nothus (brother)
• 404-359 – Artaxerxes II, Mnemon (son)
• 358-338 – Artaxerxes III (Ochus) (son)
• 337-336 – Artaxerxes IV ( Arses) (son)
• 335-330 – Darius III (Codomannus) (great-grandson of Darius II)

One of Zo-Zo, Co-Co’s aged colleague,’s favourite heroes and greatest writers lived in this period. Perhaps, one day, Zo-Zo may be prevailed upon to tell the inspiring story of ‘The March of The Ten Thousand’ and Zenophon.

The ‘Mighty King’ (Daniel 11:3), of course, was Alexander The Great, King of Macedon

The Argead Dynasty:

Historical

Herodotus mentions the names of the five kings preceding Amyntas I, but provides no other information.^[18][19] Consequently, the reign dates and activities of the early Argead kings can only be guessed at. By allowing thirty years for the span of an average generation and counting backwards from the beginning of Archelaus’ reign in 413 BC, British historian Nicholas Hammond estimated that the dynasty began around 650 BC.^[17] Amyntas I and his son Alexander I are the earliest kings for which we have any reliable historical information, and even then, only in the context of their relationships with Achaemenid Persia and Greeks.^[18]

Name	Reign	Succession	Life details
Perdiccas I	c. 650 BC	According to various ancient authors, either the son of Caranus or Tyrimmas	Conquered Macedonia after settling near Mount Bermion.[20]
Argaeus I	c. 623	Son of Perdiccas I	Possibly established the cult of Dionysus in Macedonia[21]
Philip I	c. 593	Son of Argaeus I
Aeropus I	c. 563	Son of Philip I
Alcetas	c. 533	Son of Aeropus I
Amyntas I	c. 512 – 498/7	Son of Alcetas	Unknown – 498/7First king for which we have reliable historical information; vassal of Darius I from 512.[22]
Alexander I “Philhellene”	498/7 – 454 (43 years)	Son of Amyntas I	Unknown – 454Intensified Macedon’s relationship with Greece following Persian withdrawal in 479.[23]
Perdiccas II	454 – 413 (41 years)	Son of Alexander I	Unknown – 413Fought both for and against Athens during the Peloponnesian War; died probably of natural causes.[24]
Archelaus	413 – 399 (14 years)	Son of Perdiccas II	Unknown – 399Moved center of kingdom from Aegae to Pella; either murdered in a personal revenge plot or killed in a hunting accident by his lover Craterus.[25]
Orestes	399 – 398/7 (3 years)	Son of Archelaus	Unknown – 398/7Minority reign until removal in 398/7; possibly murdered by Aeropus II, his guardian, but facts are uncertain.[26][27]
Aeropus II[a]	398/7 – 395/4 (3 years)	Son of Perdiccas II	Unknown – 395/4Died of illness[26]
Amyntas II “the Little”	394/3 (Several months)[28]	Son of Menelaus, Alexander I’s second son	Unknown – 394/3Probably ruled at the same time as Pausanias; sources for reign are few, but likely murdered by the ruler of Elimiotis, Derdas.[26][29]
Pausanias	394/3(Several months)[28]	Son of Aeropus II	Unknown – 394/3Probably ruled at the same time as Amyntas II; sources for reign are few, but likely murdered by Amyntas III.[26][30]
(1st reign) Amyntas III	393 (Less than a year)	Great grandson of Alexander I through his third son, Amyntas	Unknown – 369Held kingdom together despite multiple Illyrian invasions; died of natural causes.[31]
Argaeus II	393? (disputed)	Pretender to the throne installed by the Illyrians under Bardylis; possibly the son of Archelaus[b]	Unknown – UnknownExpelled by Amyntas III with Thesallian help.[35]
(2nd reign) Amyntas III	393 – 369 (18 years)	Great grandson of Alexander I through his third son, Amyntas	Unknown – 369Held kingdom together despite multiple Illyrian invasions; died of natural causes.[31]
Alexander II	369 – 368 (2 years)	Eldest son of Amyntas III	c. 390 – 368 (aged 22)[36]Assassinated by Ptolemy of Aloros following Theban military intervention under Pelopidas.[37]
Ptolemy of Aloros	368 – 365 (3 years; disputed)[c]	Possibly the son of Amyntas II; acted as regent for Perdiccas III	c. 418– 365 (aged 53)[42]Assassinated by Perdiccas III[43]
Perdiccas III	365 – 360/59 (6 years)	Son of Amyntas III	c. 383 – 360/59 (aged 24)[44]Killed in battle against the Illyrians
Amyntas IV	360/59 (disputed)	Son of Perdiccas III	c. 365 – 335 (aged 30)[45]Never ruled in his own right; later murdered by Alexander III.
Philip II	360/59 – 336 (23 years)	Son of Amyntas III	382 – 336 (aged 47)Would come to dominate Ancient Greece through a massive expansion of Macedonian power; assassinated by Pausanias of Orestis.[46][47]
Alexander III “the Great”	336 – 323 (13 years)	Son of Philip II	356 – 10/11 June 323 (aged 33)Conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire; died of illness at Babylon[48]
Philip III Arrhidaeus	323 – 317 (6 years)	Son of Philip II; co-ruler with Alexander IV	c. 358 – 317 (aged 41)[49]Owing to his diminished mental capacity, Philip never ruled in his own right and instead went through a series of regents; executed by Olympias.[50]
Alexander IV	323 – 310 (13 years)	Son of Alexander III; co-ruler with Philip III	323 – 310 (aged 13)Due to his age, Alexander never ruled in his own right. Alexander III’s mother, Olympias, guarded him until her execution in 316; murdered by Cassander.[50]

Co-Co, The Coconut-Throwing Chimpanzee Schoolmaster, taught his students both these dynasties. He knew that we could not understand Daniel 11:2 and Daniel 11:3 unless we did. Hundreds of coconuts were thrown to drum the dynasties into our chimpanzee heads.

Both The Achaemenid and The Argead Dynasties contributed to the rapid promulgation of The Glad Tidings of The Coming Kingdom of Heaven with:

• the Persian establishment of a central bureaucracy
• the spread of the most precise language of all – Greek – across the empire.

Co-Co delighted in the image of the two dynasties as a ram (The Medo-Persian Dynasty) and a goat ( The Argead Dynasty) which was given to Daniel in the third year of Belshazzar, Regent of Babylon – Daniel 8:1 – 27). We young chimpanzees loved to imitate the ram and the goat in battle.

Next Week: Alexander, The Great, The Greatest Warrior of Ancient History – according to Co-Co, The Chimpanzee Schoolmaster.