And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
Ver. 7. And I saw him come close unto the ram.] Who stood for a while in his stoutness, and brought several huge armies into the field - not less than fifteen hundred thousand - but all would not do; the fairest states are subject to change in their greatest flourish. Eze 31:18
“ In se magna ruunt.; laetis hunc numina rebus
Crescendi posuere modum. ” - Lucan.
And he was moved with choler against him.] Neither would he be pacified with promise of great gifts, and of part of the kingdom, and the marriage of his daughter.
And smote the ram.] By overthrowing the Persian armies in three main battles - at Granicum, at Issus, and at Arbela, not far from which is the mountain Nicatorium, a so called by Alexander, as a constant trophy of that famous victory.
And there was no power in the ram to stand before him.] In that last battle at Arbela, the whole power of Persia was overturned, and Darius Codomannus was slain by Bessus, one of his own captains. It is observed that great kingdoms often fall and are destroyed under such kings as are of the same name with the founders thereof. Darius here, for instance; so Philip of Macedon, and Philip the father of Perseus, the last king of that country; so Constantine the Great, and Constantine Palaeologus; Augustus and Augustulus, &c.
And stamped upon him,] i.e., After full conquest, he crowed, insulted, triumphed; at the instance of his concubine Thais, he caused the most goodly palace in the world at Persepolis to be set on fire.
a Nικατοριον ορος. - Strabo.