The sequence of events in the text is as if Darius himself had read Cyrus’s letter and, having perused it, immediately endorsed it with his authority, in such a way that suppressing all their adversaries, he ordered the temple of God to be rebuilt on its site just as the letter said, and himself, with a most devout mind in all things, assisted God’s worshipers to serve his will. Let Artaxerxes, therefore, who above forbade that the house or city of God be built, [See Ezr 4:17-24.] designate those lords of worldly affairs who by inciting persecutions opposed the construction of the holy church, while in the upheaval of these persecutions that church flourished chiefly by the triumph of martyrs. Let Darius designate the dutiful devotion of those kings who, ...