Hippolytus of Rome : And so he says to him, "Behold, still three kings shall arise in Persia and the fourth will be rich with greater riches than all. And after he himself masters his riches he shall rise against all the kingdoms of the Greeks. And a mighty king shall arise, and he shall be lord of a great dominion and he shall do according to his will. And as his kingdom rises it shall be shattered and divided to the four winds of heaven." [Daniel 11:2-4] And so we have already described these things above when we made the account concerning the four beasts, but since now Scripture describes all these things again in detail, it is absolutely necessary also for us to make a second account, so that we do not forsake Scripture as idle and indemonstrable. — Commentary on Daniel 4.41.2-3 Hippolytus of Rome : "And now," he says, "I will proclaim to you the truth." [Daniel 11:2] And so was the truth able to proclaim some other thing beyond the truth? The truth was what was seen by Daniel and he proclaimed the truth. He himself, with the truth being revealed in the world, teaches the truth. On account of which the blessed disciples are taught by Christ. — Commentary on Daniel 4.41.1 Hippolytus of Rome : "Still three," he says, "kings shall arise in Persia and the fourth will be rich with greater riches than all." [Daniel 11:2] For after Cyrus, Darius arose, then Artaxerxes, next Xerxes. These three were kings. Scripture is fulfilled. "And the fourth will be rich with greater riches." [Daniel 11:2] Who is this but Darius, who after reigning and being glorious, became wealthy and rose against all the kingdoms of the Greeks? — Commentary on Daniel 4.41.4-5 Ishodad of Merv : After Cyrus, who reigned first, there were numerous kings in Persia until those three. But the angel indicates by "three kings" those who were called with the name Darius, because there were only three kings who had the same name Darius. And by revealing through whom the kingdom of the Persians would have ceased, he says, "The fourth shall be far richer than all of them," that is, Darius, who became more powerful than all his predecessors; "and when he has become strong," this Darius, he means, "in his homeland," in power and riches, "he shall stir up," that is, he will cause Alexander, of the house of the Greeks, to march against him. — COMMENTARY ON Daniel 11:2 Jerome : Verse 2. "And now I shall proclaim the truth to thee." And the meaning is this: "Because thou desirest to know what shall befall the kings of Persia, hearken thou to the order of events and hear the answer to thy request." "And behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all, and when he shall have grown mighty through his wealth, he shall stir up all men against the kingdom of Greece." He states that four kings shall arise in Persia after Cyrus, namely Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, and the Magus named Smerdis, who married Pantaptes, the daughter of Cambyses. Then, when he was slain by seven Magi and Darius had succeeeded to his throne, the same Pantaptes married Darius, and by him gave birth to Xerxes, who became a most powerful and wealthy king, and led an innumerable host against Greece and performed those deeds which are related by the Greek historians. For in the archonship of Callias he destroyed Athens by fire, and about that same time waged the war at Thermopylae and the naval battle at Salamis. It was in his time that Sophocles and Euripides became famous, and Themistocles fled in exile to Persia, where he died as a result of drinking the blood of a bull. And so that writer is in error who records as the fourth king that Darius who was defeated by Alexander, for he was not the fourth king, but the fourteenth king of the Persians after Cyrus. It was in the seventh year of his rule that Alexander defeated and slew him. Moreover it should be observed that after he has specified four kings of Persia after Cyrus, the author omits the nine others and passes right on to Alexander. For the Spirit of prophecy was not concerned about preserving historical detail but in summarizing only the most important matters. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ELEVEN