D E D I C A T I O N

not long after the world was cleansed from the filth of the Great Flood, it was contaminated by the stain of an abominable tyranny, idolatry, and the countless detestable plagues flowing from it. Beholding this impiety, and struck by an intimate grief of heart, Noah original: Noë, that restorer of the human race, soon separated his sons Shem and Japheth from the impious lineage of Ham original: Chami by divine command. He did not cease to restore the right path, which Nimrod original: Nembrod had corrupted, by every means possible through the propagation of divine worship. From this we may be taught that there is no battering ram more violent for overturning the state of empires and kingdoms than impiety; and no protection more robust for preserving and supporting them than piety and religion. Therefore, I have seen fit to present an image of both these primeval empires—as a kind of prototype for all others—within the outlines of this volume I have written. I do this so that the kings of the earth and the rulers of the world may contemplate, as if in a mirror with an attentive examination of the mind, what befits the scepter and the purple and what does not; what is in harmony with right reason and what is discordant; and finally, what is composed and conformed to the standard of the Divine Moderator, and what is deformed.

Indeed, by a right better than any other, I dedicate this to you, MOST SACRED CAESAR A title for the Holy Roman Emperor, who holds the stern and the rudder in the Christian Commonwealth. With such submissive devotion of will as I am able, I reverently lay it at the sacred feet of your Majesty. You will allow, MOST AUGUST EMPEROR, in accordance with your piety and clemency toward all, these meager fruits of my labors to rest at your feet like the most devoted attendants of your lowliest servant. Under the protection of your great shadow rests the Peace and Happiness of all people; upon the watchtower of your most august head, those tireless sentinels, Counsel and Diligence original: Consilium & Industria, keep watch. These two truly eagle-like eyes of your most perceptive mind never deflect their gaze, even with the slightest relaxation of effort, from the rays of the eternal SUN; rather, with attentive zeal in every direction, they are assiduously occupied for GOD and the people. Upon the unshakable throne of your incomparable soul, Piety and Justice—the greatest part of your paternal inheritance—have fixed their royal seat. Finally, of whom it was said (which is most rare)