"After Alexander the Macedonian, Philip’s son, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, he became king in his place, having first ruled in Greece. He fought many battles, captured strongholds, and put the kings of the earth to death. He extended his rule to the ends of the world, gathering plunder from many nations. The earth itself fell silent before him, and his heart became arrogant and proud." 1 Maccabees 1:1-3 "The more power a government has the more it can act arbitrarily according to the whims and desires of the elite, and the more it will make war on others and murder its foreign and domestic subjects." R. J. Rummel, Death by Government: A History of Mass Murder and Genocide Since 1900 "This is as old as Babylon, and evil as sin. It is the power of the darkness of the world, and of spiritual wickedness in high places. The only difference is that it is not happening in the past, or in a book, or in some vaguely frightening prophecy— it is happening here and now." Jesse "The wealth of another region excites their greed; and if it is weak, their lust for power as well. Nothing from the rising to the setting of the sun is enough for them. Among all others only they are compelled to attack the poor as well as the rich. Plunder, rape, and murder they falsely call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace." Tacitus
