BOOK VIII. Containing The Interval Of One Hundred And Sixty-Three Years. From The Death Of David To The Death Of Ahab. CHAPTER 1. How Solomon, When He Had Received The Kingdom Took Off His Enemies. 1. We have already treated of David, and his virtue, and of the benefits he was the author of to his countrymen; of his wars also and battles, which he managed with success, and then died an old man, in the foregoing book. And when Solomon his son, who was but a youth in age, had taken the kingdom, and whom David had declared, while he was alive, the lord of that people, according to God's will; when he sat upon the throne, the whole body of the people made joyful acclamations to him, as is usual at the beginning of a reign; and wished that all his affairs might come to a blessed conclusion; and