The City of Dis: Modern Democracy, The fourth Kingdom.

'Now, my son, we approach the city known as Dis,
with its vast army and its burdened citizens.'
And I: 'Master, I can clearly see its mosques
within the ramparts, glowing red
as if they'd just been taken from the fire.
'And he to me: 'The eternal fire
that burns inside them here in nether Hell
makes them show red, as you can see.
'At last we reached the moats
dug deep around the dismal city.
Its walls seemed made of iron.'
Inferno Canto VIII

'And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break and destroy all these.' Daniel 2:40

'The walls of Pluto's palace are in view;
The gate, and iron arch above it,
Stands On anvils labor'd by the Cyclops'
hands. Before our farther way the Fates allow,
Here must we fix on high the golden bough.'

Aenied VI

The two representatives of the Imperial Authority, Dante and Virgil approach the city gates. The walls of the corrupt city are made of iron. Iron is the strongest of the five elements that made up the great statue of Nabuchodonosor. Iron is the element that destroyed the other four elements. Each of the five elements that made up the great statue represent kingdoms that are man made, or mingled indeed together with the seed of man:

'And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.' Daniel 2:43

These four kingdoms are not Divinely Ordained, but are merely permitted and tolerated by the Blessed Trinity. Men in their obstinacy would rather be governed as they see fit, so the Blessed Trinity allows men their free will in governing themselves. And just as the Blessed Trinity allows free will on the personal level, with each man having his own free will, God allows the same on a national level. The Blessed Trinity allows men to be governed by merely permitted and tolerated forms of government. Because of free will these merely permitted and tolerated Kingdoms can be changed by the will of men without offense to the Blessed Trinity. Especially when these merely permitted and tolerated forms of government enforce bad laws and bad customs on its citizens. Eventually these man made forms of government such as modern democracy, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, communism, etc. will be destroyed by each. In the case of the dream of king Nabuchodonosor, iron was the strongest of the elements to destroy all the rest:

'And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break and destroy all these.' Daniel 2:40

Another means of destroying these merely permitted and tolerated forms of government if need be, is of Divine Origin. In the dream of king Nabuchodonosor, the great statue representing these man made kingdoms will be destroyed by Divine Will, the instrument of Divine will is the Great Stone:

'Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and of clay, and broke them in pieces.' Daniel 2:45

The governing authority that is not man made, but that is made without hands, is of Divine Origin, this is the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. This Divinely Ordained Authority is to last until the end of days:

'But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people, and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever.’ Daniel 2:44

And as Daniel has said the interpretation thereof is faithful.

Now for the city of Dis and what she represents. The walls are made of iron, to keep out Divine influence (or so these citizens of hell believe). These men and demons of Dis will use any means to keep the two representatives of the Divinely Ordained form of government from entering the city’s gates. The city of Dis is a figure of our modern day form of government i.e. modern democracy. This merely permitted and tolerated form of government has infected the world with its hellish political doctrines and will do anything to keep out the Divinely Ordained form of government from governing the world. Just as the city of Dis is guarded by demons to keep out Divine influence, so it is with modern forms of government who having the sole intent of governing with the help of hell, and rejecting any Divine influence in matters of state. This is evidenced by the bad laws and bad customs that present day society promotes. The citizens of Dis are a figure of those who would refuse Divine help and hinder the manifestation of the Divinely Ordained form of government to help govern men. Men today would rather be governed by hell. And so they are. However, the two emissaries of the Divine authority are commanded by the Blessed Trinity to enter into the City:

'And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do.' Acts 9:7

These two representatives of the Divinely Ordained authority of the Roman Emperor approach the City of Dis, they will be hindered by threats of the demons and furies. But Divine aid is near at hand.