[516] “Abaris ex Hyperboreis, ipse quoque theologus fuit; scripsit oracula regionibus quas peragravit, quæ hodie extant; prædixit is quoque terræ motus, pestes, et similia ac cætera. Ferunt eum cum Spartam advenisset, Lacones monuisse de sacris mala avertentibus, quibus peractis nulla, postmodum Lacedæmone pestis fuerit” (Apollonius, Histor. Mirab.).
“They thought them gods and not of mortal race,
And gave them cities and adored their learning,
And begged them to communicate their art.”
Keating (from an old Irish poem).
Turn back also to pp. 328, 67, and 66, and see what is there stated!
“An hundred and ninety-seven years complete
The Tuath-de-danaans, a famous colony,
The Irish sceptre swayed.”
[517] “A spiritual supremacy of this kind prevailed in several cities of Asia Minor, as, for instance, at Pessinus, in Phrygia. The origin of such constitutions is uncertain; but, according to tradition, was of very ancient date. The same cities were also great resorts of commerce, lying on the highway from Armenia to Asia Minor. The bond between commerce and religion was very intimate. The festivals of their worship were also those of their great fairs, frequented by a multitude of foreigners; all of whom (certain classes of females not excepted), as well as everything which had a reference to trade, were considered as under the immediate protection of the temple and the divinity. The same fact may be remarked here, which has obtained in several parts of Central Africa, namely, that the union of commerce with some particular mode of worship gave occasion at a very early period to certain political associations, and introduced a sacerdotal government” (Heeren, vol. i. p. 121).
[518] “This word is of uncertain etymology—their early history is uncertain. Diodorus (lib. v. 31) tells us that the Celts had bards who sung to musical instruments; and Strabo (liv. iv.) testifies that they were treated with respect approaching to veneration. The passage of Tacitus (Germ. 7) is a doubtful reading” (American Encyclopædia).
[519] See Oriental Collections.
[520] Homer’s Iliad, π. v. 233.
[521] Hesiod, apud Strabo, 1. 7.
[522] See Miege’s Present State of Ireland.