. Under this Head likewise he gives a very remarkable Account of an Oracle to the following Purpose.
When the
Athenians
in the War with the
Lacedemonians
received many Defeats both by Sea and Land, they sent a Message to the Oracle of
Jupiter Ammon
, to ask the Reason why they who erected so many Temples to the Gods, and adorned them with such costly Offerings; why they who had instituted so many Festivals, and accompanied them with such Pomps and Ceremonies; in short, why they who had slain so many Hecatombs at their Altars, should be less successful than the
Lacedemonians
, who fell so short of them in all these Particulars. To this, says he, the Oracle made the following Reply;