Page:A Brief Outline of the Histories of Libraries.djvu/120

114 held discussions. There was also a hall, where they ate together. Philostratus says the same thing in speaking of Dionysius, who was, he writes, "received into the Museum;" and then adds, "The Museum is the Egyptian banquet-hall of learning, which brings together all the men of letters from all parts of the world."

Note particularly the words, "all the men of letters from all parts of the world," for even if not to be taken literally they show that the number was very large and the expense very great. Timon the satirist calls our attention to the same points when he says, in his satirical and carping way, "Many people are