Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/126

 118 STRABO. CASAUB. 420. earth, and was called the Navel of the earth. A fable, re- ferred to by Pindar, was invented, according to which two eagles, (or, as others say,- two crows,) set free by Jupiter, one from the east, the other from the west, alighted together at Delphi. In the temple is seen a sort of navel wrapped in bands, and surmounted by figures representing the birds of the fable. 7. As the situation of Delphi is convenient, persons easily assembled there, particularly those from the neighbourhood, of whom the Amphictyonic body is composed. It is the business of this body to deliberate on public affairs, and to it is more particularly intrusted the guardianship of the temple for the common good ; for large sums of money were deposited there, and votive offerings, which required great vigilance and religious care. The early history of this body is unknown, but among the names which are recorded, Acrisius appears to have been the first who regulated its constitution, to have determined what cities were to have votes in the council, and to have assigned the number of votes and mode of voting. To some cities he gave a single vote each, or a vote to two cities, or to several cities conjointly. He also defined the class of questions which might arise between the different cities, which were to be submitted to the decision of the Amphicty- onic tribunal ; and subsequently many other regulations were made, but this body, like that of the Achaeans, was finally dissolved. At first twelve cities are said to have assembled, each of which sent a Pylagoras. The convention was held twice a year, in spring and autumn. But latterly a greater number of cities assembled. They called both the vernal and the autumnal convention Pylcean, because it was held at Pylae, which has the name also of Thermopylae. The Pylagoras sacrificed to Ceres. In the beginning, the persons in the neighbourhood only as- sembled, or consulted the oracle, but afterwards people re- paired thither from a distance for this purpose, sent gifts, and constructed treasuries, as Croesus, and his father Alyattes, some of the Italians also, and the Siceli (Sicilians). 8. But the wealth, being an object of cupidity, was guarded with difficulty, although dedicated to sacred uses. At pre- sent, however, whatever it might have been, the temple at