oi'Ce t^ aTTOTTTOV UtiopOVl'Tlc).
Simple as was their house, their raiment was equally so, being a cloak of some shaggy hide for winter, and a thin mantle or linen shawl in the summer; and in their religious assemblies they appeared in a white garment. As temperance was regarded as the highest virtue, their mode of living was very simple. None of them took any meat or drink before the setting of the sun, because they believed that the work of philosophizing was one worthy of the light, and that tlie care for the necessities of the body was suitable only to darkness; on wliich account they appropriated the day to the one oc- cupation, and a brief portion of the night to the other (tTTii^)) TO i^ih' (pt\o<yo(ptlv d^ioi' ^wruc Kpivovatv tlvai, (TKOTOVi; Ot Tcif (TajfiaTiKaQ dvdyicdi;, o^tv Tifi /u j' ?//(£- paQ, rent; St fipaxv Ti ^upoQ Tijg vvktui; h'tij^tai'). Many fasted for three days, several for six. They ate notliing of a costly character, but plain bread with a seasoning of salt, which the more luxurious of them further seasoned with hyssop, and their drink was water from the spring. For such a simple mode of living the}' naturally had no need of great earthly possessions ; but, as Philo says, they left their possessions to their rela- tives or friends, and without any property they went out, as if their mortal life had already come to an end, only anxious for an immortal and blessed existence {iiTa £id TUP Ti]Q d^avdrov kcii iiaKcipiaQ l,h)I](; 'ifiepov rtTi\evTi]Kivai I'o/^dsoiTEC rjSr] rbv ^vrjrui' j3iov ((tto- XdTTovm Tag ovcriag uloTf rj ^vyarpdffii', lin Kai d\- \o(C (TvyyEVfaiv).
They prayed twice every day, at morning and at evening. When the sun rose, they entreated God that the happiness of the coming day might be real happiness, so that their minds might be filled with heavenly light. The interval between morning and evening was devoted wholly to meditation on, and the practice of, virtue. They took up the Sacred Scriptures aiul philosophized concerning them, investigating the allegories of their national philosophy, since they looked upon their literal expressions as symbols of some secret meaning of nat- ure intended to be conveyed in those figurative expres- sions {ii'Tvyxdvoi'TiQ yap toIq lepolc ypnfif.ia(n (pi- Xoffofpovai T))v Trdrpiou (piKonoipiav, dWijyopovvnq, in-tioi) avfijSuXa tu tijc; pi]tT]q tpftiji'dag vofii'^ovci X.—Y
(pvcnioQ d7rofCEfcpi7</(f)7jc, tf vTTovolaiQ ^r/Xoiijusi/ijc). As a canon of such allegorical exposition of Scripture, the real home of which was in Egypt, they used the writings left by the founders of their sect {toTi St nvToig Kcti avyypdpfiara TraXauov di'Cpwi', o'l Tr]C a'ipr](Ttw(; dpxijytrai yerti/ffi'oi TroXXd f.ii'i]pt~ia ti}q dXXijyopov- lifvi]c iStag aTri-XtTToi', oif KaBdjrtp Tinlv apxtrvnoig XP(iJl^ti'oi fitfiuviTai r/)c irpuatpiatiog tuv rponoi'). They also composed psalms and hymns to God in every kind of metre and melody imaginable, which they sang at their meetings. Having thus passed the day, they prayed again that their soul, being entirely lightened and relieved of the burden of the outward senses, might be able to trace out truth existing in its own consistory and council-chamber (tv tiij tavrric; cvvtCpiiii Kal jSov- Xn)Ttipii{) dXi'i^tioi' ixi'tjXaTt'it') ; and many of them, if Philo's statement is to be given credence, are said to have spoken in their sleep, divulging and publishing the celebrated doctrines of the sacred philosophy (ttoX- Xoi ovv Kai iKXaXocaii' iv vnvoli; dvtioo-KoXovjitvoi rd Ti]q \tpdc, <pi\o<yo(plag doiStfia Suyixara).
Women were also received into their order, the great- er part of whom, though old, were virgins in respect to their purity, and were animated by the same admiration for, and love of, wisdom, in the exercise of which they were desirous to pass their lives. These women, like the male members of the order, lived separately, per- forming the same duties; but at the meetings and ban- quets both sexes were united.
Slave-labor was dispensed with, because they look- ed upon the possession of slaves as something ab- solutely and wholly contrary to nature — for nature had created ail men free; but the injustice and covet- ousness of some men who preferred inequality — that cause of all evil — having subdued the weauer, had given to the more powerful authority over the van- quished. At their common banquets, therefore, no slaves ministered to their wants, but young men who were selected from their order with all possible care, and whose dress was such that nothing of a slavish character could be seen in it, or, to use the words of Philo, d^MfTTOi Si Kai Ka^tifiiroi rovg ;:^i7ioi'i'(tkoi»c liffianiv vTn]ptTl]aovT(Q, ivtKa Tov fiijSiv tlSuiXov tTTKpeptnUai SovXoTrptTroT'g (T;\;('/jUoroe, ei'c tovto to ffVjU7ri')0-(0j', i. e. they were ungirdled and with their tu- nics let down, in order that nothing which bears any re- semblance to a slavish appearance might be introduced into this festival.
At the banquet they were presided over by a presi- dent (7rpo£Cpoe). who addressed them and intoned a hymn, in which all joined. They sat according to their age, i. e. according to the length of time they belonged to the order. W^e must not, however, think that the j)resident or elders exercised any gubernatorial power, for this is nowhere inferred; their functions were only restricted to the assemblies, in whicli also yyEfiortQ and t^apxoi were mentioned, who acted as leaders of the choruses. The seventli day was especially distinguished. They anointed their bodies, and, clothed in white gar- ments, they assembled in the common (rrj/in'fio)'. Here they sat down with all becoming gravity, keeping their hands inside their garments, having their right hand between their chest and their dress, and the left hand down by their side, close to their flank. Then the oldest of them, who had the most profound learn- ing in their doctrines, came forward and spoke with steadfast look and with steadfast voice, with great powers of reasoning, and great prudence — not mak- ing exhibition of his oratorical talent, like the rhet- oricians of old or the sophists of the> present day, but investigating with great pains and explaining with mi- nute accuracy the precise meaning of the laws, which pen- etrated through their hearing into the soul, and remain- ed there lastingly. Quietly they listened in silence, show- ing their assent only by nods of the head or the eager look of the eyes. In this sacred assembly the women also shared ; but they had their own seats, being sepa-