Page 341 It happen'd once, that Five Hundred Gelonian Horsemen came to his House in Winter-time; whom he liberally entertain'd, and furnish'd every one of 'em out of his Wardrobe with Cloaks and Coats. Polyclitus in his History declares, that when he was a Souldier in Agrigentum, he saw a Wine-Cellar in his House, in which were contain'd Three Hundred great Vessels cut out of one and the same Rock, each of which receiv'd an Hundred Hogsheads. And that near to these was plac'd a Cistern of pure white temper'd Mortar, containing a Thousand Hogsheads, out of which the Liquor ran into the Vessels. It's said that this Gellias was of a very mean Presence, but of admirable Parts and Ingenuity. Being once sent an Embassador to the Centuripines; when he enter'd into the Assembly, all the People fell a Laughing, seeing the mean Aspect of the Man, so disagreeable to his great Fame and Reputation in the World. Upon which, he made this sharp Retort, That what they saw in him was not to be wonder'd at, because the Agrigentines always send the comliest and handsomest Men to the noblest Cities, but to those that were mean and of little note such as himself.
And not only Gellias, but likewise many other Agrigentines were very rich. Antisthenes surnam'd Rhodes, at the Marriage of his Daughter, feasted all the Citizens through every Street, and procur'd above Eight Hundred Chariots to attend upon the Bride: And not only Horsemen out of the City, but many who were invited out of the Country, went before the new Marry'd Lady in great Pomp and Splendour. To add to the Solemnity of the Day, there were great Preparations for Illuminations in the City; for he order'd that as soon as they saw a Flame of Fire upon the top of the Castle, the Altars in all the Temples, and the Piles of Wood in all the Streets, and the Fewel he had prepar'd and provided in the Taverns, should be kindled together all at the same moment: Whose Command being observ'd at the very same instant, when the Bride was led forth by a Multitude that bore Torches before her, the whole City was as it were in a Flame, and the common Streets and Ways of the City were not able to contain those that attended at this Solemnity; all were so zealous to further and incourage the Gallantry and Magnificence of the Man. At that time there were more than Twenty Thousand Citizens of Agrigentum; but taking in Strangers with them, they were no less than Two Hundred Thousand.
It is reported of Antisthenes, when he saw his Son pressing upon a poor Man his Neighbour, and would force him to sell a little Spot of Land to him, he chid his Son, and advis'd him to forbear a while; but his covetous Desire encreasing the more, he told him he should not strive to make his Neighbour Poor, but rather desire he should become Rich; for being Rich, he would covet a greater piece of Land, which when he was not able to pay for lack of ready Money, he would be content to raise Money by the Sail of that which he then had.
In short, the Excess and Luxury of the Agrigentines, by reason of their Riches was such, that not long after, in the very height of the Siege, which ended in the Sacking of the City, a Decree was made, that none of them that were upon the Guard in the Night, should have above a Bed, a Tent, a Woollen Mantle and Two Pillows. When this seem'd a hard Law, and disturbance to their Ease and Repose, we may easily judge how soft and luxurious they were in all other things. As we were not willing to let these things pass altogether, so we shall now break off, lest we omit things more useful and necessary.
The Carthaginians having landed their Forces in Sicily, marcht straight against the Agrigentines, and divided their Army into Two Parts, and incamp'd in Two several Places; one Camp was upon certain Hills, where were plac'd Forty Thousand Spaniards and Africans; the other was near the City, fortify'd with a deep Trench and a Wall. At the first they sent Embassadors to the Agrigentines, to invite them to join with them as Confederates, and if they did not approve of that, then that they would be neuters, and enter into League of Peace and Amity with the Carthaginians. When both Offers were rejected, they forthwith press'd on the Siege with all Vigour. Upon this, the Agrigentines listed all that were able to bear Arms, and marshall'd them, some of which they plac'd upon the Walls, and others were appointed as Reserves to relieve
The Histories of Herodotus written in 440 BC is considered to be the founding work of history in Western literature. His history included stories and fables but he claimed to have traveled extensively and learned about many countries through direct observation.
The thesis of Stolen Legacy is that the Egyptians created what is wrongly called Greek philosophy. Dr. James argues that the African origin of Greek Philosophy is well known but rarely discussed. Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus the Sicilian wrote in significant detail about the contributions of Egypt. Egyptian technology and libraries were unmatched and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato studied there. The contribution of Africa to the intellectual foundation of modern knowledge is tremendous but unacknowledged.
The Library of History by Diodorus the Sicilian is one of the most highly regarded universal histories in antiquities. His work includes the history of Egypt, Asia, Africa, Greece and Europe. His book is a must read for research of ancient history.
Bible Study The King James Bible (kjv), World English Bible (web) and Bible in Basic English (bbe) are all examples of public domain books. The King James Bible (kjv) online uses the content from these books and open source software to enhance Bible study capabilities. The site includes the verse of the day, search tools, christian literature and links to related content. It demonstrates the use of open source to create a valuable service.