barbarians. Nor must we forget the incidental advantages which
attended them. The concourse of so large a number of persons
from every part of the Grecian world afforded to the merchant
opportunities for traffic, and to the artist and the literary man
the best means of making their works known. During the time of
the games a busy commerce was carried on; and in a spacious hall
appropriated for the purpose, the poets, philosophers, and
historians were accustomed to read their most recent works.

The habit of consulting the same oracles in order to ascertain
the will of the gods was another bond of union. It was the
universal practice of the Greeks to undertake no matter of
importance without first asking the advice of the gods; and there
were many sacred spots in which the gods were always ready to
give an answer to pious worshippers. The oracle of Apollo at
Delphi surpassed all the rest in importance, and was regarded
with veneration in every part of the Grecian world. In the
centre of the temple of Delphi there was a small opening in the
ground, from which it was said that a certain gas or vapour
ascended. Whenever the oracle was to be consulted, a virgin
priestess called PYTHIA took her seat upon a tripod which was
placed over the chasm. The ascending vapour affected her brain,
and the words which she uttered in this excited condition were
believed to be the answer of Apollo to his worshippers. They
were always in hexameter verse, and were reverently taken down by
the attendant priests. Most of the answers were equivocal or
obscure; but the credit of the oracle continued unimpaired long
after the downfall of Grecian independence.

A further element of union among the Greeks was the similarity of