CHAP. XV. THE GIIKAT ASSEMBLIES. S87 



and their own preservation in the hour of danger. 

 Each regiment marclied up by turn to the altar 

 temporarily raised for the occasion, to the sound 

 of the drum*, the soldiers carrying in their hand 

 a twig of olivet, with the arms of their respective 

 corps ; but the heavy-armed soldier laid aside his 

 shield on this occasion, as if to show the security 

 he enjoyed in the presence of the Deity. 1: An ox 

 was then killed ; and wine, incense, and the cus- 

 tomary offerings of cakes, fruit, vegetables, joints of 

 meat, and birds, were presented to the God they in- 

 voked. Every soldier deposited the twig of olive he 

 carried at the altar ; and as the trumpet summoned 

 them, so also it gave the signal for each regiment 

 to withdraw and cede its place to another. The 

 ceremony being over, the king went in state to his 

 palace, accompanied by the troops ; and having 

 distributed rewards to them, and eulogised their 

 conduct in the field, he gave his orders to the com- 

 manders of the different corps, and they withdrew 

 to their cantonments, or to the duties to which they 

 were appointed. 



Of the fixed festivals, one of the most remarkable 

 was the celebration of the grand assemblies, or pa- 

 negyrics, held in the great halls of the principal 

 temples, at which the king presided in person. 

 'Of their precise nature, and of the periods when 

 they were held, we are still ignorant ; but that 



* Conf. Clem. Psdag. ii. 4. 



f Or of the bay tree. This may be an iUustratipn of the remark of 

 Clemens (Strom, v. p. 24.3.), that " twigs were given to those who came 

 to worship." He mentions in the same place " the wheel turned in the 

 sacred groves." 



X Vide stiprd, Yohl. (1st Series) p. 401. 



