UPON THE SERIES OF PREHISTORIC CRANIA. 293 



stabat, justis funeribus confectis, una cremabantur. 3 These two last 

 words might seem to justify us in holding- that of the burnt bones 

 packed together in a cremation long barrow with no detectable 

 differentiation indicative of distinctions of rank or position, some 

 nevertheless may have belonged to conquerors, others to captives, 

 or some to masters, others to slaves. If we compare however the 

 words of Homer used in the account of the funeral of Patroclus 

 we shall see that the words of Caesar must not be interpreted too 

 strictly. Achilles, II. xxiii. 182, says distinctly that the twelve 

 noble Trojan youths were burnt'together with Patroclus — 

 Aw8e/ca \xkv Tpuxov fxtyaOvpLcov vUas ZaQkovs 

 Tovs afxa vol iravras irvp za6Ui — 

 using words as precise at first sight as Caesar's 'una cremabantur ;' 

 but a little farther on, 1. 239-243, we find him telling the other 

 Greeks that they would have no difficulty in distinguishing the 

 bones of Patroclus, for that they were in the middle of the funeral 

 pile, whilst the bones of the human and brute victims were lying 

 apart from them at its edge — 



'Oorea WarpoKkoio Mevoiriabao Aeyco/uev 

 Ei! biayiyvGXTKovTts, apKppabia 8e t4tvktcli, 

 'Ev [xiao-fl yap exetro irvpfj, rot 0' aAAot avevdtv 

 'Eo-xartf/ 1 kclCovt em/xtf, Xtittol re not avbpes. 

 According to the legend given by Bartholinus in his ' Antiqui- 

 tates Danicae/ 1689, pp. 291-292, the spirit of the Icelandic 

 Asmundus was unable to rest until the body of a slave, who had 

 killed himself from unwillingness to survive his master, was re- 

 moved from his tomb ; and we may be quite sure that the haughty 

 and harsh sentiment attributed to that hero, ■ Animoso vacuus locus 

 melius placet quam mali comites,' must have been too strong in every 

 age and country which tolerated human sacrifices to allow of any 

 equality between master and slave being set up even in the grave. 

 In two words, I can understand how the bones of slaughtered 

 slaves or captives might lie 'scattered at the grave's mouth,' I 

 cannot understand how they would be likely to find entrance into 

 the tombs of the kings. 



* 'E* X ariii appears to me to be used in contradistinction to h M ivfi Mrj, -of 

 line 165 supra and line 787 of book xxiv, and to furnish a good commentary on the 

 words I 4 ***V <*PvX*piv TV* H*n* used by Herodotus (iv. 71) m his account of 



the similar Scythian rites. 



