ISO RUINS OF CH^RONEA. 
advantage, being then backed by Parnassus, and 
in a line with its summit, standing close to its 
base. A Pasha called Hachi, passing this way, 
hoisted upon it the Turkish standard ; — the only 
circumstance related concerning it by the pre- 
sent inhabitants. 
Sceptre of Ch^roxea was the birth-place o^ Plutarch: 
"""• its other memorabilia were few in number. The 
famous sceptre of Agamemnon^ celebrated by 
Homer as that which was made by Vulcan for 
Jupiter, had been regularly transmitted, by the 
hands of Hermes, Pelops, Atreus, and Thyestes, to 
the Argive king, and was here preserved in the 
time of Pausanias. The Chceroneans paid to it 
divine honours ; holding it in greater veneration 
than any of their idols '. It seems to have been 
held among them after the manner of a mace in 
corporation towns ; for the same author relates, 
that they did not keep it in any temple pre- 
pared for its reception, but that it was annually 
brought forth with appropriate ceremonies, 
being honoured by daily sacrifices ; and a sort 
of mayor's feast seems to have been provided 
for the occasion ; a table covered with all sorts 
of eatables being then set forth. 
(l) Pansan. Sceot, c. 40. p. 795. 
