[91]
Indeed, no one can become king of the Persians
until he has learned the theory and the practice of
the magi. Moreover, you may see whole families
and tribes devoted to this art. For example, Telmessus in Caria is a city noted for its cultivation of
the soothsayer's art, and there is also Elis in Peloponnesus, which has permanently set aside two families
as soothsayers, the Iamidae and the Clutidae,1 who
are distinguished for superior skill in their art. In
Syria the Chaldeans are pre-eminent for their knowledge of astronomy and for their quickness of mind.
1 Cf. Herod. ix. 33.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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