d,
and more especially in this our city, which is the nurse of its own
Ephesian goddess' ([Greek: te tropho tes idias theou tes Ephesias]); and
that therefore 'the people of the Ephesians, considering it meet that
the whole of this month which bears the divine name ([Greek: ton
eponumon tou theiou onomatos]) should be kept holy, and dedicated to the
goddess,' has decreed accordingly. 'For so,' concludes this remarkable
document, 'the cultus being set on a better footing, our city will
continue to grow in glory and to be prosperous to all time.' The sense
of special proprietorship in this goddess of world-wide fame, which
pervades the narrative in the Acts, could not be better illustrated than
by this decree. But still the newly-published inscriptions greatly
enhance the effect. The patron deity not only appears in these as 'the
great goddess Artemis,' as in the Acts, but sometimes she is styled 'the
supremely great goddess ([Greek: he megiste theos]) Artemis.' To her
favour all men are indebted for all their choicest possessions. She has
not only her priestesses, but her temple-curators, her essenes, her
divines ([Greek: theologoi]), her choristers ([Greek: humnodoi]), her
vergers ([Greek: skeptouchoi]), her tire-women or dressers ([Greek:
kosmeteirai]), and even her 'acrobats,' whatever may be meant by some of
these terms. Fines are allocated to provide adornments for her;
endowments are given for the cleaning and custody of her images; decrees
are issued for the public exhibition of her treasures. Her birthday is
again and again mentioned. She is seen and heard everywhere. She is
hardly more at home in her own sanctuary than in the Great Theatre. This
last-mentioned place--the scene of the tumult in the Acts--is brought
vividly before our eyes in Mr Wood's inscriptions. The theatre appears
as the recognized place of public assembly. Here edicts are proclaimed,
and decrees recorded, and benefactors crowned. When the mob, under the
leadership of Demetrius, gathered here for their demonstration against
St Paul and his companions, they would find themselves surrounded by
memorials which might stimulate their zeal for the goddess. If the
'town-clerk' had desired to make good his assertion, 'What man is there
that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is sacristan of the
great goddess Artemis?' he had only to point to the inscriptions which
lined the theatre for confirmation. The very stones would have cried out
from th