rs in the affirmative; and with a much
better title, he says, than many of the so-much-vaunted conquerors and
heroes, who have acquired their fame only by murder and devastation.

It is not to be wondered at, that such immense riches should have tempted
the avarice of mankind, and exposed Delphi to being frequently pillaged.
Without mentioning more ancient times, Xerxes, who invaded Greece with a
million of men, endeavoured to seize upon the spoils of this temple. Above
an hundred years after, the Phoceans, near neighbours of Delphi, plundered
it at several times. The same rich booty was the sole motive of the
irruption of the Gauls into Greece under Brennus. The guardian god of
Delphi, if we may believe historians, sometimes defended this temple by
surprising prodigies; and at others, either from impotence or want of
presence of mind, suffered himself to be plundered. When Nero made this
temple, so famous throughout the universe, a visit, and found in it five
hundred fine brass statues of illustrious men and gods to his liking,
which had been consecrated to Apollo, (those of gold and silver having
undoubtedly disappeared upon his approach,) he ordered them to be taken
down, and shipping them on board his vessels, carried them with him to
Rome.

Those who are desirous of more particular information concerning the
oracles and riches of the temple of Delphi, may consult some dissertations
upon this subject, printed in the _Memoirs of the Academy of Belles
Lettres_,(110) of which I have made good use, according to my custom.

Of the Games and Combats.

Games and combats made a part of the religion, and had a share in almost
all the festivals of the ancients; and for that reason it is proper that
they should find a place in this Work. Whether we consider their origin,
or the design of their institution, we shall not be surprised at their
being so prevalent in the best governed states.

Hercules, Theseus, Castor and Pollux, and the greatest heroes of
antiquity, were not only the institutors or restorers of them, but thought
it glorious to share in the exercise of them, and meritorious to succeed
therein. These subduers of monsters, and of the common enemies of mankind,
thought it no disgrace to them, to aspire to the victories in these
combats; nor that the new wreaths with which their brows were encircled in
the solemnization of these games, detracted from the lustre of those they
had before acquired. Hence the mo