Falkener, Edward: Ephesus and the temple of Diana (London, 1862)

vn.

THE ASYLUM OF THE TEMPLE.----PRIESTS, AND CEREMONIES

OF THE TEMPLE.

THE history of the Asylum of the Temple is thus
stated by the Ephesians in the reign of
Tiberius :—

" This sacred recess first gave shelter to Latona,
who was delivered under an olive-tree of Apollo and
Diana .... It was there that Apollo, after having
slain the Cyclops, found a retreat from the vengeance
of Jupiter. It was there that Bacchus, after his
victories, gave a free pardon to such of the Amazons
as fled to the altar for protection; and it was there
that Hercules, having conquered Lydia, established
the Temple with its rites and ceremonies, which
neither the Persian kings nor the Macedonian con-
queror had presumed to violate. The Eomans at all
times have had the strictest regard to the sanctity
of the place." * "The limits of the asylum," says
Strabo, " have been frequently changed. Alexander
established it at a distance of one stadium : Mithri-
dates fixed it at a bow-shot from the angle of the

1 Tacit. An. iii. 61.