ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE OR SUPPLIANTS

 I. (1) Having mentioned the Essenes, who in all respects selected for their admiration and for their especial adoption the practical course of life, a

 II. (10) But since these men infect not only their fellow countrymen, but also all that come near them with folly, let them remain uncovered, being mu

 III. (21) Now this class of persons may be met with in many places, for it was fitting that both Greece and the country of the barbarians should parta

 IV. (34) And these expounders of the law, having first of all laid down temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon, proceed to build

 V. (40) I wish also to speak of their common assemblies, and their very cheerful meetings at convivial parties, setting them in opposition and contras

 VI. (48) And perhaps some people may be inclined to approve of the arrangement of such entertainments which at present prevails everywhere, from an ad

 VII. (57) Now of the banquets among the Greeks the two most celebrated and most remarkable are those at which Socrates also was present, the one in th

 VIII. (64) But since the entertainments of the greatest celebrity are full of such trifling and folly, bearing conviction in themselves, if any one sh

 IX. (69) And the order in which they sit down to meat is a divided one, the men sitting on the right hand and the women apart from them on the left a

 X. (75) These, then, are the first circumstances of the feast but after the guests have sat down to the table in the order which I have been describi

 XI. (83) And after the feast they celebrate the sacred festival during the whole night and this nocturnal festival is celebrated in the following man

IV. (34) And these expounders of the law, having first of all laid down temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon, proceed to build up other virtues on this foundation, and no one of them may take any meat or drink before the setting of the sun, since they judge that the work of philosophising is one which is worthy of the light, but that the care for the necessities of the body is suitable only to darkness, on which account they appropriate the day to the one occupation, and a brief portion of the night to the other; (35) and some men, in whom there is implanted a more fervent desire of knowledge, can endure to cherish a recollection of their food for three days without even tasting it, and some men are so delighted, and enjoy themselves so exceedingly when regaled by wisdom which supplies them with her doctrines in all possible wealth and abundance, that they can even hold out twice as great a length of time, and will scarcely at the end of six days taste even necessary food, being accustomed, as they say that grasshoppers are, to feed on air, their song, as I imagine, making their scarcity tolerable to them. (36) And they, looking upon the seventh day as one of perfect holiness and a most complete festival, have thought it worthy of a most especial honour, and on it, after taking due care of their soul, they tend their bodies also, giving them, just as they do to their cattle, a complete rest from their continual labours; (37) and they eat nothing of a costly character, but plain bread and a seasoning of salt, which the more luxurious of them to further season with hyssop; and their drink is water from the spring; for they oppose those feelings which nature has made mistresses of the human race, namely, hunger and thirst, giving them nothing to flatter or humour them, but only such useful things as it is not possible to exist without. On this account they eat only so far as not to be hungry, and they drink just enough to escape from thirst, avoiding all satiety, as an enemy of and a plotter against both soul and body. (38) And there are two kinds of covering, one raiment and the other a house: we have already spoken of their houses, that they are not decorated with any ornaments, but run up in a hurry, being only made to answer such purposes as are absolutely necessary; and in like manner their raiment is of the most ordinary description, just stout enough to ward off cold and heat, being a cloak of some shaggy hide for winter, and a thin mantle or linen shawl in the summer; (39) for in short they practise entire simplicity, looking upon falsehood as the foundation of pride, but truth as the origin of simplicity, and upon truth and falsehood as standing in the light of fountains, for from falsehood proceeds every variety of evil and wickedness, and from truth there flows every imaginable abundance of good things both human and divine.