[132]
And
moreover he referred his design to the sacred college: to whom did you refer
yours? If you deliberated at all, if you had anything which you wished to
expiate, or any domestic sacrifice which you desired to institute, still
according to the ancient practice of other men you should have referred the
matter to the priests. When you were beginning a new temple in the most
beautiful spot in the city, with some wicked and unheard of object, did you
not think that you ought to refer the matter to the public priests? But if
you did not think it desirable to consult the whole college of priests, was
there no single one of them who seemed to you a suitable man (of those who
are eminent among all the citizens for age and honour and authority) for you
to communicate your intention about the dedication to him? The truth was,
not that you despised, but that you were afraid of their dignity.
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