and its protecting god. The religious act here was of the same nature as in the family. It consisted essentially of-a repast, partaken of in common ; the nourish- ment had been prepared upon the altar itself, and was consequently sacred; while eating it, the worshippers recited prayers; the divinity was present, and received his part of the food and drink.
These religious repasts of the cury lasted a long time at Rome; Cicero mentions them, and Ovid describes them.[1] In the time of Augustus they had still pre- served all their antique forms. "I have seen, in those sacred dwellings," says a historian of this epoch, "the repast displayed before the god ; the tables were of wood, according to ancestral usage, and the dishes were of earthen ware. The food was loaves, cakes of fine flour, and fruits. I saw the libations poured out; they did not fall from gold or silver cups, but from vessels of clay, and I admired the men of our day who remain so faithful to the rites and customs of their fathers."[2] At Athens these repasts took place during the festival called Apaturia[3]
There were usages remaining in the latest period of Greek history which throw some light upon the nature of the ancient phratry. Thus we see that in the time
- ↑ Cicero, De Orat., I. 7. Ovid, Fast., VI. 305. Dionysius, II. 65.
- ↑ Dionysius, II. 23. And yet some changes had been introduced. The feasts of the cury had become a vain formality. The members of the cury willingly neglected them, and the custom was introduced of replacing the common meal by a distribution of victuals and money. Plautus. Aulularia, V. 69 and 137.
- ↑ Aristophanes, Acha(illegible text)n. 146. Athen{{subst:ae}}us, IV. p. 171. Suidas, (
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