208 THE CITY. BOOK III. the sacred color among the ancients, that which pleased the gods.' The meal invariably commenced with a prayer and libations, and hymns were sung. The nature of the dishes and the kind of wine that was to be served were regulated by the rules of each city. To deviate in the least from the usage followed in primitive times, to present a new dish or alter the rhythm of the sacred hymns, was a grave impiety, for which the whole city was responsible to the gods. Religion even went so far as to fix the nature of the vessels that ought to be employed both for the cooking of the food and for the service of the table. In one city the bread must be served in copper baskets; in another earthen dishes had to be employed. Even the form of the loaves was immutably fixed.* These rules of the old religion continued to be observed, and the sacred meals always preserved their primitive simplicity. Creeds, manners, social condition, all changed ; but these meals remained unchangeable ; for the Greeks were very scrupulous observers of their national religion. It is but just to add, that when the guests had satisfied the requirements of religion by eating the prescribed food, they might immediately afterwards commence another meal, more expensive and better suited to their taste. This was quite a common prac- tice at Sparta.^ The custom of religious meals was common in Italy as well as in Greece. It existed anciently, Aristotle ' Plato, Laws, XII. 95G. Cicero, De Lcgib.^ II. 18. Virgil, V. 70, 774; VII. 135; VIII. 27-t. So, too, among the Hindus, in religious ceremonies, one was required to wear a crown, and to bo clothed in white. " Athenaeus, I. 58 ; IV. 32 ; XI. GG. =" Ibid., IV. 19 ; IV. 20.
