§ 73. W. The whole of Egypt being divided into a number of parts, called Nomes by the Greeks, each of these is governed by a Nomarcha, to whom the care of all its public concerns is entrusted. The land being every where divided into three portions, the first is occupied by the priesthood, who are held in the greatest respect by the inhabitants, as being devoted to the worship of the gods, and as possessing the greatest power of understanding, from the superiority of their education: and from the revenues of these lands they perform all sacrifices throughout Egypt, and support the servants of the temples as well as their own families: for they hold that the administration of the honours of the gods ought not to be fluctuating, but to be conducted always by the same persons, and in the same manner: and that those, who are above all their fellow citizens in wisdom and knowledge, ought not to be below any of them in the comforts and conveniences of life: and the priests are in the habit of associating very generally with the kings, partly as counsellors, partly as assistants, and partly as expounders and instructors: foretelling future events by means of astronomy and of augury, and reading the most useful lessons from the past, out of the records of their sacred volumes: for it is not the custom, as in Greece, for one man, or one woman, to be appointed to each priesthood, but there are many who are employed together in the sacrifices and in other ceremonies; and these transmit the same professional occupation to their descendants. The whole of the families of the priests are exempt from taxes, and they come immediately after the king in rank and authority. The second portion of the land is retained in the power of the king for his own revenue, out of which he has to provide for all military expenses, and for the support of his own splendour and dignity, as well as for the liberal remuneration of those who have distinguished themselves by their virtues and their valour: so that being amply supplied from this territory, they are not obliged to burden their subjects with oppressive taxes. The last of the three portions is assigned to the military population, who are subject to the duties attending on a state of warfare: in order that those, who are exposed to danger in battle, may be the more ready to undergo the hazards of the field, from the interest that they feel in the country as occupiers of the soil: for it would be thought absurd to commit the common safety to the care of those, who possessed nothing in the country that was worthy of preservation: and this system had the still greater advantage of acting as an encouragement to population, in order that the country might not be in want of foreign auxiliaries: and their descendants, in like manner, receiving the constitution thus transmitted to them from their forefathers, are excited by the emulation of the valiant deeds of their ancestors, and become