In speaking of the duties of children in Egypt, Herodotus declares, that if a son was unwilling to maintain his parents he was at liberty to refuse, but that a daughter, on the contrary, was compelled to assist them, and, on refusal, was amenable to law. But we may question the truth of this statement; and, drawing an inference from the marked severity of filial duties among the Egyptians, some of which we find distinctly alluded to in the sculptures of Thebes, we may conclude that in Egypt much more was expected from a son than in any civilized nation of the present day; and this was not confined to the lower orders, but extended to those of the highest ranks of society. And if the office of fan-bearer was an honorable post, and the sons of the monarch were preferred to fulfill it, no ordinary show of humility was required on their part; and they walked on foot behind his chariot, bearing certain insignia over their father during the triumphal processions which took place in commemoration of his victories, and in the religious ceremonies over which he presided. It was equally a custom in the early times of European history, that a son should pay a marked deference to his parent; and no prince was allowed to sit at table with his father, unless through his valor, having been invested with arms by a foreign sovereign, he had obtained that privilege; as was the case with Alboin, before he succeeded his father on the throne of the Lombards. The European nations were not long in altering their early habits, and this custom soon became disregarded; but a respect for ancient institutions, and those ideas, so prevalent in the East, which reject all love of change, prevented the Egyptians from discarding the usages of their ancestors; and we find this and many other primitive customs retained, even at the period when they were most highly civilized. In the education of youth they were particularly strict; and "they knew," says Plato, "that children ought to be early accustomed to such gestures, looks, and motions as are decent and proper, and not to be suffered either to hear or learn any verses and songs, than those which are calculated to inspire them with virtue; and they consequently took care that every dance and ode introduced at their feasts or sacrifices should be subject to certain regulations." They particularly inculcated respect for old age; and the fact of this being required even towards strangers, argues a great regard for the person of a parent; for we are informed that, like the Israelites and the Lacedæmonians, they required every young man to give place to his superiors in years, and even, if seated, to rise on their approach.