When the district of the Cirrhæans had, by the Amphictyonic war, become forfeited to the temple of Delphi, the sacred lands belonging to it formed a very considerable territory. Two inscriptions contain surveys of the Hieromnemons respecting its boundaries: one relating to those towards Anticirrha in the east, the other to those in the direction of Amphissa to the west.(1094) Now it certainly appears that in ancient times, when Cirrha was in existence, none of these lands belonged to the temple, which must therefore have possessed little or no territory. But in spite of the generally received accounts of the Amphictyonic war, it can be satisfactorily proved, that in earlier times Cirrha and the temple, with its appendages, formed one state.(1095) Their territory indeed consisted for the most part of rock, mountain, and narrow glens;(1096) yet towards the south it embraced the spacious plain of Crissa, and in the north at least the luxuriant vineyards of Parnassus. By whom then was this territory cultivated? certainly neither by the Doric nobles nor the Cretan colonists, who in the Homeric hymn are derided by the god for thinking of the labours of agriculture, and commanded to employ themselves merely in sacrificing victims.(1097) Thus it is evident, that there were subjects of the temple, who, besides the humble employment of cultivating the soil, were also obliged to tend the herds belonging to the temple. These were the servants of the temple whom we so frequently find mentioned.(1098) The same class also existed in Crete, as we have before proved from the tribute sent by Athens; and Crete, in its turn, as well as Eretria and Magnesia,(1099) sent such “human firstlings” to the temple of Pytho. Mention is also made of a town in Crete composed of a thousand men, all sacred slaves.(1100) Now these slaves of Delphi may have been procured in different ways, either as tribute (and that either of a city or of individuals), as voluntary bondsmen, or by purchase:(1101) the latter mode was probably of rare occurrence in early times. There still remain a considerable number of Delphian monuments, in which private individuals present or sell to the god those slaves whom they wish to favour.(1102) The condition of these vassals corresponds to that of the Doric bondsmen;(1103) but their servitude was probably of a milder nature; for we find it frequently stated that the sacred slaves lived inviolate under the protection of the god, although (at least in early times) they were entirely dependent on the sacred council of the temple. Originally, a great part consisted of prisoners taken in war. We collect from ancient epic poems that Manto the daughter of Tiresias was, after the war of the Epigoni, sent to the Pythian god as a share of the spoil(1104) (ἀκροθίνιον): one individual, as is usual in the language of mythology, standing for many. The Gephyræans also are said to have been at that time