18. Thus it is found to be the case from the first half of the third century at Thera, a naval station of the Ptolemies (Hiller von Gaertringen, _Thera_, III, pp. 85 ff.; cf. Ruhl, _op. cit._, p. 59), and also at Rhodes (_Rev. archeol._, 1905, I, p. 341). Cult of Serapis at Delos, cf. _Comptes rendus Acad. inscr._, 1910, pp. 294 ff. 19. A number of proofs of its diffusion have been collected by Drexler, _loc. cit._, p. 379. See Lafaye, "Isis" (cf. _supra_), p. 577; and Ruhl, _De Sarapide et Iside in Graecia cultis_, 1906. 20. This interpretation has already been proposed by Ravaisson (_Gazette archeologique_, I, pp. 55 ff.), and I believe it to be correct, see _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1906, p. 75, n. 1. 21. The power of the Egyptian cult in the Oriental half of the empire has been clearly shown by von Domaszewski (_Roem. Mitt._, XVII, 1902, pp. 333 ff.), but perhaps with some exaggeration. All will endorse the restrictions formulated by Harnack, _Ausbreitung des Christentums_, II, p. 274. 22. The very early spread of Orphic doctrines in Magna Graecia, evidenced by the tablets of Sybaris and Petilia (Diels, {232} _Vorsokratiker_, II^2, p. 480) must have prepared the way for it. These tablets possess many points in common with the eschatological beliefs of Egypt, but, as their latest commentator justly remarks (Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_, p. 624), these new ideas are fairly overwhelmed in the old mythology. The mysteries of Isis and Serapis seemed to offer a revelation that had been a presentiment for a long time, and the affirmation of a truth foreshadowed by early symbols. 23. _CIL_, X, 1781, I, 15-6. 24. Apul., _Metam._, XI, 30. 25. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 292-3; cf. Seeck, _Hermes_, XLIII, 1908, p. 642. 26. Manicheism was later persecuted on a similar pretext, see _Collat. Mos. et Rom. leg._, 15, 3, Sec. 4: "De Persica adversaria nobis gente progressa." 27. A full list of the inscriptions and monuments discovered in the various cities is given by Drexler in Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v. "Isis," II, col. 409 ff. 28. Hirschfeld, _CIL_, XII, p. 382, and _Wiener Studien_, V, 1883, pp. 319-322. 29. Cf. Wissowa, _op. cit._, pp. 294 ff. 30. Minuc. Fel., _Octav._ 22, 2: "Haec AEgyptia quondam nunc et sacra Romana sunt." 31. _Carmen contra paganos_ (_Anthol. lat._, ed. Riese, I, 20 ff.) v. 91, 95 ff.; cf. Ps. Aug., _Quaest. Vet. Test._, CXIV, 11 (p. 308, 10 Souter), and _Rev. hist. litt. relig._, VIII, 1903, p. 422, n. 1. 32. Rufin, II, 24: "_Caput ipsum idolatriae._" A miniature from an Alexandrian chronicle shows the patriarch Theophilus, crowned with a halo, stamping the Serapeum under foot, see Bauer and Strzygowski, _Eine alexandrinische Weltchronik_ (_Denkschr. Akad. Wien_, LI), 1905, to the year 391, pp. 70 ff., 122, and pl. VI.