ἤδη καθ᾽ ἑαυτῆς ἐξισχύουσαν, περιελοῦσα τὴν ζώνην [D] καὶ περιθεῖσα τῆς νεὼς τοῖς ἄκροις, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας τινὸς ἀποχωρεῖν ἐκέλευεν ἅπαντας, εἶτα ἐδεῖτο τῆς θεοῦ μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτὴν(792) ἀδίκοις ἐνεχομένην βλασφημίας. βοῶσα δὲ ὥσπερ τι κέλευσμα, φασί, ναυτικόν, Δέσποινα Μῆτερ εἴπερ εἰμὶ σώφρων, ἕπου μοι, ἔφη. καὶ δὴ τὴν ναῦν οὐκ ἐκίνησε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἵλκυσεν ἐπὶ πολὺ πρὸς τὸν ῥοῦν· καὶ δύο ταῦτα Ῥωμαίοις ἔδειξεν ἡ θεὸς οἶμαι κατ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν. [161] ὡς οὔτε μικροῦ τινος τίμιον ἀπὸ τῆς Φρυγίας ἐπήγοντο(793) φόρτον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παντὸς ἄξιον, οὔτε ὡς ἀνθρώπινον τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ ὄντως θεῖον, οὔτε ἄψυχον γῆν, ἀλλὰ ἔμπνουν τι χρῆμα καὶ δαιμόνιον. ἓν μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτον ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς ἡ θεός· ἕτερον δέ, ὡς τῶν πολιτῶν οὐδὲ εἶς λάθοι ἂν αὐτὴν χρηστὸς ἢ φαῦλος ὤν. κατωρθώθη μέντοι καὶ ὁ πόλεμος αὐτίκα Ῥωμαίοις πρὸς Καρχηδονίους, ὥστε τὸν τρίτον ὑπὲρ τῶν τειχῶν αὐτῆς μόνον Καρχηδόνος γενέσθαι. (Ought I to say something on this subject also? And shall I write about things not to be spoken of and divulge what ought not to be divulged? Shall I utter the unutterable? Who is Attis(794) or Gallus,(795) who is the Mother of the Gods,(796) and what is the manner of their ritual of purification? And further why was it introduced in the beginning among us Romans? It was handed down by the Phrygians in very ancient times, and was first taken over by the Greeks, and not by any ordinary Greeks but by Athenians who had learned by experience that they did wrong to jeer at one who was celebrating the Mysteries of the Mother. For it is said that they wantonly insulted and drove out Gallus, on the ground that he was introducing a new cult, because they did not understand what sort of goddess they had to do with, and that she was that very Deo whom they worship, and Rhea and Demeter too. Then followed the wrath of the goddess and the propitiation of her wrath. For the priestess of the Pythian god who guided the Greeks in all noble conduct, bade them propitiate the wrath of the Mother of the Gods. And so, we are told, the Metroum was built, where the Athenians used to keep all their state records.(797) After the Greeks the Romans took over the cult, when the Pythian god had advised them in their turn to bring the goddess from Phrygia as an ally for their war against the Carthaginians.(798) And perhaps there is no reason why I should not insert here a brief account of what happened. When they learned the response of the oracle, the inhabitants of Rome, that city beloved of the gods, sent an embassy to ask from the kings of Pergamon(799) who then ruled over Phrygia and from the Phrygians themselves the most holy statue(800) of the goddess. And when they had received it they brought back their most sacred freight, putting it on a broad cargo‐boat which could sail smoothly over those wide seas. Thus she crossed the Aegean and Ionian Seas, and sailed round Sicily and over the Etruscan Sea, and so entered the mouth of the Tiber. And the people and the Senate with them