Book 14
79
And Thrasymedes the son of Nestor, having taken an axe, slays the ox which was to be sacrificed, because Nestor himself was not able to do so, by reason of his old age; and his other brothers assisted him; so respectable and important was the office of a cook in those days. And among the Romans, the Censors,—and that was the highest office in the whole state,—clad in a purple robe, and wearing crowns, used to strike down the victims with an axe. Nor is it a random assertion of Homer, when he represents the heralds as bringing in the victims, and whatever else had any bearing on the ratification of oaths, as this was a very ancient duty of theirs, and one which was especially a part of their office— Two heralds now, despatch'd to Troy, invite The Phrygian monarch to the peaceful rite; and again— Talthybius hastens to the fleet, to bring The lamb for Jove, th' inviolable king. Homer, Iliad, iii. 116. And, in another passage, he says— A splendid scene! Then Agamemnon rose; The boar Talthybius held; the Grecian lord Drew the broad cutlass, sheath'd beside his sword. Homer, Iliad, xix. 250.
