There they saw great serpents, quite tame and gentle, so that they were kept by women, slept with children, let themselves be stepped upon, were not angry when they were stroked, and took milk from the breast just like babies. There are many such in the country, and that, probably, is what gave currency in former days to the story about Olympias ; no doubt a serpent of that sort slept with her when she was carrying Alexander.

The story was that Alexander was the son of Zeus, who had visited Olympias in the form of a serpent.

So they bought one of the reptiles, the finest, for a few coppers;