In Flaccum

being partly delighted and partly grieving; delighted at the opportunity of repelling the false accusation which was thus brought against them by its own character, but indignant, in the first place, because calumnies of such a nature, when concocted and urged against them by their enemies, were believed beforehand; and, secondly, because their wives, who were shut up, and who did not actually come forth out of their inner chambers, and their virgins, who were kept in the strictest privacy, shunning the eyes of men, even of those who were their nearest relations, out of modesty, were now alarmed by being displayed to the public gaze, not only of persons who were no relations to them, but even of common soldiers.

Nevertheless, though a most rigorous examination took place, how great a quantity of defensive and offensive armour do you think was found? Helmets, and breast-plates, and shields, and daggers, and javelins, and weapons of every description, were brought out and piled up in heaps; and also how great a variety of missile weapons, javelins, slings, bows, and darts?

From which circumstance, the simplicity of their daily manner of life was plainly seen: as they made no pretence to magnificence or delicate luxury; the nature of which things is to engender satiety, and satiety is apt to engender insolence, which is the beginning of all evils.

And indeed it was not a long time before that, that the arms had been taken away from the Egyptians throughout the whole country by a man of the name of Bassus, to whom Flaccus had committed this employment. But at that time one might have beheld a great fleet of ships sailing down and anchoring in the harbours afforded by the mouths of the river, full of arms of every possible description, and numerous beasts of burden loaded with bags made of skins sewn together and hanging like panniers on each side so as to balance better, and also almost all the waggons belonging to the camp filled with weapons of every sort, which were brought in rows so as to be all seen at once, and arranged together in order. And the distance between the harbour and the armoury in the king’s palace in which the arms were commanded to be deposited was about ten stadia;