Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights
John C. Rolfe, Ed.

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“[p. 45] demands were extravagant enough.” He says that this was the origin of the proverb common among the Greeks:

Not every man may fare to Corinth town, ¹

for in vain would any man go to Corinth to visit Lais who could not pay her price. “The great Demosthenes approached her secretly and asked for her favours. But Lais demanded ten thousand drachmas” —a sum equivalent in our money to ten thousand denarii. ² “Amazed and shocked at the woman's great impudence and the vast sum of money demanded, Demosthenes turned away, remarking as he left her: 'I will not buy regret at such a price.'” But the Greek words which he is said to have used are neater; he said: οὐκ ὠνοῦμαι μυρίων δραχμῶν μεταμέλειαν. ³ .

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IX

[9arg] What the method and what the order of the Pythagorean training was, and the amount of time which was prescribed and accepted as the period for learning and at the same time keeping silence.

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IT is said that the order and method followed by Pythagoras, and afterwards by his school and his successors, in admitting and training their pupils were as follows: At the very outset he “physiognomized” the young men who presented themselves for instruction. That word means to inquire into the character and dispositions of men by an inference drawn from their facial appearance and