"And after this came a procession in honour of Jupiter and of many other gods; and after all these, came a procession in honour of Alexander, who had a golden statue borne on a chariot drawn by real elephants, having Victory and Minerva on each side of him. And numbers of thrones were borne in the procession, made of ivory and gold, on one of which lay a crown of gold; on another a pair of horns made of gold; on another was a golden chaplet; and on another a single horn made of solid gold. And on the throne of Ptolemy Soter lay a crown which had been made of ten thousand pieces of gold money. And there were also carried in the procession three hundred and fifty golden incense burners, and golden altars, all crowned with golden crowns, on one of which were firmly placed four golden lamps ten cubits high. There were also carried twelve stoves with golden tops, one of which was twelve cubits in circumference, and forty cubits in height; and another was fifteen cubits high. There were also carried nine Delphic tripods made of gold, each four cubits high, and eight others six cubits high; another thirty cubits high, on which were figures of animals carved in gold, four cubits high, and a crown of vine-leaves of gold going all round. There were also carried in the procession seven palm-trees overlaid with gold, eight cubits high, and a golden herald's staff forty-five cubits long, and a thunderbolt overlaid with gold forty cubits in size, and a gilt shrine, the circumference of which was forty cubits; and besides all this, a pair of horns eight cubits long. And an immense number of gilded figures of animals was also exhibited, the greater part of which were twelve cubits high; and beasts of enormous size, and eagles twenty cubits high. And golden crowns were also exhibited to the number of three thousand and two hundred. And there was a separate mystic crown made of gold studded with valuable stones, eighty cubits high. This was the crown which was placed at the door of the temple of Berenice; and there was also an regis of gold. There were [p. 323] also exhibited a vast number of golden chaplets, which were borne by young maidens sumptuously attired, one of which was two cubits high, and sixteen cubits in circumference. "There was also exhibited a golden breastplate twelve cubits broad, and another breastplate of silver eighteen cubits broad, having on it two golden thunderbolts of the size of ten cubits each, and a garland of oak-leaves studded with precious stones; and twenty golden shields, and sixty-four suits of complete armour also of gold, and two golden greaves three cubits in height, and twelve golden dishes, and a most countless number of flagons, and thirty-six vessels for wine, and ten large anointing vessels, and twelve ewers, and fifty large dishes for barley loaves, and tables of different sorts, and five repositories for gold plate, and a horn thirty cubits long made of solid gold. And all these articles of gold plate were exclusive of those carried in the procession of Bacchus. Then there were four hundred wagons of silver plate, and twenty wagons of gold plate, and eight hundred of perfumes and spices.
Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. Or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854.
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