A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s7.35

v1.c8.s7.35

¹ Eggeling (SBE., Vol. 12, p. X) recalls the fact that among the Ancient Romans, too, the *Pontifices* gained their power and influence through being the only people who understood all the details of the sacrificial ceremonial, which details, though small, had yet been declared tremendously important. It happened in Ancient Rome, that a sacrifice had to be repeated thirty times, because some little mistake had been made at one of the ceremonies; and in Ancient Rome, too, a ceremony was regarded as null and void, if a word was mispronounced or an act was not performed quite correctly, or if the music did not cease playing at the right moment. Cf. *Marquardt* and *Mommsen*, Handbuch der römischen Altertümer, VI, pp. 172, 174, 213.