Honours Paid To Living And Departed Worth

The people of Athens, when they had finished the temple called

Hecatompedon, set at liberty the beasts of burden that had been chiefly

employed in that work, suffering them to pasture at large, free from any

further service. It is said that one of these afterwards came of its own

accord to work, and putting itself at the head of the labouring cattle,

marched before them to the citadel. The people were pleased with this

spontaneous action, and made a decree that the animal should be kept at

the public charge as long as it lived. Many have shown particular marks of

regard in burying animals which they had cherished and been fond of. The

graves of Cimon's mares, with which he thrice conquered at the Olympic

games, are still to be seen near his own tomb. Xanthippus, whose dog swam

by the side of his galley to Salamis, when the Athenians were forced to

abandon their city, afterwards buried it with great pomp upon a

promontory, which to this day is called the Dog's Grave. In Pliny, we

have an amusing account of a superb funeral ceremony, which took place

during the reign of Claudius; in which the illustrious departed was no

other than a crow, so celebrated for its talents and address, that it was

looked upon as a sort of public property. Its death was felt as a national

loss; the man who killed it was condemned to expiate the crime with his

own life; and nothing less than a public funeral could, as it was thought,

do justice to its memory. The remains of the bird were laid on a bier,

which was borne by two slaves; musicians went before it, playing mournful

airs; and an infinite number of persons, of all ages and conditions,

brought up the rear of the melancholy procession.