Page:Colson - The Week (1926, IA weekessayonorigi0000fhco).djvu/33

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wrote the history of Rome from the earliest date to his own time. The history was actually carried up to the year A.D. 229, but various remarks shew that the first part is to be dated earlier, and we may fairly place the passage which now concerns us somewhere between the years 210 and 220. In his 37th book (the total number is 80, the majority of which are lost or exist only in abridgments), he has come to the capture of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 B.C. and notes that this would never have been accomplished but for the Jews' reverence for 'Saturn's day.' Not only as this came round did they allow the Romans to continue their siege operations unhindered, but the final assault was also made on a 'Saturn's day' and met with no resistance. He then proceeds to give some account of the Jews and in particular how 'they have consecrated the socalled day of Saturn and while performing on it many observances peculiar to themselves lay their hands to no serious work.' The passage then goes on as follows:

And as for Saturn, his personality, the source of the honours thus paid to him and the nature of the superstitious awe shewn to him have been treated by many writers and have no connexion with this history. But the dedication of the days to the stars called planets originated in Egypt, but is now universal though its origin is comparatively recent. Certainly the old Greeks, to the best of my knowledge, knew nothing about it. But since now it is an established usage among the Roman as well as all other nations, and indeed may be called an