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18
THOTH.

grasped at wild delights as if they held their lives but by the day. The rich died, and the poor, who had never dreamed of riches, slipped into their places, and thinking they had not a moment to lose, made their only aim the speedy fruition of their goods. Neither the fear of the gods nor the laws of men awed any man. For it seemed all one, to worship or not to worship, seeing that all alike perished, and no one expected his life would last till he received punishment of his crimes by human judgment. Many thought that the whole city would be destroyed, and hastened to enjoy some little part of their lives. Women left their apartments, and, without friends or guardians, rushed to the temples or tried, to flee from the pestilence beyond the city bounds. For all discipline was broken through, and all did what seemed good to them.