although they pretend to have made use of both the emperors' own
memoirs, yet could not they he acquainted with our affairs who
fought against them.

11. This digression I have been obliged to make out of necessity,
as being desirous to expose the vanity of those that profess to
write histories; and I suppose I have sufficiently declared that
this custom of transmitting down the histories of ancient times
hath been better preserved by those nations which are called
Barbarians, than by the Greeks themselves. I am now willing, in
the next place, to say a few things to those that endeavor to
prove that our constitution is but of late time, for this reason,
as they pretend, that the Greek writers have said nothing about
us; after which I shall produce testimonies for our antiquity out
of the writings of foreigners; I shall also demonstrate that such
as cast reproaches upon our nation do it very unjustly.

12. As for ourselves, therefore, we neither inhabit a maritime
country, nor do we delight in merchandise, nor in such a mixture
with other men as arises from it; but the cities we dwell in are
remote from the sea, and having a fruitful country for our
habitation, we take pains in cultivating that only. Our principal
care of all is this, to educate our children well; and we think
it to be the most necessary business of our whole life to observe
the laws that have been given us, and to keep those rules of
piety that have been delivered down to us. Since, therefore,
besides what we have already taken notice of, we have had a
peculiar way of living of our own, there was no occasion offered
us in ancient ages for intermixing among the Greeks, as they had
for mixing among the Egyptians, by their intercourse of exporting