worship of some _foreign_ deity, i.e. of some deity who
was not one of those admitted and guaranteed by the state--the divine
inhabitants of the city, as they may be called. For all these the state
made provision of priests, temples, sacrifices, &c.; but for all others
these necessaries had to be looked after by private individuals
associated for the purpose. The state, as we see from the law of Solon
quoted above, made no difficulty about the introduction of foreign
worships, provided they did not infringe the law and were not morally
unwholesome, and regarded these associations as having all the rights of
legal corporations. So we find the cult of deities such as Sabazius,
Mater Magna (see GREAT MOTHER OF THE GODS) and Attis, Adonis, Isis,
Serapis, M[=e]n Tyrannos, carried on in Greek states, and especially in
seaports like the Peiraeus, Rhodes, Smyrna, without protest, but almost
certainly without moral benefit to the worshippers. The famous passage
in Demosthenes (_de Corona_, sect. 259 foll.) shows, however, that the
initiation at an early age in the rites of Sabazius did not gain credit
for Aeschines in the eyes of the best men. We are not surprised to find
that, in accordance with the foreign character of the cults thus
maintained, the members of the associations are rarely citizens by
birth, but women, freedmen, foreigners and even slaves. Thus in an
inscription found by Sir C. Newton at Cnidus, which contains a mutilated
list of members of a _thiasos_, one only out of twelve appears to be a
Cnidian citizen, four are slaves, seven are probably foreigners. Hence
we may conclude that these associations were of importance, whether for
good or for evil, in organizing and encouraging the foreign population
in the cities of Greece.

The next striking fact is that these associations were organized, as we
shall also find them at Rome, in imitation of the constitution of the
city itself. Each had its law, its assembly, its magistrates or officers
(i.e. secretary, treasurer) as well as priests or priestesses, and its
finance. The law regulated the conditions of admission, which involved
an entrance fee and an examination ([Greek: dokimasia]) as to character;
the contributions, which had to be paid by the month, and the steps to
be taken to enforce payment, e.g. exclusion in case of persistent
neglect of this duty; the use to be made of the revenues, such as the
building or maintenance of temple or club-house, and the cost