W. R. Halliday: Greek
Divination, London, 1913, p. 88.
The exact date of the introduction of the cult into Greece is not known,
but its great centres were at Epidaurus, Cos, Pergamos and Tricca. It
throve with wonderful rapidity. Asklepios became one of the most popular
of the gods. By the time of Alexander it is estimated that there were
between three and four hundred temples dedicated to him.
His worship was introduced into Rome at the time of the Great Plague at
the beginning of the third century B.C. (as told by Livy in Book XI),
and the temple on the island of Tiber became a famous resort. If you can
transfer in imagination the Hot Springs of Virginia to the neighborhood
of Washington, and put there a group of buildings such as are
represented in these outlines of Caton's(13) (p. 52), add a sumptuous
theatre with seating capacity for 20,000, a stadium 600 feet long with
a seating capacity of 12,000, and all possible accessories of art and
science, you will have an idea of what the temple at Epidaurus, a few
miles from Athens, was. "The cult flourished mostly in places which,
through climatic or hygienic advantages, were natural health resorts.
Those favoured spots on hill or mountain, in the shelter of forests, by
rivers or springs of pure flowing water, were conducive to health.
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