Diamastigoˊsis

a solemnity in honour of Diana, as follows. Certain boys were carried to the altar of the goddess, and there severely whipp’d, and lest the officer should out of compassion remit any thing of the rigour of it, the priestess of Diana stood by all the time, holding in her hand the image of the goddess, which was of itself very light; but (as they relate) if the boys were spared, grew so weighty, that the priestess was scarce able to support it; and lest the boys should faint under the correction, or do any thing unworthy of the Laconian education, their parents were present to exhort them to undergo it patiently, and with great constancy; and so great was the bravery and resolution of the boys, that tho’ they were lash’d till the blood gush’d out, and sometimes to death, yet a cry or groan was seldom or never heard to proceed from any of them. Those that dy’d under the ceremony were buried with garlands on their heads, in token of joy or victory, and had the honour of a publick funeral.