Die is possessed of old walls,
and has four gates with towers. The great goddess from whose worship it
derives its name was Cybele, notwithstanding the vehement assertions of
the official in the Poste-bureau in favour of Ceres; and three different
Tauroboles have been discovered here, one of which is in excellent
repair, and shows a Roman inscription surmounted by three bulls' heads.
The ceremony of the Taurobolium was new to me, and appears to have been
conducted as follows:--A small cave was hollowed out, with a thin roof
formed by the outer surface of the earth; and immediately above this a
bull was sacrificed, so that the blood ran through the earth and dropped
on to a priest who was placed in full robes in the cave. The priest and
the blood-stained garments were thenceforth specially sacred, the
garments retaining their sanctity for twenty years. The inscription on
the Tauroboles which have been found in and near Die record the names
of the priest, the dendrophore, the person who provided the victim, and
the emperor for whose safety the sacrifice was offered.
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