Note 1 — III.—DAYS AND SEASONS.

Dion Cassius, who wrote in the third century of our era, gives the explanation of the nature of the Egyptian week, and of the method in which the arrangement was derived from their system of astronomy. It is a noteworthy point that neither the Greeks nor Romans in his time used the week, which was a period of strictly Oriental origin. The Romans only adopted the week in the time of Theodosius, toward the close of the fourth century, and the Greeks divided the months into periods of ten days [as the Chinese do also]; so that, for the origin of the arrangement connecting the days of the week with the planets, we must look to the source indicated by Dion Cassius. It is a curious illustration of the way in which traditions are handed down, not only from generation to generation, but from nation to nation, that the Latin and Western nations, receiving the week along with the doctrines of Christianity, should nevertheless have adopted the nomenclature in use among astrologers.—Contemporary Review. ↑