1. Ammianus (1. xiv. c. 6) imputes the first practice of
castration to the cruel ingenuity of Semiramis, who is
supposed to have reigned above nine-teen hundred years
before Christ. The use of eunuchs is of high antiquity, both
in Asia and Egypt. They are mentioned in the law of Moses,
Deuteron. xxiii. 1. See Goguet, Origines des Loix, etc.,
Part i. 1. i. c. 3.