17. This German custom, which may be traced from Tacitus to
Gregory of Tours, was at length adopted by the emperors of
Constantinople. From a MS. of the tenth century, Montfaucon
has delineated the representation of a similar ceremony,
which the ignorance of the age had applied to king David.
See Monumens de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. i. Discours
Preliminaire.