PĂRĂSĪTI

( παράσιτοι ) properly denotes persons who dine with others. In the early history of Greece the name had a very different meaning, being given to distinguished persons, who were appointed as a istants to certain priests and to the highest magistrates. Their services appear to have been rewarded with a third of the victims sacrificed to their respective gods. Such officers existed down to a late period of Greek history. Solon in his legislation called the act of giving public meals to certain magistrates and foreign amba adors in the prytaneum παρασιτεῖν , and it may be that the parasites were connected with this institution. The cla of persons whom we call parasites was very numerous in ancient Greece, and appears to have existed from early times. The characteristic features common to all parasites are importunity, love of sensual pleasures, and above all the desire of getting a good dinner without paying for it. During the time of the Roman emperors a parasite seems to have been a constant guest at the tables of the wealthy.