The customs which I know the Persians to observe are the following: They have no images of the gods, no temples, no altars, and they consider the use of such things a sign of sillyness. I think this is because they do not believe the gods have the same nature as men, as the Greeks imagine. The Persians ascend the peaks of the highest mountains, and there they offer a sacrifice to Jupiter, which is the name they give to the whole circuit of the firmament.
The Persian Route into Greece
Thermopylae .........