There was an idea, too, that snakes had a knowledge of herbs, which is referred to in the famous poem of Nikander on Theriaka.( 12) You may remember that when Alexander, the famous quack and oracle monger, depicted by Lucian, started out "for revenue," the first thing he did was to provide himself with two of the large, harmless, yellow snakes of Asia Minor.
(12) Lines 31, etc., and Scholia; cf.

W.R.Halliday: Greek Divination, London, 1913, p.

88.
The exact date of the introduction of the cult into Greece is not known, but its great centres were at Epidaurus, Cos, Pergamos and Tricca.

It throve with wonderful rapidity.

Asklepios became one of the most popular of the gods.