Delphi occupies a unique position in Greek history. Tucked away in a mountainous and unpopulated corner of Central Greece, it came to be regarded as the political and religious nerve-centre of the whole Greek world. What distinguished the sanctuary of Apollo here from all the other innumerable shrines of Greece was a spiritual message new to the Greeks – the Apollonian doctrine of self-knowledge and moderation in all things. “Know thyself” was one of the precepts written up in the Temple of Apollo.