Add to this the official proclaimers to the public, the readers in synagogues, the priests and levites in the temple in Jerusalem, the priests of the imperial court at Rome, the public announcements of ambassadors or (gospel) proclaimers, and the attendants outside the synagogues and temples throughout the Roman world who announced the feats of the gods.

It is a form of patronage, one might also note, that does not come naturally to those socialized by strict sectarian social ethics (priest, Levite, Samaritan) that drew clear, cultural boundaries to what constitutes "honorable" activity.

In the Old Testament there were two priesthoods, the more general one including all the Jews, and the more special one including only the Levite priests, who looked after the temple and the synagogues.