While common to the caste-like system of Persia, prostration was something the freedom-loving Greeks scorned.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: 'The bow': Obama��s abominable obeisance

They represent acts of faith in the recreation of political community in the Arab world, not prostration before perverted dogma.

BBC: A Point of View: Past, present and future

What Mr Brown needs is to find a tone between adamantine denial and abject prostration, one that bolsters his authority rather than forfeiting it.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot