name is Artescos, which flows through the land of the Odrysians. Having
come to this river he did as follows:—he appointed a place for his
army and bade every man as he passed out by it place one stone in this
appointed place: and when the army had performed this, then he marched
away his army leaving behind great mounds of these stones.
93. But before he came to the Ister he conquered first the Getai, who
believe in immortality: for the Thracians who occupy Salmydessos and
are settled above the cities of Apollonian and Mesambria, called the
Kyrmianai 90 and the Nipsaioi, delivered themselves over to Dareios
without fighting; but the Getai, who are the bravest and the most
upright in their dealings of all the Thracians, having betaken
themselves to obstinacy were forthwith subdued.
94. And their belief in immortality is of this kind, that is to say,
they hold that they do not die, but that he who is killed goes to
Salmoxis, 91 a divinity, 92 whom some of them call Gebeleizis; and at
intervals of four years 93 they send one of themselves, whomsoever
the lot may select, as a messenger to Salmoxis, charging him with
such requests as they have to make on each occasion; and they send him
thus:—certain of them who are appointed for this have three javelins,
and others meanwhile take hold on both sides of him who is being sent to
Salmoxis, both by his hands and his feet, and first they swing him up,
then throw him into the air so as to fall upon the spear-points: and
if when he is pierced through he is killed, they think that the god is
favourable to them; but if he is not killed, they find fault with the
messenger himself, calling him a worthless man, and then having
found fault with him they send another: and they give him the charge
beforehand, while he is yet alive. These same Thracians also shoot
arrows up towards the sky when thunder and lightning come, and use
threats to the god, not believing that there exists any other god except
their own.
95. This Salmoxis I hear from the Hellenes who dwell about the
Hellespont and the Pontus, was a man, and he became a slave in Samos,
and was in fact a slave of Pythagoras the son of Mnesarchos. Then having
become free he gained great wealth, and afterwards returned to his
own land: and as the Thracians both live hardly and are rather
simple-minded, this Salmoxis, being acquainted with the Ionian way of
living and with manners more cultivated 94 than the Thracians were used
to see, since he had associated with Hellenes (and not only that but
with Pythagoras, not the least able philosopher 95 of the Hellenes),
prepared a banqueting-hall, 96 where he received and feasted the chief
men of the tribe and instructed them meanwhile that neither he himself
nor his guests nor their descendants in succession after them would die;
but that they would come to a place where they would live for ever and
have all things good. While he was doing that which has been mentioned
and was saying these things, he was making for himself meanwhile
a chamber under the ground; and when his chamber was finished, he
disappeared from among the Thracians and went down into the underground
chamber, where he continued to live for three years: and they grieved
for his loss and mourned for him as dead. Then in the fourth year he
appeared to the Thracians, and in this way the things which Salmoxis
said became credible to them.
96. Thus they say that he did; but as to this matter and the chamber
under ground, I neither disbelieve it nor do I very strongly believe,
but I think that this Salmoxis lived many years before Pythagoras.
However, whether there ever lived a man Salmoxis, or whether he is
simply a native deity of the Getai, let us bid farewell to him now.
97. These, I say, having such manners as I have said, were subdued by
the Persians and accompanied the rest of the army: and when Dareios and
with him the land-army arrived at the Ister, then after all had passed
over, Dareios commanded the Ionians to break up the floating bridge and
to accompany him by land, as well as the rest of the troops which were
in the ships: and when the Ionians were just about to break it up and to
do that which he commanded, Coës the son of Erxander, who was commander
of the Mytilenians, said thus to Dareios, having first inquired whether
he was disposed to listen to an opinion from one who desired to declare
it: "O king, seeing that thou art about to march upon a land where no
cultivated ground will be seen nor any inhabited town, do thou therefore
let this bridge remain where it is, leaving to guard it those same
men who constructed it. Then, if we find the Scythians and fare as we
desire, we have a way of return; and also even if we shall not be able
to find them, at least our way of return is secured: for that we should
be worsted by the Scythians in fight I never feared yet, but rather that
we might not be able to find them, and might suffer some disaster in
wandering about. Perhaps some one will say that in speaking thus I am
speaking for my own advantage, in order that I may remain behind; but in
truth I am bringing forward, O king, the opinion which I found best for
thee, and I myself will accompany thee and not be left behind." With
this opinion Dareios was very greatly pleased and made answer to him in
these words: "Friend from Lesbos, when I have returned safe to my house,
be sure that thou appear before me, in order that I may requite thee
with good deeds for good counsel."
98. Having thus said and having tied sixty knots in a thong, he called
the despots of the Ionians to speak with him and said as follows:
"Men of Ionia, know that I have given up the opinion which I formerly
declared with regard to the bridge; and do ye keep this thong and do
as I shall say:—so soon as ye shall have seen me go forward against the
Scythians, from that time begin, and untie a knot on each day: and if
within this time I am not here, and ye find that the days marked by the
knots have passed by, then sail away to your own lands. Till then, since
our resolve has thus been changed, guard the floating bridge, showing
all diligence to keep it safe and to guard it. And thus acting, ye will
do for me a very acceptable service." Thus said Dareios and hastened on
his march forwards.
99. Now in front of Scythia in the direction towards the sea 97 lies
Thrace; and where a bay is formed in this land, there begins Scythia,
into which the Ister flows out, the mouth of the river being turned
towards the South-East Wind. Beginning at the Ister then I am about to
describe the coast land of the true Scythia, with regard to measurement.
At once from the Ister begins this original land of Scythia, and it
lies towards the midday and the South Wind, extending as far as the city
called Carkinitis. After this the part which lies on the coast of the
same sea still, a country which is mountainous and runs out in the
direction of the Pontus, is occupied by the Tauric race, as far as the
peninsula which is called the "Rugged Chersonese"; and this extends to
the sea which lies towards the East Wind: for two sides of the Scythian
boundaries lie along by the sea, one by the sea on the South, and the
other by that on the East, just as it is with Attica: and in truth the
Tauroi occupy a part of Scythia which has much resemblance to Attica; it
is as if in Attica another race and not the Athenians occupied the hill
region 98 of Sunion, supposing it to project more at the point into
the sea, that region namely which is cut off by a line from Thoricos to
Anaphlystos. Such I say, if we may be allowed to compare small things
such as this with great, is the form of the Tauric land. 99 For him
however who has not sailed along this part of the coast of Attica I will
make it clear by another comparison:—it is as if in Iapygia another race
and not the Iapygians had cut off for themselves and were holding
that extremity of the land which is bounded by a line beginning at the
harbour of Brentesion and running to Taras. And in mentioning these two
similar cases I am suggesting many other things also to which the Tauric
land has resemblance.
100. After the Tauric land immediately come Scythians again, occupying
the parts above the Tauroi and the coasts of the Eastern sea, that is to
say the parts to the West of the Kimmerian Bosphorus and of the Maiotian
lake, as far as the river Tanaïs, which runs into the corner of this
lake. In the upper parts which tend inland Scythia is bounded (as we
know) 100 by the Agathyrsians first, beginning from the Ister, and
then by the Neuroi, afterwards by the Androphagoi, and lastly by the
Melanchlainoi.
101. Scythia then being looked upon as a four-sided figure with two of
its sides bordered by the sea, has its border lines equal to one another
in each direction, that which tends inland and that which runs along
by the sea: for from Ister to the Borysthenes is ten days' journey,
and from the Borysthenes to the Maiotian lake ten days' more; and
the distance inland to the Melanchlainoi, who are settled above the
Scythians, is a journey of twenty days. Now I have reckoned the day's
journey at two hundred furlongs: 101 and by this reckoning the cross
lines of Scythia 102 would be four thousand furlongs in length, and the
perpendiculars which tend inland would be the same number of furlongs.
Such is the size of this land.
102. The Scythians meanwhile having considered with themselves that they
were not able to repel the army of Dareios alone by a pitched battle,
proceeded to send messengers to those who dwelt near them: and already
the kings of these nations had come together and were taking counsel
with one another, since so great an army was marching towards them. Now
those who had come together were the kings of the Tauroi, Agathyrsians,
Neuroi, Androphagoi, Melanchlainoi, Gelonians, Budinoi and Sauromatai.
103. Of these the Tauroi have the following customs:—they sacrifice to
the "Maiden" both ship-wrecked persons and also those Hellenes whom they
can capture by putting out to sea against them; 103 and their manner
of sacrifice is this:—when they have made the first offering from the
victim they strike his head with a club: and some say that they push
the body down from the top of the cliff (for it is upon a cliff that
the temple is placed) and set the head up on a stake; but others, while
agreeing as to the heads, say nevertheless that the body is not pushed
down from the top of the cliff, but buried in the earth. This divinity
to whom they sacrifice, the Tauroi themselves say is Iphigeneia the
daughter of Agamemnon. Whatsoever enemies they have conquered they
treat in this fashion:—each man cuts off a head and bears it away to his
house; then he impales it on a long stake and sets it up above his house
raised to a great height, generally above the chimney; and they say that
these are suspended above as guards to preserve the whole house. This
people has its living by plunder and war.
104. The Agathyrsians are the most luxurious of men and wear gold
ornaments for the most part: also they have promiscuous intercourse with
their women, in order that they may be brethren to one another and being
all nearly related may not feel envy or malice one against another. In
their other customs they have come to resemble the Thracians.
105. The Neuroi practise the Scythian customs: and one generation before
the expedition of Dareios it so befell them that they were forced
to quit their land altogether by reason of serpents: for their land
produced serpents in vast numbers, and they fell upon them in still
larger numbers from the desert country above their borders; until at
last being hard pressed they left their own land and settled among the
Budinoi. These men it would seem are wizards; for it is said of them by
the Scythians and by the Hellenes who are settled in the Scythian land
that once in every year each of the Neuroi becomes a wolf for a few
days and then returns again to his original form. For my part I do not
believe them when they say this, but they say it nevertheless, and swear
it moreover.
106. The Androphagoi have the most savage manners of all human beings,
and they neither acknowledge any rule of right nor observe any customary
law. They are nomads and wear clothing like that of the Scythians, but
have a language of their own; and alone of all these nations they are
man-eaters.
107. The Melanchlainoi wear all of them black clothing, whence also they
have their name; and they practise the customs of the Scythians.
108. The Budinoi are a very great and numerous race, and are all very
blue-eyed and fair of skin: and in their land is built a city of wood,
the name of which is Gelonos, and each side of the wall is thirty
furlongs in length and lofty at the same time, all being of wood; and
the houses are of wood also and the temples; for there are in it temples
of Hellenic gods furnished after Hellenic fashion with sacred images and
altars and cells, 104 all of wood; and they keep festivals every
other year 105 to Dionysos and celebrate the rites of Bacchus: for the
Gelonians are originally Hellenes, and they removed 106 from the trading
stations on the coast and settled among the Budinoi; and they use partly
the Scythian language and partly the Hellenic. The Budinoi however
do not use the same language as the Gelonians, nor is their manner of
living the same:
109, for the Budinoi are natives of the soil and a nomad people, and
alone of the nations in these parts feed on fir-cones; 107 but the
Gelonians are tillers of the ground and feed on corn and have gardens,
and resemble them not at all either in appearance or in complexion of
skin. However by the Hellenes the Budinoi also are called Gelonians,
not being rightly so called. Their land is all thickly overgrown with
forests of all kinds of trees, and in the thickest forest there is a
large and deep lake, and round it marshy ground and reeds. In this
are caught otters and beavers and certainly other wild animals with
square-shaped faces. The fur of these is sewn as a fringe round their
coats of skin, and the testicles are made use of by them for curing
diseases of the womb.
110. About the Sauromatai the following tale is told:—When the Hellenes
had fought with the Amazons,—now the Amazons are called by the Scythians
Oiorpata, 108 which name means in the Hellenic tongue "slayers of men,"
for "man" they call oior, and pata means "to slay,"—then, as the
story goes, the Hellenes, having conquered them in the battle at the
Thermodon, were sailing away and conveying with them in three ships as
many Amazons as they were able to take prisoners. These in the open sea
set upon the men and cast them out of the ships; but they knew nothing
about ships, nor how to use rudders or sails or oars, and after they
had cast out the men they were driven about by wave and wind and came to
that part of the Maiotian lake where Cremnoi stands; now Cremnoi is in
the land of the free Scythians. 109 There the Amazons disembarked from
their ships and made their way into the country, and having met first
with a troop of horses feeding they seized them, and mounted upon these
they plundered the property of the Scythians.
111. The Scythians meanwhile were not able to understand the matter,
for they did not know either their speech or their dress or the race to
which they belonged, but were in wonder as to whence they had come and
thought that they were men, of an age corresponding to their appearance:
and finally they fought a battle against them, and after the battle
the Scythians got possession of the bodies of the dead, and thus
they discovered that they were women. They took counsel therefore and
resolved by no means to go on trying to kill them, but to send against
them the youngest men from among themselves, making conjecture of the
number so as to send just as many men as there were women. These were
told to encamp near them, and do whatsoever they should do; if however
the women should come after them, they were not to fight but to retire
before them, and when the women stopped, they were to approach near and
encamp. This plan was adopted by the Scythians because they desired to
have children born from them.
112. The young men accordingly were sent out and did that which had been
commanded them: and when the Amazons perceived that they had not come
to do them any harm, they let them alone; and the two camps approached
nearer to one another every day: and the young men, like the Amazons,
had nothing except their arms and their horses, and got their living, as
the Amazons did, by hunting and by taking booty.
113. Now the Amazons at midday used to scatter abroad either one by one
or by two together, dispersing to a distance from one another to ease
themselves; and the Scythians also having perceived this did the same
thing: and one of the Scythians came near to one of those Amazons who
were apart by themselves, and she did not repulse him but allowed him
to lie with her: and she could not speak to him, for they did not
understand one another's speech, but she made signs to him with her hand
to come on the following day to the same place and to bring another with
him, signifying to him that there should be two of them, and that she
would bring another with her. The young man therefore, when he returned,
reported this to the others; and on the next day he came himself to the
place and also brought another, and he found the Amazon awaiting him
with another in her company. Then hearing this the rest of the young men
also in their turn tamed for themselves the remainder of the Amazons;
114, and after this they joined their camps and lived together, each man
having for his wife her with whom he had had dealings at first; and the
men were not able to learn the speech of the women, but the women came
to comprehend that of the men. So when they understood one another,
the men spoke to the Amazons as follows: "We have parents and we have
possessions; now therefore let us no longer lead a life of this kind,
but let us go away to the main body of our people and dwell with them;
and we will have you for wives and no others." They however spoke thus
in reply: "We should not be able to live with your women, for we and
they have not the same customs. We shoot with bows and hurl javelins and
ride horses, but the works of women we never learnt; whereas your women
do none of these things which we said, but stay in the waggons and work
at the works of women, neither going out to the chase nor anywhither
else. We therefore should not be able to live in agreement with them:
but if ye desire to keep us for your wives and to be thought honest men,
go to your parents and obtain from them your share of the goods, and
then let us go and dwell by ourselves."
115. The young men agreed and did this; and when they had obtained the
share of the goods which belonged to them and had returned back to the
Amazons, the women spoke to them as follows: "We are possessed by fear
and trembling to think that we must dwell in this place, having not
only separated you from your fathers, but also done great damage to your
land. Since then ye think it right to have us as your wives, do this
together with us,—come and let us remove from this land and pass over
the river Tanaïs and there dwell."
116. The young men agreed to this also, and they crossed over the Tanaïs
and made their way towards the rising sun for three days' journey from
Tanaïs, and also towards the North Wind for three days' journey from
the Maiotian lake: and having arrived at the place where they are now
settled, they took up their abode there: and from thenceforward the
women of the Sauromatai practise their ancient way of living, going out
regularly on horseback to the chase both in company with the men and
apart from them, and going regularly to war, and wearing the same dress
as the men.
117. And the Sauromatai make use of the Scythian tongue, speaking it
barbarously however from the first, since the Amazons did not learn it
thoroughly well. As regards marriages their rule is this, that no maiden
is married until she has slain a man of their enemies; and some of them
even grow old and die before they are married, because they are not able
to fulfil the requirement of the law.
118. To the kings of these nations then, which have been mentioned
in order, the messengers of the Scythians came, finding them gathered
together, and spoke declaring to them how the Persian king, after having
subdued all things to himself in the other continent, had laid a bridge
over the neck of the Bosphorus and had crossed over to that continent,
and having crossed over and subdued the Thracians, was making a bridge
over the river Ister, desiring to bring under his power all these
regions also. "Do ye therefore," they said, "by no means stand aloof and
allow us to be destroyed, but let us become all of one mind and oppose
him who is coming against us. If ye shall not do so, we on our part
shall either be forced by necessity to leave our land, or we shall stay
in it and make a treaty with the invader; for what else can we do if ye
are not willing to help us? and for you after this 110 it will be in
no respect easier; for the Persian has come not at all less against you
than against us, nor will it content him to subdue us and abstain from
you. And of the truth of that which we say we will mention a strong
evidence: if the Persian had been making his expedition against us
alone, because he desired to take vengeance for the former servitude,
he ought to have abstained from all the rest and to have come at once to
invade our land, and he would thus have made it clear to all that he
was marching to fight against the Scythians and not against the rest.
In fact however, ever since he crossed over to this continent, he has
compelled all who came in his way to submit to him, and he holds under
him now not only the other Thracians but also the Getai, who are our
nearest neighbours."
119. When the Scythians proposed this, the kings who had come from the
various nations took counsel together, and their opinions were divided.
The kings of the Gelonians, of the Budinoi and of the Sauromatai agreed
together and accepted the proposal that they should help the Scythians,
but those of the Agathyrsians, Neuroi, Androphagoi, Melanchlainoi and
Tauroi returned answer to the Scythians as follows: "If ye had not been
the first to do wrong to the Persians and to begin war, then we should
have surely thought that ye were speaking justly in asking for those
things for which ye now ask, and we should have yielded to your request
and shared your fortunes. As it is however, ye on the one hand made
invasion without us into their land, and bare rule over the Persians for
so long a time as God permitted you; and they in their turn, since
the same God stirs them up, are repaying you with the like. As for us
however, neither at that time did we do any wrong to these men nor now
shall we attempt to do any wrong to them unprovoked: if however the
Persians shall come against our land also, and do wrong first to us, we
also shall refuse to submit 111: but until we shall see this, we shall
remain by ourselves, for we are of opinion that the Persians have come
not against us, but against those who were the authors of the wrong."