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The History of Herodotus: Page 24
Volume One - Book IV
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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:
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"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."
120.
When the Scythians heard this answer reported, they planned not to
fight a pitched battle openly, since these did not join them as
allies, but to retire before the Persians and to drive away their
cattle from before them, choking up with earth the wells and the
springs of water by which they passed and destroying the grass from
off the ground, having parted themselves for this into two bodies; and
they resolved that the Sauromatai should be added to one of their
divisions, namely that over which Scopasis was king, and that these
should move on, if the Persians turned in that direction, straight
towards the river Tanaïs, retreating before him by the shore of the
Maiotian lake; and when the Persian marched back again, they should
come after and pursue him. This was one division of their kingdom,
appointed to go by the way which has been said; and the other two of
the kingdoms, the large one over which Idanthyrsos was king, and the
third of which Taxakis was king, were to join together in one, with
the Gelonians and the Budinoi added to them, and they also were to
retire before the Persians one day's march in front of them, going on
out of their way and doing that which had been planned. First they
were to move on straight for the countries which had refused to give
their alliance, in order that they might involve these also in the
war, and though these had not voluntarily undertaken the war with the
Persians, they were to involve them in it nevertheless against their
will; and after that they were to return to their own land and attack
the enemy, if it should seem good to them in council so to do.
121. Having formed this plan the Scythians went to meet the army of Dareios, sending off the best of their horsemen before them as scouts;
but all[112] the waggons in which their children and their women lived
they sent on, and with them all their cattle (leaving only so much as
was sufficient to supply them with food), and charged them that they
should proceed continually towards the North Wind. These, I say, were
being carried on before: 122, but when the scouts who went in front of
the Scythians discovered the Persians distant about three days' march
from Ister, then the Scythians having discovered them continued to
pitch their camp one day's march in front, destroying utterly that
which grew from the ground: and when the Persians saw that the
horsemen of the Scythians had made their appearance, they came after
them following in their track, while the Scythians continually moved
on. After this, since they had directed their march towards the first
of the divisions, the Persians continued to pursue towards the East
and the river Tanaïs; and when the Scythians crossed over the river
Tanaïs, the Persians crossed over after them and continued still to
pursue, until they had passed quite through the land of the Sauromatai
and had come to that of the Budinoi.
123. Now so long as the Persians
were passing through Scythia and the land of the Sauromatai, they had
nothing to destroy, seeing that the land was bare,[113] but when they
invaded the land of the Budinoi, then they fell in with the wooden
wall, which had been deserted by the Budinoi and left wholly
unoccupied, and this they destroyed by fire. Having done so they
continued to follow on further in the tracks of the enemy, until they
had passed through the whole of this land and had arrived at the
desert. This desert region is occupied by no men, and it lies above
the land of the Budinoi, extending for a seven days' journey; and
above this desert dwell the Thyssagetai, and four large rivers flow
from them through the land of the Maiotians and run into that which is
called the Maiotian lake, their names being as follows,--Lycos, Oaros,
Tanaïs, Syrgis.[114]
124. When therefore Dareios came to the desert
region, he ceased from his course and halted his army upon the river
Oaros. Having so done he began to build eight large fortifications at
equal distances from one another, that is to say about sixty furlongs,
of which the ruins still existed down to my time; and while he was
occupied in this, the Scythians whom he was pursuing came round by the
upper parts and returned back to Scythia. Accordingly, since these had
altogether disappeared and were no longer seen by the Persians at all,
Dareios left those fortifications half finished, and turning back
himself began to go towards the West, supposing that these were the
whole body of the Scythians and that they were flying towards the
West.
125. And marching his army as quickly as possible, when he came
to Scythia he met with the two divisions of the Scythians together,
and having fallen in with these he continued to pursue them, while
they retired out of his way one day's journey in advance: and as Dareios did not cease to come after them, the Scythians according to
the plan which they had made continued to retire before him towards
the land of those who had refused to give their alliance, and first
towards that of the Melanchlainoi; and when Scythians and Persians
both together had invaded and disturbed these, the Scythians led the
way to the country of the Androphagoi; and when these had also been
disturbed, they proceeded to the land of the Neuroi; and while these
too were being disturbed, the Scythians went on retiring before the
enemy to the Agathyrsians. The Agathyrsians however, seeing that their
next neighbours also were flying from the Scythians and had been
disturbed, sent a herald before the Scythians invaded their land and
proclaimed to the Scythians not to set foot upon their confines,
warning them that if they should attempt to invade the country, they
would first have to fight with them. The Agathyrsians then having
given this warning came out in arms to their borders, meaning to drive
off those who were coming upon them; but the Melanchlainoi and
Androphagoi and Neuroi, when the Persians and Scythians together
invaded them, did not betake themselves to brave defence but forgot
their former threat[115] and fled in confusion ever further towards
the North to the desert region. The Scythians however, when the
Agathyrsians had warned them off, did not attempt any more to come to
these, but led the Persians from the country of the Neuroi back to
their own land.
126. Now as this went on for a long time and did not cease, Dareios
sent a horseman to Idanthyrsos king of the Scythians and said as
follows: "Thou most wondrous man, why dost thou fly for ever, when
thou mightest do of these two things one?--if thou thinkest thyself
able to make opposition to my power, stand thou still and cease from
wandering abroad, and fight; but if thou dost acknowledge thyself too
weak, cease then in that case also from thy course, and come to speech
with thy master, bringing to him gifts of earth and water."
127. To
this the king of the Scythians Idanthyrsos made answer thus: "My case,
O Persian, stands thus:--Never yet did I fly because I was afraid,
either before this time from any other man, or now from thee; nor have
I done anything different now from that which I was wont to do also in
time of peace: and as to the cause why I do not fight with thee at
once, this also I will declare to thee. We have neither cities nor
land sown with crops, about which we should fear lest they should be
captured or laid waste, and so join battle more speedily with you; but
if it be necessary by all means to come to this speedily, know that we
have sepulchres in which our fathers are buried; therefore come now,
find out these and attempt to destroy them, and ye shall know then
whether we shall fight with you for the sepulchres or whether we shall
not fight. Before that however, unless the motion comes upon us, we
shall not join battle with thee. About fighting let so much as has
been said suffice; but as to masters, I acknowledge none over me but
Zeus my ancestor and Hestia the queen of the Scythians. To thee then
in place of gifts of earth and water I shall send such things as it is
fitting that thou shouldest receive; and in return for thy saying that
thou art my master, for that I say, woe betide thee."[116] This is the
proverbial "saying of the Scythians."[117]
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