The Good Book (49 page)

36. Crossing the Tanais they journeyed eastward a distance of three days' march from that stream, and again northward a distance of three days' march from the Palus Maeotis.

37. Here they came to the country where they now live, and took up their abode in it.

38. The women of the Sauromatae have continued from that day to the present to observe their ancient customs,

39. Frequently hunting on horseback with their husbands, sometimes even unaccompanied; in war taking the field; and wearing the same dress as the men.

40. The Sauromatae speak the language of Scythia, but have never talked it correctly, because the Amazons learnt it imperfectly at the first.

41. Their marriage law lays it down that no girl shall wed till she has killed a man in battle.

42. Sometimes it happens that a woman dies unmarried at an advanced age, having never been able in her whole lifetime to fulfil the condition.

 

 

Chapter 43

  1. The envoys of the Scythians, in the assembly of the kings of the neighbouring nations, told them that the mighty Persian king,

  2. After subduing the whole of the Asian continent, had built a bridge over the strait of the Bosphorus, and crossed into Europe,

  3. Where he had reduced the Thracians, and was now making a bridge over the Ister, with the aim of bringing under his sway all the rest of Europe also.

  4. ‘Do not stand aloof from the great struggle now pending,' they said, ‘but make common cause with us, and together let us meet the enemy.

  5. ‘If you refuse, we must yield to the pressure, and either quit our country or make terms with the invaders. For what else would be left for us to do, if we are without your aid?

  6. ‘The blow will not light on you more gently if you do not resist. The Persian comes against you no less than against us:

  7. ‘And will not be content, after we are conquered, to leave you in peace. We can bring strong proof of what we here advance.

  8. ‘Had the Persian leader indeed come to avenge the wrongs which he suffered at our hands when we enslaved some of his people, and to war on us only,

  9. ‘He would have been bound to march straight upon Scythia, without molesting any nation by the way. Then it would have been plain to all that Scythia alone was aimed at.

10. ‘But what has his conduct been? From the moment of his entrance into Europe, he has subjugated without exception every nation that lay in his path.

11. ‘All the tribes of the Thracians have been brought under his sway, and among them even our next neighbours, the Getae.'

12. The assembled princes, after hearing the Scythians, deliberated. At the end opinion was divided: the kings of the Geloni, Budini and Sauromatae were of accord, and pledged assistance to the Scythians;

13. But the Agathyrsian and Neurian princes, together with the sovereigns of the Androphagi, the Melanchaeni and the Tauri, replied as follows:

14. ‘If you had not been the first to wrong the Persians, and begin the war, we should have thought the request you make just; we should then have complied with your wishes, and joined our arms with yours.

15. ‘Now, however, the case stands thus: you, independently of us, invaded the land of the Persians, and so long as you could, lorded it over them:

16. ‘Now that they have power, they are come to do to you the like.

17. ‘We, on our part, did no wrong to these men in the former war, and will not be the first to commit wrong now.

18. ‘If they invade our land, and begin aggressions upon us, we will not suffer them; but, till we see this come to pass, we will remain at home.

19. ‘For we believe that the Persians are not come to attack us, but to punish those who are guilty of first injuring them.'

20. On hearing this reply the Scythians resolved that they would not openly venture any pitched battles with the Persians,

21. But would retire before them, driving off their herds, choking up all the wells and springs as they retreated, and leaving the whole country bare of forage.

22. They divided themselves into three bands, one of which, commanded by Scopasis, was joined by the Sauromatae,

23. And if the Persians advanced in the direction of the Tanais, they planned to retreat along the shores of the Palus Maeotis and make for that river; while if the Persians retired, they should at once pursue and harass them.

24. The two other divisions, the principal one under the command of Idanthyrsus, and the third, of which Taxacis was king, were to unite in one,

25. And joined by the detachments of the Geloni and Budini, were similarly to keep a distance of one day's march from the Persians, falling back as they advanced, and doing the same as the others.

26. And first, they were to take the direction of the nations which had refused to join the alliance, and were to draw the war upon them:

27. So that, if they would not of their own free will engage in the struggle, they would by these means be drawn into it.

28. Afterwards, it was agreed that they should retire into their own land, and, should it on deliberation appear to them expedient, join battle with the enemy.

29. When these measures had been decided, the Scythians went out to meet the army of Darius, sending out in front the fleetest of their horsemen as scouts.

30. Their waggons with their women and children, and all their cattle, were made to precede them in their retreat, and departed, with orders to keep marching, without change of course, to the north.

 

Chapter 44

  1. The scouts of the Scythians found the Persian host three days' march from the Ister,

  2. And immediately took the lead of them at the distance of a day's march, encamping from time to time, and destroying all that grew on the ground.

  3. The Persians no sooner caught sight of the Scythian horse than they pursued them, while the enemy retired before them.

  4. The pursuit of the Persians was directed towards the single div­­ision of the Scythian army, and thus their line of march was eastward towards the Tanais.

  5. The Scythians crossed that river and the Persians pursued them. In this way they passed through the country of the Sauromatae, and entered that of the Budini.  

  6. As long as the march of the Persian army lay through the countries of the Scythians and Sauromatae, there was nothing they could damage, the land being waste and barren;

  7. But on entering the territories of the Budini, they came upon a wooden fortress, which was deserted by its inhabitants.

  8. The Persians burned it down, then pressed on after the retreating Scythians, till, having traversed the entire country of the Budini, they reached the desert, which extends a distance of seven days' journey above the Budinian territory.

  9. When Darius reached the desert he paused, halting his army upon the Oarus. Here he built eight large forts, at an equal distance from one another, sixty furlongs apart.

10. While he was thus occupied, the Scythians he had been following made a circuit by the higher regions, and re-entered Scythia.

11. On their complete disappearance, Darius left his forts half finished, and returned towards the west.

12. He imagined that the Scythians he had seen were the entire nation, and that they had fled in that direction.

13. He now quickened his march, and entering Scythia, fell in with the two combined divisions of the Scythian army, and instantly gave them chase.

14. They kept to their plan of retreating before him at the distance of a day's march;

15. And they led his hot pursuit of them into the territories of the nations that had refused to become their allies, first into the country of the Melanchaeni.

16. Great disturbance was caused among this people by the invasion first of the Scythians and then of the Persians.

17. So, having harassed them after this sort, the Scythians led the way into the land of the Androphagi, with the same result as before;

18. And thence passed onwards into Neuris, where their coming likewise spread dismay among the inhabitants.

19. Still retreating they approached the Agathyrsi; but this people, which had witnessed the flight and terror of their neighbours, did not wait for the Scythians to invade them,

20. But sent a herald to forbid them to cross their borders, and to forewarn them that, if they made the attempt, it would be resisted by force of arms.

21. The Agathyrsi then proceeded to the frontier, to defend their country against the invaders.

22. As for the other nations, the Melanchaeni, the Androphagi, and the Neuri, instead of defending themselves, when the Scythians and Persians overran their lands, they forgot their threats and fled away in confusion to the deserts lying towards the north.

23. The Scythians, when the Agathyrsi forbade them to enter their country, refrained; and led the Persians back from the Neurian district into their own land.

24. This had gone on so long, and seemed so interminable, that Darius at last sent a horseman to Idanthyrsus, the Scythian king, with the following message:

25. ‘You strange man, why do you keep flying before me, when there are two things you might do so easily?

26. ‘If you think you can resist my arms, cease your wanderings and come, let us engage in battle.

27. ‘Or if you are conscious that my strength is greater than yours, even so you should stop running away;

28. ‘You have but to recognise me as lord by bringing me earth and water, and come at once to a conference.'

29. To this message Idanthyrsus, the Scythian king, replied, ‘This is my way, Persian. I never fear men or fly from them.

30. ‘I have not done so in times past, nor do I now fly from you. There is nothing new or strange in what I do; I only follow my common mode of life in peaceful years.

31. ‘Now I will tell you why I do not at once join battle with you. We Scythians have neither towns nor cultivated lands, which might induce us, through fear of their being taken or ravaged, to be in any hurry to fight with you.

32. ‘If, however, you must needs come to blows with us speedily, look you now, there are our fathers' tombs; seek them out, and attempt to meddle with them; then you shall see whether or no we will fight with you.

33. ‘Till you do this, we shall not join battle, unless it pleases us. As for lords, I acknowledge only myself.

34. ‘Earth and water, the tribute you demand, I do not send, but you will soon receive more suitable gifts.

35. ‘Last of all, in return for your trying to call yourself my lord, I say to you, “Go weep.”'

 

Chapter 45

  1. When the Scythian kings heard the name of slavery they were filled with rage,

  2. And dispatched the division under Scopasis to which the Sauromatae were joined,

  3. With orders that they should seek a conference with the Ionians, who had been left at the Ister to guard the bridge.

  4. Meanwhile the Scythians who remained behind resolved no longer to lead the Persians hither and thither about their country,

  5. But to fall upon them whenever they should be at their meals.

  6. So they waited till such times, and then did as they had determined.

  7. In these combats the Scythian horse always put to flight the horse of the Persians;

  8. These last, however, when routed, fell back upon their infantry, who never failed to afford them support;

  9. While the Scythians, on their side, as soon as they had driven the horse in, retired again, for fear of the Persian infantry.

10. By night too the Scythians made many similar attacks.

11. A strange thing that greatly advantaged the Persians, and equally disadvantaged the Scythians in their assaults, was the braying of the asses and the appearance of the mules.

12. For the land of the Scythians produced neither ass nor mule, by reason of the cold.

13. So, when the asses brayed, they frightened the Scythian cavalry; and often, in the middle of a charge, the horses would take fright at the noise made by the asses and wheel round, pricking up their ears, and showing astonishment.

14. And thus for a time a stalemate ensued, except that the Persian host suffered attrition, being in a foreign land whose rulers had made waste before them.

15. And little by little the Persians grew worried at their vulnerable position, with dwindling supplies;

16. And they began to take counsel with themselves what they should do.

 

Chapter 46

  1. The Scythians, when they perceived signs that the Persians were becoming alarmed, took steps to induce them not to quit Scythia,

  2. In the hope, if they stayed, of inflicting on them the greater injury, when their supplies should altogether fail.

  3. To effect this, they would leave some of their cattle exposed with the herdsmen, while they themselves moved away to a distance.