wood through the horses lengthwise, up to the neck, they mount them on the half-wheels; and of these the foremost part of the half-wheels supports the shoulders of the horses, and the hinder part supports the belly near the thighs, but the legs on both sides are suspended in the air: then having put bridles and bits on the horses, they stretch them in front, and fasten them to a stake; they then mount upon a horse each, one of the fifty young men that have been strangled, mounting them in the following manner: when they have driven a straight piece of wood along the spine as far as the neck, but a part of this wood projects from the bottom, they fix it into a hole bored in the other piece of wood that passes through the horse. Having placed such horsemen round the monument, they depart.

73. Thus they bury their kings. But the other Scythians, when they die, their nearest relations carry about among their friends, laid in chariots; and of these each one receives and entertains the attendants, and sets the same things before the dead body, as before the rest. In this manner private persons are carried about for forty days, and then buried. The Scythians, having buried them, purify themselves in the following manner: having wiped and thoroughly washed their heads, they do thus with regard to the body; when they have set up three pieces of wood leaning against each other, they extend around them woollen cloths; and having joined them together as closely as possible, they throw red-hot stones into a vessel placed in the middle of the pieces of wood and the cloths. 74. They have a sort of hemp growing in this country, very like flax, except in thickness and height; in this respect the hemp is far superior: it grows both spontaneously and from cultivation; and from it the Thracians make garments, very like linen, nor would any one who is not well skilled in such matters distinguish whether they are made of flax or hemp, but a person who has never seen this hemp would think the garment was made of flax. 75. When therefore the Scythians have taken some seed of this hemp, they creep under the cloths, and then put the seed on the redhot stones; but this being put on smokes, and produces such a steam, that no Grecian vapour-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported with the vapour, shout aloud; and

See Book I. chap. 202.

this serves them instead of washing, for they never bathe the body in water. Their women, pouring on water, pound on a rough stone pieces of cypress, cedar, and incense-tree; and then this pounded matter, when it is thick, they smear over the whole body and face: and this at the same time gives them an agreeable odour, and when they take off the cataplasm on the following day, they become clean and shining.

76. They studiously avoid the use of foreign customs, not only therefore will they not adopt those of each other, but least of all Grecian usages,2 as the example of Anacharsis, and afterwards of Scylas, sufficiently demonstrated; for, in the first place, Anacharsis, having visited many countries, and having displayed great wisdom during his progress, was returning to the abodes of the Scythians, and sailing through the Hellespont toward Cyzicus, and as he found the Cyzicenians celebrating a festival to the mother of the gods with great magnificence, Anacharsis made a vow to the goddess, that if he should return safe and sound to his own country, he would sacrifice in the same manner as he saw the inhabitants of Cyzicus doing, and would also institute a vigil. Accordingly, when he arrived in Scythia, he returned into the country called Hylæa, it is near the Course of Achilles, and is full of trees of all kinds; to this Anacharsis having retired, performed all the rites to the goddess, holding a timbrel in his hand, and fastening images about his person. But one of the Scythians, having observed him doing this, gave information to the king, Saulius; but he, having come in person, when he saw Anacharsis thus employed, shot at him with an arrow, and killed him. And now if any one speaks about Anacharsis, the Scythians say they do not know him, because he travelled into Greece and adopted foreign customs. However I heard from Timnes, the guardian of Ariapithes, that Anacharsis was paternal uncle to Idanthyrsus, king of the Scythians, and that he was son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes; if, then, Anacharsis was of this family, let him know he was killed by his own brother; for Idanthyrsus was son of Saulius,

2 The simplest method of rendering this obscure passage appears to me to be that suggested by Letronne, as quoted by Baehr, according to which the usual signification of the word "Kiora is retained without any violence to the construction: it is as follows, μή τι γε ὧν ἀλλήλων (ναμαίοισι χρέωνται), Ελληνικοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα.

and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis. 77. However, I have heard another story told by the Peloponnesians, that Anacharsis, being sent abroad by the king of the Scythians, became a disciple of the Grecians; and on his return home he said to the king who sent him abroad, that all the Greeks were employed in acquiring all kinds of knowledge, except the Lacedæmonians, but that they only were able to give and receive a reason with prudence: but this story is told in sport by the Greeks themselves. The man, then, was killed in the manner before mentioned. Thus, therefore, he fared because of foreign customs and intercourse with the Grecians.

78. Many years afterwards, Scylas, son of Ariapithes, met with a similar fate. For Ariapithes, king of the Scythians, had, amongst other children, Scylas; he was born of an Istrian woman, who did not in any way belong to the country: his mother taught him the Grecian language and letters. Afterwards, in course of time, Ariapithes met his death by treachery at the hands of Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi, and Scylas succeeded to the kingdom, and his father's wife, whose name was Opoa; this Opœa was a native, by whom Ariapithes had a son, Oricus. Scylas, though reigning over the Scythians, was by no means pleased with the Scythian mode of life, but was much more inclined to the Grecian manners on account of the education he had received; he, therefore, acted thus. Whenever he led the Scythian army to the city of the Borysthenitæ, (now these Borysthenita say they are Milesians,) as soon as Scylas reached them, he used to leave his army in the suburbs, and, when he himself had gone within the walls, and had closed the gates, having laid aside his Scythian dress, he used to assume the Grecian habit, and in this dress he walked in public, unattended by guards or any one else; and they kept watch at the gates, that no Scythian might see him wearing this dress; and in other respects he adopted the Grecian mode of living, and performed sacrifices to the gods according to the rites of the Grecians. When he had stayed a month or more, he used to depart, resuming the Scythian habit. This he used frequently to do; he also built a palace in the Borysthenes, and married a native woman, to inhabit it. 79. Since, however, it was fated that misfortune should befal him, it happened on this occasion. He was very desirous to be initiated in the mysteries of Bacchus ;

and as he was just about to commence the sacred rites, a very great prodigy occurred. He had in the city of the Borysthenitæ a large and magnificent mansion,3 of which I have just now made mention; round it were placed sphinxes and griffins of white marble; on this the god hurled a bolt, and it was entirely burnt down; Scylas, nevertheless, accomplished his initiation. Now, the Scythians reproach the Grecians on account of their Bacchic ceremonies, for they say it is not reasonable to discover such a god as this, who drives men to madness. When Scylas had been initiated in the Bacchic mysteries, one of the Borysthenitæ carried the information to the Scythians, saying, "You Scythians laugh at us, because we celebrate Bacchic rites, and the god takes possession of us : now this same deity has taken possession of your king, and he celebrates the rites of Bacchus, and is maddened by the god. But if you disbelieve me, follow, and I will show you." The chief men of the Scythians followed him; and the Borysthenite, conducting them in, placed them secretly on a tower: but when Scylas went past with a thyasus, and the Scythians saw him acting the bacchanal, they regarded it as a very great calamity; and having returned, they acquainted all the army with what they had seen. 80. After this, when Scylas returned to his own home, the Scythians, having set up his brother Octamasades, born of the daughter of Tereus, revolted from Scylas. But he, being informed of what was being done against him, and the reason for which it was done, fled to Thrace. Octamasades, being informed of this, marched against Thrace, but when he arrived on the Ister, the Thracians advanced to meet him. As they were about to engage, Sitalces sent to Octamasades, saying as follows: "Why need we try each other's strength? You are the son of my sister, and have with you my brother. Do you restore him to me, and I will deliver up Scylas to you, and so neither you nor I shall expose our army to peril.” Sitalces sent this message to him by a herald; for there was with Octamasades a brother of Sitalces, who had fled from the latter. Octamasades acceded to this proposal; and having surrendered his maternal uncle to Sitalces, received his brother Scylas in exchange. Now Sitalces, having got his brother in his power, drew off

3

Literally a circumference of a large and magnificent mansion."

his forces; but Octamasades beheaded Scylas on the same spot. Thus the Scythians maintain their own customs, and impose such punishments on those who introduce foreign usages.

81. I have never been able to learn with accuracy the amount of the population of the Scythians, but I heard different accounts concerning the number; for some pretend that they are exceedingly numerous, and others that there are very few real Scythians: thus much however they exposed to my sight. There is a spot between the river Borysthenes and the Hypanis, called Exampæus, which I mentioned a little before, saying that there was in it a fountain of bitter water, from which the water flowing made the Hypanis unfit to be drunk. In this spot lies a brass cauldron, in size six times as large as the bowl at the mouth of the Pontus, which Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, dedicated. For the benefit of any one who has never seen this, I will here describe it: the brass cauldron amongst the Scythians easily contains six hundred amphoræ ; and this Scythian vessel is six fingers in thickness. Now, the inhabitants say it was made from the points of arrows, for that their king, whose name was Ariantas, wishing to know the population of the Scythians, commanded all the Scythians to bring him each severally one point of an arrow, and he threatened death on whosoever should fail to bring it. Accordingly a vast number of arrow points were brought, and he resolved to leave a monument made from them; he therefore made this brass bowl, and dedicated it at Exampæus. This I heard concerning the population of the Scythians. 82. Their country has nothing wonderful, except the rivers, which are very large and very many in number; but what it affords also worthy of admiration, besides the rivers and the extent of the plains, shall be mentioned: they show the print of the foot of Hercules upon a rock; it resembles the footstep of a man, is two cubits in length, near the river Tyras. Such, then, is this; but I will now return to the subject I at first set out to relate.

83. Whilst Darius was making preparations against the Scythians, and sending messengers to command some to contribute land forces, and others a fleet, and others to bridge over the Thracian Bosphorus; Artabanus, the son of Hystaspes, and brother of Darius, entreated him on no account to make an expedition against the Scythians, representing the poverty 4 See chap. 52.