Herodotus Tweets - Book 4

4.205 Pheretime died badly, contracting a disease that made her body swarm with worms. Thus the gods punished her undue vengeance on Barca.

4.204 The Persians gave the Barcaeans they'd enslaved to the king, who settled them in a village in Bactria. They called the place Barca.

4.203 The Persians, after hemming and hawing about taking Cyrene too (they didn't), then returned to Egypt.

4.202 The guilty were given to Pheretime, who impaled the men around the walls. As for the women, she cut off their breasts & hung them up.

4.201 Finally the Persians took Barca by stratagem: they tricked the Barcaeans into making a treaty & opening the gates, then they attacked.

4.200 So Aryandes sent an army to Libya at Pheretime's request, and they laid siege to Barca unsuccessfully for nine months.

4.199 In Cyrene there are three growing seasons, so that the harvest lasts in all eight months. But enough about Libya. Back to the story.

4.198 Libyan land is not very productive compared to Asia and Europe, except for an area called Cinyps, which is watered by springs.

4.197 Those are the Libyans I can name. Four races inhabit the land: the Libyans & Ethiopians are indigenous; the Greeks & Persians are not.

4.196 Beyond the pillars of Hercules is a place where Carthiginians trade w/locals, gold for goods. They do it w/o talking to one another.

4.195 Off their coast there is a narrow island and on it a lake. Girls there smear feathers with pitch & bring up gold dust out of the mud.

4.194 Next to them are the Gyzantes. They keep bees but also make artificial honey. They smear themselves with vermillion and eat monkeys.

4.193 Next to the Maxyes (who live west of the Triton River) are the Zaueces. Their women drive chariots into battle.

4.192 Different animals live in the nomads' country, including donkeys that never drink, foxes, weasels, and three different kinds of mice.

4.191 West of the Triton River live the Libyans who cultivate. There are a lot of wild beasts in this area, e.g., lions, elephants, & bears.

4.190 Most of the nomads bury their dead like the Greeks do, but the Nasamones bury them sitting up: they don't let ppl die on their backs.

4.189 The Greeks adopted the garments and aegis of Athena from the Libyans, from whom they also learned how to yoke four horses together.

4.188 The nomadic Libyans begin sacrifices by throwing animal’s ear over the house. All Libyans sacrifice to the sun & moon; some to Athena.

4.187 To the west of the lake, the Libyans are not nomads. BTW, the nomadic Libyans cauterize their kids' heads when they're four years old.

4.186 So, between Egypt and Lake Triton live carnivorous (but not cow- or pig-eating), milk-drinking nomads.

4.185 Beyond the Atlantes there are further springs at 10-day intervals, but I don't know names. The people's houses are made of salt.

4.184 10 days beyond them are the Atarantes, who don't have individual names. Beyond that are the Atlantes, who don't dream or eat meat.

4.183 10 days beyond are the Garamantes, whose oxen graze backwards. They hunt the cave-dwelling Ethiopians, the fastest runners of all men.

4.182 Ten days' journey beyond the Ammonians there is the spring called Augila.

4.181 The above live near the coast. Inland there are springs at 10-day intervals around which ppl live. The 1st of these are the Ammonians.

4.180 The Auseans live on the other side of the Triton River. They don't live as couples but share their women in common.

4.179 They say that Jason & the Argonauts were driven to Lake Triton by winds. They were stuck there until they gave Triton a bronze tripod.

4.178 The Machlyes eat lotuses too, but not as much as the Lotus-eaters. The Triton River borders their land and issues into Lake Tritonis.

4.177 The Lotus-eaters live on a cape that projects from the land of the Gindanes. They really like eating lotus fruit.

4.176 The women of the Gindanes wear leather anklets, one for each man she's had sex with. The one with the most anklets is considered best.

4.175 The Macae have mohawks.

4.174 Inland of these are the Garamantes, who avoid social interaction and don’t practice warfare.

4.173 Near the Nasamones were the Psylli, who were buried in a sandstorm. The Nasamones took over their land.

4.172 The Nasamones eat locusts and share their women in common. On a bride's wedding night she sleeps with all the men at the feast.

4.171 To the west again are the Auschisae, who live near Barca. The Bacales live within their territory.

4.170 To the west of the Giligamae are the Asbystae, who use four-horse chariots a lot.

4.169 The Giligamae come next. They inhabit the land the Cyrenaeans colonized.

4.168 Now I'll tell you about those who inhabit Libya. The king of the Adyrmachidae have the right of prima nocte. They dwell nearest Egypt.

4.167 Aryandes sent an expedition against Barca under Amasis. Supposedly this was for Pheretime, but I think he wanted to conquer Libya.

4.166 This Aryandes would later be executed by King Darius of Persia on suspicion of rebellion.

4.165 When she heard her son was dead, Pheretime fled to Egypt and begged Aryandes, the Persian governor there, to avenge her.

4.164 Arc. regained power in Cyrene. He burned his enemies in a tower (oven) & went to see Alazir (bull) in (sea-girt) Barca: both killed.

4.163 The oracle told Arc.: if you find an oven full of pots, don't bake it; if you do, avoid the sea-girt land or you & the bull will die.

4.162 Arcesilaus III wound up having to flee to Samos. His mother, Pheretime, fled to Salamis on Cyprus & tried in vain to get an army.

4.161 Under Battus III ('the Lame') Cyrene underwent democratic reforms.

4.160 The brothers of Arcesilaus II founded nearby Barca. Arcesilaus II's brother Haliarchus killed him and was killed by A's wife in turn.

4.159 Battus ruled Cyrene for 40 years & his son Arcesilaus for 16. Under Battus II the population increased. Egypt attacked & was defeated.

4.158 They lived in Aziris for six years. In the seventh year, they moved to a rainier part of Libya and founded Cyrene.

4.157 Later they asked Delphi why things were still bad. Answer: they hadn't been to Libya yet! They moved from Platea to Aziris in Libya.

4.156 When the Theraeans later consulted the oracle, it bid them help B. colonize Libya. They wound up sending him and a colony to Platea.

4.155 She later had a son, Battus, whom the Delphic oracle told to colonize Libya. Not having the resources to do so, B. ignored the oracle.

4.154 The Cyrenaeans say King Etearchus, thinking his daughter was a wanton, bid Themison drown her. Themison instead took her to Thera.

4.153 Back in Thera, the Theraeans got together a group of colonists and shipped them off to Platea.

4.152 Corobius ran out of provisions, but Samians stopped there en route to Egypt and left him with enough food for a year.

4.151 7 years later the oracle again told the Theraeans to colonize Libya. They went to Africa & left a man, Corobius, on the island Platea.

4.150 The Theraeans say the Delphic oracle bid Grinnus to found a city in Libya; he suggested a young man like Battus do it instead.

4.149 Theras’ grandson Aegeus was the founder of a Spartan tribe whose kids kept dying until they built a temple to Laius and Oedipus.

4.148 Some of the Minyae went off w/Theras. (The rest established themselves in the NW Peloponnese, driving out the previous populations.)

4.147 About this time the Lacedaemonians were sending a colony out to Thera (formerly Calliste) under Theras.

4.146 But when the Minyae became insolent, the Lacedaemonians decided to kill them. The Minyae escaped from jail, however, dressed as women.

4.145 There was another expedition...but I'll get to it later. The Minyae, descendants of the Argonauts, settled among the Lacedaemonians.

4.144 Megabazus subjugated all the people in the Hellespont who did not voluntarily medize [i.e., side with the Persians].

4.143 Darius crossed the Hellespont back into Asia, leaving Megabazus behind as his general in Europe.

4.142 So the Persians escaped. The Scythians thought the Ionians unmanly (if one thought of them as free men) or very loyal (if as slaves).

4.141 An Egyptian in the army with the loudest voice in the world called out to Histiaeus, who brought the ships back to re-form the bridge.

4.140 The Scythians believed them & rode off, but couldn't find Darius. The Persians got to the Ister, didn't see the bridge, & were scared.

4.139 They told the Scythians they would dismantle the bridge (but in fact they only dismantled half the bridge and waited).

4.138 The Ionian leaders sided with Histiaeus and decided to stay and hold the bridge.

4.137 The Ionians talked. The Athenian tyrant of the Chersonese, Miltiades, wanted to leave/free Ionia. Histiaeus of Miletus wanted to stay.

4.136 In the A.M. those left behind surrendered to the S., who beat Darius to the Ister and told the Ionians, who'd stayed > 60 days, to go.

4.135 Darius left the weak behind, saying he was going to attack the enemy & they should guard the camp, & he hightailed it to the Ister.

4.134 Darius soon realized Gobryas was right about the gifts. They decided to withdraw at night, leaving some of their own soldiers behind.

4.133 The Scythians who'd gone to see the Ionians said they should do as Darius bid them and go home after 60 days. The Ionians agreed.

4.132 D. thought the S. were surrendering. Gobryas thought it meant they'd be shot if they didn't fly away or go underground or under water.

4.131 Now the Scythians sent Darius gifts: a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows. The messenger didn't tell Darius what the gifts meant.

4.130 The Scythians sometimes left animals behind for the Persians to find. They wanted Darius to stay longer and so be in greater danger.

4.129 There are no asses or mules in Scythia, so the sound of the Persians' animals confused the Scythians' horses when they attacked.

4.128 Some Scythians went to talk to the Ionians at the bridge. The rest started attacking the Persians when they were gathering provisions.

4.127 Idanthyrsus said he wasn't fleeing: he was just being a nomad. He wouldn't give earth and water but he would send something more apt.

4.126 Darius sent a message to the Scythian king, Idanthyrsus: stop running away and fight or give gifts of earth & water [i.e., submit]!

4.125 Darius turned west and met up w/the Scythians, who again retreated, leading the Persians into the land of those who'd refused to help.

4.124 Darius stopped there to build forts. Meanwhile the Scythians he'd been following disappeared: in fact they'd looped around behind him.

4.123 The Persians couldn't find much to destroy, but they did burn the town of the Budini. Beyond the Budini there is a desert.

4.122 The Scythian cavalry found the Persians & stayed a day's march ahead of them. The Persians pursued them through Sauromatian territory.

4.121 They sent an advance cavalry guard to meet the Persians, and they sent their women and children away, together with their livestock.

4.120 The Scythians decided to divide their forces in two and withdraw before the Persians, destroying the grass and water as they went.

4.119 Only three agreed to help, the kings of the Geloni, Budini, and Sauromatians. The rest demurred, saying the Scythians had started it.

4.118 So these kings were meeting, and Scythian messengers came & asked for help against Darius, since they too would be in his crosshairs.

4.117 Among the Sauromatians the rule is that a woman can't marry until she has killed a male enemy. Some of them fail to and remain single.

4.116 They crossed the river and settled a ways off, and the women of these people--now called Sauromatians--still practice their old ways.

4.115 When the Scythians returned, having fetched their stuff, the Amazons suggested they all move to the other side of the Tanaïs River.

4.114 The men wanted to bring the Amazons home w/them but the girls didn't want to live as housewives. Instead, the men agreed to join them.

4.113 One day when the Amazons were scattered to relieve themselves, a Scythian and an Amazon had sex, which led to more of them coupling.

4.112 Gradually the Scythian males and the Amazons camped closer and closer together.

4.111 The Scythians fought them until they found out they were women. Then they sent men out to camp near them, hoping to mate w/them.

4.110 There's a story that the Greeks conquered the Amazons, but at sea the women killed the Greeks, then came to Scythia and ravaged it.

4.109 The Budini are native to the land and eat lice. The Geloni don't look like them. They farm and eat grain.

4.108 The Budini have red hair and blue eyes. The Geloni live among them but they are not the same people. The Geloni were originally Greek.

4.107 The Black Cloaks wear all black.

4.106 The Maneaters are savage, lawless nomads who eat people.

4.105 The Neuri had to relocate bc their old country was infested w/snakes. Once a year one of the Neuri turns into a wolf for a few days.

4.104 The Agathyrsi wear lots of gold and share their women. Since they're all having sex with the same women, they're all related.

4.103 Among those meeting was the king of the Taurians, who kill Greeks and shipwrecked people and stick their heads on poles.

4.102 In response to Darius' invasion the Scythians decided to send messengers to their neighbors, whose kings were in fact already meeting.

4.101 Scythia is a square, each of its sides measuring 440 miles.

4.100 The Scythians also inhabit the area north of Lake Maeotis [the Sea of Azov] to the Tanaïs River, which empties into the lake.

4.99 The Scythians live along the Black Sea from the Ister to the Crimean Peninsula, which, however, is inhabited by the Taurians.

4.98 He ordered the Ionians to guard the bridge for 60 days--he gave them a knotted strap to count the days--after which they could go home.

4.97 Darius got to the Ister & crossed w/his army. He was going to have the bridge dismantled but was persuaded to leave it be, under guard.

4.96 I'm on the fence as to the veracity of the underground bunker story.

4.95 As a man Salmoxis claimed he wouldn’t die. This seemed credible when he rose from the dead. (He'd hidden underground for 3 years.)

4.94 Every 5 yrs the Getae send a messenger to their god, Salmoxis (who they think is the only god). They send him by killing him w/spears.

4.93 Darius subjugated the Getae on his way to the Ister. They're the most law-abiding of all Thracians.

4.92 He marched to the Artescus River and had each man in the army place a stone in a certain spot, so they left behind a big pile of rocks.

4.91 Darius erected a pillar at the river saying what a great river it was & what a great man he was.

4.90 The Tearus River has healing properties and is an especially effective cure for scabies.

4.89 Darius now crossed the Hellespont. He'd already sent the Ionians ahead to bridge the Ister. Now he marched north as far as the Tearus.

4.88 Darius also gave a big reward to Mandrocles, the architect of the bridge over the Bosporus.

4.87 Back at the bridge, Darius set up two pillars listing the nations participating in the campaign. There were 700,000 men & 600 ships.

4.86 The Black Sea, I estimate, is 1220 miles long by 363 miles wide. Lake Maeotis, which is also pretty big, flows into the Black Sea.

4.85 Darius marched from Susa to the bridge that had been built across the Bosporus. He also sailed off to take a look at the Black Sea.

4.84 A Persian, Oeobazus, asked Darius if one of his sons could stay home. To O's delight, D. said they all could. Then he had them killed.

4.83 While Darius was preparing his campaign against Scythia, his brother Artabanus tried to talk him out of it, to no avail.

4.82 Scythia doesn't boast much that's noteworthy, but there was one thing: I saw Heracles' footprint impressed in rock. It's 3 ft. long.

4.81 I heard a number of different accounts but haven't been able to find out with any accuracy how many Scythians there are.

4.80 The Scythians rebelled against him and made his brother Octamasades king. Scyles fled, but Octamasades caught him and beheaded him.

4.79 Undeterred by a bad omen, Scyles got himself initiated into the rites of Dionysus. Some Scythian nobles found out and told everybody.

4.78 Years later there was a Scythian king named Scyles who would ditch his men and act like a Greek every time he went to Borysthenes.

4.77 The Peloponnesians say Anacharsis told his king that the Spartans were the only Greeks you could have a decent convo with. (A joke?)

4.76 The Scythians eschew foreign customs. E.g., Anacharsis went to Greece and was killed when back in Scythia for performing a Greek rite.

4.75 The Scythians put cannabis seeds on hot rocks and take steam baths, during which they howl with delight. They don't bathe with water.

4.74 Cannabis grows in Scythia, both wild and cultivated. The Thracians make clothes out of it that look just like linen.

4.73 When regular ppl die their families carry them around in wagons visiting friends for 40 days. Then they bury them & purify themselves.

4.72 Later they kill 50 of the king's servants and 50 horses. They stuff them, pin the men to the horses, and arrange them around the tomb.

4.71 When a Scythian king dies they stuff his body, coat it w/wax, take it on a tour of the country, & bury him w/horses and a few servants.

4.70 When the Scythians swear to agreements, they mix wine w/the blood of the contracting parties, dip weapons into it, & drink the mixture.

4.69 The prophets are burned alive in a wagon. When the king kills someone, that person's male relatives are also all killed.

4.68 When the Scythian king becomes sick, prophets accuse some citizen of perjury, and either he is killed or, if he's acquitted, they are.

4.67 Scythian soothsayers prophesy using willow rods. But the hermaphroditic diviners among them prophesy with the bark of a lime tree.

4.66 The greatest disgrace among them is not to have killed an enemy.

4.65 They sometimes make drinking vessels out of enemy skulls, sawing off the part below the eyebrows & gilding the inside if they're rich.

4.64 The Scythians drink the blood of the 1st man they kill & make napkins or coats from enemy scalps. They make quiver covers out of hands.

4.63 They don't sacrifice or even keep pigs.

4.62 Every year they sacrifice 1% of their captured enemies to Ares. They burn them in a bonfire after first cutting off their right arms.

4.61 They cook meat in cauldrons (theirs are like Lesbian cauldrons) or cook it in the animal's stomach over a fire made from its bones.

4.60 When performing a sacrifice they strangle the animal with a rope, then skin it and cook it.

4.59 On to the Scythians' customs. They all worship Hestia, Zeus, Earth, Apollo, Aphrodite, Heracles, & Ares. Some sacrifice to Poseidon.

4.58 So much for rivers. By the way, Scythian clover produces more bile than any other. You can see this if you cut open dead Scythian cows.

4.57 The eighth river, finally, is the Tanaïs [Don], which forms the border between the Royal Scythians and the Sauromatae.

4.56 The seventh is the Gerrhus, which forms the border between the Royal Scythians and the nomadic Scythians.

4.55 The sixth is the Hypacyris, which flows through the territory of the nomadic Scythians.

4.54 The fifth river is the Panticapes, which eventually joins the Borysthenes.

4.53 The 4th is the Borysthenes [Dnieper], the largest after the Ister. This & the Nile are the only rivers whose sources I can’t identify.

4.52 The 3rd is the Hypanis [Bug]. It flows out of a lake around which wild white horses graze. For a part of its length it's brackish.

4.51 The second river is the Tyras [Dniester]. Greeks called the Tyritae live at its mouth.

4.50 It seems to have the same volume in summer and winter. The addition of snowmelt and rain in warm weather is offset by evaporation.

4.49 The Ister flows through all of Europe, beginning in the far west, where the Celts live.

4.48 The Ister River [Danube] is the westernmost and most voluminous of these rivers. Many other rivers empty into it, adding to the volume.

4.47 Their land is particularly suited to the nomadic lifestyle. There are eight major rivers in Scythia, which I shall describe.

4.46 The Black Sea area is inhabited by the stupidest ppl in the world--not the Scythians, who learned that nomadism makes them invincible.

4.45 Europe stretches the length of both Libya and Egypt. No one knows whether it is surrounded by water, or where its name comes from.

4.44 Much of Asia was discovered by Darius, who sent men down the Indus River (crocodiles galore!) to see where it emptied into the sea.

4.43 Xerxes' cousin Sataspes was supposed to sail around Libya, but only went part way. Xerxes later had him impaled for some other reason.

4.42 Libya is surrounded by water except at its border with Asia. This was proved by some Phoenicians who circumnavigated Libya.

4.41 That's Asia. Another peninsula is Libya [Africa], which you come to going west from Egypt.

4.40 East of this, Asia is bounded by the Caspian and Erythraean Seas. It's inhabited as far as India. East of India it's uninhabited.

4.39 The second peninsula contains Persia, Assyria, and Arabia, and it ends at the Red Sea.

4.38 There are two peninsulas in this area. The first is Asia Minor, which thirty nations inhabit.

4.37 The Persians' land extends to the Persian Gulf. Between them and the Black Sea are the Medes, the Saspires, and the Colchians.

4.36 So much for the Hyperboreans: I won't mention Abaris, who went around the world without eating. BTW world maps are inaccurate. In fact:

4.35 Two other Hyperborean girls, Arge and Opis, had come to Delos earlier, and the Delians had granted them various honors.

4.34 Delian girls and boys cut their hair to honor two Hyperborean girls who died at Delos. The hair is left on the girls' tomb.

4.33 The Delians say the Hyperboreans send offerings to Delos. The gifts are passed along from nation to nation until they get to Delos.

4.32 Nobody around Scythia has anything to say re. the Hyperboreans, but Hesiod and Homer mention them (maybe: if Homer wrote the Epigoni).

4.31 Those feathers I mentioned that fill the air north of Scythia? I think the Scythians are talking about snow.

4.30 In Elis, meanwhile, mules can’t be bred, even though it’s not cold there. The Eleans say it’s because of a curse.

4.29 I think the cold is why the oxen in Scythia don’t grow horns. On the other hand, in Libya, as Homer says, lambs grow horns from birth.

4.28 Winter in Scythia lasts for 8 months and it is very severe. The sea freezes over. The rest of the year is also cold, & it rains a lot.

4.27 The Issedones say that beyond them live one-eyed men and griffins.

4.26 The Issedones eat their dead fathers and clean out and gild the heads afterwards. Their men and women have equal power.

4.25 No one knows who lives north of the baldies (who say the land is inhabited by goat-footed men). The Issedones live east of the baldies.

4.24 So we know about the bald guys & the other people I've mentioned through both the Scythians & the Greeks who live around the Black Sea.

4.23 Beyond these Scythian lands there's rugged terrain where the Agrippaioi live. They are all bald from birth and they live under trees.

4.22 North of the Budini it's desolate for a stretch, then there are some non-Scythian tribes of hunters, and east of them more Scythians.

4.21 East of the Tanaïs are the Sauromatians, who are not Scythian, and north of them the Budini.

4.20 East of the Gerrhus, along the north shore of Lake Maeotis to the Tanais R, are the Royal Scythians, & north of them the Black Cloaks.

4.19 East of the farmers are the Scythian nomads, who inhabit the land going east to the Gerrhus River (a 14-day journey across).

4.18 Scythian farmers live along the Borysthenes for some distance. A ways beyond them are the Maneaters, and beyond them it's uninhabited.

4.17 Various grain-sowing ppl live along the Hypanis R. going north from the Black Sea. As far as we know no one lives beyond the Neuri.

4.16 No one knows what’s north of the land I’m talking about. No one I’ve met has been there. But I’ll tell you the things I do know.

4.15 240 years later Aristeas showed up in Metapontum in Italy & told them to set up a statue of him. So there's a statue of him in Italy.

4.14 This Aristeas once died in a fuller's shop, but then his corpse disappeared. He reappeared years later, wrote a poem, & vanished again.

4.13 A poet named Aristeas says it was the Issedones who drove the Scythians out of their land.

4.12 There is still evidence of the Cimmerians' occupation of the land in Scythia today. Part of the country, e.g., is called Cimmeria.

4.11 I believe a 3rd story: the nomadic Scythians, under pressure from the Massagetae, invaded & settled in what had been Cimmerian country.

4.10 Per H.'s instructions, she gave the sovereignty of the country to the youngest, Scythes, who was able to properly use H.'s bow & belt.

4.9 A half snake woman had them & wd return them if H. had sex w/her. 3 sons later H got his horses. He instructed her re. the boys' future.

4.8 But the Greeks who live around the Black Sea say that Heracles fell asleep in what is now Scythia and woke to find his mares missing.

4.7 This is how Scythia came to be, so they say. The land north of Scythia is inaccessible because the air there is filled with feathers.

4.6 The Scythian people, according to the Scythians, were descended from these three brothers.

4.5 The Scythians say their king Targitaus had 3 sons. An omen involving sacred gold led to the youngest of them gaining the sovereignty.

4.4 Seeing the whips, the slaves lost their fighting spirit, and the Scythians got their land back after their 28-year occupation of Media.

4.3 The children of the women and these slaves fought the Scythians when they returned from Media--until the S. got the idea to use whips.

4.2 All the Scythians' slaves are blinded. This has to do w/the fact that the Scythians drink milk, and they use their slaves to churn it.

4.1 Darius invaded Scythia to punish the S for once occupying Media. After 28 yrs the S went home 2 find their women had lived w/the slaves.