Book 4

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.

Posted on 10-01-16 | Permalink

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.

Posted on 10-02-16 | Permalink

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

Posted on 10-03-16 | Permalink

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

Posted on 10-04-16 | Permalink

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.

Posted on 10-05-16 | Permalink

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.

Posted on 10-06-16 | Permalink

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?)

Posted on 10-07-16 | Permalink

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.

Posted on 10-08-16 | Permalink

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

Posted on 10-09-16 | Permalink

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

Posted on 10-10-16 | Permalink





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