Scythian warriors by Agimsaly Duzelkhanov
"Almost the whole of the adult population of Scythia, including a large number of the women-folk, fought on campaign. It is impossible to estimate the numbers of soldiers Scythia could put into the field simultaneously; Scythian kings themselves wished that they knew. Herodotus tells us of King Ariantes, who attempted to establish the numbers of his subjects by ordering every Scythian, on pain of death, to bring one arrowhead to the muster. So many arrowheads were brought that he decided to have a monument made of them. A bronze vessel cast from the melted-down metal was reputed to contain 600 amphorae, with walls six fingers thick; at the standard Attic measure, this represents 23,400 liters (5,200 gallons).
Thucydides wrote that the Scythian army was larger than a 150,000-strong Thracian tribal host; and that not one people in Europe or Asia could resist the Scythians unaided, if the Scythians were 'all of one will':
'The same custom prevailed among the other Thracians in a less degree, but among the Odrysae, who were richer, more extensively; nothing could be done without presents. By these means the kingdom became very powerful, and in revenue and general prosperity exceeded all the nations of Europe which lie between the Ionian Sea and the Euxine; in the size and strength of their army being second only, though far inferior, to the Scythians. For if the Scythians were united, there is no nation which could compare with them, or would be capable of resisting them; I do not say in Europe, but even in Asia' (Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Ch.97)."
-The Scythians 700-300 BC: Dr. E.V. Cernenko, Angus McBride, & Dr. M.V. Gorelik
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| Scythian warriors by Agimsaly Duzelkhanov. |
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The Scythians 700-300 BC: Dr. E.V. Cernenko, Angus McBride, & Dr. M.V. Gorelik
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