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[1]
Such was the end of Spargapises. Tomyris, when Cyrus would not listen to her, collected all her forces and engaged him. This fight I judge to have been the fiercest ever fought by men that were not Greek; and indeed I have learned that this was so.
Such was the end of Spargapises. Tomyris, when Cyrus would not listen to her, collected all her forces and engaged him. This fight I judge to have been the fiercest ever fought by men that were not Greek; and indeed I have learned that this was so.
[2] For first (it is said) they shot arrows at each other from a distance; then, when their arrows were all spent, they rushed at each other and fought with their spears and swords; and for a long time they stood fighting and neither would give ground; but at last the
Massagetae got the upper hand.
[3] The greater part of the
Persian army was destroyed there on the spot, and
Cyrus himself fell there, after having reigned for one year short of thirty years.
[4]
Tomyris filled a skin with human blood, and searched among the
Persian dead for
Cyrus' body; and when she found it, she pushed his head into the skin, and insulted the dead man in these words:
[5] “Though I am alive and have defeated you in battle, you have destroyed me, taking my son by guile; but just as I threatened, I give you your fill of blood.” Many stories are told of
Cyrus' death; this, that I have told, is the most credible.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
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