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This, then, was how Anacharsis fared, owing to his foreign ways and consorting with Greeks; and a great many years afterward, Scyles, son of Ariapithes, suffered a like fate. Scyles was one of the sons born to Ariapithes, king of Scythia (region (general)), AsiaScythia; but his mother was of +Istra [14,45.25] (region (general)), Croatia, Europe Istria, 1 and not native-born; and she taught him to speak and read Greek.
This, then, was how Anacharsis fared, owing to his foreign ways and consorting with Greeks; and a great many years afterward, Scyles, son of Ariapithes, suffered a like fate. Scyles was one of the sons born to Ariapithes, king of Scythia (region (general)), AsiaScythia; but his mother was of +Istra [14,45.25] (region (general)), Croatia, Europe Istria, 1 and not native-born; and she taught him to speak and read Greek.
[2] As time passed,
Ariapithes was treacherously killed by
Spargapithes, king of the
Agathyrsi, and
Scyles inherited the kingship and his father's wife, a
Scythian woman whose name was
Opoea, and she bore
Scyles a son,
Oricus.
[3] So
Scyles was king of
Scythia (region (general)), AsiaScythia; but he was in no way content with the
Scythian way of life, and was much more inclined to
Greek ways, from the upbringing that he had received. So this is what he would do: he would lead the
Scythian army to the city of the
Borysthenites (who say that they are
Milesians), and when he arrived there would leave his army in the suburb of the city,
[4] while he himself, entering within the walls and shutting the gates, would take off his
Scythian apparel and put on
Greek dress; and in it he would go among the townsfolk unattended by spearmen or any others (who would guard the gates, lest any
Scythian see him wearing this apparel), and in every way follow the
Greek manner of life, and worship the gods according to
Greek usage.
[5] When he had spent a month or more like this, he would put on
Scythian dress and leave the city. He did this often; and he built a house in
+Dnepr (river), Europe Borysthenes, and married a wife of the people of the country and brought her there.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
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