Lucian Toxaris vel amicitia 41

[41] This occurrence heartened all the Scythians, and they no longer thought themselves beaten, seeing that the greatest of all our treasures had not been carried off by the enemy, but we still had among us staunch resolution and loyalty to friends. Furthermore, the Sauromatae were daunted more than a little by that same thing, when they considered what manner of men they were about to face in pitched battle, even though in the surprise attack for the moment they had obtained the upper hand. So when night had fallen, abandoning most of the flocks and herds and firing the wagons, they vanished in flight. Amizoces, however, could not bear to have ‘his own sight when Dandamis was blind, but put out his eyes with his own hands; and now both of them sit idle, maintained with every show of honour at public expense by the Scythian folk.

[41] There was comfort for all of us in this act of Dandamis.

Our defeat, it seemed, was no defeat, after all: our most precious possessions had escaped the hands of our enemies; loyal friendship, noble resolution, these were still our own, On the Sauromatae it had the contrary effect: they did not at all like the idea of engaging with such determined adversaries: on equal terms; gaining an advantage of them by means of a surprise was quite another matter. The end of it was, that when night came on they left behind the greater part of the herds, burnt the waggons, and beat a hasty retreat. As for Amizoces, he could not endure to see, when Dandamis was blind: he blinded himself, and the two now sit at home, supported in all honour at the public expense.

[41] This event put heart into all the Scythians, and they no longer considered themselves worsted by the Sauromatians, seeing that the enemy had not carried off our greatest good, but that our noble disposition was left to us and our constancy in friendship. And the same thing frightened the Sauromatians extremely, for they calculated what sort of men we would be to fight with when we were prepared if we showed such endurance when we were surprised. So when night came they left most of the flocks, and burned the wagons and retreated. But Amizokes could no longer bear to see at the price of Dandamis's blindness, so he, too, put out his own eyes, and they were both permitted a quiet life by the Scythian commonwealth, and supported at the public expense with every honor.