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[9] Ephorus, in the fourth book of his History, which is entitled
Of Europe, having gone over Europe as far as the Scythians, concludes by saying that there is great difference in the manner of life both of the Sauromatae and the other Scythians, for while some of them are exceedingly morose, and are indeed cannibals, others abstain even from the flesh of animals. Other historians, he observes, descant upon their ferocity, knowing that the terrible and the wonderful always excite attention; but they ought also to relate the better features of these people, and point to them as a pattern; for his part, he declares he will speak of those who excel in the justness of their actions, as there are some of the nomade Scythians who subsist on mares’ milk, and excel all men in their justice, these are mentioned by the poets: as Homer, where he says that Jupiter beheld the land
Iliad xiii. 5.
and Hesiod, in his poem entitled
Travels round the World, who says that Phineus was taken by the Harpies
Ephorus then proceeds to state the causes of their justice, because they are frugal in their mode of life, not hoarders of wealth, and just towards each other; they possess everything in common, both their women, their children, and the whole of their kin; thus when they come into collision with other nations, they are irresistible and unconquered, having no cause for which they need endure slavery. He then cites Choerilus, who in his
Passage of the Bridge of Boats, which Darius
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had made, says,
Iliad xviii. 600.
for I wish to show by these references, that there was a general impression among both the ancients and moderns with regard to the nomades, that some were very far removed from the rest of mankind, that they subsisted on milk, and were very frugal,
5
and the most just of men, and that all this was not the mere invention of Homer.
Of the Galactophagi and Abii, justest of mankind;
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To the land of the Galactophagi, who have their dwellings in waggons.
And the sheep-feeding Sacae, a people of Scythian race, but they inhabited Wheat-producing Asia: truly they were a colony of the nomades, A righteous race.
And again Ephorus declares of Anacharsis, whom he designates as
The Wise, that he was sprung from that race; and that he was reckoned as one of the Seven Sages, on account of his pre-eminent moderation and knowledge. He asserts too that he was the inventor of the bellows, the double-fluked anchor, and the potter’s wheel.
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I merely state this, although I know very well that Ephorus is not at all times to be relied on, especially when speaking of Anacharsis; (for how can the wheel be his invention, with which Homer, who is anterior to him, was acquainted; [who says],
as when, before his wheel
Seated, the potter twirls it with both hands,” etc.;
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)
Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by Tufts University.