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There is also another different story, now to be related, in which I
am more inclined to put faith than in any other. It is that the
wandering Scythians once dwelt in Asia, and there warred with the
Massagetae, but with ill success; they therefore quitted their
homes, crossed the Araxes, and entered the land of Cimmeria. For
the land which is now inhabited by the Scyths was formerly the country
of the Cimmerians. On their coming, the natives, who heard how
numerous the invading army was, held a council. At this meeting
opinion was divided, and both parties stiffly maintained their own
view; but the counsel of the Royal tribe was the braver. For the
others urged that the best thing to be done was to leave the country,
and avoid a contest with so vast a host; but the Royal tribe advised
remaining and fighting for the soil to the last. As neither party
chose to give way, the one determined to retire without a blow and
yield their lands to the invaders; but the other, remembering the good
things which they had enjoyed in their homes, and picturing to
themselves the evils which they had to expect if they gave them up,
resolved not to flee, but rather to die and at least be buried in their
fatherland. Having thus decided, they drew apart in two bodies, the
one as numerous as the other, and fought together. All of the Royal
tribe were slain, and the people buried them near the river Tyras,
where their grave is still to be seen. Then the rest of the
Cimmerians departed, and the Scythians, on their coming, took
possession of a deserted land.
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