Herodotus

Queen Tomyris of the Massagetai and the Defeat of the Persians under Cyrus


I.201: When Cyrus had achieved the conquest of the Babylonians, he conceived
the desire of bringing the Massagetai under his dominion. Now the Massagetai are
said to be a great and warlike nation, dwelling eastward, toward the rising of
the sun, beyond the river Araxes, and opposite the Issedonians. By many they are
regarded as a Scythian race.

I.215: In their dress and mode of living the Massagetai resemble the Scythians.
They fight both on horseback and on foot, neither method is strange to them: they
use bows and lances, but their favorite weapon is the battle-axe. Their arms are
all either of gold or brass. For their spear-points, and arrow-heads, and for
their battle-axes, they make use of brass; for head-gear, belts, and girdles,
of gold. So too with the caparison of their horses, they give them breastplates
of brass, but employ gold about the reins, the bit, and the cheek-plates. They
use neither iron nor silver, having none in their country; but they have brass
and gold in abundance.

I.216: The following are some of their customs: Each man has but one wife,
yet all the wives are held in common; for this is a custom of the Massagetai and
not of the Scythians, as the Hellenes wrongly say. Human life does not come to
its natural close with this people; but when a man grows very old, all his kinsfolk
collect together and offer him up in sacrifice; offering at the same time some
cattle also. After the sacrifice they boil the flesh and feast on it; and those
who thus end their days are reckoned the happiest. If a man dies of disease they
do not eat him, but bury him in the ground, bewailing his ill-fortune that he
did not come to be sacrificed. They sow no grain, but live on their herds, and
on fish, of which there is great plenty in the Araxes. Milk is what they chiefly
drink. The only god they worship is the sun, and to him they offer the horse in
sacrifice; under the notion of giving to the swiftest of the gods the swiftest
of all mortal creatures.

I.205: At this time the Massagetai were ruled by a queen, named Tomyris, who
at the death of her husband, the late king, had mounted the throne. To her Cyrus
sent ambassadors, with instructions to court her on his part, pretending that
he wished to take her to wife. Tomyris, however, aware that it was her kingdom,
and not herself, that he courted, forbade the men to approach. Cyrus, therefore,
finding that he did not advance his designs by this deceit, marched towards the
Araxes, and openly displaying his hostile intentions; set to work to construct
a bridge on which his army might cross the river, and began building towers upon
the boats which were to be used in the passage.

I.206: While the Persian leader was occupied in these labors, Tomyris sent
a herald to him, who said, “King of the Medes, cease to press this enterprise,
for you cannot know if what you are doing will be of real advantage to you. Be
content to rule in peace your own kingdom, and bear to see us reign over the countries
that are ours to govern. As, however, I know you will not choose to hearken to
this counsel, since there is nothing you less desirest than peace and quietness,
come now, if you are so mightily desirous of meeting the Massagetai in arms, leave
your useless toil of bridge-making; let us retire three days’ march from the river
bank, and do you come across with your soldiers; or, if you like better to give
us battle on your side the stream, retire yourself an equal distance.” Cyrus,
on this offer, called together the chiefs of the Persians, and laid the matter
before them, requesting them to advise him what he should do. All the votes were
in favor of his letting Tomyris cross the stream, and giving battle on Persian
ground.

I.207: But Croesus the Lydian, who was present at the meeting of the chiefs,
disapproved of this advice; he therefore rose, and thus delivered his sentiments
in opposition to it: “Oh! my king! I promised you long since, that, as Zeus had
given me into your hands, I would, to the best of my power, avert impending danger
from your house. Alas! my own sufferings, by their very bitterness, have taught
me to be keen-sighted of dangers. If you deem yourself an immortal, and your army
an army of immortals, my counsel will doubtless be thrown away upon you. But if
you feel yourself to be a man, and a ruler of men, lay this first to heart, that
there is a wheel on which the affairs of men revolve, and that its movement forbids
the same man to be always fortunate.

“Now concerning the matter in hand, my judgment runs counter to the judgment
of your other counselors. For if you agree to give the enemy entrance into your
country, consider what risk is run! Lose the battle, and therewith your whole
kingdom is lost. For, assuredly, the Massagetai, if they win the fight, will not
return to their homes, but will push forward against the states of your empire.
Or, if you win the battle, why, then you win far less than if you were across
the stream, where you might follow up your victory. For against your loss, if
they defeat you on your own ground, must be set theirs in like case. Rout their
army on the other side of the river, and you may push at once into the heart of
their country. Moreover, were it not disgrace intolerable for Cyrus the son of
Cambyses to retire before and yield ground to a woman?

“My counsel, therefore, is that we cross the stream, and pushing forward as
far as they shall fall back, then seek to get the better of them by stratagem.
I am told they are unacquainted with the good things on which the Persians live,
and have never tasted the great delights of life. Let us then prepare a feast
for them in our camp; let sheep be slaughtered without stint, and the wine cups
be filled full of noble liquor, and let all manner of dishes be prepared: then
leaving behind us our worst troops, let us fall back towards the river. Unless
I very much mistake, when they see the good fare set out, they will forget all
else and fall to. Then it will remain for us to do our parts manfully.”

I.208: Cyrus, when the two plans were thus placed in contrast before him, changed
his mind, and preferring the advice which Croesus had given, returned for answer
to Tomyris that she should retire, and that he would cross the stream. She therefore
retired, as she had engaged; and Cyrus, giving Croesus into the care of his son
Cambyses (whom he had appointed to succeed him on the throne), with strict charge
to pay him all respect and treat him well, if the expedition failed of success;
and sending them both back to Persia, crossed the river with his army.

I.209: The first night after the passage, as he slept in the enemy’s country,
a vision appeared to him. He seemed to see in his sleep the eldest of the sons
of Hystaspes, with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia,
and Europe with the other. Now Hystaspes, the son of Arsames, was of the race
of the Achaimenidai, and his eldest son, Darius, was at that time scarce twenty
years old; wherefore, not being of age to go to the wars, he had remained behind
in Persia. When Cyrus woke from his sleep, and turned the vision over in his mind,
it seemed to him no light matter. He therefore sent for Hystaspes, and taking
him aside said, “Hystaspes, your son is discovered to be plotting against me and
my crown. I will tell you how I know it so certainly. The gods watch over my safety,
and warn me beforehand of every danger. Now last night, as I lay in my bed, I
saw in a vision the eldest of your sons with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing
with the one wing Asia, and Europe with the other. From this it is certain, beyond
all possible doubt, that he is engaged in some plot against me. Return you then
at once to Persia, and be sure, when I come back from conquering the Massagetai,
to have your son ready to produce before me, that I may examine him.”

I.210: Thus Cyrus spoke, in the belief that he was plotted against by Darius;
but he missed the true meaning of the dream, which was sent by God to forewarn
him, that he was to die then and there, and that his kingdom was to fall at last
to Darius. Hystaspes made answer to Cyrus in these words: “Heaven forbid, sire,
that there should be a Persian living who would plot against you! If such an one
there be, may a speedy death overtake him! You found the Persians a race of slaves,
you have made them free men: you found them subject to others, you have made them
lords of all. If a vision has announced that my son is practicing against you,
I resign him into your hands to deal with as you will.” Hystaspes, when he had
thus answered, recrossed the Araxes and hastened back to Persia, to keep a watch
on his son Darius.

I.211: Meanwhile Cyrus, having advanced a day’s march from the river, did as
Croesus had advised him, and, leaving the worthless portion of his army in the
camp, drew off with his good troops towards the river. Soon afterwards, a detachment
of the Massagetai, one-third of their entire army, led by Spargapises, son of
the queen Tomyris, coming up, fell upon the body which had been left behind by
Cyrus, and on their resistance put them to the sword. Then, seeing the banquet
prepared, they sat down and began to feast. When they had eaten and drunk their
fill, and were now sunk in sleep, the Persians under Cyrus arrived, slaughtered
a great multitude, and made even a larger number prisoners. Among these last was
Spargapises himself.

I.212: When Tomyris heard what had befallen her son and her army, she sent
a herald to Cyrus, who thus addressed the conqueror: “You bloodthirsty Cyrus,
pride not yourself on this poor success: it was the grape-juice—which, when
you drink it, makes you so mad, and as you swallow it down brings up to your lips
such bold and wicked words—it was this poison by which you ensnared my child,
and so overcame him, not in fair open fight. Now hear what I advise, and be sure
I advise you for your good. Restore my son to me and get you from the land unharmed,
triumphant over a third part of the host of the Massagetai. Refuse, and I swear
by the sun, the sovereign lord of the Massagetai, bloodthirsty as you are, I will
give you your fill of blood.”

I.213: To the words of this message Cyrus paid no manner of regard. As for
Spargapises, the son of the queen, when the wine went off, and he saw the extent
of his calamity, he made request to Cyrus to release him from his bonds; then,
when his prayer was granted, and the fetters were taken from his limbs, as soon
as his hands were free, he destroyed himself.

I.214: Tomyris, when she found that Cyrus paid no heed to her advice, collected
all the forces of her kingdom, and gave him battle. Of all the combats in which
the barbarians have engaged among themselves, I reckon this to have been the fiercest.
The following, as I understand, was the manner of it: First, the two armies stood
apart and shot their arrows at each other; then, when their quivers were empty,
they closed and fought hand-to-hand with lances and daggers; and thus they continued
fighting for a length of time, neither choosing to give ground. At length the
Massagetai prevailed. The greater part of the army of the Persians was destroyed
and Cyrus himself fell, after reigning nine and twenty years. Search was made
among the slain by order of the queen for the body of Cyrus, and when it was found
she took a skin, and, filling it full of human blood, she dipped the head of Cyrus
in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corpse, “I live and have conquered
you in fight, and yet by you am I ruined, for you took my son with guile; but
thus I make good my threat, and give you your fill of blood.” Of the many different
accounts which are given of the death of Cyrus, this which I have followed appears
to me most worthy of credit.