Toxaris vel amicitia

Lucian of Samosata

Lucian of Samosata (lucian-of-samosata) · Amic 14 · perseus-eng2 · More by Lucian of Samosata (lucian-of-samosata)

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MNESIPPUS What about it, Toxaris? Do you Scythians sacrifice to Orestes and Pylades, and have you come to believe that they are gods? TOXARIS We sacrifice, Mnesippus, we sacrifice; not, however, because we think them gods, but good men.The existence of a cult of Orestes and Pylades in Scythia is not otherwise attested, and is credible only in a limited sense, as a local development of Greek hero-worship; see below, on the Oresteum, § 6. MNESIPPUS Is it your custom to sacrifice to good men when they are dead, as if they were gods? TOXARIS Not only that, but we honour them with festivals and pilgrimages. MNESIPPUS What do you crave from them? For surely it is not to gain their grace that you sacrifice to them, in view of the fact that they are dead. TOXARIS Well, we should be none the worse off, perhaps, if even the dead should be gracious to us. However, we think it will be better for the living if we do not forget men of high achievement, and we honour them after death because we consider that in this way we can get many to wish to become like them.

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MNESIPPUS

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In that matter, to be sure, your judgement is sound. But as regards Orestes and Pylades, on just what ground did you so admire them, that you have put them on a parity with the gods, and that too when they were trespassers upon your soil and— what is most significant—enemies? Why, when the Scythians of that day seized them after their shipwreck and dragged them off intending to sacrifice them to Artemis, they set upon the keepers of their prison, overpowered the watch, and not only slew the king but carried off the priestess,

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nay even kidnapped Artemis herself, and then went. sailing away, after having made a mock of the Scythian commonwealth.

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So if that is why you honour those

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heroes, you will very soon produce many like them! Draw the conclusion for yourselves in the light of what happened of old whether it is desirable for you that many an Orestes and Pylades should descend upon Scythia. To me it seems that very soon, under those conditions, you would become irreligious yourselves, yes, godless, after the remainder of your gods had been similarly shipped out of the country to foreign parts. And then, I suppose, in place of the whole company of gods, you will deify the men who came to obtain them for export and will sacrifice to the robbers of your temples as gods!

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If that is not why you honour Orestes and Pylades, do tell me, Toxaris, what other benefit have they done you to bring it about that although formerly you deemed them anything but gods, now, on the contrary, you have made them pass for gods by sacrificing to them, and you now bring victims to men who at that time very nearly became victims? This conduct, you know, might be thought ridiculous and inconsistent with that of former times. TOXARIS As a matter of fact, Mnesippus, even these actions that you have described evince nobility in those men. That two should dare so bold a deed; that they should sail so far from their own country as to cruise out into the Pontus (still unexplored by any of the Greeks except the force that fared upon the Argo to Colchis) undismayed either by the fables regarding it or by its name through any terror inspired by the fact that it was called ‘ Inhospitable” (I suppose because savage peoples dwelt all about it);According to Apollodorus (Strabo, VII, 298-299) the Pontus was at first called Azeinos (“Inhospitable”) because of its storminess and the ferocity of the tribes that surrounded it; later, after the Ionian settlements on its coast, it was called Huxeinos (“Hospitable”). Pindar knows both names (Pyth., IV, 203; Nem. IV, 49). that after their capture they faced the situation so courageously, and were not content simply to make their escape but punished the king for his insolence and took Artemis with them when they sailed away—why is not all this admirable and worthy of divine honour in some sort from all who praise manhood? Yet that is not what we see in Orestes and Pylades, to treat them as heroes.

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MNESIPPUS

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Please go on and say what else they did that is imposing and godlike; since as far as concerns their voyage and their foreign travel I could point you many who are more godlike than they—the merchant traders, and particularly the Phoenicians among them, who not only sail into the Pontus or as far as Lake Maeotis and the Cimmerian Bosporus,

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but cruise everywhere in Greek and foreign waters; for these fellows comb every single shore and every strand, you may say, each year before returning late in the autumn to their own country. On the same principle, you should account them gods, even though most of them are pedlars and, it may be, fishmongers!

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TOXARIS Listen then, you amazing fellow, and learn how much more generously than you Greeks we barbarians judge good men. In Argos and Mycenae there is not even a respectable tomb of Orestes or Pylades to be seen, but among us a temple has been assigned them, to both together, as was reasonable since they were comrades, and sacrifices are offered them, and all sorts of honours besides. The fact that they were not Scythians but foreigners is no hindrance to their having been accounted good men and their being cherished by the foremost Scythians; for we do not enquire what country proper men come from, nor do we bear a grudge if men who are not friendly have done noble deeds; we commend what they have accomplished and count them our own in virtue of their achievements. What especially impressed us in these men and gains our commendation is this: it seemed to us that as friends they, surely, had proved themselves the best in the world, and had established precedents for everyone else in regard to the way in which friends should share all their fortunes.

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All that the went through in each other’s company or for eac other’s sake our ancestors inscribed on a tablet of bronze which they set up in the Oresteum;

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and they made it the law that the first study and lesson for

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their children should be this tablet and the memorising of all that had been written upon it. In point of fact, every one of them would sooner forget the name of his own father than fail to know the achievements of Orestes and Pylades. But in the temple close, too, the very same matters that are set forth on the tablet are to be seen represented in paintings by the ancients; Orestes voyaging with his friend, and then, after his ship had been destroyed on the rocks, his arrest and preparation for the sacrifice; Iphigenia is already consecrating them. Opposite this, on the other wall, he is depicted as just out of his fetters, slaying Thoas and many more of the Scythians. Finally, they are sailing off, with Iphigenia and the goddess; the Scythians meanwhile are vainly laying hold of the ship, which is already under way, hanging to the rudders and trying to get aboard; then, unable to accomplish anything, they swim back to land, some of them because they are wounded, others for fear of that. It is just there that one may see how much good-will they displayed in each other’s interest; I mean, in the engagement with the Scythians. For the artist has portrayed each of them paying no heed to the foemen opposite himself, but encountering those who are assailing the other, trying to meet their missiles in his stead, and counting it nothing to die if he saves his friend and intercepts with his own body the stroke that is being directed at the other.

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That great good-will of theirs, that common front amid those perils, that faithfulness and comradely love, that genuineness and solidity of their affection for one another were not, we thought, of this world, but marked a spirit too noble for these men about us of the common sort, who, as long as the course of their friends is with the wind, take it ill if they do not give them an equal share in all their delights, but if even a slight breath sets against them, they bear away, entirely abandoning them to their perils. For I would have you know this also—Scythians think that there is nothing greater than friendship, and there is not anything upon which a Scythian will pride himself more than on aiding a friend and sharing his dangers, just as there is no greater disgrace among us than to bear the name of having played false to friendship. That is why we honour Orestes and Pylades, because they practised best what Scythians hold good, and excelled in friendship, an achievement which we admire before all things else; in token whereof we have given them the name of Korakoi to go by, which in our language is as much as to say “guiding spirits of friendship.”

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MNESIPPUS

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Toxaris, it has turned out that Scythians are not only good archers and better than all others in warfare, but the most convincing of all peoples at making speeches. Anyhow, I, who formerly had a different opinion, now myself think you do right in thus deifying Orestes and Pylades. And I had failed, my accomplished friend, to grasp the fact that you are also a good painter. Very animated indeed was the sketch

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that you drew for us of the pictures in the Oresteum, of the fighting of your heroes, and the wounds that each bore for the other. However, I should not have expected friendship to be so highly cherished among the Scythians, for as they are inhospitable and uncivilised I thought that they always were well acquainted with hatred, anger, and bad humour but did not enter into friendship even with their closest kin, judging by all that we hear about them, and especially the report that they eat their dead fathers!

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TOXARIS Whether we are in general not only more just than the Greeks towards our parents but more reverential is a question which I would rather not debate with you at present. But that Scythian friends are far more faithful than Greek friends and that friendship matters more with us than with you is easily demonstrated; and in the name of your Gods of Greece, do not listen to me with displeasure if I mention one of the observations which I have made after having lived with your people for a long time now. It seems to me that you Greeks can indeed say all that is to be said about friendship better than others, but not only fail to practise its works in a manner that befits your words,—no, you are content to have praised it and shown what a very good thing it is, but in its times of need you play traitor to your words about it and beat a hasty retreat, somehow or other, out of the press of deeds. And whenever your tragedians put friendships of this kind on the stage and exhibit them to you, you bestow praise and applause, yes, even tears upon them, most of you, when they face danger for each other’s sake; yet you yourselves dare not come out with any praiseworthy deed for the sake of your friends. On the contrary, if a friend happens to stand in need of anything, those many tragic histories take wing and vanish from your path on the instant, like dreams, and leave you looking like those empty, silent masks which, for all their open mouths, widely agape, do not utter even the slightest sound. We are your opposites; for we have as much the better of you in practising friendship as we fall short of you in talking about it.

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If you like, then, let us do this; let us leave the friends of former times to rest in peace, whomsoever, I mean, of the ancients either we or you are able to enumerate; for there, to be sure, you would outdo us by citing many trustworthy witnesses, your poets, who have rehearsed in the most beautiful of epic lines and lyric verses the friendship of Achilles and Patroclus and the comradeship of Theseus, Peirithous, and all the rest. Instead, let us take up just a few of our own contemporaries and recount their deeds, I for the Scythian side, you for the Greek; then whichever of us wins in this by bringing out better = of friendship shall not only be adjudged victor himself but shall be allowed to name his country in the proclamation, inasmuch as he will have taken part in a right glorious and noble contest. For my own part, I think I would much rather be defeated in single combat and have my right hand cut off, which is the penalty for defeat in Scythia, than to be pronounced inferior to anyone else in the matter of friendship, and above all to a Greek, when I am myself a Scythian.

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MNESIPPUS It is no mean undertaking, Toxaris, to engage in single combat with a man-at-arms like yourself, equipped with very accurate and well-sharpened shafts of speech. Nevertheless, I shall not so ignobly betray of a sudden the whole Greek cause as to yield you the field. It would be shocking if, when they two defeated as many Scythians as are indicated by the stories and by those ancient paintings in your country which you described with such histrionic expressiveness a little while ago, all the Greeks, including so many peoples and so many cities, should lose by default to you alone. If that should take place, it would be fitting for me to be docked, not of my right hand, as your people are, but of my tongue. But ought we to set ourselves a limit to the number of these exploits of friendship, or should we hold that the more of them a man can tell, the better off he is as regards the victory? TOXARIS By no means; let us prescribe that the victory does not in this case reside with the greater numbers. No, if yours turn out to be better and more telling ‘than mine, though equal in number, they will obviously inflict more serious wounds upon me and I shall succumb to your blows more quickly. MNESIPPUS You are right, so let us settle how many will do. Five, I should think, for each. . TOXARIS I think so too; and you may speak first, after taking oath that you will assuredly tell the truth. Merely to make up such tales is not at all hard, and there is no obvious means of disproof. But if you should take your oath, it would not be right to disbelieve you. MNESIPPUS We shall do so, if you really think an oath is at all essential. But which of our gods will satisfy you? Zeus Philios? TOXARIS Yes indeed; and I will take the oath of my own country for you when I myself speak.

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MNESIPPUS Well then, as Zeus Philios is my witness, I solemnly swear that whatever I shall tell you I will say either from my own knowledge or from information obtained of others with all the accuracy that was possible, without contributing any dramaturgy on my own part. And the first friendship of which I shall give you an account is that of Agathocles and Deinias, which has become far-famed among the Ionians. Agathocles of Samos, to whom I refer, lived not long ago, and was peerless in friendship, as he proved, but otherwise not at all superior to the general run of Samians qjther in family or in means. He and Deinias, the son of Lyson, of Ephesus, were friends from their boyhood. But Deinias turned out to be enormously rich; and as was natural in one whose wealth was new, he had many others about him who were well enough as boon companions and agreeable associates, but as far as could be from friends. Well, for a time Agathocles was put to the test among them, associating with them and drinking with them, though he took little pleasure in that kind of pastime; and Deinias held him in no higher esteem than his toadies. But at length Agathocles began to give offence by rebuking him frequently, and. came to be considered a nuisance by reminding him always of his ancestors and admonishing him to keep what his father had acquired with much labour and left to him. Consequently Deinias no longer even took him along when he caroused about the town, but used to go alone with those others, trying to escape the eye of Agathocles.

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In course of time those flatterers persuaded the poor fellow that Charicleia was in love with him. She was the wife of Demonax, a distinguished man, foremost among the Ephesians in public affairs. Notes from the woman kept coming into his house; also, half-faded wreaths, apples with a piece bitten out, and every other contrivance with which gobetweens lay siege to young men, gradually working up their love-affairs for them and inflaming them at the start with the thought that they are adored (for this is extremely seductive, especially to those who think themselves handsome), until they fall unawares into the net. Charicleia was a dainty piece of femininity, but outrageously meretricious, giving herself to anyone who happened to meet her, even if he should want her at very little cost; if you but looked at her, she nodded at once, and there was no fear that Charicleia might perhaps be reluctant. She was clever too, in every way, and an artist comparable with any courtesan you please at alluring a lover, bringing him into complete subjection when he was still of two minds, and when at last he was in her toils working him up and fanning his flame, now by anger, now by flattery, soon by scorn and by pretending to have an inclination for someone else. She was every bit of her thoroughly sophisticated, that woman, and plentifully armed with siege-engines to train upon her lovers.

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This, then, was the ally whom Deinias’ toadies at that time enlisted against the boy, and they constantly played up to rer lead, unitedly thrusting him into the affair with Charicleia. And she, who already had given many young fellows a bad fall, * who, times without number, had played at being in love, who had ruined vast estates, versatile and thoroughly practised mischief-maker that she was— once she got into her clutches a simple youngster who had no experience of such enginery, she would not let him out of her talons but encompassed him all round about and pierced him through and through, until, when at last she had him wholly in her power, she not only lost her own life through her quarry but caused poor Deinias misfortunes without end. From the very first she kept baiting him with those notes, sending her maid continually, making out that she had cried, that she had lain awake, and at last that she would hang herself for love, poor girl, until the blessed simpleton became convinced that he was handsome and adored by the women of Ephesus, and of course made a rendezvous after many entreaties.

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After that, naturally, it was bound to be an easy matter for him to be captured by a beautiful woman, who knew how to please him with her company, to weep on occasion, to sigh piteously in the midst of her conversation, to lay hold of him when he was at last going away, to run up to him when he came in, to adorn herself in the way that would best please him, and of course to sing and to strum the lyre. All this she had brought into play against Deinias; and then, when she discerned that he was in a bad way, having by that time become thoroughly permeated with love and pliable, she employed another artifice to complete the poor boy’s undoing. She pretended to be with child by him (this too is an effective way to fire a sluggish lover); moreover, she discontinued her visits to him, saying that she was kept in by her husband, who had found out about their affair. Deinias was now unable to bear the situation and could not endure not seeing her. He wept, he sent his toadies, he called upon the name of Charicleia, he embraced her statue (having had one of marble made for him), he wailed; at last he flung himself on the ground and rolled about, and his condition was absolute insanity. Naturally, the gifts which he exchanged for hers were not on a par with apples and wreaths, but whole apartment-houses, farms, and serving-women, gay clothing, and all the gold that she wanted. Why make a long story of it? In a trice the estate of Lyson, which had been the most famous in Ionia, was completely pumped out and exhausted.

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And then, when at last he was drained dry, she left him, pursued another gilded youth from Crete, and went over to him; now she loved him, and he put faith in it. Neglected not only by Charicleia but by the toadies, for they too had now gone over to the Cretan whom she loved, Deinias sought out Agathocles, who had long known that things were going badly with him. Though overcome with shame at first, nevertheless he told the whole story—his passion, his desperate straits, the woman’s disregard, the Cretan rival—and in conclusion said that he would not remain alive if he could not have Charicleia. Agathocles thought it unseasonable at that moment to remind Deinias that he used never to be glad to see him, and him only, of all his friends, but used always to give preference to his toadies in those days. So he sold all that he had, the house that he had inherited in Samos, and came back bringing him the price, three talents. When Deinias received this, it was at once patent to Charicleia that in some way he had once more become handsome. Again the maid, and the notes, and reproof because he had not come for a long while; and the toadies came running up to dangle a line for him, seeing that Deinias was still good for a meal.

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But when he had promised to come to her, had actually come, in the early hours of the night, and was inside the house, Demonax, the husband of Charicleia, whether through accidental detection of him or through arrangement with his wife—both stories are told—springing out upon him as if from ambush, gave orders to lock the outer door and to seize Deinias, threatening him with burning and scourging and coming at him with drawn sword, as an adulterer. Perceiving what a calamitous situation he was in, Deinias seized a bar that lay near and killed not only Demonax himself, striking him on the temple, but also Charicleia, not with one blow in her case, but by striking her first with the bar again and again and afterwards with the sword of Demonax. The servants stood speechless in the meantime, dazed by the suddenness of the thing; then they tried to seize him, but when he made at them too with the sword, they fled, and Deinias made good his escape in spite of his monstrous deed. The time that remained until dawn he spent with Agathocles in going over all that had happened and considering what would come of it in future. At dawn the magistrates appeared, for by then the thing had been noised abroad; they arrested Deinias, who himself did not deny that he had committed the murders, and brought him before the Salariae’ who then administered Asia. He sent im to the Emperor, and before long Deinias was committed to the island of Gyaros, one of the Cyclades, condemned by the Emperor to live there in perpetual exile.

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Agathocles alone of all his friends kept with him, sailed with him to Italy, went to the trial with him, and failed him in nothing. Moreover, when at length Deinias went into exile, he did not desert his comrade even then, but of his own accord sentenced himself to live in Gyaros and share his exile; and when they were completely in want of necessities, he joined the purple-fishers, dived with them, brought home what he earned by this, and so supported Deinias. Besides, when the latter fell ill, he took care of him for a very long time, and when he died, did not care to return again to his own country, but remained there in the island, ashamed to desert his friend even after his death. There you have the deed of a Greek friend which took place not long ago; I hardly think five years have passed since Agathocles died in Gyaros. TOXARIS I do wish, Mnesippus, you had told this story without taking an oath, so that I might have been able to disbelieve it, for this Agathocles whom you have described is very much of a Scythian friend. However, I have no fear that you will be able to name any other like him.

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MNESIPPUS Listen then, Toxaris, to the tale of another, Euthydicus of Chalcis. It was repeated to me by Simylus, the sea-captain of Megara, who took his solemn oath that he himself had seen the deed. He said that he was making a voyage from Italy to Athens at about the season of the setting of the Pleiades, carrying a miscellaneous collection of assengers, among whom was Euthydicus, and with im Damon, also of Chalcis, his comrade. They were of the same age, but Euthydicus was vigorous and strong, while Damon was pale and sickly, just convalescing, it seemed, from a prolonged illness. As far as Sicily they had made a fortunate passage, said Simylus; but when they had run through the straits and in due time were sailing in the Adriatic itself, a great tempest fell upon them. Why repeat the many details of his story—huge seas, cyclones, hail, and all the other evils of a storm? But when they were at last abreast of Zacynthos,Zante. ! sailing with the yard bare, and also dragging hawsers in their wake to check the fury of their driving, towards midnight Damon became seasick, as was natural in weather so rough, and began to vomit, leaning outboard. Then, I suppose because the ship was hove down with greater force towards the side over which he was leaning and the high sea contributed a send, he fell overboard head-first; and the poor fellow was not even without his clothes, so as to have been able to swim more easily. So he began at once to call for help, choking and barely able to keep himself above the water.

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When Euthydicus, who happened to be undressed and in his bunk, heard him, he flung himself into the sea, got to Damon, who was already giving out (all this was visible at a long distance because the moon was shining) and helped him by swimming beside him and bearing him up. The rest of them, he said, wanted to aid the men and deplored their misfortune, but could not do it because the wind that drove them was too strong; however, they did at least something, for they threw them a number of pieces of cork and some spars, on which they might swim if they chanced upon any of them, and finally even the gang plank, which was not small. Think now, in the name of the gods! what firmer proof of affection could a man display towards a friend who had fallen overboard at night into a sea so wild, than that of sharing his death? I beg you, envisage the tumult of the seas, the roar of the breaking water, the boiling spume, the night, the despair; then one man strangling, barely keeping up his head, holding his arms out to his friend, and the other leaping after him at once, swimming with him, fearing that Damon would perish first. In that way you can appreciate that in the case of Euthydicus too it is no common friend whom I have described.

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TOXARIS Did the men lose their lives, Mnesippus, or were they unaccountably saved, somehow? I am very concerned about them. MNESIPPUS Never fear, Toxaris; they were saved and are now at Athens, both of them, studying philosophy. Simylus, to be sure, could only tell this tale about what he had once seen in the night—the one falling overboard, the other leaping after him, and both swimming as long as he could distinguish them in the darkness. But the sequel was told by Euthydicus himself. In the beginning they came upon some corks on which they supported themselves and kept afloat uncomfortably, but afterwards, seeing the gang plank at last, towards daybreak, they swam to it and then, after climbing upon it, easily drifted to Zacynthos.

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After these friends, who were by no means despicable, I should say, let me tell you now of a third who was not a bit inferior to them. Eudamidas of Corinth had formed friendships with Aretaeus of Corinth and Charixenus of Sicyon, who were both rich, while he was extremely poor. When he died, he left a will which very likely appeared ridiculous to everyone else, but I hardly think it will seem so to you, since you are a good man, a worshipper of friendship, and a competitor for the first prize in it. It was set down in the will: “I leave to Aretaeus my mother to support and cherish in her old age, and to Charixenus my daughter to bestow in marriage with the largest dowry that he can give her out of his own means” (besides an aged mother he had also a daughter, already marriageable); “and if anything should befall either of these men in the meantime, his interest is to go to the other.” When this will was read, all who knew of the poverty of Eudamidas but were unaware of the friendship which he had with the men considered the thing a joke, and every one of them went away laughing. ‘ What a fine fortune Aretaeus and Charixenus, the lucky fellows, are coming into,” said they, “if they must pay out money to Eudamidas and have the dead man inherit from them while they themselves are still alive!”

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The heirs to whom these legacies had been left, on hearing of it, came at once to administer the will. Charixenus, to be sure, outlived his friend only five days; but Aretaeus proved himself the best of legatees. Assuming both his own interest and the other’s, he supported Eudamidas’ mother and also not long ago portioned his daughter off, giving, out of five talents that he had, dowries of two talents to his own daughter and two to his friend’s; moreover, he thought fit that they should both be married on the same day. What is your opinion, Toxaris, of this man Aretaeus? Has he set a bad example of friendship in accepting such legacies and not playing false to his his friend’s last will? Or shall we put him down among those definitely elected as one of the five? TOXARIS Yes, he too is noble; but to me Eudamidas is far more wonderful for the confidence he had in his friends. He made it plain that he himself would have done likewise for them; indeed, he would not have hung back if it had not been set down in a will, but would have presented himself before all the rest as an heir to such bequests by intestate succession.

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MNESIPPUS You are quite right.—As the fourth I shall tell you of Zenothemis, son of Charmolaus, of Massilia. He was pointed out to me in Italy when I was there as an ambassador of my country, a handsome, tall man, and a wealthy one, it seemed. His wife sat beside him as he passed through the street on a chariot; not only was she repulsive in general, but her right side was shrivelled and the eye wanting— a hideously disfigured, unapproachable nightmare. Then, when I expressed my surprise that he, a handsome and attractive man, could endure to have such a woman riding at his side, the person who had pointed him out told me what had made the marriage obligatory. He was accurately informed about it all, for he too was a Massaliote. “Menecrates,” he said, “the father of the misshapen woman yonder, had a friend, Zenothemis, who, like himself, was wealthy and distinguished. In course of time Menecrates had his property confiscated by judicial sentence, when he was disfranchised by the Six Hundred for presenting an unconstitutional measure. That,’ said he, “is the punishment we Massaliotes inflict whenever anyone proposes an unconstitutional enactment. Menecrates was distressed, of course, by the condemnation itself, since in a moment he had become poor instead of rich and dishonoured instead of honoured; but most of all he was worried about this daughter, who was then marriageable, and eighteen; but even with all the wealth which her father had possessed before his condemnation, no well-born man, though poor, would readily have agreed to accept her, so unfortunate was she in her appearance. It was said, too, that she had attacks of the falling sickness when the moon was waxing.

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“When he was lamenting these misfortunes to Zenothemis, the latter said: ‘ Never fear, Menecrates; you shall not lack what you need, and your daughter will find a husband worthy of her lineage.’ As he spoke, he grasped him by the hand, took him home, and shared his great wealth with him. Also, he ordered a dinner prepared and invited his friends, including Menecrates, to a wedding-feast, pretending to have persuaded one of his comrades to promise to marry the girl. When their dinner was over and they had poured the libation to the gods, at that moment Zenothemis held out to him his cup, full of wine, and said: ‘ Accept, Menecrates, the lovingcup from your son-in-law, for I shall this day wed your daughter Cydimache; her dowry I received long ago, amounting to twenty-five talents.’ The other said: ‘No, no, Zenothemis, do not! May I never be so mad as to suffer you, who are young and handsome, to make a match with an ugly, disfigured girl!’ But while he was saying this, Zenothemis picked up the girl bodily and went into his chamber, from which he returned presently, after having made her his wife. “From that time on he has lived with her, cherishing her beyond measure and taking her about with him everywhere, as you see.

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Not only is he unashamed of his marriage, but indeed seems to be proud of it, offering it as proof that he thinks little of physical beauty or ugliness and of wealth and glory, but has. high regard for his friend, for Menecrates, and does not believe that the latter’s worth, as regards friendship, was lessened by the vote of the Six Hundred. Already, however, Fortune has requited him for this conduct. He has had a beautiful boy by this ugly woman; and besides, only recently, when the father took the child in his arms and brought him into the Senate-house wreathed with leaves of olive and dressed in black, in order that he might excite greater pity on behalf of his grandfather, the baby burst into laughter before the senators and clapped his two hands, whereupon the senate, softened by him, set the condemnation aside in favour of Menecrates, so that he is now in full possession of his rights and privileges through employing so tiny an. advocate to present his case to the members in session.” Such are the deeds which, according to the Massaliote, Zenothemis performed for his friend; as you see, they are not trivial, or likely to have been done by many Scythians, who even in the matter of concubines are said to be careful to select the most beautiful.

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We have the fifth remaining, and I do not purpose to forget Demetrius of Sunium and tell of anyone else. Demetrius sailed to Egypt with Antiphilus of Alopece, his friend from boyhood and comrade in their military training. There they lived and studied together; he himself followed the Cynic school of philosophy under that sophist from Rhodes,

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while Antiphilus for his part studied medicine. Well, one time Demetrius happened to have gone into Egypt to see the pyramids and the statue of Memnon, for he had heard that the pyramids, though high, cast no shadow, and that Memnon utters a cry to the rising sun. Eager, therefore, to see the pyramids and tohear Memnon, Demetrius had cruised off up the Nile six months before, leaving behind him Antiphilus, who feared the journey and the heat.

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In the meantime the latter met with a calamity which required a very staunch friend. His slave, Syrus by name and Syrian by nationality, joined certain temple-robbers, and entered the temple of Anubis with them. They robbed the god of two golden libation-bowls, a caduceus, also of gold, some dog-headed figures of silver, and other such matters, all of which they left in trust with Syrus. Then, after their imprisonment (for they were taken when they tried to sell something), they at once told everything when they were broken on the wheel, came under escort to the house of Antiphilus, and fetched out the stolen goods, which were lying under a bed in a dark corner. Consequently Syrus was confined at once, and with him his master, Antiphilus, who was actually seized while he listened to a lecture by his teacher. Nobody came to his assistance; on the contrary, even his erstwhile friends turned their backs upon him on the ground that he had robbed the Anubideum and considered it an act of impiety on their own part if they had ever drunk or eaten with him. Moreover, the two remaining servants bundled up everything in the house and made off.

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Poor Antiphilus therefore remained in confinement for a long time, regarded as the most villainous of all the malefactors that there were in the prison, and the Egyptian keeper, a superstitious fellow, thought to gratify and avenge his god by exercising his authority over Antiphilus with a heavy hand. Whenever he defended himself, saying that he had not done anything of the sort, he was thought brazen-faced, and was detested much more for it. Consequently, he sickened at length and was ill, as might be expected in view of the fact that he slept on the ground and at night could not even stretch out his legs, which were confined in the stocks. By day, to be sure, the collar was sufficient, together with manacles upon one hand; but for the night he had to be fully secured by his bonds. Moreover, the stench of the room and its stifling air (since many were confined in the same place, cramped for room, and scarcely able to draw breath), the clash of iron, the scanty sleep—all these conditions were difficult and intolerable for such a man, unwonted to them and unschooled to a life so rigorous.

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He was giving up the struggle and refusing even to take food when Demetrius came back, knowing nothing of what had happened until then. As soon as he found out, he set off, just as he was, straight for the prison at arun. At that time, however, he was not admitted, for it was evening and the keeper had long ago locked the door and gone to sleep, after directing his servants to keep watch; but in the morning he obtained admission by vehement entreaty. After entering he made a long search for Antiphilus, who had become unrecognisable through his miseries. He went about examining each of the prisoners just as people do who seek out their own dead amon the altered bodies on battle-fields. Indeed, had he not called his name aloud, ‘ Antiphilus, son of Deinomenes,” he would not for a long time have known which was he, so greatly had he been changed by his dire straits. But Antiphilus, hearing his voice, cried out; and, as Demetrius approached, he parted his long hair, all unkempt and matted, drew it away from his face, and so disclosed his identity. At once both fell in a faint at the unexpected sight. After a time Demetrius brought both himself and Antiphilus to their senses, and ascertained from him definitely how everything stood. Then he bade him have no fear, and tearing his short cloak in two, put on one of the halves himself and gave the remainder to Antiphilus, after stripping from him the filthy, worn-out rags that he was wearing.

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From that time forth, too, he shared his life in every way, attending and cherishing him; for by hiring himself out to the shipmen in the harbour from early morning until noon, he earned a good deal of money as a stevedore. Then, on returning from his work, he would give part of his pay to the keeper, thus rendering him tractable and peaceful, and the rest sufficed well enough for the maintenance of his friend. Each afternoon he remained with Antiphilus, keeping him in heart; and when night overtook him, he ‘sept just in front of the prison door, where he had made a place to lie and had put down some leaves. For some time they carried on in this way, Demetrius coming in without hindrance and Antiphilus bearing his misfortune more lightly.

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But later, after a certain brigand had died in the prison (by poison, it was thought) a close guard was instituted, and not one of those who sought admission could enter the gaol any longer. Perplexed and distressed over this situation, as he had no other way to be with his comrade, he went to the governor and incriminated himself, alleging that he had been an accomplice in the attempt upon Anubis. When he had made that statement, he was haled straight to prison, and on being brought in with Antiphilus, he managed with difficulty, by dint of urgent entreaties addressed to the warden, to obtain from him one concession, at least—that of being confined near Antiphilus and in the same set of irons. Then indeed, more than any other time, he displayed the affection which he had for him, neglecting his own adversities (though he himself had fallen ill) but taking care that Antiphilus should sleep as well as possible and should suffer less distress. So they bore their discomforts more easily by sharing them with each other.

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In time an accident occurred which relieved them from further misfortune. One of the men in irons, having somehow obtained possession of a file and enlisted many of the prisoners in a plot, cut the chain to which they were all attached in a row, with their fetters strung upon it, and so set them allfree; whereupon they easily killed the guards, who were few, and escaped together. Well, those others scattered at once, going wherever each one of them could, and afterwards were arrested, most of them. Demetrius and Antiphilus, however, remained where they were, and seized Syrus just as he was about to go. When daylight came, as soon as the prefect of Egypt learned what had happened, hesent men tohunt down the others, but summoned Demetrius and his friend and freed them from imprisonment, praising them because they alone did not run away. They were not the men, however, to be content with being released in that way. Demetrius cried out and made a great stir, saying that grave injustice was being done them, since it would be thought that they were criminals, and were being released by way of mercy or commendation because they had not run away; and at length they forced the magistrate to undertake an accurate investigation of the affair. When he discovered that they were not guilty, he commended them, expressing very great admiration for Demetrius, and in dismissing them condoled with them over the punishment which they had undergone through their unjust imprisonment and presented each of them with a gift out of his own pocket, Antiphilus with ten thousand drachmas and Demetrius with twice as much.

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Antiphilus is still in Egypt, but Demetrius left his own twenty thousand to his friend and went away to India, to join the Brahmans, merely saying to Antiphilus that he might fairly be held excusable for leaving him now; for he himself would not want the money as long as he remained what he was, able to content himself with little, and Antiphilus would not need a friend any longer, since his circumstances had become easy. That, Toxaris, is what Greek friends are like. If you had not previously calumniated us as priding ourselves greatly upon words, I should have repeated for you the very speech, a long one and a good one, that Demetrius made in the court-room, not defending himself at all but only Antiphilus; weeping, moreover, and imploring, and taking the whole thing upon himself until Syrus under the lash exonerated both of them.

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I have told you these few instances out of a greater number (the first that my memory supplied), of friends that were good and true; and now, dismounting from my steed, I yield the word henceforth to you. How you are to make out that your Scythians are not worse, but much better than these men, will be your own look-out, if you are at all concerned about your right hand, for fear of having it cut off. But you must show yourself a man of prowess, for you would put yourself in a laughable position if, after your very expert laudation of Orestes and Pylades, you should reveal yourself a poor spokesman on behalf of Scythia. TOXARIS Well done, Mnesippus! You are giving me - encouragement for my speech, as if it did not matter at all to you whether you get the worst of it in our dispute and have your tongue docked. However, I shall begin at once, without any display of fine words such as you have made; for that is not a Scythian habit, especially when the deeds speak louder than the words. And do not expect from us anything like what you told of when you commended a man if he married an ugly wife without a dowry, or if he gave money to the amount of two talents to the daughter of 'a friend on her marriage, or even, by Zeus, if he allowed himself to be imprisoned when it was obvious that he would soon be released; for those are very paltry matters, and there is nothing of greatness or bravery in them.

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I shall tell you of many deeds of blood and battles and deaths for the sake of friends, that you may know the achievements of your people to be child’s play in comparison with those of the Scythians. Yet it is not unaccountable that this is so with you Greeks, but natural for you to praise these trivial matters; for you lack, you entirely lack momentous occasions for the display, of friendship, living as you do in profound peace. Just so in calm weather a man cannot tell whether his sailing-master is good; hé will need a storm to determine that. With us, however, wars are continuous, and we are always either invading the territory of others, or withdrawing before invaders, or meeting in battle over pasturage or stolen cattle, where need for good friends is greatest; and for that reason we cement our friendships as strongly as we can, thinking this to be the only irresistible and unconquerable weapon of war.

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First of all, I wish to tell you how we make our friends. Not through boon-companionship, as you do, nor because a man has been a comrade of ours in military training or a neighbour. No, when we see a brave man, capable of great achievements, we all make after him, and we think fit to behave in forming friendships as you do in seeking brides, paying them protracted court and doing everything in their company to the end that we may not fall short of attaining their friendship or be thought to deserve rejection. And whena man has been singled out and is at last a friend, there ensue formal compacts and the most solemn of oaths that we will not only live with one another but die, if need be, for each other; and we do just that. For, once we have cut our fingers, let the blood drip into a cup, dipped our sword-points into it, and then, both at once, have set it to our lips and drunk, there is nothing thereafter that can dissolve the bond between us.

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_ We are permitted at most to enter into three such compacts, since a man of many friends resembles, we think, promiscuous women with their lovers, and we consider that his friendship is no longer of the same strength when it has been split up into a multitude of loyalties.

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I shall begin with the affair of Dandamis, which happened recently. In our engagement with the Sauromatae, when Amizoces had been taken prisoner, his friend Dandamis—but stay! first let me take my oath for you in our way, since that also was part of the agreement that I made with you in the beginning. I swear by Wind and Glaive that I shall tell you no falsehood, Mnesippus, about Scythian friends. MNESIPPUS I scarcely felt the need of your swearing, but you did well to avoid taking oath by any god! TOXARIS What is that you say? Do you not think Wind and Glaive are gods? Were you really so unaware that there is nothing more important to mankind than life and death? Well then, when we swear by Wind and Glaive, we do so because the wind is the source of life, and the glaive the cause of death.Herodotus alludes to Scythian sword-worship (IV, 62), but says nothing of their worshipping the wind, which Rostovtzeff takes to be an invention of Lucian’s. MNESIPPUS Well, really, if that is the reason, you could have many other such gods as Glaive is—Arrow, Spear, Poison, Halter, and the like; for this god Death takes many shapes and puts at our disposal an infinite number of roads that lead to him. TOXARIS Don’t you see how it smacks of sophists bickering and lawyers in court for you to act this way, interrupting and spoiling my story? I kept still while you were talking. MNESIPPUS I won’t do it again, anyhow, Toxaris, for you were quite right in your reproof. Therefore, you may proceed confidently, as if I were not even here while you are talking, so silent shall I be for you.

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TOXARIS The friendship of Dandamis and Amizoces was three days old, counting from the time when they drank each other’s blood, when the Sauromatae descended upon our country with ten thousand horse; and the foot came over the border, it was said, in thrice that number. As our people had not foreseen their attack, they not only routed us completely when they fell upon us, but slew many of the fighting men and took the rest prisoners, except one or another who succeeded in swimming over to the other side of the river, where we had half our encampment and part of the wagons; for that was the way in which we had pitched our tents at the time, since for some reason unknown to me it had seemed good to the leaders of our horde—on both banks of the Tanais.This dates the tale’s origin at a time when the Scythians and the Sauromatae, or Sarmatians, faced each other on opposite’sides of the Don, as Rostovtzeff has pointed out. At once they began to round up the cattle, secure the prisoners, plunder the tents, and seize the wagons, taking most of them with all their occupants and offering violence to our concubines and wives before our very eyes; and we were distressed over the situation.

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But as Amizoces was being dragged away—for he had been taken—he called upon his friend by name because of his disgraceful captivity

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and reminded him of the cup and the blood. When Dandamis heard that, without an instant’s hesitation, under the eyes of everyone he swam over to the enemy. The Sauromatae rushed at him with brandished javelins, intending to spear him to death, but he called out “Zirin.”” If anyone says that, he is not killed by them, but is received as coming to offer ransom.

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On being brought up to the leader, he demanded his friend back, but the man asked for ransom; he would not let him go, he said, unless he got a great deal for him. Dandamis replied: “All that I had has been carried off by your people; but if in any way I can make payment as I stand, I am ready to proffer it to you. Lay on me whatever command you will; if you like, take me in his place and use me as you please.” The Sauromatian answered: “There is no need for you to put yourself completely in our power, especially when you come as Zirin; pay part of what you possess, and take away your friend.” Dandamis asked what he would have; whereupon the other demanded his eyes, and at once he allowed them to be put out. When that had been done and the Sauromatae had their ransom, taking Amizoces, he set off for home leaning upon him, and by. swimming across together they got back to us in safety.

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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.

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What similar deed, Mnesippus, could you mention, even if you were allowed to enumerate ten more instances over and above your five, unsupported by oath, if you liked, so that you might adorn them with plenty of fiction? Then too, I have told you the naked facts; but if you were describing anyone like that, I know very well how many embellishments you would intersperse in the story, telling how Dandamis pleaded, how he was blinded, what he said, how he returned, how he was received with laudation by the Scythians, and other matters such as you Greeks are in the habit of manufacturing to gratify your hearers.

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But let me tell you about another man equally honoured, Belitta, cousin of that same Amizoces. He saw that his friend Basthes had been dragged off his horse by a lion (it chanced that they were hunting together), and already the lion, lying upon him, had fastened upon his throat and was tearing him

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with his claws. Springing to the ground, he attacked the animal from behind and tried to draw him away, provoking him, diverting his attention, inserting his fingers between his teeth, and endeavouring in every possible way to extract Basthes from the grip of his jaws, until at last the lion left Basthes halfdead and turning upon Belitta, seized and killed him. In dying, however, he at least succeeded in stabbing the lion in the breast with his sword, so that they all died together, and in burying them we made two barrows in close proximity, one for the friends and one facing it for the lion.

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The third friendship of which I shall tell you, Mnesippus, is that of Macentes, Lonchates, and Arsacomas. This Arsacomas fell in love with Mazaea, the daughter of Leucanor, who had become king in Bosporus,

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when he was there on a mission regarding the tribute which is regularly paid us by the people of Bosporus but at that time was more than two months overdue. Well, at the banquet he caught sight of Mazaea, a tall and beautiful girl, instantly fell in love with her and was hard hit. The matter of the contributions had been settled

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already, and the king was giving him audience and entertaining him in connection with his dismissal. It is customary, however, in Bosporus for suitors to bespeak brides at dinner and tell who they are that they should think themselves worthy of acceptance, and at this time it chanced that many of them were at the banquet, kings and the sons of kings; Tigrapates the dynast of the Lazi was there, and Adyrmachus, the ruler of Machlyene, and many others. Each of the suitors, after announcing that he has come to propose, must then take dinner, lying in his place among the others, in silence; but when they have finished dinner, he must call for a goblet of wine, pour a drink-offering upon the table, and sue for the girl’s hand, commending himself freely according to his standing in family or wealth or power.

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Many, therefore, in accordance with this usage had poured their libation, made their request, and enumerated their kingdoms and treasures. Then, last of all, Arsacomas asked for the cup. He did not make libation, for it is not our custom to pour out our wine; on the contrary, we hold that to be an offence to the god. Instead, he drank it out at a single draught, and said: “O King, give me your daughter Mazaea for my wife, since I am a much better match than these men, at least in point of wealth and property.”” Leucanor was surprised, for he knew that Arsacomas was poor and just an ordinary Scythian, and he asked: “How many cattle and how many wagons have you, Arsacomas, since they constitute the wealth of your people?” “Why,’ said he, “I own no wagons or herds, but I have two noble friends, such as no other Scythian has.” Well, at the time they laughed at him on account of this remark and ignored him, thinking that he was drunk; Adyrmachus was preferred, and in the morning was to take away his bride along Lake Maeotis to the Machlyans.

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But Arsacomas returned home and informed his friends how he had been dishonoured by the king and laughed at in the banquet because he was considered poor. “And yet,” said he, “I told him what riches I possess in you two, Lonchates and Macentes, and that your devotion was better and more lasting than sovereignty over the people of Bosporus. But in spite of my saying this, he ridiculed and contemned us, and gave the maiden to Adyrmachus the Machlyan to take away, because he was said to own ten golden goblets, eighty four-bunk wagons, and many sheep and cattle. So far above brave men did he value great flocks and herds, artistic drinking-cups, and heavy wagons. “Now for my part, my friends, I am doubly distressed, for not only do I love Mazaea but this insult in the presence of so many men has affected me deeply. And I think that you also have been equally injured, for a third of the disgrace belonged to each of us, since we live in the understanding that from the time when we came together we have been but as one man, distressed by the same things, pleased by the same things.” “Not only that,” Lonchates added, “but each of us is completely disgraced in your suffering such treatment.”

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“How, then, shall we handle the situation?” said Macentes. “Let us divide the task between us,” Lonchates replied; “I engage to bring Arsacomas the head of Leucanor, and you must fetch his bride home to him.” “Very well,” said the other; “and in the meantime, Arsacomas, as it is likely that we shall presently need to take the field and go to war, you, awaiting us here, should collect and make ready arms, horses, and a very large force. You might very easily enlist many, since you yourself are brave and we have plenty of relatives, and it would be especially easy if you should sit on the ox-hide.” Those plans were approved, and Lonchates, just as he was, made straight for Bosporus, while Macentes headed for the Machlyans, both of them mounted. Arsacomas, remaining at home, held conferences with his comrades and armed a force recruited from his relatives; then at last he sat upon the hide.

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Our custom in the matter of the hide is as follows. When a man who has been wronged by another wishes to avenge himself but sees that by himself he is not strong enough, he sacrifices a bull, cuts up and cooks the meat, spreads the hide out on the ground, and sits on it, with his hands held behind his back like a man bound by the elbows. That is our strongest appeal for aid. The meat of the bull is served up, and as the man’s kinsmen and all else who wish approach, each takes a portion of it, and then, setting his right foot upon the hide, makes a pledge according to his ability, one that he will furnish five horsemen to serve without rations or pay, another ten, another still more, another foot-soldiers, heavy- armed or light-armed, as many as he can, and another simply himself, if he is very poor. So a very large force is sometimes raised on the hide, and such an army is especially dependable as regards holding together and very hard for the enemy to conquer, since it is under oath; for setting foot on the hide is an oath.Lucian is our only authority for this curious custom; the allusions to it in Suidas and the paroemiographi (Gaisford, Bodl. 355, Coisl. 207; Leutech, Append. II, 80, Apostol. VII, 75) are mere quotations from Lucian, and Gilbert Cognatus’ mysterious reference to “Zenodotus” and “the ox of the Homolotti” derives (by way of Erasmus, Adagia: “Bos Homolottorum”) from Zenobius, II, 83: βοῦς ὁ Μολοτ- τῶν! That the Molossian custom of cutting up (but not eating) an ox in connection with making treaties has nothing to do with the Scythian usage is clear from the more detailed explanation of it in Coisl. 57 (Gaisford, p. 126). Arsacomas, then, was thus engaged; and he raised some five thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, heavy-armed and light-armed together.

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Lonchates in the meantime entered Bosporus unrecognised, approached the king while he was attending to a matter of government, and said that he came with a message from the Scythian commonwealth, but also in his private capacity brought him important news. When he was bidden to speak, he said: ‘The Scythians make one of their ordinary, every-da’ requests, that your herdsmen shall not encroac upon the plain but shall graze only as far as the stony ground; and they say that the cattle-lifters whom you charge with overrunning your country are not sent out by order of the state but steal for profit, each on his own account; if any one of them should be captured, you have full authority to punish him. That is their message.

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But on my own part, I give you notice that a great attack upon you is about to be made by Arsacomas, the son of Mariantes, who came to you recently on a mission, and—no doubt because he asked you for your daughter and did not obtain his request from you— is incensed; he has been sitting on the hide for six days now,It should not be inferred that it has taken Lonchates all this time to reach the city and its king. As the king has heard of the Scythian mustering before Lonchates sees him, it is evident that there was some delay, whether accidental or deliberate, and has collected a great host.” “I myself,” said Leucanor, “had heard that a force was being raised on the hide, but did not know that it is being formed against us or that Arsacomas is the organiser of it.” “Why,” said Lonchates, “the preparations are directed at youin person. But Arsacomas is no friend of mine, bearing a grudge against me because I am held in higher regard by our dignitaries and considered in all respects a better man. If you will promise me your other daughter, Barcetis, since even on other grounds I am not unworthy of alliance with you, before lon I will come and bring you his head.” “I promise,” said the king, who had become thoroughly alarmed because he recognised the just ground for the anger of Arsacomas in connection with his proposal of marriage; and besides, he stood in perpetual dread of the Scythians. Lonchates replied: “Swear that you will keep the agreement, and will not go back on your word then, when the thing is done.”” When the king lifted his hands toward Heaven and was in purpose to swear, the other said: “Not here, for fear that some onlooker may suspect the reason of our oath. No, let us enter the sanctuary of Ares yonder and lock the doors before we swear; and let nobody hear us! If Arsacomas should get any knowledge of this, I am afraid that he may initiate the war by making a victim of me, as he is already surrounded by a large band.” “Let us enter,’ responded the king. ‘Gentlemen, withdraw as far as possible, and let no one present himself in the temple who is not summoned by me.” When they had entered and the guardsmen had withdrawn, Lonchates drew his sword, clapped one hand over the king’s mouth, that he might not cry out, and stabbed him in the breast. Then he cut off his head and carried it out (ith him under his cloak, keeping up, as he did so, a pretended conversation with him and saying that he would return speedily, as if he had been sent by the king to fetch something. Getting in this way to the place where he had left his horse tied, he mounted and rode off to Scythia. There was no pursuit of him, since the Bosporans remained long in ignorance of what had happened, and when they did find out about it, they fell to squabbling over the throne.

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That, then, is what Lonchates did, and so fulfilled his promise to Arsacomas by giving him the head of Leucanor. As for Macentes, while on his way he had heard what had happened in Bosporus, and. when he reached the Machlyans was the first to report to them the tidings of the king’s death,It should not be inferred that it has taken Lonchates all this time to reach the city and its king. As the king has heard of the Scythian mustering before Lonchates sees him, it is evident that there was some delay, whether accidental or deliberate, week or more (p. 183 and note) has elapsed before Macentes reaches the Machlyans, yet he returns in less than forty-eight hours, riding night and day, to be sure, but with the horse earrying double and therefore obliged to rest frequently. adding: “And the city, Adyrmachus, calls you to the throne, as his son-in-law; so you yourself must ride on ahead and take over the government, appear- ing suddenly in the midst of things while they are unsettled; but the girl must follow you in your wagontrain, for in that way it will be easier for you to win over the common people in Bosporus, after they have seen the daughter of Leucanor. For myself, I am an Alan, and also related to the girl through her mother, since Masteira, whom Leucanor married, was of our people; and I come to you now on the part of Masteira’s brothers in the country of the Alans, who urge you to ride with all speed to Bosporus and not to let the government go over to Eubiotus, who being the illegitimate brother of Leucanor, is always friendly to the Scythians and detests the Alans.”Abridgement seems to enter here; for the fact that Eubiotus is the illegitimate brother of Leucanor does not in itself adequately account for his attitude toward the Scythians and the Alans. Was his mother a Scythian, or perhaps a Sarmatian? At this time he is living among the Sarmatians (§ 54). Macentes was able to say this because he wore the same dress and spoke the same tongue as the Alans. These characteristics are common to Alans and Scythians, except that the Alans do not wear their hair very long, as the Scythians do. Macentes, however, had made himself resemble them in this also, and had docked his hair by as much as an Alan’s would probably be shorter than a Scythian’s. Therefore he was believed, and was thought to be a relative of Masteira and Mazaea.

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“Now then, Adyrmachus,” said he, “I am ready to ride with you to Bosporus, if you wish, or to remain, if necessary, and conduct the girl.” “That,” said Adyrmachus, “is what I should like better—that as you are of her blood, you should conduct Mazaea. For if you go with us to Bosporus, we should gain but a single horseman; but if you should conduct my wife, you would be as good as many.” That was put into effect, and he rode off, leaving it to Macentes to conduct Mazaea, who was still a maid. And he did indeed escort her upon her wagon during the day; but when night overtook them, he set her upon his horse—he had seen to it that only one other horseman should attend themMacentes comes alone; this single horseman is therefore presumably a Machlyan, and hostile. What, then, becomes of him? Only implications enlighten us. For some reason Macentes does not do the obvious thing—kill him at night and take his horse. Either he eludes them, or they elude him; and instead of following them, he posts ahead to overtake Adyrmachus with the news (§ 54). — himself leaped to his seat, and instead of continuing to ride along the shore of Lake Maecotis, turned off into the interior, taking on his right the mountains of the Mitraeans. Stopping only at intervals to allow the girl to rest, on the third day he succeeded in reaching Scythia from Machlyene; his horse, on ceasing to run, stood still for a moment and fell dead,

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while Macentes, delivering Mazaea to Arsacomas, said: “Accept from me also the fulfilment of my promise!” Arsacomas was amazed at the unexpectedness of that sight, and tried to express his gratitude, but Macentes said: “Stop making me a different person from yourself! To express gratitude to me for what I have done in this is just as if my left hand should be grateful to my right for ministering to it when it had been wounded and taking care of it fondly while it was weak. So with us—it would be ridiculous if, after having fused ourselves together long ago and united, as far as we could, into a single person, we should continue to think it a great thing if this or that part of us has done something useful in behalf of the whole body; for it was working in its own behalf as a part of the whole organism to which the good was being done.” This, then, was the reply of Macentes to Arsacomas when he expressed his gratitude.

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But when Adyrmachus heard of the stratagem, instead of going on to Bosporus, inasmuch as Eubiotus had been summoned from the Sauromatae, with whom he was living, and was already on the throne, he returned to his own country, and after assembling a great army, advanced through the hill-country into Scythia. Eubiotus, too, presently made an incursion with his Greeks in full force and allied levies of Alans and Sauromatae numbering twenty thousand from each. After Eubiotus and Adyrmachus had combined their armies, they amounted in all to ninety thousand, a third of them mounted archers. For our part (and I say our, because I myself took part in their expedition, having offered on the hide at that time a hundred self-supporting horsemen) we had raised not much less than thirty thousand, including the horsemen, and were awaiting their onset; our commander was Arsacomas. When we saw them coming on, we marched forward to meet them, sending our horsemen out in advance. After a long and hard-fought battle, our side in time began to give ground, the phalanx began to break, and at last the entire Scythian force was cut in two. One part began to withdraw, but it was not at all certain that they were beaten; indeed, their flight was considered a retreat, for even the Alans did not venture to pursue them any distance. The other, smaller part was surrounded by the Alans and Machlyans, who were hammering it from all sides, loosing arrows and javelins without stint; so that those of us who had been surrounded were suffering severely, and the rank and file were already throwing away their arms.

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Lonchates and Macentes happened to be in this part, and had already received wounds from fighting in the front ranks, Lonchates in the thigh with the spike of a spear-butt, Macentes on the head with an axe and on the shoulder with a javelin. When Arsacomas, who was with us others, perceived that, thinking it would be dreadful if he should go away and abandon his friends, he put spurs to his horse, gave a great shout, and charged among the enemy with uplifted battle-axe, so that the Machlyans could not even face the fury of his wrath but separated and allowed him to go through. He encouraged his friends and rallied all the others, then rushed at Adyrmachus, struck him at the base of the neck with his axe, and clove him to the belt. Upon his fall they gave way—the whole Machlyan force first, the Alans not long afterwards, and the Greeks next. So we had the upper hand once more, and might have pursued them for a long distance, killing them, if night had not ended the business. On the next day men came to us as suppliants from the enemy and asked us to make friends; the Bosporans promised to pay us twice as much tribute, the Machlyans said that they would give hostages, and the Alans to make up for that attack undertook to help us by subduing the Sindians, who had revolted some time previously. On those terms we assented, but only after the approval of Arsacomas and Lonchates had been given;Macentes would seem to have died of his wounds, though Lucian does not say so. It may be noted, too, that although the Sauromatians contributed 20,000 men to the invading force, we hear nothing of their part either in the battle or in the settlement. and when the treaty of peace was made, they negotiated the details. Such are the deeds, Mnesippus, that Scythians dare to do for their friends.

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MNESIPPUS They are very dramatic, Toxaris, and quite like fables. May Glaive and Wind, by whom you swore, be good to me, but really, if one were to disbelieve them, one would not seem very open to criticism. TOXARIS But see to it, my gallant adversary, that your disbelief is not jealousy! Nevertheless, I am not the man to let your disbelieving me deter me from telling you other such deeds that I know to have been done by Scythians. MNESIPPUS Only don’t let them be too protracted, my excellent friend, and don’t use such an unembarrassed flow of speech; for as it is, by running hither and thither through Scythia and Machlyene, and by going off to Bosporus and then coming back again, you have taken very liberal advantage of my silence. TOXARIS In this too I must obey your dictates; I must speak briefly so that I shall not have you getting completely tired out by following me all about with your attention.

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No, rather let me tell you how I myself was assisted by a friend named Sisinnes. When I was going away from home to Athens by reason of my desire for Greek culture, I put in at Amastris, on the Black Sea; the city is a port of call for those sailing this way from Scythia, not far distant from Carambis. I was accompanied by Sisinnes, who had been my companion from childhood. After looking out a lodging near the port and transferring our effects to it from the vessel, we went shopping, without suspecting any mischief. In the meantime thieves pried the door open and carried off everything, so as not to leave even enough to suffice for that day. When we returned home and found out what had happened, we did not think it best to proceed against the neighbours, who were numerous, or against our host, fearing that we should be accounted blackmailers in public opinion if we said that someone had robbed us of four hundred darics, a great deal of clothing, some rugs, and all the other things that we had.

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So we discussed the situation to see what we should do, now that we had become absolutely penniless in a strange country. My own thought was to plunge my sword into my side forthwith, and make my exit from life before enduring any unseemly experience under the pressure of hunger or thirst, but Sisinnes encouraged me and begged me not to do anything of that sort, for he himself would discover a means of our having enough to live on. That day, therefore, he carried lumber in from the port and came back with supplies for us which he had procured with his wages. But the next morning, while going about in the market-place he saw a sort of procession, as he put it, of high-spirited, handsome young men. These had been enrolled to fight duels for hire and were to settle their combats on the next day but one. Well, he found out all about them, and then came to me, saying: “Toxaris, you need not call yourself a poor man any longer; on the day after to-morrow I shall make you rich.”

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Those were his words; accordingly, we eked out a wretched existence during the interval, and when at length the spectacle began we were there looking on, for taking me with him on the pretext of going to see a Greek show that would be enjoyable and novel, he had brought me to the theatre. We took our seats, and first we saw wild beasts brought down with javelins, hunted with dogs, and loosed upon men in chains—criminals, we conjectured. Then the gladiators entered, and the herald, bringing in a tall youth, said that whoever wanted to fight with that man should come forward, and would receive ten thousand drachmas in payment for the encounter. Thereupon Sisinnes arose, and, leaping down, undertook to fight and requested arms. On receiving his pay, the ten thousand drachmas, he promptly put it in my hands, saying: “If I win, Toxaris, we shall go away together, with all that we need; but if I fall, bury me and go back to Scythia.”

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While I was lamenting over this, he was given his armour and fastened it on, except that he did not put on the helmet but took position bareheaded and fought that way. He himself received the first wound, an under-cut in the back of the thigh, dealt with a curved sword, so that blood flowed copiously. For my part, I was already as good as dead in my fright. But he waited until his opponent rushed upon him too confidently; then he stabbed him in the breast and ran him through, so that on the instant he fell at his feet. Himself labouring under his wound, he sat down upon the body and his life almost left him, but I, running up, revived and inspirited him. When at length he was dismissed as victor, I picked him up and carried him to our lodgings. After long treatment he survived and still lives in Scythia, with my sister as his wife; he is lame, however, from his wound. That, Mnesippus, did not happen either in Machlyene or among the Alans, so as to be unattested and possible to disbelieve; there are many Amastrians here who remember the fight of Sisinnes.

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As the fifth, I shall tell you the deed of Abauchas, and then I shall stop. Once upon a time this man Abauchas came to the city of the Borysthenites,

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bringing his wife, of whom he was exceptionally fond, and two children, one of whom, a boy, was a child in arms, while the other, a girl, was seven years old. There came with him also a companion of his, Gyndanes, who was ill of a wound which he had received on the way from robbers who had attacked them. In fighting with them he had got a thrust in the thigh, so that he could not even stand for the pain of it. During the night, as they slept— they chanced to be living in an upper story—a great fire broke out, every avenue of escape was being cut off, and the flames were encompassing the house on all sides. At that juncture Abauchas woke up; abandoning his crying children, shaking off his wife

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as she hung upon him and urging her to save herself, he carried his comrade down and managed to burst through at a place which the fire had not yet completely burned away. His wife, carrying the baby, followed, telling the girl too to come along. Halfburned, she let the child fall from her arms and barely leaped through the flames, and with her the little girl, who also came very near losing her life. When someone afterwards rebuked Abauchas for abandoning his wife and children but bringing out Gyndanes, he said: “Why, I can easily have other children, and it was uncertain whether these would be good for anything but I could not in a long time find another friend like Gyndanes, who has given me abundant proof of his devotion.”

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I have finished, Mnesippus, the story of these five, whom I have selected out of many. And now it is perhaps time to decide which of us is to have either his tongue or his right hand cut off, as the case may be. Who, then, will be our judge? MNESIPPUS No one at all; for we did not appoint any judge of the debate. “But do you know what we ought to do? Since this time we have shot into the void, let us some other day choose an umpire and in his presence tell of other friends; then, whichever of us gets beaten shall at that time have his tongue cut off if it be I, or his right hand if it be you. Or, if that is crude, inasmuch as you have resolved to extol friendship and I myself think that men have no other possession better or nobler than this, why should not we ourselves make an agreement with each other to be friends from this instant and remain so for ever, content that both have won and thereby have obtained magnificent prizes, since instead of a single tongue or a single right hand each of us will get two, and what is more, two pairs of eyes and of feet; in a word, everything multiplied by two? For the union of two or three friends is like the pictures of Geryon that artists exhibit—a man with six hands and three heads. Indeed, to my mind Geryon was three persons acting together in all things, as is right if they are really friends.

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TOXARIS Good! let us do so. MNESIPPUS But let us not feel the need of blood, Toxaris, or any sword to confirm our friendship. This conversation of ours just now and the similarity of our ideals are far more dependable sureties than that cup which your people drink, since achievements like these require resolution rather than compulsion, it seems to me. TOXARIS I approve all this; so let us now be friends and each the other’s host, you mine here in Hellas and I yours if ever you should come to Scythia. MNESIPPUS Truly you may be very sure that I shall not hesitate to go even farther if I am to meet such friends as you, Toxaris, have clearly shown me that you are, by what you have said.

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