“Since, O King, you are about to march against a country where you will not find tilled lands or inhabited cities, let this bridge stay where it is, leaving those who made it to guard it.

Thus, if we find the Scythians and do what we want, we have a way of return; and even if we do not find them, at least our way back is safe; for my fear has never been that we shall be overcome by the Scythians in the field, but rather that we may not be able to find them, and so go astray to our harm.