Adyrmachos, when he heard of the fraud, did
not continue his journey to the Bosporos, for
Eubiotos was already installed in office, having
been summoned from Sauromatia, where he was
sojourning. He returned home, collected a great
army, and marched through the hill-country upon
Scythia. Soon after, Eubiotos, too, made an attack, leading a rabble of Greeks and picked
troops from Alania and Sauromatia, forty thousand
strong. He and Adyrmachos joined forces,
thus forming an army of ninety thousand men, of
whom a third were mounted archers. But wefor I, too, had a share in their rising, and contributed a hundred found horsemen on the occasion
of the ox-hide-assembled to the number of nearly thirty thousand, counting the horsemen, and
awaited the onset. Arsakomas was in command.
When we saw them coming we advanced to
meet them, sending the cavalry against them first.
When the battle had been fiercely waged a long
time our side began to give in. Our phalanx was
gradually broken into, and finally the whole Scythian army was cut in two, and one part retired,
not distinctly worsted, however; indeed, their
flight looked like an orderly retreat, and even the
Alanians did not dare to pursue them far. But
the Machlyeans and Alanians surrounded the other half, which was the smaller, and cut them down
in every direction with a generous discharge of
arrows and darts, so that the surrounded were
almost exhausted, and most of them were already
throwing down their arms.
As it happened, both
Lonchates and Makentes were in this division,
and they had both been wounded already through
their hardihood-Lonchates in the thigh with the
butt-end of a lance, and Makentes in the head
with an axe, and in the shoulder with the shaft
of a pike.
When Arsakomas, who was with us in the other division, perceived this, he felt that it would
be a shocking thing if he were to go off and leave
his friends behind, so he clapped spurs to his
horse, and, raising a shout, rode through the enemy, waving his sword on high, so that the Machlyëans could not withstand the rush of his
courage, but fell apart and gave way to him to
pass through. When he had recovered his friends
and heartened up the others, he darted upon
Adyrmachos, and, striking him in the neck with
his sword, cleft him to the belt. At his fall the
whole force of the Machyleans fell into disorder,
and then the Alanians and the Greeks followed
suit, so that we began to have the advantage,
and we should have gone on killing for a long
time if night had not robbed us of the business.
On the following day suppliants came from
the enemy asking for peace, the Bosporians promising to pay double their tribute, the Machlyëans
saying that they would give hostages, and the
Alanians agreeing to subdue for us as indemnity
for that invasion, the Sindianoi, who had been at
feud with us for a long time. On these terms we
made a treaty, as had been agreed upon much
earlier by Arsakomas and Lonchates, and peace
was made under the direction of these men.
Such deeds, Mnesippos, the Scythians dare do
for friends.
Very tragical and romance-like.
But may the Sword and the Wind, by whom you
swore, have mercy on me; for I do not think a
man would be much to blame if he should disbelieve your tales.
Beware, my friend, lest your doubt be
envy. Doubt as you will, you will not keep me
from telling other such deeds of Scythians that I
know of.
Only not at great length, my dear
fellow, nor using such unbridled words. You
abused my silence to run up and down through
Scythia and Machlyëne, and off to the Bosporos
and back again.
I must obey your commands even in
this, and speak briefly lest you weary of following me about with your ears.
But hear what
services I myself received from a friend named
Sisinnes. When I left home and went to Athens,
through my desire for a Greek education, I put
in at Amastris, on the Pontos; for ships from
Scythia call there, the city being not far from
Karambis. Sisinnes accompanied me, my friend
from childhood. We spied a sort of lodginghouse near the harbor, and, removing our luggage
into it from the ship, we went out to stroll in the
market-lace, suspecting no evil. But in the
mean time some thieves forced the bolt and carried off everything, leaving us not even enough to
get through the day with.
Now when we came
home and found what had happened, we felt it
would not do to accuse the neighbors, for there
were many of them, or the landlord, for we were
afraid most people would think us sharpers if we
said that some one had robbed us of fifteen hundred dollars, a great deal of clothing, some rugs,
and everything else we had.