acle
is being accomplished for us, now it is time for us to act." So the
Paionians attacked the Perinthians when they had raised the shout of
paion, and they had much the better in the fight, and left but few of
them alive.

2. Thus it happened with respect to those things which had been done to
them in former times by the Paionians; and at this time, although the
Perinthians proved themselves brave men in defence of their freedom,
the Persians and Megabazos got the better of them by numbers. Then after
Perinthos had been conquered, Megabazos marched his army through the
length of Thracia, forcing every city and every race of those who
dwell there to submit to the king, for so it had been commanded him by
Dareios, to subdue Thracia.

3. Now the Thracian race is the most numerous, except the Indians, in
all the world: and if it should come to be ruled over by one man, or
to agree together in one, it would be irresistible in fight and the
strongest by far of all nations, in my opinion. Since however this is
impossible for them and cannot ever come to pass among them, 2 they are
in fact weak for that reason. They have many names, belonging to their
various tribes in different places; but they all follow customs which
are nearly the same in all respects, except the Getai and Trausians and
those who dwell above the Crestonians.

4. Of these the practices of the Getai, who believe themselves to be
immortal, have been spoken of by me already: 3 and the Trausians perform
everything else in the same manner as the other Thracians, but in regard
to those who are born and die among them they do as follows:--when
a child has been born, the nearest of kin sit round it and make
lamentation for all the evils of which he must fulfil the measure, now
that he is born, 301 enumerating the whole number of human ills; but
when a man is dead, they cover him up in the earth with sport and
rejoicing, saying at the same time from what great evils he has escaped
and is now in perfect bliss.

5. Those who dwell above the Crestonians do as follows:--each man has
many wives, and when any man of them is dead, a great competition takes
place among his wives, with much exertion on the part of their friends,
about the question of which of them was most loved by their husband; and
she who is preferred by the decision and so honoured, is first praised
by both men and women, then her throat is cut over the tomb by her
nearest of kin, and afterwards sh