e with a
small fleet, and, descending suddenly upon the Scythian coast, to carry
off a number of prisoners. Ariaramnes executed the commission skilfully,
and was so fortunate as to make prize of a native of high rank, the
brother of a Scythian chief or king. From this person and his companions
the Persian monarch was able to obtain all the information which he
required. Thus enlightened, he proceeded to make his preparations.
Collecting a fleet of 600 ships, chiefly from the Greeks of Asia, and
an army estimated at from 700,000 to 800,000 men, which was made up
of contingents from all the nations under his rule, he crossed the
Bosphorus by a bridge of boats constructed by Mandrocles a Samian;
marched through Thrace along the line of the Little Balkan, receiving
the submission of the tribes as he went; crossed the Great Balkan;
conquered the Getae, who dwelt between that range and the Danube; passed
the Danube by a bridge, which the Ionian Greeks had made with their
vessels just above the apex of the Delta; and so invaded Scythia. The
natives had received intelligence of his approach, and had resolved not
to risk a battle. They retired as he advanced, and endeavored to bring
his army into difficulties by destroying the forage, driving off the
cattle, and filling in the wells. But the commissariat of the Persians
was, as usual, well arranged. Darius remained for more than two months
in Scythia without incurring any important losses. He succeeded in
parading before the eyes of the whole nation the immense military power
of his empire. He no doubt inflicted considerable damage on the hordes,
whose herds he must often have captured, and whose supplies of forage he
curtailed. It is difficult to say how far he penetrated. Herodotus was
informed that he marched east to the Tanais (Don), and thence north to
the country of the Budini, where he burnt the staple of Gelonus, which
cannot well have been below the fiftieth parallel, and was probably
not far from Voronej. It is certainly astonishing that he should have
ventured so far inland, and still more surprising that, having done
so, he should have returned with his army well-nigh intact. But we can
scarcely suppose the story that he destroyed the staple of the Greek
trade a pure fiction. He would be glad to leave his mark in the country,
and might make an extraordinary effort to reach the only town that was
to be found in the whole steppe region. Having effected his purpose by
it