The Scythian king Partatua married a daughter of Esarhaddon
in 679 BC, initiating a close alliance with Assyria that lasted 50 years. Scythians
fought Medes, Persians, Macedonians, Bactrian Greeks and Indians successfully,
but were defeated and absorbed by Sarmatians and Parthians. Scythians are
divided into European Scythians, including the original Ishkuzai, the Royal
Skyths and their later off-shoots, and Central Asian Scythians, including the
Chorasmians of the artes delta and Aral Sea region, the Dahae, the Saka and the
Massagetae. Hu were the early mounted tribes of the Chinese border, including
the Lin-hu, Tung-hu and Lou-fan. While earlier mounted nomads may have made
isolated incursions into China – the Hsien-yun invasion of 823 BC may have been
one – they are only known for certain after 400 BC. The Hu were absorbed by the
Hsiung-nu by 200 BC.
Cyrus the Great is variously reported to have died fighting
either the Massagetae or the Derbikes and their Indian allies including
elephants. We assume the obscure Derbikes to have been part of the larger
Massagetae confederacy.
From eighth to the second century bce, the Scythians
represented the most terrifying military power in Asia, defeating large armies
and dominating substantial parts of what is now Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, and the Eurasian plains. These warring nomads were well-known
throughout the continent for their fierce bravery and innovative battlefield
tactics. Yet because the Scythians had no written language, most of what is
known about them comes from the fifth century bce recordings of the Greek
historian, Herodotus. It is only through modern-day archaeological finds that
Herodotus’s seemingly unbelievable claims of Scythian war practices are finally
being verified.
Though the Scythians did not domesticate the horse, they
were among the first to adapt their way of life around it. As a pastoral
nomadic people, this allowed them to cover greater distances more quickly. From
the Russian steppes, the Scythians are believed to have wandered as far as the
borders of Egypt on horseback. During their travels, they met and defeated
several different peoples, and eventually extended their territory over large
parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
According to common belief, the Scythians first appeared on
the world map in 750 bce as a pastoral nomadic group settled between the
Carpathians and the Don River. However, the first real written record of
Scythian activity is seen in Assyrian texts from the early seventh century,
when Scythian King Partatua married an Assyrian princess in 674 following a
Scythian victory over the Assyrians. Later, in 653, the Scythians invaded the
Medean Empire, where they continued to exert influence until 626, when the Medes
defeated them. Yet, the Medes united with the Scythians in 612 to capture
Nineveh and destroy the Assyrian empire before driving the Scythians north of
the Caucasus in the late seventh century. The Scythians continued to grow
stronger over time, even managing to repel the Persian army (the largest in the
world at that time) under King Darius the Great when the Persians invaded in
514. Herodotus wrote about this outstanding Scythian victory when he observed
them in the fifth century. Later, in 360, King Atheas united all the tribes and
expanded their territory to the border with Macedonia. It was not much later,
though, that Scythian power began to decline after losing a war against Philip
II of Macedonia in 339. However, the Scythians managed to continue wielding
enough power to defeat both a general of Alexander the Great in 330 and the
Caucasians in 310 bce, before the Celts and the Sarmatians (who had long been
encroaching on Scythian territory) destroyed the Scythians’ kingdom in 225 bce.
During their many campaigns, the Scythians earned a reputation as brutal and
ferocious warriors. Their military prowess was proved time and again through
innovative weapon use and battlefield tactics.
The Scythians were primarily archers, and almost exclusively
cavalrymen. They were horse archers at a time when other armies depended mostly
on foot soldiers and chariots. In fact, the Scythians were often the first
cavalry many soldiers had ever seen in combat. This, in combination with full
body tattoos, gave the Scythians a fierce and frightening appearance that
terrified the people of the lands they invaded. Even when the opposing force
did not run away out of fear, the Scythians proved an intimidating force; they
appeared and dis appeared too quickly for any kind of successful infantry
attack. The Scythians, for their part, took full advantage of their military
resources. The Scythians became masters of archery on horseback, even learning
how to shoot backwards while on horseback. “Scythian tactics were to advance on
an enemy shooting fusillades of arrows. They would plunge forward as if to
attack, but at the last instant wheel away and launch a fresh volley of arrows
over the rumps of their retreating horses, thus leaving the dust enveloped
enemy in disarray.” (Kuzych) This sort of guerrilla warfare was very common
with the Scythians. And as they were nomads, they had the advantage of
combining scorched earth tactics with their guerrilla attacks in order to keep
the enemy at a distance and sap his resources while the Scythians moved farther
away. In fighting smaller armies, they could be much more directly aggressive,
first disorganizing their opponents by attacking them with arrows, then
launching javelins and darts before charging with a lance and hand-to-hand
weapons as they enemy’s lines began to break. Due to firm discipline and great
skill, “the Scythian cavalry managed to retain its cohesion after breaking
through the enemy lines; regrouped in the thick of the battle; and decided the
day by a second charge in another direction at a second body of the enemy. Very
few armies of antiquity were capable of that manoeuvre.” (Cernenko 32)
The value of the composite bow used by the Scythians cannot
be overemphasized. Its stiffness and power allowed arrows to reach a distance
of up to 200 yards with remarkable accuracy. For this reason, the Scythians
were able to effectively use archery in both hunting and war. Unfortunately,
the materials used to make bows-wood, bone, and animal tendons-deteriorate
easily, and so very few bow remains have been found. The arrows that
accompanied them fared better, being made of bronze, iron, or bone, depending
on the date. Warriors kept both the bow and up to 75 arrows in a treasured
gorytos, or bow case, which was never far from their side.
However, as mentioned previously, bows and arrows were not
the only weapons used by the Scythians. They employed spears, long two-edged
swords, short swords known as akinakes, narrow-bladed battle-axes, war picks,
daggers, maces, and heavy darts. Most of these could either be thrown or used
in close combat with the enemy.
Scythian armor usually consisted of leather corselets
covered with overlapping bronze or iron “fish-scales” which shielded the chest
and shoulders. Scythians are also credited with the development of chain mail,
but its use was not common among the warriors, being expensive and difficult to
produce. Scythian helmets evolved from pointed leather caps to scale-covered
leather caps to tightly fitting bronze helmets. As for leg coverings, the Scythians
are credited with the invention of trousers as they are known today. For avid
horse riders, tight fitting trousers offered protection for the legs, since
only the most rudimentary kind of saddles existed at the time. Metal-plated leg
armor was also usually included, though it varied in style. The shields they
carried were unique in style and decoration. Although ordinary warriors
preferred light shields, the classic example of Scythian shields is seen in
those carried by higher-ranking cavalrymen: a wooden base covered in iron
scales. The iron scales could sometimes be replaced by a single circular iron
plate. On top of the iron, it is common, mostly among noblemen, to see gold
ornamentation.
The Scythians had access to gold through their kinfolk in
the Altas Mountains. They used this gold as ornamentation for their clothes,
horses, and weapons. It was often seen glittering as a cover for their gorytos,
a hilt for their sword, and a handle for their battle-axe. Intricate carvings
were etched in the gold plates that covered their most precious objects. Since
the Scythians were nomads, their prized possessions- clothes, horses, and
weapons-were transportable and elaborately decorated. The Scythians carved
animal figures, but they also mixed fantasy with reality to create the
“Scythian animal style” of artwork. Sometimes, the Scythians would even
commission Greeks to do gold work for them. This usually resulted in the
incredibly detailed recreation of whole battle scenes done entirely in gleaming
gold.
Also, if the sight of fully tattooed warriors shining with
gold as they rapidly advanced on horseback wasn’t enough to send the enemy
screaming in the opposite direction, there was always the Scythian reputation.
Their war practice was well- known to all, and is best recorded in Herodotus’s
Histories. Herodotus first writes about his dislike for the Scythians’ assured
victory in war. He particularly questions “the contrivance whereby they make it
impossible for the enemy who invades them to escape destruction, while they
themselves are entirely out of his reach. . . how can they fail of being
unconquerable, and unassailable even?” As for their customs in battle,
Herodotus describes the Scythians as savage and bloodthirsty warriors. He
writes that Scythian soldiers drank the blood of the first man they killed in
battle. They then cut off all the heads of those they slew, and took them to
the king. Next, they scalped the heads and cut the scalps clean of flesh, in
order to use it as a napkin. A warrior would either hang the scalps from his
horse’s bridle or fashion a cloak out of them. Some would skin the arm of their
enemy’s corpse and make a covering for their quivers. Others would go so far as
to skin the entire body of the corpse and take it with them wherever they rode.
With regard to the corpses of their most detested foes (or kin with whom they
have been feuding), the Scythians would often fashion their skulls into
drinking cups and use them socially.
It is clear, then, that the Scythians were brutal warriors
who represented a significant threat to the peoples of their time. Their
creative use of weapons and nontraditional battlefield tactics earned them both
victories and reputations that would outlast time.
References: Cernenko, E. V., The Scythians: 700-300 BC. (New
York: Osprey Publishing, 2005); Dwyer. Bede, “Scythian-Style Bows Discovered in
Xinjiang.” Asian Traditional Archery Research Network, 19 March 2004;
Godolphin, Francis R. B., “From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient Treasures
from the Museums of the U. S. S. R. 3000 B. C.-100 B. C.,” The Metropolitan
Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 32, No. 5, (1973-1974), pp. 129-149;
Herodotus, The Histories, trans. by Aubery de Sleincourt (New York: Penguin
Classics reprint, 2003); Kuzych, Ingert. “Scythian legacies,” The Ukrainian
Weekly, 7 November 1999, No. 45, Vol. LXVII; “The Legacy of the Horse.”
International Museum of the Horse, 2000.
