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accuse the victim of being a wicked man. Having
difgraced him, they proceed to the election of
another, giving him, whilft yet alive, their com-
mands. This fame people, whenever it thunders
or lightens, throw their weapons into the air, as if
menacing their god; and they ferioufly believe
that there is no other deity.

XCV. This Zamolxis, as I have been informed by those Greeks who inhabit the Hellefpont and the Euxine, was hinfelf a man, and formerly lived at Samos, in the fervice of Pythagoras, fon of Mne-488 farchus; having obtained his liberty, with confiderable wealth, he returned to his country. Here he found the Thracians diftinguifhed equally by their profligacy and their ignorance; whilst he himself had been accustomed to the Ionian mode of life, and to manners more polished than thofe of Thrace; he had also been connected with Pythagoras, one of the most celebrated philofophers of Greece. He was therefore induced to build a large manfion, to which he invited the most eminent of his fellow-citizens: he took the opportunity of the feftive hour to affure them, that neither himself, his guefts, nor any of their defcendants, fhould ever die, but should be removed to a place where they 'were to remain in the perpetual enjoyment of every bleffing. After faying this, and conducting himself accordingly, he conftructed a fubterranean edifice: when it was compleated, he withdrew himself from the fight of his countrymen, and refided for three years beneath

the earth.-During this period, the Thracians re

gretted

gretted his lofs, and lamented him as dead. In the
fourth year he again appeared amongst them, and
by this artifice gave the appearance of probability
to what he had before afferted.

XCVI. To this ftory of the fubterraneous apartment I do not give much credit, though I pretend not to dispute it; I am, however, very certain that Zamolxis must have lived many years before Pythagoras: whether, therefore, he was a man, or the deity of the Getæ, enough has been faid concerning him. Thefe Getæ, ufing the ceremonies I have described, after fubmitting themselves to the Persians under Darius, followed his army.

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XCVII. Darius, when he arrived at the Ifter,
paffed the river with his army; he then command-
ed the Ionians to break down the bridge, and to
follow him with all the men of their fleet. When

they were about to comply with his orders, Coes, 376
fon of Erxander, and leader of the Mytelenians,
after requesting permiffion of the king to deliver
his fentiments, addreffed him as follows:

"As you are going, Sir, to attack a country,
"which, if report may be believed, is without cities
"and entirely uncultivated, fuffer the bridge to
" continue as it is, under the care of those who
"constructed it :-By means of this our return will
"be fecured, whether we find the Scythians, and
"fucceed againft them according to our wishes, or
"whether they elude our endeavours to difcover
"them. I am not at all apprehenfive that the

"Scythians

400

•

Scythians will overcome us; but I think that if we do not meet them, we fhall fuffer from "our ignorance of the country. It may be faid, perhaps, that I fpeak from felfifh confiderations, "and that I am defirous of being left behind; but

my real motive is a regard for your intereft, "whom at all events I am determined to follow."

With this counfel Darius was greatly delighted, and thus replied:-" My Lefbian friend, when I "fhall return_fafe and fortunate from this expedi"tion, I beg that I may fee you, and I will not "fail amply to reward you, for your excellent "advice."

XCVIII. After this fpeech, the king took a cord, upon which he tied fixty knots 105, then fending

Sixty knots.]-Larcher obferves that this mode of notation proves extreme flupidity on the part of the Perfians. It is certain, that the fcience of arithmetic was first brought to perfection in Greece, but when or where it was first introduced is entirely uncertain; I fhould be inclined to imagine, that fome knowledge of numbers would be found in regions the most barbarous, and amongst human beings the moft ignorant, had I not now before me an account of fome American nations, who have no term in their language to exprefs a greater number than three, and even this they call by the uncouth and tedious name of patarrarorincourfac. In the Odyffey, when it is faid that. Proteus will count his herd of fea-calves, the expreffion ufed is TiμTacolas, be vill reckon them by fives, which has been remarked, as being probably a relick of a mode of counting practifed in fome remote age, when five was the greatest numeral. To count the fingers of one hand, was the firft arithmetical effort: to carry on the account through the other hand was a refinement, and required attention and recollection.

M, Goguet

fending for the Ionian chiefs, he thus addreffed them :

"Men of Ionia, I have thought proper to "change my original determination concerning "this bridge: do you take this cord, and ob"ferve what require; from the time of my departure againft Scythia, do do not fail to "untie every day one of thefe knots. If they "fhall be all loofened before you fee me again,

M. Goguet thinks, that in all numerical calculations pebbles were firft ufed: npw, to calculate, comes from nos, a little ftone, and the word calculation from calculi, pebbles. This is probably true; but between counting by the five fingers and ftanding in need of pebbles to continue a calculation, there must have been many intervening fteps of improvement. A more complicated mode of counting by the fingers was also used by 、 the ancients, in which they reckoned as far as 100 on the left hand, by different postures of the fingers; the next hundred was counted on the right hand, and fo on, according to fome authors, as far as 9000. In allufion to this, Juvenal fays of Neftor, Atque fuos jam dextrâ computat annos.

Sat. x. 249.

and an old lady is mentioned by Nicarchus, an Anthologic poet, who made Neftor feem young, having returned to the left hand again:

This, however, must be an extravagant hyperbole, as it would make her above 9000 years old, or there is fome error in the modern accounts.-There is a tract of Bede's on this fubject which I have not feen; it is often cited. Macrobius and Pliny tell us, that the ftatues of Janus were fo formed, as to mark the number of days in the year by the position of his fingers, in Numa's time 355, after Cæfar's correction 365. -Saturn. i. 9. and Nat. Hift. xxxiv. 7.-T.

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you

cc you are at liberty to return to your country; "but in the mean time it is my defire that you "preserve and defend this bridge, by which means you will effectually oblige me." As foon as Darius had spoken, he proceeded on his march.

XCIX. That part of Thrace 106 which stretches 267

to the fea, has Scythia immediately contiguous: where Thrace ends Scythia begins, through which the Ifter paffes, commencing at the fouth-eaft, and emptying itself into the Euxine. It fhall be my business to defcribe that part of Scythia which is continued from the mouth of the Ifter to the fea-coaft. Ancient Scythia extends from the Ifter weftward, as far as the city Carcinitis. The mountainous 20. country above this place, in the fame direction, as far as what is called the Trachean Cherfonefe, is poffeffed by the people of Taurus; this place is fituate near the fea to the east. Scythia, like Attica, is in two parts limited by the fea, weftward and to the east. The people of Taurus are circumstanced with respect to Scythia, as any other nation would be with respect to Attica, who, instead of Athenians, fhould inhabit the Sunian promontory, stretching from the district of Thonicus, as far as Anaphlystus. Such, comparing small things with

106 That part of Thrace.]-This chapter will, doubtlefs, appear perplexed on a first and casual view, but whoever will be at the trouble to examine M. d'Anville's excellent maps, illuftrative of ancient geography, will in a moment find every difficulty respecting the fituation of the places here defcribed effectually, removed.-T.

great,