The Story of the Russian Land E-Book

Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov

• Herausgeber: Antelope Hill Publishing LLC
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Military general, intelligence agent, aristocrat, author, historian, major player in the pre-Soviet Russian reactionary right, Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov (1864-1938) yet remains a relatively obscure figure in the Western world's memory of the Russian revolution. In the early twentieth century, his masterpiece The Story of the Russian Land was regarded as one of the best works about the history of Russia and received the highest approval of Emperor Nicholas II, filling the country's libraries. 

Originally written in 1909, Volume I covers the time period from antiquity to 1054, encompassing the initial dispersal of peoples throughout Eastern Europe, the culture of the Scythians and their various interactions with ancient empires and kingdoms, the relationships of the Rus' people with the Goths, Huns, Avars, Khazars, and others, the creation of the Kievan Rus' state and lives of their early rulers, and the religious influence of the Byzantine Empire on Kievan Rus' and their adoption of Christianity. The complete set of all four volumes was published in 1913 with the addition of over one thousand figures, mostly paintings and engravings, and this edition does include those figures that pertain to Volume I, which enrich the story tremendously. Much unlike the typical, dry historical text, The Story of the Russian Land truly is a story, told with passion and excitement from an author who loved his nation and her people and history. 

Antelope Hill Publishing is honored to provide the first English translation of The Story of the Russian Land by Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov. Complete with a foreword by the translator, Dennis Sinclair, as well as editorial annotations for the benefit of the modern reader and the addition of geographic maps, this story will captivate Russophiles and lovers of history alike.

Leseprobe

The Story of the Russian Land, Volume I:

From Antiquity to the Death of Yaroslav the Wise (1054)

STORY

OF THE

THE

RUSSIAN

LAND

VOL. I

From Antiquity to the Death of

Yaroslav the Wise (1054)

ALEXANDER DMITRIEVICH

NECHVOLODOV

Translated by Dennis Sinclair

A N T E L O P EH I L LP U B L I S H I N G

English Translation Copyright © 2023 Antelope Hill Publishing

First edition, first printing 2023.

Translated by Dennis Sinclair, 2023.

Originally published as Сказания О Русской Земле. Ч. 1. С Древнейших

Времен До Расцвета Русского Могущества При Ярославе

Мудром in 1909, revised with images 1913.

Cover art by Swifty.

Edited by Malta, T. Brock, and Margaret Bauer.

Editorial footnotes and layout by Margaret Bauer.

Antelope Hill Publishing | antelopehillpublishing.com

Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-956887-95-2

EPUB ISBN-13: 978-1-956887-96-9

Dedicated to the holy memory of Ivan Yegorovich Zabelin,

by the grace of whose many years of accomplishments,

established by his deep spirit and soulful mind, each

Russian person has been given the sacred right

to be proud of his most distant ancestors

and to look upon the coming fate

of our great nation faithfully.

Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov (1864–1938)

C O N T E N T S

Maps

Translator’s Foreword

Preface

Chapter One

Our Lineage Is from Japheth’s Line

The Life of Ancient Aryans

Their Dispersal

Our Dispersal

Greek Tales of Centaurs and Amazons

Slavs Near Troy

Military Campaigns Against Egypt and Jerusalem by Our Ancestors

Death of Cyrus

Darius’ Campaign in Southern Russia

Herodotus’ Visit to Russia & His Description of Our Country & Customs

Findings From Burial Mounds

Figures for Chapter One

Chapter Two

Information About the Russian Land and Writers After Herodotus

The Travels of Blessed Saint Andrew the Apostle

Campaigns of Slavs Against the Roman Empire

The Goths

The Huns Unite the Eastern Slavs

Attila

Discord Among the Slavs

Invasion of the Avars

Russia During the Time of the Khazar Yoke

The Mission of the Slavic Principalities

Figures for Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Origins of the Russian State: Cyril & Methodius, Educators of the Slavs

Rurik’s Reign: Askold & Dir & Their Glorious Raid in Constantinople

Oleg’s Reign

Igor and Saint Olga

Figures for Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Svyatoslav: His Childhood and Initiation into Battle

Svyatoslav’s Campaigns

Dorostopol

Death of Svyatoslav

Yaropolk and the Strife with His Brother

Vladimir the Pagan

The Baptism of the Kievan Rus’

The Rule of Saint Vladimir

Figures for Chapter Four

Chapter Five

The Killing of Boris, Gleb, and Svyatoslav by Svyatopolk

Svyatopolk’s Battles with Yaroslav

Yaroslav’s Reign

The Condition of Kievan Rus’ at the Time of Yaroslav’s Death

The Bogatyrs

The Clergymen

Figures for Chapter Five

Conclusion

Bibliography

M A P S

Kievan Rus’ from 880 to 1054,

sourced from The Map Archive, with permission.

The Viking river road to Constantinople, also referred to in this edition as the trade route from Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire and as the Varangian trade route, sourced from The Map Archive, with permission.

The Rus’ States at the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054,

sourced from The Map Archive, with permission.

Kievan Rus’ from the tenth to the twelfth centuries,

sourced from Russian Primary Chronicle, x.

The East Slavic tribes and their neighbors in the ninth through

the eleventh centuries, sourced from Russian Primary Chronicle, xi.

T R A N S L A T O R ’ S F O R E W O R D

The Story of the Russian Land is a unique and interesting work for a number of reasons. It is not exactly presented by the author as a work of history, despite being a work of history, but instead it is called a story. Perhaps there is a reason for this, insofar as the content of the work lacks the academic depth that would stand the test of a contemporary university critic. Nevertheless, it behooves us to forgive the author for his approach to writing history. By the time of its writing, history would have come to be viewed as more of an academic pursuit than anything, and less as a living expression of organic cultural memory and tradition. For Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov, the author of The Story of the Russian Land, the organic view of history is certainly a more accurate characterization of his pursuit.

Published at the cusp of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, before Russia had been fully given over to regicide as well as postmodern social systems and critique, The Story presents us with a fascinating diorama of elite Russian cultural attitudes toward politics and history prior to the Soviet regime. If it is not valuable as a work of history in the strict academic sense, it is an immeasurably valuable work of historiography and a gem of Russian reactionary nonfiction. If nothing else, Nechvolodov allows us to understand how the history of the world was remembered in Russian high society. While predating Lenin’s seizure of power, The Story also postdates the nineteenth-century “golden age” of Russian literature of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy etc., as well as the problems following the wake of Tsar Alexander II’s 1861 emancipation of the serfs. The grim thematic elements of parricide, inter-generational strife, and the advent of the hated and socially destructive “new ideas” prevalent in Dostoevsky’s Devils and Brothers Karamazov as well as Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons—all acclaimed novels which were widely read and discussed in their time—would have become more immediate and real problems in Russian society by Nechvolodov’s time, and would have reinforced the convictions of reactionary circles and strengthened Russia’s internal divisions.

For this reason, it is no surprise that Nechvolodov’s historical account of Russia should be deeply political in nature. He makes no pretense to the contrary and admits as much in his preface. This is not a work of academic history, but it is rather an act of the “immune system” of the Russian cultural organism seeking to survive the rising tide of mass society and the chaos of the modern world. Nechvoldov is not disinterested, nor even disconnected from the subject matter; he often uses language such as “our history” and “our ancestors” throughout the work, whether referring to ancient Aryan, Scythian, or Kievan Rus people. It is rare to find such language in Western history books, even in Nechvolodov’s time.

Rare also is the reference to Homer and the Bible as historical sources, of which Nechvoldov partakes. Western historical criticism had long abandoned this practice and delegated these sources (mostly) to the realm of myth and religion. Yet Nechvolodov is unafraid to claim that Achilles was not only a real person, but also a Scythian, and thus an ancestor of the Russians. He also doesn’t hesitate to state with no awareness of possible controversy that Europeans descend from Noah’s son Japheth. He has no fear of repercussion or criticism for freely using the term Aryan when talking about the ancient Steppe ancestors of Europe, nor of speaking ill of Jewish Khazars when discussing Russia’s historic enemies. Nechvolodov’s conflates Thracians with Scythians when citing Herodotus, lists Huns as direct linear ancestors of the Slavs (something no modern historian would claim), and despite providing a bibliography, often employs no in-text citations when directly quoting other sources. We can speculate that this is because there should be no need to provide citations when you are a member of the aristocratic class in a society that still has this social estate intact. Even into the early twentieth century, Russian society was still viewed as being essentially medieval by their Western contemporaries because the Tsar maintained autocratic rule of the Russian state, and power and wealth was still concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy. That Nechvolodov is a nobleman writing for other noblemen is sufficient authority for his target audience to trust his word. He also was writing for an audience that, while literate and having received a cursory exposure to the literature and history of classical antiquity and its bridge into the medieval through private gentry education, and while interested in learning more about it, may not all have had easy access to libraries or encyclopedias to research these things more deeply. A Russian perspective on classical tradition would have been more desired by a significant portion of Nechvoldov’s Russian audience as well (which included Tsar Nicholas II), than a non-Russian one. After all, the Russian aristocracy believed itself to be the true inheritors of classical Rome and Greece, so it’s only natural that Nechvoldov should add a Russian flair to his account of antiquity.

By today’s standards, this is a wild, cavalier practice of historical writing, a long-dead system (or lack of system) of verifying information based mostly on mutual recognition that one belongs to a certain class of person. History isn’t then weighed down by an obligation to constantly reference its sources, and the spirit can flow freely without being confined to the letter. This is how the history of a culture was viewed from within the culture itself, before history was domesticated by modern academic criticism. Yet admittedly, there is something fascinating and intriguing about this old-school approach, despite its fallibility and susceptibility to inaccuracy. By doing history in this way, Nechvolodov compels us to view history not as a passive, dead record of mundane events outlined in dusty old tomes kept in stuffy libraries, presided over by sickly old scatterbrained men, but as an active, living, psychic organism that permeates the blood and animates the cultural organism to reach beyond the mortal sheath. Perhaps history then becomes a part of Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov’s “common task” of all humanity, to which Nechvolodov makes reference in the preface to this work, and which is nothing more than literal resurrection itself: the conquering of death by the vital force of life.

History is a function of culture. History belongs to the people of culture. A disinterested academic historian may have a more accurate picture of historical events than a cultured dilettante, but the dilettante is revitalized by history and can use history to approach the inmost nature of life. An academic studies history like a medical student studies a cadaver, and both can lose sight of the fact that the corpse they are examining was once a living thing and that living bodies still walk the earth. Once we know history completely, we cease to love it and be moved by it. Even to believe that it is possible to know it completely is to commit an act of hubris, for which we are punished by the misery that arises from the foolish pride of self-delusion. The soul goes into atrophy when it falsely believes that history is completely known, and recorded adequately, requiring no active engagement nor respect, and can simply be known by rudimentary research. We hope that readers of Nechvolodov can embrace this organic view of history and allow themselves to be continually inspired by the mystery of the past.

Dennis Sinclair

P R E F A C E

The Story of the Russian Land is approved and recommended for distribution by the August Commander-in-Chiefof the Guard and the Petersburg Military district and by the Commanders-in-Chief of the troops of all other military districts to all regiments, companies, squadrons, centesimals, battalions, and library directors; by decree of the Holy Ethical Synod for acquisition by rudimentary discipleship libraries, spiritual educational institutions, and Church libraries of the Russian empire; by decree of the Educational Council of the Holy Synodfor the libraries of ecclesiastical schools and second classes, as well as for the study-libraries of parish schools; by the Ministry of National Educationfor teachers in alllower educational institutions of various titles, for scholars doing extracurricular reading in all secondary educational institutions, and for libraries of other sorts; by the Departmental Institution of the Empress Maria, the Ministries of Industry, Communication, and Trade Routes (respectively); by the General Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture, as well as the General Directorate of Military Educational Institutionsfor other sorts of subordinate student libraries; by the Chief Naval Headquartersfor ship and crewmen’s libraries; and by the Committee of Trustees of Moderationfor libraries and readers of the nation.

We offer this book, written to give every Russian person the opportunity to learn about their ancestors’ lives and acts in past times. This type of study is not only instructive but also highly necessary to show the brave, wise, and noble people from whom we descend, what great trials they were put through in the foundation of our Motherland, and how well-steeped in their blood is the whole span of the Russian Land.

Along with this, it shows us how we must go to perform our sacred duty to the Russian Land that lies before this generation—to keep intact in its entirety the sanctity of our divine ancestral legacy.

The words above are an introduction to the first part of the work here, dedicated to the memory of Ivan Zabelin and published in 1909 by the Brotherhood of the Church of Saint Nicholas of the Prague 58th Infantry Division.

That same year, the book I wrote was rewarded with the most gracious attention by His Imperial Majesty, the Tsar, who was pleased to express his wish that I continue the work I had begun.

On May 24th, 1911, I received the most gracious honor in Tsarskoye Selo, presenting to the Tsar the second volume of The Story of the Russian Land, whereupon my work was again delivered to what was, for me, some of the most unforgettable gestures of monarchical consideration.

On December 1st, 1911, in Livadia, the Holy Emperor was so incredibly pleased with my words that he was reading my book aloud to Her Majesty the Tsarina. After this, he expressed his wish that the book’s next edition would have a more embellished layout and features such as reproductions of historical paintings by Russian artists of the time and snapshots of ancient icons, manuscripts, temple murals, old buildings, weapons, and other sorts of tools.

Given this, the current 1913 edition is published with many pictures—four parts of my labor, brought out to the election and coronation of the Tsardom of Michael Feodorovich Romanov.

During my work, I was guided by all primary sources available to me and the works of our famous historians and scholars: N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Solvev, Ivan Zabelin, V. Klyuchevsky, S. F. Platonov, A. A. Shakhmatov, N. P. Kondakov, A. I. Sobolevski, N. P. Likhachyov, and others. A detailed bibliography of the printed works and pictures I consulted, and from which I garnered more or less all my quotations, can be seen at the end of this work.

Along with this, I have endeavored to the best of my ability to keep the covenant of Ivan Zabelin, expressed by him in the following words:

It is known to all, that the ancients, especially the Greeks and Romans, were able to breed heroes. . . . This ability was made possible only by the fact that in their histories, they could portray not only the historic, but also the poetic truth of their leading figures. They were able to appreciate the merits of heroes and could discern the golden truth and divinity of these qualities from the lies and impurities of ordinary life in which each person is destined to live and by which they more or less always find themselves sullied. They were able to distinguish in these qualities not only their real and “good” essence, so to speak, but also their ideal essence, that is to say the historical idea exemplified in feats and deeds, which is necessary and which the character of the hero elevates to the point of ideal. Our Russian cultural history comes from ancients completely different from them, on the opposite side. As is well known, we only quite diligently deny and denounce our History, and we dare not to consider any such character-ideals. Of the ideal in our History, we dare not admit. All the more, the ideals we had were such “heroes” that our entire History is a dark kingdom of neglect, barbarism, gossip, slavery, and other such things. There is no other way to put it: thus do the great majority of educated Russians think. Of course, such a History would be unable to give rise to heroes, and it should view the notion of ideals as juvenile and childish and as something to be suppressed. The best role that this juvenility can play in such a History is that it would not be known to exist at all. This is how most people act toward historical ideals . . . but were this not the view that the majority of educated Russians should bear, then perhaps a most just reproach, that such a view holds no ground, could be made, and Russia would not feel this negative national historical consciousness within itself, and it should find itself both mentally and morally blown by favorable winds in all directions.

Indeed, a national history serves as a firm support and unshakable ground for the national consciousness and self-knowledge.

God is not offensive to Russian History in this respect. In it, there are, or could be found common human ideas and ideals, enlightened and great-natured heroes, and creators of life. We only need to remember the truthful sayings of the writers of antiquity properly, that ‘the glory of one or another nation or person in History shall not completely consist of glorious or inglorious dealings, nor of the existence of historical feats, but is derived fully from the art and skill or even simply the intention of writers to either portray gloriously or despise the affairs of the people and the deeds of historic individuals.

The preceding words of Ivan Zabelin aside, I have found for myself, in my examination of Russian history, the utmost support, confirmation, and explanation in the works of one of the most incredible and most loved contemporary Russian people—Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov. In life, he was known to many as the incredibly conscientious, hard-working, and humble servant of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow, who had a broad and diverse range of knowledge in multiple fields and knew the contents of all the books in that enormous library resolutely. Every visitor to the library would recognize him as a dedicated employee with love for his work who could immediately refer them to the exact books they needed merely from hearing their research requirements. Naturally, then, Nikolai Fyodorov would try to be as helpful as he could, fixing himself to their research with all his heart and going above and beyond their needs, even referring the astonished visitor to two or three different books that they didn’t need at all and of whose very existence they would never have even been aware and, between the contents of these unexpected books and the initial recommendations, would completely fulfill all requirements posed to him. Whenever it happened that a visitor, having gotten the attention of Nikolai Fyodorov, required certain books that were not in the Rumyantsev Museum, he would buy them with his meager funds. The people with whom he came into contact referred to him as a sage and a saint, and those closer to him said that he was one of the only few righteous men left in the world and considered him to be a true Christian soul—“a great man even among great men.” After having had contact with Fyodorov, Leo Tolstoy, astonished by his personality, wrote: “Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov is a saint. A closet desires no salary, for if there is no linen, there is no bed.”

After the death of this remarkable Russian, in the following year, 1903, V. A. Kozhevnikov and N. P. Peterson published his extensive creative output under the title Philosophy of the Common Task. Still, the first release was unfortunately not put out for sale until the current time. Still, it was freely distributed to a few national libraries since the deceased stood against the sale of works that had to do with intellectual matters and considered this sacrilege.

By the most profound conviction, Fyodorov considered resurrection from the dead to be the common task of all humanity, which would follow when in all the land there comes to be a general fraternity, which in his eyes the Russian Sovereign would build. Russia shall become for all: “Dear, sweet, and cherished.”

Only a few people were familiar with his views throughout his life, but such outstanding men shared these views as F. M. Dostoevsky and V. S. Solovyov; the former called his teachings “the first movement forward along the path of Christ since the appearance of Christianity.”

Examining Russia’s past as well as her significance among the remaining states, giving rise with his questions to a series of unique ideas and voicing predictions which have come true in his works, Nikolai Fyodorov entirely agrees with the opinion about the future of the Russian Land put forward at the start of the sixteenth century by the elder Elizerov of the Philotheou Monastery.

Since these views are also entirely accepted by me, then at the heading of every part of the present work, a few words from the elder Philotheouan shall be given about the Russian State from his messages to the clerk Misura Mukhin.

Throughout my work, I was subject to the most gracious and flattering attention from each individual from whom I sought help. Therefore, I must extend my deepest gratitude and beseech their acceptance toward His Imperial Highness, the Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich, for his valuable insight concerning classical Russian Church architecture and two drawings of His Highness’ work, sent at my request for inclusion in the publication.

I would also ask the following individuals for the acceptance of my most sincere and utmost thankfulness for their rendering assistance to my work in a broad and general way: the Eminent Vladimir, Metropolitan of Saint Petersburg and Ladozhk; Bishop George, director of the Saint Petersburg Spiritual Academy; Bishop Fyodor, director of the Moscow Spiritual Academy; the Cathedral and Viceroy of the Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius and Her Archimandrite Toviyu; Viceroy of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves Archimandirate Ambrose; Hegumen Joseph Volokolamsky of the monastery Archmandirate Nifonta and the Hieromonk of that same cloister, Father Pafnutiya; Father Superior Feodorit, hegumen of the Kirill-Belozersky Monastery; Minister of the Imperial Court and general aide to the Count V. B. Frederisk, Chairman of Imperial Russian Society of Military History, Cavalry General D. A. Skalon; Chief of the Military Field Office of the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty, His Majesty Major General Prince V. N. Orlov; of the Retinue of His Majesty, General Major N. A. Princehevicha; Member of the State Council Senator A. A. Naryshkin; of the Academies of A. A. Shakhmatov and A. I. Sobolevsky; and the manager of the library of the Imperial Academy of Sciences V. I. Sreznevski; doctor of history and assistant director of the Imperial Public Library N. P. Likhachyov; as well as its department managers: A. I. Bychkova, V. I. Saitov, and N. D. Chechulin; director of the Saint Petersburg Archaeological Institute N. V. Pokrovsky; and also the department managers of: the Imperial Academy of Arts: Messrs. F. G. Berenshtamm, E. O. Visel, and E. A. Shultz; the State Hermitage Museum: Messrs. Y. I. Smirnov, E. M. Pridik, Baron P. F. Meyendorf, A. K. Markov, and O. F. Valdgauger; the professors of Saint Petersburg University: Baron M. A. Taube, A. I. Ivanov, and V. N. Beheshevich; member of the Imperial Archeological Commission B. V. Farmakovsky; library manager of the Saint Petersburg Spiritual Academy A. P. Krotkov; former secretary of the Russian Museum named after Emperor Alexander III in Saint Petersburg G. V. Kakhovsky and the custodian of that museum A. A. Miller; Associate to the Chairman of the Historical Museum named after Emperor Alexander III in Moscow Prince N. B. Shcherbatov and department managers of the Museums: A. V. Oreshnikov, A. I. Stankevich, V. N. Shchepkin, and I. M. Tarablin; Attorney of the Moscow Synodical Office M. P. Stepanov and the manager of the Patriarchal Library N. I. Popov; the Senior Clerk of the Moscow Chief Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs S. A. Belokurov; Manager of the Moscow Synodical Printing House A. S. Orlov and Manager of the archaic printing chambers therein A. A. Pokrovsky; Managers of the Moscow Armory Messrs. S. P. Bartenev and U. V. Arsenev; managers of the library of the Imperial Rumyantzev Museum in Moscow U. V. Gote and Y. G. Kvaskov; curator of the archeological department of the Kiev City Museum of Emperor Nicholas II, V. V. Khvoyka; A. I. Kireevu, O. N. Gaken, O. A. Fribess, N. A. Butmi, E. O. Yagelsky, V. A. Kozhevnikov, S. A. Panchukizdev, G. A. Shechkov, R. R. von-Shulman, V. K. Solonin, N. V. Kirillov, D. D. Lamoniv, M. P. Tikhonov, N. C. Smirnov, and M. M. Shteinsberg; Chairman of the Novgorodian Society of Antiquarians M. V. Muravev and the curator of the Novgorodian Museum of Antiquities N. P. Volodin; member of the Yaroslavian Architectural Commission V. M. Bushuev; the venerable Polish historian F. A. Korzon; President of the Krakov Academy of Science, Mr. Ulyanovsky; Messrs. Prezhetzlavsky, Ivanovsky, Baranovsky, Semiensky, Kacheevsky, and Gembarzhevsky.

With this, I consider it my duty to mention with deep gratitude the memories of the now-deceased P. Y. Dashkov and P. I. Shschukin, who always wished me well in my work.

I ask the following people to accept my sincerest appreciation for their kind donation of pictures: Baroness O. P. Pritvitz and E. F. Rimus for the images of the Livonian castle ruins; Baroness T. I. Medem for the icon snapshots and various other items stored in the sacristy of Pskov-Pechersky Monastery; M. P. Kaptzov for the images of Joseph Volokolamski Monastery; and K. N. Rossolimo for the pictures of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves; Envoy of the Russian Emperor in Copenhagen, Baron K. K. Bugsgevden, for supplying photographs of portraits in the Royal castle in Fredensborg, Denmark; ranks of the Imperial Russian Missions: in Madrid for snapshots of the Greek manuscript John Skylitzes, and in Stockholm for photographs of the portraits kept in the Swedish Royal Castle; the curators of the British Museum and the London National Gallery: Messrs. Campbell-Dogdson, Gomef, D. C. Makkol, and Messrs. Boswell and Collins-Baker; the Administrative Staff of the City Museum of Braslaw, the Community Council of the Rogozhsky Old Believer Cemetery for the contribution of pictures of the ancient icons of the Trinity-Sergievsky Lavra, and P. N. Puryshev for the photographs taken at the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

I am also sincerely grateful to the masters of the Hesvizhsky castle for kindly permitting me to use their libraries and galleries; Prince M. V. Radzivill, E. G. Shvartitza, to the director of the Stallmaster Yard; His Majesty P. A. Demidov, Master of Vishnevetz Castle; Master of Vilyanov Castle Count K. Branitzek; Counts M. O. Zamoysky and S. S. Krasinsky; Master of Krasichin Castle in Galicia, Prince V. Sapeg; owner of the rarest collection of icons of ancient letters in Moscow, Igor Igorovich Igorov; Master of Antiquaries in Warsaw, Mr. I. Vilder; and L. F. Vsevolozhsky, publisher of the journal Niva for kindly providing permission for the photographs of old drawings, constituting the exclusive property of this journal.

Valuable guidance was given to me by the artists G. P. Kondratenko and N. K. Rerikha of the journal Old Years as well as members of the Imperial Academy of Arts P. P. Veynera and L. K. Sabopulo and also the director of the Imperial Stroganovsky School in Moscow N. V. Globa, who provided the covers, calligraphy, and a few other illustrations by the talented teacher of that school, S. I. Yaguzhinsky—all helped this edition of my work a great deal.

Finally, I consider it my duty to provide my most sincere appreciation to the Head of the State Printing House through which the book was printed, General Major P. A. Shevelevu and his assistant, to the Stablemaster of His Majesty’s Court, a true state councilor, G. G. Khodunov and his assistants G. L. Grentz and N. N. Shurtz; to print master M. I. Bely, typesetter P. I. Egorov and his assistant I. P. Korolev, and also to the superb lithographer of the Warsaw Military District Headquarters; N. V. Nikitin for the rendition of all plans and charts for the current edition; and B. L. Verzhbitzky, proprietor of printing establishments in Warsaw, together with his assistant artist A. Poltavsky and master zincographer Y. Endrzheevsky, under whose direct supervision all illustrations were prepared for printing.

Alexander Dmitrievich Nechvolodov

C H A P T E R O N E

Our Lineage Is from Japheth’s Line

Holy Scripture tells us that after the Flood, all races of people that live on Earth today came from Noah’s three sons: Sham, Ham, and Japheth.

One line of Japheth’s descendants settled in the upper reaches of the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which were within the borders of the Russian Empire in the province of Turkestan. This line is the origin of many tribes of Asia Minor, Persia, and India, as well as glorious and well-known races that live in Europe: Greeks, Romans, Spaniards, French, English, Germans, Swedes, Lithuanians, and others, as well as Slavic tribes: Russians, Poles, Bulgars, Serbs, and others.

The Life of Ancient Aryans

Initially, all of our ancestors that lived in the upper reaches of Amu Darya and Syr Darya bore the name Aryan. In their ancient language, Aryan meant venerated or superior. Indeed, Aryans stood out from other inhabitants of Earth of that time for their strength, height, finesse, and beauty, but especially for the nobility of their spirituality.

Although very violent customs were widespread among Aryans in those times, many thousands of years before the birth of our Savior, who preached love of your neighbor, the qualities of courage and honor, which even today are present in any man with a noble soul, were highly valued.

Our ancient ancestors came together to live in settlements and villages. They could build houses with doors and ovens made out of stone. But, like modern farmers, their primary property and wealth were domesticated animals: cows, bulls, aurochs, oxen, horses, sheep, pigs, piglets, goats, and even birds such as geese. Dogs were common by the herd and in houses, but cats were yet to be domesticated.

The Aryans’ main method of obtaining food was through agriculture, but, where possible, they also bred animals and, of course, had brave hunters among them who would hunt various wild beasts.

Aryans tilled the earth with different plows; they planted barley, oats, and spelt. Rye and wheat, however, were still not known to them. Nevertheless, they could grind seeds, bake bread, eat cooked meat, and drink milk. They consumed honey as food and also as an alcoholic beverage.

Aside from bread-making and animal husbandry, Aryans knew other trades, such as weaving, wickerwork, and sewing; they also knew of polishing gold, silver, and copper and had oar-driven boats.

Our ancestors could count in tens, but when it came to more than a hundred, as in tens of tens, they could not.

The Aryans practiced marriage but came to value monogamy only later; they were not ashamed to have multiple wives for centuries.

Every family was part of a well-known clan, which always strongly supported each other. Everyone was to obey all customs determined by their lineage. In cases of harm or external aggression toward any one member of the clan, the victim would have had the fighting support of everyone in the clan. This custom was considered sacred and was referred to as the tradition of blood vengeance or family vengeance, which remained among Aryans for a long time. For this reason, there was constant killing and conflict.

Some clans who shared common lineages united into larger tribes and were led by elders and chieftains,1 judges, executioners, and commanders. Aryans fought each other frequently, and military courage was strongly valued and diligently cultivated among our noble and brave ancestors. They fought on foot and horses, depending on the terrain; they skillfully threw spears and shot arrows from bows at their enemies, whom they would bravely strike with swords and axes when meeting them up close. They went to death without hesitation since they believed in an afterlife where brave men who died honorable deaths in battle were rewarded.

Our ancestors also believed in God Almighty, who was called by the very same word “God,” and they worshipped the heavens—divinity, sun, dawn, fire, wind, and Mother Earth.

Their Dispersal

That’s how the glorious Aryans lived in their primordial motherland in the upper reaches of Amu Darya and Syr Darya. As their population grew, so did the number of сlans and tribes, so they expanded their territory into other lands. Since they were agricultural peoples, Aryan expansion moved slowly; upon arrival in a new area, they would sow seeds in the fields, and only when they harvested would they move to a new place, remaining there until the next harvest.

Any time they encountered the original inhabitants of these new lands, if the natives didn’t surrender voluntarily, the Aryans would wage brutal warfare against them and either exterminate them entirely or turn them into slaves and tribute-payers; that being said, they would eventually mix with the conquered natives through marriage.

In such a manner, they slowly but surely spread from their motherland as their population grew. Some Aryan tribes from the upper reaches of Amu Darya and Syr Darya continued their path to the Hindu basin and other rivers that irrigated India and founded the tribes that now populate this great country. Others went to the southwest and populated the boundaries of the later-to-be-famous kingdom of Persia. Finally, many of the Aryans drove to the west, eventually settling in Europe with their tribes.

Since written language wasn’t known to ancient Aryans, they couldn’t leave written accounts of their migrations, so it is impossible to determine when any specific Aryan nation came to Europe. However, the first tribes that settled in Europe came to Italy and Spain; that being said, one of such tribes had founded a solid state before the others—Rome—where everyone already lived not by the tribal customs they followed in their Aryan motherland, but by the ordinary laws of the Roman state. It was thanks to these laws that the Romans didn’t have tribal and family disputes; au contraire, they were all strongly united in conflicts with other tribes and won them easily. Thus, Rome, slowly but surely, became a more vital state, which by the time of the birth of Christ in the days of Caesar Augustus’ rule controlled many other nations, including Judaea, the motherland of our Savior.

After the tribes had settled in Spain and Italy, other tribes who had arrived in Europe settled in Greece, which was especially attractive to newcomers due to its mild climate, an abundance of islands with fertile lands for mooring ships, and also the words of praise for all regions of Greece, which had spread all over the beautiful sea that surrounds it. The tribes who arrived in Greece soon changed their way of life from a tribal system to an organized government, but in contrast to Rome, they didn’t unite into one centralized state, instead forming a plurality of small states based in marvelous and impressive cities; these states often engaged in bitter quarrels with one another and were thus mutually weakened, which is why they were all conquered by Rome in the end.

Our Dispersal

After the Greeks came, the ancestors of the contemporary inhabitants of France arrived in Europe with the Germanic tribes behind them, from which the later Germans, as well as Anglos, Hollanders, Dutch, and Swedes, formed. The Lithuanians broke off from Germania, and in the end, Lithuania stretched out to the west and included all the numerous Slavic tribes that were considered nearest to the ancestry of the Lithuanian tribe as well as Germania, and together with this, the younger Slavic tribes and all the great families of the nation who descended from the ancient Aryans.

Before their move from the banks of Amu Darya and Syr Darya to Europe, Slavic tribes probably came by two main routes; one was their descent from the shores of Amu Darya to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, around this sea on the south side and moving through Asia Minor toward Europe via the so-called Thracian Bosporus.2 This is the narrow strait to Constantinople, leading from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea, which after crossing leads to the north and the west.

Other segments of Slavic tribes were able to migrate from the place of their original homeland downstream of Syr Darya, and because of this, going around the Caspian Sea from the south to spread into our glorious southern Russian steppes and the lower reaches of our rivers, the Don, the Dnieper, the Bug, and the Dniester, up to the lower reaches of the Danube on which the Slavic tribes had settled, going into Europe via the first route through Asia Minor.

Aside from the migration through the two aforementioned primary routes, some of the Slavic tribes were able to come to Europe via a third route, which was to follow the river Amu Darya closely upwards until the southern shore of the Caspian Sea or to go along the eastern coast of the Black Sea, to cross over the eastern Caucasus Mountains and come into the extensive and fertile plains, adjacent to the Caucasus from the north, i.e., in the lands of the present-day Kuban region.

Having settled downstream and north of the rivers Danube, Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, and Don, the Slavs didn’t stop in their migrations and continued to move even further gradually.

Some of the Slavs from the middle of the Danube separated from the tribe, settling in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, up to the shores of the Adriatic. Here, they founded, under the name Veneti,3 a famous nation of sailors, becoming well known for their intrepid seamanship all over the southern seas of Europe and their lavish nautical trade. The Veneti created the only city in the world built in the middle of the sea, Venice, with its streets as sea canals and all movement throughout the city done by boat.

Other Slavic tribes, having ascended the Danube and its upper tributaries, passed from them to the river valleys, currents to the Baltic Sea, and reaching this sea, settled firmly on its southern coast from the mouth of the river Lab to the mouth of the river Vistula and the nearby islands. All the settled Slavic tribes in this area were no less well known than the Veneti as bold sailors of the North Sea, brave warriors, and enterprising traders. The brave Varangians settled here and immediately entered a bloody war with the established western Germanic tribes.4 From the Varangians, the Baltic Sea received the nickname “the Varangian Sea.” Just then, the Venetisettled right next to them, who, aside from being great sailors, were also famous among the Germanic people—like all Slavs in general—for the exquisite art of cultivating the land.5 Many Germanic tribes learned agriculture from the Veneti, and until then, the Germanic people were called “deep and narrow trenches” by the Veneti. From their Slavic neighbors, the Germanic people took the plow. On the Baltic Sea were the Rugii people or the Ru; they gave the name to the island of Rugii or Russi,6 on which they settled and acquired notoriety as the most famous warriors and traders. Many centuries later, their descendants—one must think—gave their name to the Russian Land.

Then there were the Slavic tribes: Bodrichi, Lyutichi, Pomeranians, and others just on the Baltic coast.

Some Slavs with the name Lyakhov or Polyakov settled on the coast of the Vistula, having settled further east along the Neman and the lower reaches of the Western Dvina (Daugava River), a tribe itself closely related to the Lithuanians.

The Czechs, Moravians, and Croats settled around the Carpathian Mountains and adjacent areas.

Finally, the eastern Slavic tribes, having dispersed into the lower reaches of rivers in the south of modern-day Russia—the Dniester, the Bug, and the Dnieper—advanced upward along these rivers to the north and the east to the upper reaches of the rivers already rushing into other seas, exactly: 1) to the upper reaches of the Neman and the Western Dvina, currents to the Baltic Sea; 2) to the upper reaches of the Shelon, Lovat, and other rivers, flowing into Lake Ilmen, and from there through Lake Ladoga and the Neva River up to the Baltic Sea; 3) to the upper reaches of the northern Danube, flowing to the White Sea and lastly; 4) to the upper reaches of the rivers Oka and Volga, which carry their waters first to the east through the entire north of Russia, and then turning sharply to the south, toward the Caspian Sea.

Occupying the upper reaches of the rivers listed above, which almost all converge closely with each other at places, and which area was called in the old days Volkovsky Woods, our ancestors acquired the ability to gradually move forward downstream along their currents and settle the entirety of the vast landscape of European Russia.

Here is how consecutively, over many centuries, the Slavic tribe settled in many European countries, coming to it after other Aryan nations.

Before their migration into Europe, the Slavs needed to find routes traveled by the oldest native Aryan inhabitants of the countries they were migrating to, who had already settled there.

Greek Tales of Centaurs and Amazons

We don’t have accurate information about these first encounters due to the ubiquitous lack of documentation from that time. Still, we know that the ancient Greeks, who, as we have seen, came to Europe before the Slavs, preserved old myths that there were unique monsters to the north of Greece who had their backs and legs covered in fur, like animals, but the chest, heads, and hands of people. These monsters, whom the Greeks called centaurs, were characterized by their highly fierce temper and superb marksmanship, and because they were as fast as horses, they were quite elusive. According to Greek myths, there were many bloody wars between these centaurs and the Greeks.

These legendary stories of Greeks and centaurs are quite unbelievable; however, a substantial share of them are true.

The brutal battles of the ancient Greeks indeed happened with newcomers from the south, who could shoot arrows with astonishing accuracy from their bows, suddenly emerging in front of their enemy’s position on fast-footed horses with whom they appeared to form one inseparable whole.

The sight of these elusive equestrian newcomers, who attacked enemies from a distance with bows before fiercely charging at full gallop, especially struck the Greeks, who, having settled in their mountainous country, had poorly grasped the art of training horses and were poor riders who fought on foot instead.

Nevertheless, despite the horror they inspired in the Greeks, these southern newcomers weren’t mythical monsters but real people.

They were our exalted Slavic ancestors and precisely those tribes who founded the Great Russian nation. Moving from their far-off Aryan motherland by our open southern steppes, they had mastered the wild horse during this challenging and lengthy journey across the exalted and then-inhabited Russian steppes and made for themselves from this energetic animal the surest and most devoted friend. Much like these Aryans, our Slavic ancestors were the best horsemen and bowmen in the world and embodied the horror of all nations who tried to resist them.

The ancient Chinese also had a story that far to the west, in the vast steppes, there lived a tribe, the Ding-Long, who were master horsemen and moved with astonishing speed; because of this, the Chinese, undoubtedly, considered the Ding-Long an Aryan race, as is seen from the comparison between pictures of Aryans and people of the Ding-Long tribe here displayed from ancient Chinese drawings.

Along with the myths of centaurs, the ancient Greeks also told stories of an extraordinary race allegedly consisting only of female warriors, fearlessly fighting on fleet-footed horses and distinguished for their archery skill; the Greeks named these brave riders Amazons.

These stories of Amazons were, we must think, none other than our valiant progenitors; they, as loyal and devoted wives and daughters, supported their husbands and fathers in their dashing raids and took part in all the bloody battles, bravely fighting and unhesitatingly dying by the side of their people.

Such ancient Greek myths told of our Slavic ancestors’ introduction to European life.

Slavs Near Troy

Next, we find shorter but more positive accounts about our ancestors in songs that were famous all over the ancient Greek world from the blind poet Homer, who sang of the famous siege of the Greeks against the Asia Minor city of Troy, located not far from the Thracian Bosporus. The siege of Troy was twelve hundred years before the birth of Christ and occurred because Paris, the son of the Trojan king, kidnapped the beautiful Helen, who was the wife of one of the Greek kings.

The war on Troy continued for twelve years; in those years, both well-known heroes and vast quantities of allies from other nations took part. Among these others, Homer mentions the valorous allied Slavic tribe, the Veneti.

Before we continue our narration any further, it is necessary to say that apparently, our ancestors began calling themselves Slavs, denoting by this name all the tribes who spoke to each other with a mutually intelligible language, as opposed to the Germanics, whom the Slavs called mutes because they could not speak the languages of other tribes. Therefore, the name Slavs for a long time was used only among Slavs themselves; inhabitants of other countries called them foreigners by the names of their languages. From these names, the most well-known for a very long time was the Scythians, apparently because this was what the Greeks called them; thus, this name had denoted Slavic tribes since migratory times.

One Slavic hero on the side of the Greeks during the time of the siege of Troy was King Achilles. Homer ascribes a fantastical origin to him from the marriage of the brave Greek king Peleus and a mermaid, but the later Greek chronicler Arrian firmly states that Achilles was part Scythian, having been born on the shores of the upper Sea of Azov; he was banished from his homeland for his unrestrained temper and pride and settled in Greece, where he soon became praised for his incredible bravery. Achilles’ features were of Scythian origin, according to the words of Arrian—his fair hair, blue eyes, and extraordinary rage in battle, and his clothing bore Scythian-style clasps. According to this image, during the siege of Troy, the greatest Greek heroes were of Scythian-Slavic origin, native to the Sea of Azov, having their homeland in our Donetsk region, now inhabited by Cossacks.

The first written stories of Greek writers about Scythians refer to a time approximately eight hundred years before the birth of Christ. In these stories, it is told that the strong and warlike Scythians, who had appeared on the coast of the upper Sea of Azov and the mouth of the Dnieper, brought such fear to the previous inhabitants of these areas, who bore the name Cimmerian, that they completely cleared the lands they occupied hastily and without any resistance, running away through the Caucasus into Asia Minor.

These accounts demonstrate that from their first appearance in Europe, our ancestors showed themselves as brave and warlike nations who didn’t hesitate to undertake a series of glorious wars and campaigns.

Military Campaigns Against Egypt and Jerusalem by Our Ancestors

The Scythians were especially revered for a massive campaign sometime around 630 BC, which was undertaken with a vast number of riders from the coasts of the Dnieper and the Don through to the Caucasus Mountains, Armenia, Persia, and Asia Minor, reaching as far as Egypt.

This campaign lasted twenty-eight years and ensured strongly-emphasized notoriety to its participants. Before this movement, the Scythians, prancing on light horses and betraying all with fire and sword, brought such horror to all whom they encountered on their way through these lands that many of them, never even entering into battle, hurried to buy out these

formidable conquerors with lavish gifts. On their victorious path, the Scythians subjugated the Median king Cyaxares and forced him to pay them tribute; they then headed to Assyria, and the Assyrian king had to buy them off with the innumerable treasures of his palace. From Assyria, the Scythians returned to the west, to the prosperous city of Phoenicia, and penetrated by way of the coastline into the Philistine territory from which they marched to Egypt. Seeing this, the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik set out toward them with lavish gifts and begged them to cease and turn back. Then, the Scythians returned north again and invaded Judaea, which they put entirely to fire and death. They nearly sacked Jerusalem, for which the Jewish nation trembled at every hour, expecting deliverance into its fate. But the young Jewish king Josiah, with his chief emissary, prevented the capital’s razing with his treasure’s help, with which he begged the Scythians to spare the holy city.

The prophet Jeremiah, who lived in Jerusalem at that time, foretold the invasion of the Scythians in the following grim prophecy:

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry, ‘Gather together,’ and say, ‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.’ Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, and great destruction.” (Jer 4: 5–6)

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim: “Make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. . . .” The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall dwell in it. (Jer 4: 14–16, 29)

“Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty men. And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; they shall destroy your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.” (Jer 5: 15–17)

Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth. They will lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, as men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.” We have heard the report of it; our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor. Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, fear is on every side. (Jer 6: 22–25)

“The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell in it.” (Jer 8: 16)7

Thus prophesized Jeremiah of the invasion of the Scythians. Turning from Jerusalem to the north, the Scythians, in the prime of their glory and loaded with wealth and plunder, returned from the lands they had conquered to their vast steppes on the Don and the Dnieper.

However, very few ended up returning to their home country; most died quite unexpectedly, thanks to the pernicious Scythian affinity for wine,8 for which they were distinguished even in those ancient times. Unfortunately, they were able to sabotage themselves and their descendants, the Russian nation.

Knowing the exorbitant avarice of the Scythians for wine and their ability to drink themselves blind, the Median king Cyaxares, whom they had conquered and forced to pay tribute, prepared for their return a rich and sumptuous feast complete with a massive supply of wine. The Scythians once again drank themselves into a stupor. When they were passing out and stumbling around from drunkenness, the insidious Cyaxares had no trouble killing many of them; only a few made it home.

A hundred years after the sad events described, in 530 BC, the Scythian’s passion for fine wine again proved disastrous for them.

Death of Cyrus

The event occurred in the following way: Cyrus, king of Persia, one of the great conquerors of the ancient world, had conquered for himself the kingdoms of Media and Assyria and all the other tribes in Asia Minor; after this, having taken the glorious city of Babylon much to the pleasure of the Jews, who had been kept there in captivity and so decided to return to Judea, Cyrus chose to attack the Scythians, who were considered undefeated, and moved toward the Scythian tribes who lived on the Amu Darya River.9 He had previously sent a proposition of marriage to their queen Tomyris. The wise Tomyris, no longer a young girl, understood that this was only a ploy to take possession of her lands. Thus, she sent him a message declining his offer, instead ordering him to announce that they would each rule over everything in their own kingdoms and not wage war on each other, but that if Cyrus indeed wanted war, that she would accept and look forward to expanding her dominion to include his.

Cyrus, knowing the indomitable Scythian courage and skill in the art of war, as well as their irresistible passion for wine, realized that he wouldn’t be able to have success against them in conventional open war, but only with the help of his cunning.

For this, having invaded Scythian lands, he gathered all his troops, weakened and weathered by the wars, which he had no problem losing, and divided them in the direction of the Scythians. At that point, he ordered this first detachment, at the break of dusk, to take a lavish supply of food and wine and wait for the arrival of the Scythians. Cyrus’ strategy was executed perfectly. Soon the Scythians appeared before the first Persian detachment, with Tomyris’ young son to translate for them. They attacked the Persians and killed them all easily, at which point they happened upon the strategically placed wine and foodstuffs and carelessly indulged in unbridled revelry and drunkenness. That, of course, is when Cyrus crept up. He attacked the Scythians, who were stumbling around drunkenly, killed most of them, and took many of them hostage, with Queen Tomyris’ son among them. Approximately 150,000 Scythians were killed or taken captive in this exchange.

Having learned of this misfortune, Tomyris sent a message to Cyrus asking him to release her son back to her and saying that she wouldn’t take revenge on the Persians for the treacherous attack on her warriors if they returned home. But Cyrus could not acquiesce to her request; he had only just decided to undo the shackles of the queen’s young son when, out of shame and grief for having been the cause of his brave compatriots’ deaths due to his weakness for wine, and knowing that he had lost his mother’s trust, he took his own life. Hearing of his death, Tomyris sent all her troops, numbering around 300,000 men and 200,000 women, to attack the Persians.

What followed was one of the bloodiest battles ever to have occurred in ancient times. Both sides fought bitterly and stubbornly, and finally the Scythians won. Cyrus died in the fray. When they found his body, the Scythian queen ordered his head removed and brought to her in a leather bag filled with human blood. Upon seeing the head, she addressed it, saying, “Although I have come through battle alive and victorious, you have destroyed me by capturing my son with a trick. But I warned you that I would quench your thirst for blood, and so I shall.”10

Darius’ Campaign in Southern Russia

Twenty years after this event, in 510 BC, one of Cyrus’ successors, Darius I, who, like Cyrus, was also one of the great conquerors of the ancient world, decided that he wanted to conquer the Scythians to avenge Cyrus.

To do this, he gathered a great horde in Asia Minor, led them into Europe over the Thracian Bosporus, and ordered them to the Danube. Transporting his troops across a semi-permanent bridge under the protection of the allied Greeks, Darius entered the present-day provinces of Bessarabia and Kherson, no doubt in search of a swift victory in numbers over the scattered Scythian tribes. Unfortunately, due to strife among these tribes, despite the news about the Persian invasion, the further distanced tribes didn’t agree to come to aid those located in regions more directly along the Persian warpath. However, despite these disagreements among Scythians, other unexpected circumstances arose for Darius.

The Scythians, when invaded by Darius’ soldiers in their home territory, moved to meet them but did not engage the army in battle before sending their children and surplus livestock to the south, constantly avoiding the Persians to the east while always keeping one day ahead on the path and burning all their pastures in retreat. The Persians, arriving at ruined fields at dusk each day, endured constant hunger for a long time. The Scythians retreated along the Dnieper and, afterward, the Don until they reached the Volga; then, bypassing the Persian army from the north, they started to move to the west, staying entirely out of reach, much to Darius’ surprise.

Since this proceeded at great length and with no end to the wanderings in sight, Darius sent a rider to Idanthyrsus, king of the Scythians, retreating before him with the following statement:

[126] . . . ‘What is this extraordinary behavior? Why do you keep on running away, when you could do something different? For instance, if you think you have the ability to resist my power, then stop this aimless wandering, stay in one place and fight. But if you recognize that you are weaker than me, you can still stop running: come and discuss terms with me instead, acknowledging me as your master with gifts of earth and water.’11

In response, the Scythian king Idanthyrsus sent this message to Darius: