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Histories

§4.117.1

Language and Marriage Customs of the Sauromatae

On the origin of the Sauromatae's imperfect Scythian language and their marriage custom, which forbids maidens from marrying until they have killed an enemy.

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§4.117.1

φωνῇ δὲ οἱ Σαυρομάται νομίζουσι1 Σκυθικῇ, σολοικίζοντες αὐτῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρχαίου,2 ἐπεὶ οὐ χρηστῶς ἐξέμαθον αὐτὴν αἱ Ἀμαζόνες. τὰ περὶ γάμων δὲ ὧδέ σφι διακέεται. οὐ γαμέεται παρθένος οὐδεμία πρὶν ἂν τῶν πολεμίων ἄνδρα ἀποκτείνῃ·3 αἳ δὲ τινὲς4 αὐτέων καὶ τελευτῶσι γηραιαὶ πρὶν γήμασθαι, οὐ δυνάμεναι τὸν νόμον ἐκπλῆσαι.

​The Sauromatae use the Scythian language, but they have spoken it incorrectly from the beginning, since the Amazons did not learn it thoroughly. Their customs concerning marriage are as follows: no maiden is married until she has killed a man of the enemy; and some of them even die old before marrying, being unable to fulfill the law.

Syntax notes4 items
  1. 4.117.1νομίζουσι

    The verb νομίζω with the dative (here φωνῇ ... Σκυθικῇ) means 'to use or practice habitually', rather than its common meaning of 'to believe' or 'to hold as custom'.

  2. 4.117.1ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρχαίου

    The preposition ἀπό combined with the neuter substantivized adjective ἀρχαῖον functions adverbially to mean 'from the beginning' or 'from of old'.

  3. 4.117.1πρὶν ἂν τῶν πολεμίων ἄνδρα ἀποκτείνῃ

    Since the main clause is negative (οὐ γαμέεται ... οὐδεμία), the construction πρὶν ἂν with the subjunctive (ἀποκτείνῃ) is used to express 'not... until' or 'not... before'.

  4. 4.117.1αἳ δὲ τινὲς

    The demonstrative pronoun (αἳ δέ, feminine plural of ὁ δέ) combined with the indefinite pronoun τινές, meaning 'and some of them'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
  • 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.117.1