Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bending the bow
the introduction of infantry, but this need have been little more than a formalization
of the ragged groups of the poor who followed the horsemen eager to pick up what
benefits they could.
Raiding and warfare were a way of life, an extension of the hunt which all enjoyed.
At one end of the steppe, near the Sea of Azov, 30,000 Scythians, cavalry and infantry,
could fight alongside Greeks and Thracians in the army of the Bosporan king
while at the same time in the Altai mountains a man could be felled by the battleaxe
of his opponent and lose his scalp before his relatives were able to retrieve his body
for a decent burial. Men involved in both engagements would have fully understood
each other’s motivation and values.
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