ἔθη δὲ τὰ πολλὰ μὲν τὰ αὐτὰ τούτοις τε καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίοις διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν χώραν παραπλησίαν εἶναι. τοὺς μέντοι Μήδους ἀρχηγέτας εἶναί φασι καὶ τούτοις καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Πέρσαις τοῖς ἔχουσιν αὐτοὺς καὶ διαδεξαμένοις τὴν τῆς Ἀσίας ἐξουσίαν. ἡ γὰρ νῦν λεγομένη Περσικὴ στολὴ καὶ ὁ τῆς τοξικῆς καὶ ἱππικῆς ζῆλος καὶ ἡ περὶ τοὺς βασιλέας θεραπεία καὶ κόσμος καὶ σεβασμὸς θεοπρεπὴς παρὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων εἰς τοὺς Πέρσας παρὰ Μήδων ἀφῖκται. καὶ ὅτι τοῦτʼ ἀληθὲς ἐκ τῆς ἐσθῆτος μάλιστα δῆλον· τιάρα γάρ τις καὶ κίταρις καὶ πῖλος καὶ χειριδωτοὶ χιτῶνες καὶ ἀναξυρίδες ἐν μὲν τοῖς ψυχροῖς τόποις καὶ προσβόρροις ἐπιτήδειά ἐστι φορήματα, οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ Μηδικοί, ἐν δὲ τοῖς νοτίοις ἥκιστα· οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι τὴν πλείστην οἴκησιν ἐπὶ τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάττῃ κέκτηνται, μεσημβρινώτεροι καὶ Βαβυλωνίων ὄντες καὶ Σουσίων· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατάλυσιν τὴν τῶν Μήδων προσεκτήσαντό τινα καὶ τῶν προσαπτομένων Μηδίᾳ. ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἐφάνη σεμνὰ καὶ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ προσχήματος οἰκεῖα τὰ ἔθη τοῖς νικήσασι τὰ τῶν νικηθέντων, ὥστʼ ἀντὶ γυμνητῶν καὶ ψιλῶν θηλυστολεῖν ὑπέμειναν, καὶ κατηρεφεῖς εἶναι τοῖς σκεπάσμασι.
Many of their customs are the same as those of the Armenians, from the similarity of the countries which they inhabit. The Medes however were the first to communicate them to the Armenians, and still before that time to the Persians, who were their masters, and successors in the empire of Asia. The Persian stole, as it is now called, the pursuit of archery and horsemanship, the court paid to their kings, their attire, and veneration fitting for gods paid by the subjects to the prince,—these the Persians derived from the Medes. That this is the fact appears chiefly from their dress. A tiara, a citaris, a hat, tunics with sleeves reaching to the hands, and trowsers, are proper to be worn in cold and northerly places, such as those in Media, but they are not by any means adapted to inhabitants of the south. The Persians had their principal settlements on the Gulf of Persia, being situated more to the south than the Babylonians and the Susii. But after the overthrow of the Medes they gained possession of some tracts of country contiguous to Media. The custom however of the vanquished appeared to the conquerors to be so noble, and appropriate to royal state, that instead of nakedness or scanty clothing, they endured the use of the feminine stole, and were entirely covered with dress to the feet.
τινὲς δὲ Μήδειαν καταδεῖξαι τὴν ἐσθῆτα ταύτην φασὶ δυναστεύσασαν ἐν τοῖς τόποις, καθάπερ καὶ Ἰάσονα, καὶ ἐπικρυπτομένην τὴν ὄψιν ὅτε ἀντὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξίοι· τοῦ μὲν Ἰάσονος ὑπομνήματα εἶναι τὰ Ἰασόνια ἡρῷα τιμώμενα σφόδρα ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων (ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὄρος μέγα ὑπὲρ τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ καλούμενον Ἰασόνιον), τῆς δὲ Μηδείας τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τοὔνομα τῆς χώρας. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Μῆδος υἱὸς αὐτῆς διαδέξασθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἐπώνυμον αὑτοῦ καταλιπεῖν. ὁμολογεῖ δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν Ἰασόνια καὶ τὸ τῆς χώρας ὄνομα καὶ ἄλλα πλείω περὶ ὧν ἐροῦμεν.
Some writers say that Medeia, when with Jason she ruled in these countries, introduced this kind of dress, and concealed her countenance as often as she appeared in public in place of the king; that the memorials of Jason are, the Jasonian heroa, held in great reverence by the Barbarians, (besides a great mountain above the Caspian Gates on the left hand, called Jasonium,) and that the memorials of Medeia are the kind of dress, and the name of the country. Medus, her son, is said to have been her successor in the kingdom, and the country to have been called after his name. In agreement with this are the Jasonia in Armenia, the name of the country, and many other circumstances which we shall mention.
καὶ τοῦτο δὲ Μηδικὸν τὸ βασιλέα αἱρεῖσθαι τὸν ἀνδρειότατον, ἀλλʼ οὐ πᾶσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ὀρείοις· μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν πολλὰς εἶναι γυναῖκας· τοῖς δʼ ὀρείοις τῶν Μήδων καὶ πᾶσιν ἔθος τοῦτο, ἐλάττους δὲ τῶν πέντε οὐκ ἔξεστιν· ὡς δʼ αὕτως τὰς γυναῖκάς φασιν ἐν καλῷ τίθεσθαι ὅτι πλείστους νέμειν ἄνδρας, τῶν πέντε δὲ ἐλάττους συμφορὰν ἡγεῖσθαι. τῆς δʼ ἄλλης Μηδίας εὐδαιμονούσης τελέως λυπρά ἐστιν ἡ προσάρκτιος ὀρεινή· σιτοῦνται γοῦν ἀπὸ ἀκροδρύων, ἔκ τε μήλων ξηρῶν κοπέντων ποιοῦνται μάζας, ἀπὸ δʼ ἀμυγδάλων φωχθέντων ἄρτους, ἐκ δὲ ῥιζῶν τινων οἶνον ἐκθλίβουσι, κρέασι δὲ χρῶνται θηρείοις, ἥμερα δὲ οὐ τρέφουσι θρέμματα. τοσαῦτα καὶ περὶ Μήδων φαμέν· περὶ δὲ τῶν νομίμων κοινῇ τῆς συμπάσης Μηδίας, ἐπειδὴ ταὐτὰ τοῖς Περσικοῖς γεγένηται διὰ τὴν τῶν Περσῶν ἐπικράτειαν, ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐκείνων λόγῳ φήσομεν.
It is a Median custom to elect the bravest person as king, but this does not generally prevail, being confined to the mountain tribes. The custom for the kings to have many wives is more general, it is found among all the mountaineers also, but they are not permitted to have less than five. In the same manner the women think it honourable for husbands to have as many wives as possible, and esteem it a misfortune if they have less than five.
While the rest of Media is very fertile, the northern and mountainous part is barren. The people subsist upon the produce of trees. They make cakes of apples, sliced and dried, and bread of roasted almonds; they express a wine from some kind of roots. They eat the flesh of wild animals, and do not breed any tame animals. So much then respecting the Medes. As to the laws and customs in common use throughout the whole of Media, as they are the same as those of the Persians in consequence of the establishment of the Persian empire, I shall speak of them when I give an account of the latter nation.
Cite This Text