Servicios Educativos

wind, is consistently conceived as originating in the

Rhipaean mountains, and thus the Hyperboreans are a people 47

defined as dwelling beyond the Rhipeans . As Hippokrates identifies the edge of the world with the Rhipeans, it is clear that his model cannot accommodate Hyperboreans.

Thus, though the main influence behind Hippokrates' conception of the physical geography of the northern horizon may lie in the school of astro-geography, the terms in which Hippokrates chose to describe his model are those of Ionian geographical convention, e.g. ‘ P i l i a i o i O L V , ööev ö ßopegc; rivet. Was Hippokrates using Hekataios or Herodotos?

As has been discussed, Aischylos, Hellanikos and

Damastes (writers already demonstrated to have been writing in the Hecataean tradition) all conceived of a Rhipaean mountain range from where the north wind blew, and beyond

48

which invariably dwelt Hyperboreans . Herodotos alone, 49 though referring on numerous occasions to Hyperboreans , makes no mention of the Rhipaean mountains, nor refers to any

such concept of an imposing northern mountain range from which

47. Desautel, 'Les monts Rhipees ...' p.296. See also cb. 1 p p . App.II, pp.4-5. Even in A W P , though there are no Hyperboreans,

there is still the Boreas (19.8-9).

48. Aischylos in App.II, Hellanikos and Damastes in their respective chapters.

Her. IV.13, 32, 33, 35, 36. 49.

50

the north wind blows . Thus, just as Hippokrates drew

upon Ionian geographical material for his account of Scythian and Sauromatai customs, though at the same time possessing first-hand information, so he appears to have drawn on the earlier Ionian tradition for the formulae to describe the physical geography. In both cases the non-IIerodotean, Ionian

51 authority would seem to be Hekataios

The treatise continues for the remainder of ch.19 with a dissertation on the relationship between the natural envir­ onment (particularly the element of water in many forms, but also wind, sun and soil) and the nature of the life form

found there. This description of the climate of Scythia 52

corresponds closely to that found in Herodotos . Whether this correspondence between Hippokrates and Herodotos

indicates an interdependence or a mutual dependence on a common source, Hekataios, is unclear.

Next follows a physical description of the Scythians: '... their physiques are gross, fleshy, showing no joints, moist and flabby, and the lower bowels are as moist as bowels can be. For this belly cannot possibly dry up in a land like this with such a nature and such a climate, but because of their fat and the smoothness of their flesh their physiques

53

are similar, men's to men's and women's to women's.' This description would seem to be that of Mongolian people, not Iranian. The passage had been used by many early authors, such as Geza Nagy, Minns and Treidler to revive the still

54

earlier theory of Mongolian or Turanian origin , a theory 50. See ch.I .

51. Hecataean, as opposed to Herodotean, influence is also evident in the following passage from the test: 'The sun comes nearest to them only at the end of its course, when it reaches the summer solstice, and then it warms them but slightly and for a short time ...' 19.9-11. 52. AWP 19.12f., and Her. IV.28-31.

53. AWP 19.35-43.

54. Rostovtzeff, Iranians and Greeks_, p.60. Among these early writers the name of Ebert may be added. M. Ebert, Südrussland im Altertum

(Leipzig, 1924) pp.87, 107. See also the recognition of this problem in Pohlenz, Hippokrates_, 21 n.5. As Rostovtzeff records, stress has

once almost disposed of by Schiefner, Zeuss, Gutschmid, 55

Müllenhoff and Tomaschek . The theory prevailing at

present is that of the Scythians' Iranian origin. This theory is based not only on those considerations Rostovtzeff had

believed relevant (historical, archaeological and religious 5 6

considerations ) but also upon linguistic evidence (evidence which Rostovtzeff had believed to be indecisive but which has in more recent years been used to demonstrate beyond any doubt that the Scythians' language was Iranian,even if the

5 7

people were not, or were of mixed origin . But for the modern proponents of the Iranian theory, the Hippocratean passage still presents a problem. It need not. The explan­ ation of the Hippocratean passage may be twofold.

Firstly, Pohlenz is without doubt pointing in the right direction when referring back to Rostovtzeff's resolution of the question in the conclusion that although the Scythians were predominantly an Iranian people there was 'a strong

infusion of Mongolian and Turanian blood'.J^ The north east trade route may, moreover, not only have facilitated the passage of Scythians through lands as far as the Altai, as Herodotos (from Aristeas) would seem to be recording, but possibly also the arrival of Central Asian peoples on the

59 Pontic steppes

54. (Contd.) also been laid upon the Mongolian physiognomy of the Scythians as represented on Bosphoran monuments of the fourth and third

centuries B.C. 55. Rostovtzeff, ibid.

56. Rostovtzeff does not offer details of these considerations, but the evidence they have been found to provide in more recent years is overwhelming.

57. H. Kothe, 'Der Skythenbegriff bei Herodot', Klio LI 1969 pp.15-88 and 'Pseudoskythen', Klio 48, .1967, pp.61-80. Pekkanen, T. , 'On the oldest relationship between Hungarians and Sarmatians. From Spali to Asphali' Ural-Altaisehe Jahrbücher XLV 1973, pp.1-64. See App.I, pp.

58. Pohlenz, Ilippokrates_, p.21 n.5; Rostovtzeff, Iranians and Greeks3

p.60. On this trade route see App.II.

59. A parallel situation can be found to have existed at the other end of the 'trade-route', the Altai mountains. In burials of the Pazyryk period there have been found important graves in which the 'queen' is

The alternative explanation, that Hippokrates fabricated the description of the people to suit his theory, is also highly improbable. Throughout the treatise there is never an indication that the author was relating anything other than that which he had drawn either from literature or personal experience^. But how accurately does he present the information so drawn? It is very possible that Hippo­ krates is stressing in his account those features of the

people he encountered which fit best into his medical theory. Such a practice is well within the realms of probability as it would seem to have been employed by the author in his description of the people of the Phasis. There the people are described as: '... of a gross habit of body, while neither joint nor vein is visible. Their complexion is yellowish, as though they suffered from jaundice. Of all men they have the deepest voice, because the air they breathe

is not clear, but moist and turbid. They are by nature dis­ inclined for physical fatigue^. This description differs 59. (Contd.) clearly of Europoid nature, while the 'king' is of Mongoloid

appearance, resembling a Tungus of the present day. Jettmar writes: 'it is assumed that he was an invader who rose to very high rank'. Karl Jettmar, Art of the Steppesj (1964, New York) pp.102-105.

This is a highly probable explanation, yet at the same time it is evident that inter-tribal marriages through the practise of exogamy and diplomatic contracts was widespread throughout Eurasia, and independent from the phenomenon of invasion. Rudenko offers a detailed analysis of these practices, introducing the subject as follows: 'The pastoral tribes of eastern Europe and Asia, both in the last millennium B.C. and later, maintained close links with one another by the barter of goods as well as by blood relationships. Confirmation of this is furnished not only by the homogeneity of their material culture but by their customs. Exogamy contributed to maintain links, and treaties of union were cemented by marriages of chiefs of different tribes.' Sergei I. Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia: the Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen3 tr. M.W. Thompson

(London, 1970, first published in Russian, Moscow/Leningrad, 1953), p.223. Rudenko substantiates this claim with references to Chinese relations with the Hun and Wu-sun, Medians and Sacat , Massagetai and Persians (Tomyris and Cyrus, for example) pp.223-225.

60. On personal observation, Pohlenz, Hippokrates_, p.21-22. 'Dass der Arzt diese Menschen mit eigenen Augen gesehen hat, werden wir nach dem, was wir bei der Schilderung der Phasis landschaft festgestellt haben, auch hier ohne weiteres annehmen.'

6 2

greatly from Herodotos' one of the same people . The character attributed to these people corresponds closely to the character of the land in which they live as desc­ ribed in section 15.2-20. This is no coincidence. The description of the Phasis dwellers, as van Paassen would seem to correctly conclude, 'bears witness to a typically medical view, in which what corresponds with the author's

6 3

medical theory is brought into prominence'. The same technique (that of stressing selected characteristics) directed towards the same goal (that of demonstrating the correspondence between environment and physique) was doubt­ less employed in the description of the Scythians.

Thus, although not necessarily inaccurate, nor simply fabricated, the description is selective and appears to have selected above all characteristics which were

64

Mongolian . There were Mongolian elements among the Royal Scythians but they were probably not substantial. The

Scythians are in fact treated simply as a medical case study. Chapters 21-22 of the treatise AWP are devoted to the subject of infertility among Scythians - especially the reasons for male impotence. In this lengthy section of the AWP, one passage proves to be of exceptional interest. Hippo- krates argues that the impotence is not a divine affliction as: 'This affliction affects the rich Scythians because of their riding, not the lower classes but the upper, who possess the most strength; the poor, who do not ride, suffer less. But, if we suppose this disease to be more divine than any other, it ought to have attacked, not the highest and richest classes only of the Scythians, but all 62. Herodotos describes them as 'dark-skinned and woolly-haired ...' and

similar to Egyptians (11.104), yoAnyxpOEG etol xat ouAoTplxeQ.

63. Van Paassen, The Classical Tradition of Geography, p.323.

64. Heinimann, Nomos und Physis, p.24: 'Während Völkerbeschreibung für Herodot weitgehend Selbstzweck ist, dient sie dem Hippokratiker nur als Beweismaterial für seine These vom Einfluss des Klimas auf die Menschen in ihrer körperlichen und geistigen Konstitution.'

classes equally - or rather the poor especially, if indeed the gods are pleased to receive from men respect and worship, and repay these with favours. For naturally the rich, having great wealth, make many sacrifices to the gods, and offer many votive offerings, and honour them, all of which things

6 5 the poor, owing to their poverty, are less able to do...'

In this most unlikely of sections, Hippokrates makes a remarkable and original observation upon Scythian society: he observes class division. The society is repeatedly

divided into two classes, designated by the following terms:

OL T l A o i l G L O L ^ OL KOLK L OTO I

o l e u Y o v e o T c i T O i ö l T i e v r i T e g

Coxuv TiAeiGTriv k s k t t i u s v o l t o l ö l v 6 Alycx k s k t t i u^v o l o l v

OL Y £ V V a L OTOLTO L OL KA.OUOLGOTd.XO L

The upper class ride horses, while the lower, though still considered by Hippokrates to be Scythians, do not. The

significance of this observation upon the nature of Scythian society has been overlooked by nearly every modern scholar

6 7 of Hippokrates

The conception of a division within the Scythians themselves is found for the very first time in A W P. Though 65. AWP, 22.37-50.

66. Cobet, 'Miscellanea, Philogica et Critica I.Ad. Hippocratem' p.70, considers the words OL tlAo u o lo l a textual interpolation on the grounds that they are unnecessary in the phrase: x o u x o 6e KCOOXPUOL Lk uQeojv ö l ttAo u o lo l o u y o l kolklotol olAA* o l e u Y e v e a r a io L . kcll ujyuv kAs l o t t iv KeKTT)tisvOL. Though this is perhaps one of Cobet's more convincing corrections of the text (see note 47) it is still unnec­ essary and based on the assumption that the Greek of the original composition was of an impeccably high standard.

67. The one exception is Levine, who in connection with this passage writes: 'That the Scyths were caste-ridden in some remarkable degree appears to be borne out by both ancient and modern comment­ ators. Among the latter, the Scyths are associated with the Hindus, whose caste system is both ancient and notorious'. (Ch.6. n.14). For a more useful bibliography of work related to the subject of Scythian society than that given by Levine, see Appendix I.

Herodotos writes of the tribes whom the Basileioi Scythians considered their subjects, and of the slaves whose revolt they once had to quell, he never speaks in terms of two classes of Scythians. The true Scythians for Herodotos were the Basileioi Scythians, the nomadic overlords, all

6 8

of whom would seem to have ridden horses . Nevertheless, though the Hippocratean passage is the first occurrence of the alternative-conception in classical literature, it is not the only occurrence. Lucian draws much the same distinc­ tion between classes of Scythians when recording the

criterion to be not the ownership of a horse (the effective prerequisite to riding), but ownership of oxen and a

69

wagon . As is discussed in Appendix I, class distinction within Scythian society itself was an historical reality.

Though clearly independent, the Hippocratean conception is not necessarily irreconcilable with the Herodotean. The distinctions between the three groups involved: Hippokrates' poor Scythians, Herodotos' domestic slaves of the Scythians, and Herodotos' subject tribes, may not be rigid. Herodotos even uses the same word in the Greek, öoöAoi, for both of his groups, and it is possible that the Scythians actually

70

conceived of both groups in the same terms . The one people may at the same time be subject neighbours, an assimilated sub-stratum within the overlords' society, and slaves in the domestic sense. Herodotos had taken note of the first and last of these three conditions. Hippokrates provided the first extant allusion to the second.