Saka, "Scythians." These people appear to have been allied ethnically
with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the
Iberians, the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the
Susianians, and others. It is just possible that they may have taken
an interest in the warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when
Cyaxares brought the tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the
north may have felt resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too
improbable, considering the distance, the physical obstacles, and the
little communication that there was between nations in those early
times, we must suppose that by a mere coincidence it happened that the
subjugation of the southern Scyths by Cyaxares was followed within a few
years by a great irruption of Scyths from the trans-Caucasian region. In
that case we shall have to regard the invasion as a mere example of that
ever-recurring law by which the poor and hardy races of Upper Asia or
Europe are from time to time directed upon the effete kingdoms of the
south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, as the case may be, and
prevent them from stagnating into corruption.

The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages,
have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered
Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would
then have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia
into Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had
now established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan
to Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and
across the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the
province of Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through
Chukli and Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah.
We cannot say which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were
passing southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted
Nineveh on the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot
haste to meet and engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched.
Both were hardy and warlike, both active and full of energy; with both
the cavalry was the chief arm, and the bow the weapon on which they
depended mainly for victory. The Medes were no doubt the better
disciplined; they had a greater variety of weapons and of soldiers; and
individually they were probably more powerful m