PART 17
XVII. Such is the condition of the inhabitants
of Asia. And in Europe is a Scythian race, dwelling
round Lake Maeotis, which differs from the other
races. Their name is Sauromatae. Their women,
so long as they are virgins, ride, shoot, throw the
javelin while mounted, and fight with their enemies.
They do not lay aside their virginity until they have
killed three of their enemies, and they do not marry
before they have performed the traditional sacred
rites. A woman who takes to herself a husband no
longer rides, unless she is compelled to do so by
a general expedition. They have no right breast ;
for while they are yet babies their mothers make
[p. 119]
red-hot a bronze instrument constructed for this
very purpose and apply it to the right breast and
cauterise it, so that its growth is arrested, and all
its strength and bulk are diverted to the right
shoulder and right arm.