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Hellanicus (fr. 169; F. H. G. i. 68) says the Persians learned the practice of castration from the Babylonians; cf. H. iii. 92. 1.

ἐσθῆτα. H. describes the ‘Median’ armament (σκευή) of the Persian ‘Immortals’ in vii. 61 (v. n.); the real Persian dress was of leather (σκυτίνη), and its main feature the trousers (71. 2); such a dress, fitting closely, is worn by the common soldiers on the monuments, while the king and his attendants have a long flowing dress. (Rawlinson, ad loc., gives pictures.) Cf. Strabo, 525, for the borrowing. Curzon, ii. 633, speaks of ‘(Persian) imitativeness long notorious in the East’. He also agrees with c. 134 as to Persian conceit (p. 628).

παισί: the vice was older and is denounced in the Vendidad (Farg. 8. 5; iv. 102); Greek influence may have helped to spread it.

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