Megasthenes: Indika
Project
FRAGMENT I
OR AN EPITOME OF
MEGASTHENES.
(Diod. II. 35-42.)
(35.) India, which is
in shape quadrilateral, has its eastern as well as its western side bounded by
the great sea, but on the northern side it is divided by Mount Hemodos from that part of Skythia
which is inhabited by those Skythians who are called
the Sakai, while the fourth or western side is bounded by the river called the
Indus, which is perhaps the largest of all rivers in the world after the Nile. The extent of the whole country from east to west is said to be
28,000 stadia, and from north to south 32,000.
Being thus of such vast extent, it seems well-nigh to embrace the whole of the
northern tropic zone of the earth, and in fact at the extreme point of India
the gnomon of the sundial may frequently be observed to cast no shadow, while
the constellation of the Bear is by night invisible, and in the remotest parts
even Arcturus disappears from view. Consistently with
this, it is also stated that shadows there fall to the southward.
The greater part of
the soil, moreover, is under irrigation, and consequently bears two crops in
the course of the year. It teems at the same time with animals of all
sorts,--beasts of the field and fowls of the air,--of all different degrees of
strength and size. It is prolific, besides, in elephants, which are of
monstrous bulk, as its soil supplies food in unsparing profusion, making these
animals far to exceed in strength those that are bred in
(36.) The
inhabitants, in like manner, having abundant means of subsistence, exceed in
consequence the ordinary stature, and are distinguished by their proud bearing.
They are also found to be well skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men
who inhale a pure air and drink the very finest water. And while the soil bears
on its surface all kinds of fruits which are known to cultivation, it has also
under ground numerous veins of all sorts of metals, for it contains much gold
and silver, and copper and iron in no small quantity, and even tin and other
metals, which are employed in making articles of use and ornament, as well as
the implements and accoutrements of war.
In addition to cereals,
there grows throughout
But, farther, there
are usages observed by the Indians which contribute to prevent the occurrence
of famine among them; for whereas among other nations it is usual, in the
contests of war, to ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated
waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a
class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil, even when battle
is raging in their neighbourhood, are undisturbed by
any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict
make carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in husbandry to remain
quite unmolested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor
cut down its trees.
(37.)
A peculiarity is
found to exist in one of the rivers of
(38.) It is said that
India, being of enormous size when taken as a whole, is peopled by races both
numerous and diverse, of which not even one was originally of foreign descent,
but all were evidently indigenous; and moreover that India neither received a
colony from abroad, nor sent out a colony to any other nation. The legends
further inform us that in primitive times the inhabitants subsisted on such fruits
as the earth yielded spontaneously, and were clothed with the skins of the
beasts found in the country, as was the case with the Greeks; and that, in like
manner as with them, the arts and other appliances which improve human
life were gradually invented, Necessity herself teaching them to an animal at
once docile and furnished not only with hands ready to second all his efforts,
but also with reason and a keen intelligence.
The men of greatest
learning among the Indians tell certain legends, of which it may be proper to
give a brief summary. They relate that in the most primitive times, when the
people of the country were still living in villages, Dionusos
made his appearance coming from the regions lying to the west and at the head
of a considerable army. He overran the whole of
(39.) Such, then, are
the traditions regarding Dionusos and his descendants current among the Indians who inhabit the
hill-country. They further assert that Herakles also
was born among them. They assign to him, like the Greeks, the club and the lion's
skin. He far surpassed other men in personal strength and prowess, and cleared
sea and land of evil beasts. Marrying many wives he begot many sons, but one
daughter only. The sons having reached man's estate, he divided all
(40.) The whole
population of India is divided into seven castes, of which the first is
formed by the collective body of the Philosophers, which in point of number is
inferior to the other classes, but in point of dignity preeminent over all. For
the philosophers, being exempted from all public duties, are neither the
masters nor the servants of others. They are, however, engaged by private
persons to offer the sacrifices due in lifetime, and to celebrate the obsequies
of the dead: for they are believed to be most dear to the gods, and to
be the most conversant with matters pertaining to Hades. In requital of such
services they receive valuable gifts and privileges. To the people of India at
large they also render great benefits, when, gathered together at the beginning
of the year, they forewarn the assembled multitudes about droughts and. wet
weather, and also about propitious winds, and diseases, and other topics
capable of profiting-the hearers. Thus the people and the sovereign, learning
beforehand what is to happen, always make adequate provision against a coming
deficiency, and never fail to prepare beforehand what will help in a time of
need. The philosopher who errs in his predictions incurs no other penalty than
obloquy, and he then observes silence for the rest of his life.
The second caste
consists of the Husbandmen, who appear to be far more numerous than the others.
Being, moreover, exempted from fighting and other public services, they devote
the whole of their time to tillage; nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman
at work on his land do him any harm, for men of this class, being regarded as
public benefactors, are protected from all injury. The land, thus remaining unravaged, and producing heavy crops, supplies the inhabitants with all that is requisite to make life very
enjoyable. The husbandmen themselves, with their wives and children, live in
the country, and entirely avoid going into town. They pay a land-tribute to the
king, because all
The third
caste consists of the Neatherds and Shepherds and in
general of all herdsmen who neither settle in towns nor in villages, but live
in tents. By hunting and trapping they clear the country of noxious birds and
wild beasts. As they apply themselves eagerly and assiduously
to this pursuit, they free
(41.) The fourth
caste consists of the Artizans. Of these some are armourers, while others make the implements which
husbandmen and others find useful in their different callings. This class is
not only exempted from paying taxes, but even receives maintenance from the
royal exchequer.
The fifth
caste is the Military. It is well organized and equipped for war, holds the
second place in point of numbers, and gives itself up to idleness and amusement
in the times of peace. The entire force--men-at-arms, war-horses,
war-elephants, and all--are maintained at the king's expense.
The sixth caste
consists of the Overseers. It is their province to inquire into and superintend
all that goes on in
The seventh caste
consists of the Councillors and Assessors,--of those
who deliberate on public affairs. It is the smallest class, looking to number,
but the most respected, on account of the high character and wisdom of its
members; for from their ranks the advisers of the king are taken, and the
treasurers, of the state, and the arbiters who settle disputes. The generals of
the army also, and the chief magistrates, usually belong to this class.
Such, then, are about
the parts into which the body politic in
(42.)
Among the Indians
officers are appointed even for foreigners whose duty is to see that no
foreigner is wronged. Should any of them lose his health, they send physicians
to attend him, and take care of him otherwise, and if he dies they bury him,
and deliver over such property as he leaves to his relatives. The judges also
decide cases in which foreigners are concerned, with the greatest care, and
come down sharply on those who take unfair advantage of them. [What we have now
said regarding
I FRAGM. I.B.
Diod. III. 63.
Concerning Dionusos.
Now some, as I have
already said, supposing that there were three individuals of this name, who
lived in different ages, assign to each appropriate
achievements. They say, then, that the most ancient of them was Indos, and that as the country, with its genial
temperature, produced spontaneously the vine-tree in great abundance, he was
the first who crushed grapes and discovered the use of the properties of wine.
In like manner he ascertained what culture was requisite for figs and other
fruit trees, and transmitted this knowledge to after-times; and, in a word, it
was he who found out how these fruits should be gathered in, whence also he was
called Lenaios. This same Dionusos,
however, they call also Katapogon, since it is a
custom among the Indians to nourish their beards with great care to the very
end of their life. Dionusos then, at the head of an
army, marched to every part of the world, and taught mankind the planting of
the vine, and how to crush grapes in the winepress, whence he was called Lenaios. Having in like manner imparted to all a knowledge of his other inventions, he obtained after his
departure from among men immortal honour from those
who had benefited by his labours. It is further said
that the place is pointed out in India even to this day where the god had been,
and that cities are called by his name in the vernacular dialects, and that
many other important evidences still exist of his having been born in India,
about which it would be tedious to write.
BOOK I.
FRAGM. II.
Arr. Exped. Alex., V. 6. 2-11.
Of the Boundaries of
According to
Eratosthenes, and Megasthenes who lived with Siburtios the satrap of Arachosia,
and who, as he himself tells us, often visited Sandrakottos
the king of the Indians,
FRAGM. III.
Arr. Indica, II. 1. 7.
Of the Boundaries of
(See translation of Arrian.)
FRAGM. IV.
Strabo, XV. i. 11,--p. 689.
Of the Boundaries
and Extent of
FRAGM. V.
Strabo, II. i. 7,--p. 69.
Of the Size of
Again, Hipparchos, in the 2nd volume of his commentary, charges
Eratosthenes himself with throwing discredit on Patrokles
for differing from Megasthenes about the length of
FRAGM. VI.
Strabo, XV. i. 12,--pp. 689-690.
Of the Size of
[From this, one can
readily see, how the accounts of the other writers
vary from one another. Thus Ktesias says that
FRAGM. VII.
Strabo, II. I. 4,--pp.
68-69.
Of the Size of
1ndia.
Hipparchos
controverts this view, urging the futility of the proofs on which it rests. Patrokles, he says, is unworthy of trust, opposed as he is
by two competent authorities, Deimachos and Megasthenes, who state that in some places the distance
from the southern sea is 20,000 stadia, and in others
30,000. Such, he says, is the account they give, and it agrees with the ancient
charts of the country.
FRAGM. VIII.
Arr. Indica, III. 7-8.
Of the, Size, of
With Megasthenes the breadth of
FRAGM. IX.
Strabo, II. L19,--p. 76.
Of the setting of
the Bear, and shadows falling in contrary directions.
Again, he
[Eratosthenes] wished to show the ignorance of Deimachos,
and his want of a practical knowledge of such subjects, evidenced as it was by
his thinking that India lay between the autumnal equinox and the winter tropic,
and by his contradicting the assertion of Megasthenes
that in the southern parts of India the constellation of the Bear disappeared
from view, and shadows fell in opposite directions,--phenomena which he assures
us are never seen in India, thereby exhibiting the sheerest ignorance. He does
not agree in this opinion, but accuses Deimachos of
ignorance for directions, as Megasthenes supposed.
FRAGM. X.
Pliny, Hist. Nat. VI. 22.6.
Of the Setting of
the Bear.
Next [to the Prassi] in the interior are the Monedes
and the Suari, to whom belongs Mount Maleus, on which shadows fall towards the north in winter,
and in summer to the south, for six months alternately. The Bears, Baeton says, in that part of the country are only once
visible in the course of the year, and not for more than fifteen clays. Megasthenes says that this takes place in many parts of
Conf. Solin, 52.13:--
Beyond Palibrotha is
FRAGM. XI.
Strabo, XV. i. 20,--p. 693.
Of the Fertility of
Megasthenes
indicates the fertility of
Conf. Eratosth. ap.
Strabo. XV. i. 13,-p.
690:--
From the vapours arising from such vast rivers, and from the Etesian
winds, as Eratosthenes states,
FRAGM. XII.
Strabo, XV. i. 37,--p. 703.
Of some Wild Beasts
of
According to Megasthenes the largest tigers are found among the Prasii, being nearly twice the size of the lion, and so
strong that a tame tiger led by four men having seized a mule by the hinder leg
overpowered it and dragged it to him. The monkeys are larger than the largest
dogs; they are white except in the face, which is black, though the contrary is
observed elsewhere. Their tails are more than two cubits in length. They are
very tame, and not of a malicious disposition: so that they neither attack man
nor steal. Stones are dug up which are of the colour
of frankincense, and sweeter than figs or honey. In some parts of the country
there are serpents two cubits long which have membranous wings like bats. They
fly about by night, when they let fall drops of urine or sweat, which blister
the skin of persons not on their guard, with putrid sores. There are also
winged scorpions of an extraordinary size. Ebony grows there. There are also
dogs of great strength and courage, which will not let go their hold till water
is poured into their nostrils: they bite so eagerly that the eyes of some
become distorted, and the eyes of others fall out. Both a lion and a bull were
held fast by a dog. The bull was seized by the muzzle, and died before the dog
could be taken off.
FRAGM. XIII.
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVII 39. Conf. Fragm. XII. 2.
Of Indian Apes.
In the country of the
Praxii, who are an Indian people, Megasthenes
says there are apes not inferior in size to the largest dogs. They have tails
five cubits long, hair grows on their forehead, they
have luxuriant beards hanging down their breast. Their face is entirely white,
and all the rest of the body black. They are tame and. attached to man, and not
malicious by nature like the apes of other countries.
FRAGM. XIV.
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVI. 41. Conf. Fragm. X11. 4.
Of Winged Scorpions
and Serpents.
Megasthenes
says there are winged scorpions in
FRAGM. XV.
Strabo, XV. i. 56,--pp. 710-711.
Of the Beasts of
He (Megasthenes) says there are monkeys, rollers of rocks,
which climb precipices whence they roll down stones upon their pursuers. Most
animals, he says, which are tame with us are wild in India, and he speaks of
horses which are one-horned and have heads like those of deer; and also of
reeds some of which grow straight up to the height of thirty orguiae, whi1e others grow along the ground to the
length of fifty. They vary in thickness from three to six cubits in diameter.
FRAGM. XV.B.
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVI. 20.21. Conf. Fragm. XV. 2. 1.
Of some Beasts of
(20.) In certain
districts of India (I speak of those which are most inland) they say there are
inaccessible mountains infested by wild beasts, and which are also the haunts
of animals like those of our own country except that they are wild; for even
sheep, they say, ran wild there, as well as dogs and goats and oxen, which roam
about at their own pleasure, being independent and free from the dominion of
the herdsman. That their number is beyond calculation is stated not only by
writers on India, but also by the learned men of the country, among whom the Brachmans deserve to be reckoned, whose testimony is to the
same effect. It is also said that there exists in
(21.) The traveller who crosses the mountains which skirt that
frontier of
FRAGM. XVI.
Pliny, Hist. Nat. VIII. 14. 1.
Of the
Boa-Constrictor.
According to Megasthenes, serpents in
Solinus,
52.
33.
So huge are the
serpents that they swallow stags whole, and other animals of equal size.
FRAGM. XVII
Aelian, Hist. Anim. VIII.
7.
Of the Electric Eel.
I learn from Megasthenes that there is in the
FRAGM. XVIII.
Pliny, Hist. Nat. V1. 24. 1.
Of Taprobane.
Megasthenes
says that Taprobane is separated from the mainland
by a river; that the inhabitants are called Palaigonoi,
and, that their country is more productive of gold and large pearls than
Solin. 53.3.
Taprobane
is separated from
FRAGM. XIX.
Antigon. Caryst. 647.
Of Marine Trees.
Megasthenes,
the author of the Indika, mentions that trees
grow in the
FRAGM. XX.
Of the1ndus and the
See translation of Arrian.
FRAGM.XX.B.
Pliny. Hist. Nat. V1. 21.9-22. 1.
The Prinas and the Cainas (a
tributary of the
Solin. 52. 6-7.
In
Conf. Fragm. XXV.1.
Some say that the
least breadth is thirty stadia, but others only
three; while Megasthenes says that the mean breadth
is a hundred stadia, and its least depth twenty orguiae.
FRAGM. XXI.
Of the River Silas.
See translation of Arrian.
FRAGM. XXII.
Boissonade, Anecd. Graec.
Of the River Silas.
There is in
FRAGM. XXIII.
Strabo, XV. i. 38,--p. 703.
Of the River Silas.
(Megasthenes
says) that in the mountainous country is a river, the Silas, on the waters of
which nothing will float. Demokritos, who had travelled over a large part of
FRAGM. XXIV.
Of the Number of
Indian Rivers.
See translation of Arrian.
BOOK II.
FRAGM. XXV.
Strab. XV. i. 35-36,--p. 702.
Of the city Pataliputra.
According to Megasthenes the mean breadth (of the
Then follow these
words:--
All the country beyond the Hupanis is allowed to be
very fertile, but little is accurately known regarding it. Partly from ignorance
and the remoteness of its situation, everything about it is exaggerated or
represented as marvellous: for instance, there are
the stories of the gold-digging ants, of animals and men of peculiar shapes,
and possessing wonderful faculties; as the Seres,
who, they say, are so long-lived that they attain an age beyond that of two
hundred years. They mention also an aristocratical
form of government consisting of five thousand councillors,
each of whom furnishes the state with an elephant .
According to Megasthenes the largest tigers are found in the country of
the Prasii, etc. (Cf. Fragm.
XII.)
FRAGM. XXVI.
Of Pataliputra and the Manners of the Indians.
It is farther said
that the Indians do not rear monuments to the dead, but consider the virtues
which men have displayed in life, and the songs in which their praises are
celebrated, sufficient to preserve their memory after death. But of their
cities it is said that the number is so great that it cannot be stated with precision,
but that such cities as are situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast
are built of wood instead of brick, being meant to last only for a time,--so
destructive are the heavy rains which pour down, and the rivers also when they
overflow their banks and inundate the plains,--while those cities which stand
on commanding situations and lofty eminences are built of brick and mud; that
the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra,
in the dominions of the Prasians, where the streams
of the Erannoboas and the Ganges unite,--the Ganges
being the greatest of all rivers, and the Erannoboas
being perhaps the third largest of Indian rivers, though greater than the
greatest rivers elsewhere; but it is smaller than the Ganges where it falls
into it. Megasthenes informs us that this city
stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty
stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which
was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall
was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates. The same writer tells
us further this remarkable fact about
FRAGM. XXVII.
Strab. XV. i. 53-56,--pp. 709-10.
Of the Manners of
the Indians.
The Indians all live
frugally, especially when in camp. They dislike a great undisciplined
multitude, and consequently they observe good order. Theft is of very rare
occurrence. Megasthenes says that those who were in
the camp of Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men,
found that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of two
hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written laws, but are
ignorant of writing, and must therefore in all the business of life trust to
memory. They live, nevertheless, happily enough, being simple in their manners
and frugal. They never drink wine except at sacrifices. Their beverage is a liquor composed from rice instead of barley, and their
food is principally a rice-pottage. The simplicity of their laws and their
contracts is proved by the fact that they seldom go to law. They have no suits
about pledges or deposits, nor do they, require either seals or witnesses, but
make their deposits and confide in each other. Their houses and property they
generally leave unguarded. These things indicate that they possess good, sober
sense; but other things they do which one cannot approve: for instance, that
they eat always alone, and that they have no fixed hours when meals are to be
taken by all in common, but each one eats when he feels inclined. The contrary
custom would be better for the ends of social and civil life.
Their favourite mode of exercising the body is by friction, applied
in various ways, but especially by passing smooth ebony rollers over the skin.
Their tombs are plain, and the mounds raised over the
dead lowly. In contrast to the general simplicity of their style, they love
finery and ornament. Their robes are worked in gold, and ornamented with
precious stones, and they wear also flowered garments made of the finest
muslin. Attendants walking behind hold up umbrellas over them: for they have a
high regard for beauty, and avail themselves of every
device to improve their looks. Truth and virtue they hold alike in esteem.
Hence they accord no special privileges to the old unless they possess superior
wisdom. They marry many wives, whom they buy from their parents, giving in
exchange a yoke of oxen. Some they marry hoping to find in them willing
helpmates; and others for pleasure and to fill their houses with children. The
wives prostitute themselves unless they are compelled to be chaste. No one
wears a crown at a sacrifice or libation, and they do not stab the victim, but
strangle it, so that nothing mutilated, but only what is entire, may be
presented to the deity.
A person convicted of
bearing false witness suffers mutilation of his extremities, He who maims any
one not only suffers in return the loss of the same limb, but his hand also is
cut off. If he causes an artizan to lose his hand or
his eye, he is put to death. The same writer says that none of the Indians
employ slaves; [but Onesikritos says that this was
peculiar to that part of the country over which Musikanos
ruled.]
The care of the
king's person is entrusted to women, who also are bought from their parents.
The guards and the rest of the soldiery attend outside the gates. A woman who
kills the king when drunk becomes the wife of his successor. The sons succeed
the father. The king may not sleep during the daytime, and by night he is
obliged to change his couch from time to time, with a view to defeat plots
against his life.
The king leaves his
palace not only in time of war, but also for the purpose of judging causes. He
then remains in court for the whole day, without allowing the business to be
interrupted, even though the hour arrives when he must needs attend to his
person,--that is, when he is to be rubbed with cylinders of wood. He continues
hearing cases while the friction, which is performed by four attendants, is
still proceeding. Another purpose for which he leaves his palace is to offer
sacrifice; a third is to go to the chase, for which he departs in Bacchanalian
fashion. Crowds of women surround him, and outside of this circle spearmen are
ranged. The road is marked off with ropes, and it is death, for man and woman
alike, to pass within the ropes. Men with drums and gongs lead the procession.
The king hunts in the enclosures and shoots arrows from a platform. At his side
stand two or three armed women. If he hunts in the open grounds he shoots from
the back of an elephant. Of the women, some are in chariots, some on horses,
and. some even on elephants, and they are equipped with weapons of every kind,
as if they were going on a campaign.
[These customs are
very strange when compared with our own, but the following are still more so;]
for Megasthenes states that the tribes inhabiting the
Kaukasos have intercourse with women in public, and
eat the bodies of their relatives, that there are monkeys which roll down
stones, &c. ( Fragm.
XV. follows, and then Fragm.
XXIX.)
FRAGM. XXVII B.
Aelian. V. L. iv.1.
The Indians neither
put out money at usury, nor know how to borrow. It is contrary to established
usage for an Indian either to do or suffer a wrong, and therefore they neither
make contracts nor require securities. Conf. Suid. V.
FRAGM. XXVII. C.
Nicol. Damasc. 44;
Stob. Serm. 42.
Among the Indians one
who is unable to recover a loan or a deposit has no remedy at law. All the
creditor can do is to blame himself for trusting a rogue.
FRAGM. XXVII
D.
Nicol. Damasc. 44;
Stob. Serm. 42.
He who causes an
artisan to lose his eye or his hand is put to death. If one is guilty of a very
heinous offence the king orders his hair to be cropped, this being a punishment
to the last degree infamous.
FRAGM. XXVIII.
Athen: iv.
p. 153.
Of the Suppers of
the Indians.
Megasthenes,
in the second book of his Indika, says that
when the Indians are at supper a table is placed before each person, this being
like a tripod. There, is placed upon it a golden bowl, into which they first
put rice, boiled as one would boil barley, and then they add many dainties
prepared according to Indian receipts.
FRAGM. XXIX.
Strab. XV. i. 57,--p. 711.
Of fabulous tribes.
But deviating into
fables he says there are men five spans and even three spans in height, some of
whom want the nose, having only two orifices above the mouth through which they
breathe. Against the men of three spans, war, as Homer has sung, is waged by
the cranes, and also by partridges, which are as large as geese. These people
collect and destroy the eggs of the cranes, for it is in their country the
cranes lay their eggs, and thus the eggs and the young cranes are not to be
found anywhere else. Frequently a crane escapes having the brazen point of a
weapon in its body, from wounds received in that country. Equally
absurd is the account given of the Enotokoitai, of
the wild men, and of other monsters. The wild men could not be brought to Sandrakottos, for they refused to, take food and died.
Their heels are in front, and the instep and toes are turned backwards. Some
were brought to the court who had no mouths and
were tame. They dwell near the sources of the
FRAGM. XXX
Plin. Hist.
Nat. VII. ii. 14-22.
Of fabulous races.
According to Megasthenes, on a mountain called Nulo
there live men whose feet are turned backward, and who have eight toes on each
foot; while on many of the mountains there lives a race of men having heads
like those of dogs, who are clothed with the skins of wild beasts, whose speech
is barking, and who, being armed with claws, live by hunting and fowling. [Ktesias asserts on his own authority that the number of
these men was upwards of 120,000, and that there is a
race in
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Megasthenes
speaks of a race of men among the Nomadic Indians who instead of nostrils have
merely orifices, whose legs are contorted like snakes, and who are called Scyritae. He speaks also of a race living on the very
confines of
Beyond the Astomi, in the remotest part of the mountains, the Trispithami and the Pygmies are said to have their abode.
They are each three spans in height--that is, not more than seven-and-twenty
inches. Their climate is salubrious and they enjoy a perpetual spring, under
shelter of a barrier of mountains which rise on the north. They are the same
whom Homer mentions as being harassed by the attacks of the cranes. The story
about them is--that mounted on the backs of rams and goats, and equipped with
arrows, they march down in spring-time all in a body to the sea; and destroy
the eggs and the young of these birds. It takes them always three months to
finish this yearly campaign, and were it not undertaken they could not defend
themselves against the vast flocks of subsequent years. Their hats are made of
clay and feathers and egg-shells. [Aristotle says that they live in caves, but
otherwise he gives the same account of them as others.]
[From Ktesias we learn that there is a people
belonging to this race, which is called Pandore and
settled in the valleys, who live two hundred years, having in youth hoary hair,
which in old age turns black. On the other hand, others do not live beyond the
age of forty,--nearly related to the Macrobii, whose
women bear offspring but once. Agatharchides says the
same of them, adding that they subsist on locusts, and are swift of foot.] Clitarchus and Megasthenes call
them Mandi and reckon the number of their villages at
three, hundred. The females bear children at the age of seven, and are old
women at forty.
FRAGM. XXX.B.
Solin. 52. 26-30.
Near a mountain which
is called Nulo there live men whose feet are turned
backwards and have eight toes on each foot. Megasthenes
writes that on different mountains in
Those who live near
the source of the
FRAGM. XXXI.
Plutarch, de
facie in orbe lunae. (Opp. ed. Reisk, tom. ix. p. 701.)
Of the race of men
without mouths.
For how could one
find growing there that Indian root which Megasthenes
says a race of men who neither eat nor drink, and in fact have not even mouths,
set on fire and burn like incense, in order to sustain their existence with its
odorous fumes, unless it received moisture from the moon--
BOOK III.
FRAGM. XXXII.
(See the translation
of Arrian's Indika.)
FRAGM. XXXIII
Strab. XV. 1. 39-41, 46-49,--pp. 703-4, 707.
Of the Seven Castes
among the Indians.
(39.) According to
him (Megasthenes) the population of
(40.) The second
caste consists of the husbandmen, who form, the bulk of the population, and are
in disposition most mild and gentle. They are exempted from military service,
and cultivate their lands undisturbed by fear. They never go to town, either to
take part in its tumults, or for any other purpose. It therefore not
infrequently happens that at the same time, and in the same part of the
country, men may be seen drawn up in array of battle and fighting at risk of
their lives, while other men close at hand are ploughing
and digging in perfect security, having these soldiers to protect them.
The whole of the land is the property of the king, and the husbandmen till it
on condition of receiving one-fourth of the produce.
(41.) The third
caste consists of herdsmen and hunters, who alone are allowed to hunt, and to
keep cattle, and to sell draught animals or let them out on hire. In return for
clearing the land of wild beasts and fowls which devour the seeds sown in the
fields, they receive an allowance of grain from the king. They lead a wandering
life and live under tents.
FRAGM. XXXVI. follows here.
[So
much, then, on the subject of wild animals. We shall now return to Megasthenes, and resume from where we digressed.]
(46.) The fourth
class, after herdsmen and hunters, consists of those who work it trades, of
those who vend wares, and of those who are employed in bodily labour. Some of these pay tribute, and render to the state
certain prescribed services. But the armour-makers
and shipbuilders receive wages and their victuals from the king, for whom alone
they work. The general in command of the army supplies the soldiers with
weapons, and the admiral of the fleet lets out ships on hire for the transport
both of passengers and merchandize.
(47.) The fifth
class consists of fighting men, who, when not engaged in active service, pass
their time in idleness and drinking. They are maintained at the king's expense,
and hence they are always ready, when occasion calls, to take the field, for
they carry nothing of their own with them but their own bodies.
(48.) The sixth class
consists of the overseers, to whom is assigned the duty of watching all that
goes on, and making reports secretly to the king. Some are entrusted with the
inspection of the city, and others with that of the army. The former employ as
their coadjutors the courtezans of the city, and the
latter the courtezans of the camp. The ablest and most
trustworthy men are appointed to fill these offices.
The seventh class
consists of the councillors and assessors of the
king. To them belong the highest posts of government, the tribunals of justice,
and the general administration of public affairs. No one is allowed to marry
out of his own caste, or to exchange one profession or trade for another, or to
follow more than one business. An exception is made in favour
of the philosopher, who for his virtue is allowed this privilege.
FRAGM. XXXIV.
Strab. XV. 1. 50-52,--pp.
707-709.
Of the
administration of public affairs.
Of the use of Horses
and Elephants.
(Fragm. XXXIII. has preceded this.)
(50.) Of the great
officers of state, some have charge of the market, others of the city, others of the soldiers. Some superintend the rivers, measure
the land, as is done in
FRAGM. XXXV.
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XIII.
10.
Of the use of Horses
and Elephants.
Cf. Fragm. XXXIV. 13-15.
When it is said that
an Indian by springing forward in front of a horse can check his speed and hold
him back, this is not true of all Indians, but only of such as have been
trained from boyhood to manage horses; for it is a practice with them to
control their horses with bit and bridle, and to make them move at a measured
pace and in a straight course. They neither, however, gall their tongue by the use
of spiked muzzles, nor torture the roof of their mouth. The professional
trainers break them in by forcing them to gallop round and round in a ring,
especially when they see them refractory. Such as undertake this work require to have a strong hand as well as a thorough knowledge of
horses. The greatest proficients test their skill by
driving a chariot round and round in a ring; and in truth it would be no
trifling feat to control with ease a team of four high-mettled
steeds when whirling round in a circle. The chariot carries two men who sit
beside the charioteer. The war-elephant, either in what is called the tower, or
on his bare back in sooth, carries three fighting men, of whom two shoot from
the side, while one shoots from behind. There is also a fourth man, who carries
in his hand the goad wherewith he guides the animal, much in the same way as
the pilot and captain of a ship direct its course with the helm.
FRAGM. XXXVI.
Strab. XV. 1. 41-43,--pp.
704-705.
Of Elephants.
Conf. Epit. 54-56.
(Fragm. XXXIII. 6 has preceded this.)
A private person is
not allowed to keep either a horse or an elephant. These animals are held to be
the special property of the king, and persons are appointed to take care of
them. The manner of hunting the elephant is this. Round a bare patch of ground
is dug a deep trench about five or six stadia in
extent, and over this is thrown a very narrow bridge which gives access to the
enclosure. Into this enclosure are introduced three or four of the best-trained
female elephants. The men themselves lie in ambush in concealed huts. The wild
elephants do not approach this trap in the daytime, but they enter it at night,
going in one-by-one. When all have passed the entrance, the men secretly close
it up; then, introducing the strongest of the tame fighting elephants, they
fight it out with the wild ones, whom at the same time they enfeeble with
hunger. When the latter are now overcome with fatigue, the boldest of the
drivers dismount unobserved, and each man creeps under his own elephant, and
from this position creeps under the belly of the wild elephant and ties his
feet together. When this is done they incite the tame ones to beat those whose
feet are tied till they fall to the ground. They then bind the wild ones and
the tame ones together neck to neck with thongs of raw ox-hide. To prevent them
shaking themselves in order to throw off those who attempt to mount them, they
make cuts all round their neck and then put thongs of leather into the
incisions so that the pain obliges them to submit to their fetters and to
remain quiet. From the number caught they reject such as are too old or too
young to be serviceable, and the rest they lead away to the stables. Here they
tie their feet one to another, and fasten their necks to a firmly fixed pillar,
and tame them by hunger. After this they restore their strength with green
reeds and grass. They next teach them to be obedient, which they effect by soothing them, some by coaxing words, and
others by songs and the music of the drum. Few of them are found difficult to
tame, for they are naturally so mild and gentle in their disposition that they
approximate to rational creatures. Some of them take up their drivers when
fallen in battle, and carry them off in safety from the field. Others, when
their masters have sought refuge between their forelegs, have fought in their defence and saved their lives. If in a fit of anger they
kill either the man who feeds or the man who trains them, they pine so much for
their loss that they refuse to take food, and sometimes die of hunger.
They copulate like
horses, and the female casts her calf chiefly in spring. It is the season for
the male, when he is in heat and becomes ferocious. At this time he discharges
a fatty substance through an orifice near the temples. It is also the season
for the females, when the corresponding passage opens. They go with young for a
period which varies from sixteen to eighteen months. The dam suckles her calf
for six years. Most of them live as long as men who attain extreme longevity, and some live over two hundred years. They are
liable to many distempers, and are not easily cured. The remedy for diseases of
the eye is to wash it with, cows' milk. For most of their other diseases
draughts of black wine are administered to them. For the cure of their wounds
they are made to swallow butter, for this draws out iron. Their sores are
fomented with swine's flesh.
FRAGM. XXXVII
(Fragm. XXXII comes before
this.)
(See the translation
of Arrian's Indika.)
[FRAGM. XXXVII B.]
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XII.
44.
Of Elephants.
(Cf. Fragm. XXXVI. 9-10 and XXXVII. 9-10 init.
c. XIV.).
In
FRAGM. XXXVIII.
Aelian, Hist. Anim. XIII.
7.
Of the diseases of
Elephants.
(Cf. Fragm. XXXVI. 15 and XXXVII 15.)
The Indians cure the
wounds of the elephants which they catch, in the manner following:--
They treat them in
the way in which, as good old Homer tells us, Patroklos
treated the wound of Euryplyos,--they
foment them with lukewarm water. After this they rub them over with butter, and
if they are deep allay the inflammation by applying and inserting pieces of
pork, hot but still retaining the blood. They cure ophthalmia
with cows' milk, which is first used as a fomentation for the eye, and is then
injected into it. The animals open their eyelids, and finding they can see
better are delighted, and are sensible of the benefit like human beings.
In proportion as their blindness diminishes their delight overflows, and this
is a token that the disease has been cured. The remedy for other distempers to
which they are liable is black wine; and if this potion fails to work a cure
nothing else can save them.
FRAGM. XXXIX.
Strab. XV. 1. 44,--p. 706.
Of Gold-digging
Ants.
Megasthenes
gives the following account of these ants. Among the Derdai,
a great tribe of Indians, who inhabit the mountains on the eastern borders,
there is an elevated plateau about 3,000 stadia, in
circuit. Beneath the surface there are mines of gold, and here accordingly are
found the ants which dig for that metal. They are not inferior in size to wild
foxes. They run with amazing speed, and live by the produce of the chase. The
time when they dig is winter. They throw up heaps of earth, as moles do, at the
mouth of the mines. The gold-dust has to be subjected to a little boiling. The
people of the neighbourhood, coming secretly with
beasts of burden, carry this off. If they came openly the ants would attack
them, and pursue them if they fled, and would destroy both them and their
cattle. So, to effect the robbery without being observed, they lay down in
several different places pieces of the flesh of wild beasts, and when the ants
are by this device dispersed they carry off the gold-dust. This they sell to
any trader they meet with while it is still in the state of ore, for the art of
fusing metals is unknown to them.
FRAGM. XL.
(See the translation
of Arrian's Indika.)
[FRAGM. XL. B.]
Dio Chrysost.
Or. 35,--p. 436, Morell.
Of Ants which dig.for
gold.
(Cf. Fragm. XXXIV. and XL.)
They get the gold
from ants. These creatures are larger than foxes, but are in other respects
like the ants of our own country. They dig holes in the earth like other ants.
The heap which they throw up consists of gold the purest and brightest in all the world. The mounds are piled up close to each other
in regular order like hillocks of gold dust, whereby all the plain is made
effulgent. It is difficult, therefore, to look towards the sun, and many who
have attempted to do this have thereby destroyed their eyesight. The people who
are next neighbours to the ants, with a view to
plunder these heaps, cross the intervening desert, which is of no great extent,
mounted on wagons to which they have yoked their swiftest h6rses. They arrive
at noon, a time when the ants have gone underground, and at once seizing the
booty make off at full speed. The ants, on learning what has been done, pursue
the fugitives, and overtaking them fight with them till they conquer or die,
for of all animals they are the most courageous. It hence appears that they
understand the worth of gold, and that they will sacrifice their lives rather
than part with it.
FRAGM. XLI
Strab. XV. 1. 58-60,--pp. 711-714.
Of the Indian
Philosophers.
(Fragm. XXIX. has preceded this.)
(58.) Speaking of the
philosophers, he (Megasthenes) says that such of them
as live, on the mountains are worshippers of Dionysos,
showing as proofs that he had come among them the wild vine, which grows
in their country only, and the ivy, and the laurel, and the myrtle, and the
box-tree, and other evergreens, none of which are found beyond the Euphrates,
except a few in parks, which it requires great care to preserve. They observe
also certain customs which are Bacchanalian. Thus they dress in muslin, wear
the turban, use perfumes array themselves in garments dyed of bright colours; and their kings, when they appear in public, are
preceded by the music of drums and gongs. But the,
philosophers who live on the plains worship Herakles.
[These accounts are fabulous, and are impugned by many writers, especially what
is said about the vine and wine. For the greater part of
(69.) Megasthenes makes a different division of the philosophers,
saying that they are of two kinds--one of which he calls the Brachmanes, and the other the Sarmanes.
The Brachmanes are best esteemed, for they are more
consistent in their opinions. From the time of their conception in the womb
they are under the guardian care of learned men, who go to the mother and,
under the pretence of using some incantations for the welfare of herself and
her unborn babe, in reality give her prudent hints and counsels. The women who
listen most willingly are thought to be the most fortunate in their children.
After their birth the children are under the care of one person after another,
and as they advance in age each succeeding master is more accomplished than his
predecessor. The philosophers have their abode in a grove in front of the city
within a moderate-sized enclosure. They live in a simple style, and lie on beds
of rushes or (deer) skins. They abstain from animal food and sexual pleasures,
and spend their time in listening to serious discourse, and in imparting their
knowledge to such as will listen to them. The hearer is not allowed to speak,
or even to cough, and much less to spit, and if he offends in any of these ways
he is cast out from their society that very day, as being a man who is wanting
in self-restraint. After living in this manner for seven-and-thirty years, each
individual retires to his own property, where he lives for the rest of his days
in ease and serenity. They then array themselves in fine muslin, and wear a few
trinkets of gold on their fingers and in their ears. They eat flesh, but not
that of animals employed in labour. They abstain from
hot and highly seasoned food. They marry as many wives as they please, with a
view to have numerous children, for by having many wives greater advantages are
enjoyed, and, since they have no slaves, they have more need to have children
around them to attend to their wants. The Brachmanes
do not communicate a knowledge of philosophy to their wives, lest they should,
divulge any of the forbidden mysteries to the profane if they became depraved,
or lest they should, desert them if they became good philosophers: far no one
who despises pleasure and pain, as well as life and death, wishes to be in
subjection to another, but this is characteristic both of a good man and of a
good woman. Death is with them a very frequent subject of discourse. They
regard this life as, so to speak, the time when the child within the womb
becomes mature, and death as a birth into a real and happy life for the
votaries of philosophy. On this account they undergo much, discipline as a
preparation for death. They consider nothing that befalls men to be either good
or bad, to suppose otherwise being a dream-like illusion, else how could some
be affected with sorrow, and others with pleasure, by the very same things, and
how could the same things affect the same individuals at different times with
these opposite emotions? Their ideas about physical phenomena, the same author
tells us, are very crude, for, they are better in their actions than in their reasonings, inasmuch as their belief is in great measure
based upon fables; yet on many points their opinions coincide with those of the
Greeks, for like them they say that the world had a beginning, and is liable to
destruction, and is in shape spherical, and that the Deity who made it, and who
governs it, is diffused through all its parts. They hold that various first
principles operate in the universe, and that water was the principle employed
in the making of the world. In addition to the four elements there is a fifth
agency, from which the heaven and the stars were produced. The earth is placed
in the centre of the universe. Concerning generation, and the nature of the
soul, and many other subjects, they express views like those maintained by the
Greeks. They wrap up their doctrines about immortality and future judgment, and
kindred topics, in allegories, after the manner of Plato. Such are his
statements regarding the Brachmanes.
(60.) Of the Sarmanes he tells us that those who are held in most honour are called the Hylobioi.
They live in the woods, where they subsist on leaves of trees and wild fruits,
and wear garments made from the bark of trees. They abstain from sexual
intercourse and from wine. They communicate with the kings, who consult them by
messengers regarding the causes of things, and who through them worship and
supplicate the deity. Next in honour to the Hylobioi are the physicians, since they are engaged in the
study of the nature of man. They are simple in their habits, but do not live in
the fields. Their food consists of rice and barley-meal, which they can always
get for the mere asking, or receive from those who entertain them as guests in
their houses. By their knowledge of pharmacy they can make marriages fruitful,
and determine the sex of the offspring. They effect
cures rather by regulating diet than by the use of medicines. The remedies most
esteemed are ointments and plasters. All others they consider to be in a great
measure pernicious in their nature. This class and the other class practise fortitude, both by undergoing active toil, and by
the endurance of pain, so that they remain for a whole day motionless in one
fixed attitude.
Besides these there
are diviners and sorcerers, and adepts in the rites and customs relating to the
dead, who go about begging both in villages and towns. Even such of them as are
of superior culture and refinement inculcate such superstitions regarding Hades
as they consider favourable to piety and holiness of
life. Women pursue philosophy with some of them, but abstain from sexual
intercourse.
FRAGM. XLII.
Clem. Alex. Strom.
That the Jewish race
is by far the oldest of all these, and that their philosophy, which has been
committed to writing, preceded the philosophy of the Greeks, Philo the
Pythagorean shows by many arguments, as does also Aristoboulos
the Peripatetic, and many others, whose names I need not waste time in
enumerating. Megasthenes, the author of a work on
India, who lived with Seleukos Nikator, writes most clearly on this point, and his words
are these:-- "All that has been said regarding
nature by the ancients is asserted also by philosophers out of Greece, on the
one part in India by the Brachmanes, and on the other
in Syria by the people called the Jews."
FRAGM. XLII. B.
Euseb. Praep. Ev. IX.
6,--pp. 410 C, D (ed. Colon. 1688).
Ex Clem. Alex.
Again, in addition to
this, further on he writes thus:
"Megasthenes, the writer who lived with Seleukos
Nikator, writes most clearly on this point and to
this effect:--'All that has been said,'" &c.
FRAGM. XLII. C.
Cyrill. Contra
Julian. IV. (Opp. ed.
Aristoboulos
the Peripatetic somewhere writes to this effect:--"All that has been
said," &c.
FRAGM. XLIII.
Clem. Alex. Strom.
Of the Philosophers
of
[Philosophy, then;
with all its blessed advantages to man, flourished long ages ago among the
barbarians, diffusing its light among the Gentiles, and eventually penetrated
into
There are two sects
of these Indian philosophers--one called the Sarmanai
and the other the.Brachmanai. Connected with the Sarmanai are the philosophers called the Hylobioi, who neither live in cities nor even in houses. They clothe themselves with the bark of trees, and
subsist upon acorns, and drink water by lifting it to their mouth with their
hands. They neither marry nor beget children [like those ascetics of our own
day called the Enkratetai. Among the Indians are
those philosophers also who follow the precepts of Boutta,
whom they honour as a god on account of his
extraordinary sanctity.]
FRAGM. XLIV.
Strab. XV. 1. 68,--p. 718.
Of Kalanos and Mandanis.
Megasthenes,
however, says that self-destruction is not a dogma of the philosophers, but
that such as commit the act are regarded as foolhardy, those naturally of a
severe temper stabbing themselves or casting themselves down a precipice, those
averse to pain drowning themselves, those capable of enduring pain strangling themselves,
and those of ardent temperaments throwing themselves into the fire. Kalanos was a man of this stamp. He was ruled by his
passions, and became a slave to the table of Alexander. He is on this account
condemned by his countrymen, but Mandanis is applauded
because when messengers from Alexander invited him to go to the son of Zeus,
with the promise of gifts if he complied, and threats of punishment if he
refused, he did not go. Alexander, he said, was not the son of Zeus, for he was
not so much as master of the larger half of the world. As for himself, he
wanted none of the gifts of a man whose desires nothing could satiate; and as
for his threats he feared them not: for if he lived, India would supply him
with food enough, and if he died, he would be delivered from the body of flesh
now afflicted with age, and would be translated to a better and a purer life.
Alexander expressed admiration of the man, and let him have his own way.
FRAGM. XLV.
Arr. VIL ii. 3-9.
(See the translation
of Arrian's Indika.)
BOOK IV.
FRAGM. XLVI.
Strab. XV. I 6-8,--pp.
686-688.
That the Indians had
never been attacked by others, nor had themselves attacked others.
(Cf. Epit. 23.)
6. But what just
reliance can we place on the accounts of
Of Dionysos and Herakles
7. The
accounts about Herakles and Dionysos,
Megasthenes and some few authors with him consider
entitled to credit, [but the majority, among whom is
Eratosthenes, consider them incredible and fabulous, like the stories current
among the Greeks.]
8. On such grounds
they called a particular race of people Nyssaians,
and their city Nyssa, which Dionysos had
founded, and the mountain which rose above the city Meron,
assigning as their reason for bestowing these names that ivy grows there, and
also the vine, although its fruit does not come to perfection, as the clusters,
on account of the heaviness of the rains, fall off the trees before ripening.
They further called the Oxydrakai descendants of Dionysos, because the vine grew in their country, and their
processions were conducted with great pomp, and their
kings on going forth to war and on other occasions marched in Bacchic fashion, with drums beating, while they were
dressed in gay coloured robes, which is also a custom
among other Indians. Again, when Alexander had captured at the first assault
the rock called Aornos, the base of which is washed
by the
FRAGM. XLVII.
(See the translation
of Arrian's Indika.)
FRAGM. XLVIII.
Josephus Contra Apion. I. 20 (T. II p. 451, Havere.)
Of Nabuchodrosor.
(Cf. Fragm. XLVI. 2.)
Megasthenes
also expresses the same opinion in the fourth book of his Indika,
where he endeavours to show that the aforesaid
king of the Babylonians (Nabouchodonosor) surpassed Herakles in courage and the greatness of his achievements,
by telling us that he conquered even
FRAGM. XLVIIL B.
Joseph.
[In this place (Nabouchodonosor) erected also of stone elevated places for
walking about on, which had to the eye the appearance of mountains, and were so
contrived that they were planted with all sorts of trees, because his wife, who
had been bred up in the land of Media, wished her surroundings to be like those
of her early home.] Megasthenes also, in the fourth
book of his Indika, makes mention of
these things, and thereby endeavours to show that
this king surpassed Herakles in courage and the
greatness of his achievements, for he says that he conquered
FRAGM. XLVIII. C.
Zonar. ed.
Basil. 1557, T. I. p. 87.
Among the many old
historians who mention Nabouchodonosor, Josephos enumerates Berosos, Megasthenes, and Diokles.
FRAGM. XLVIII. D.
G. Syncell. T. I. p.