The History of Herodotus, volume 2
The History of Herodotus, volume 2
Translated by G.C. Macauley
Book Excerpt
of low birth.[4] Not to work is counted most
honourable, and to be a worker of the soil is above all things
dishonourable: to live on war and plunder is the most honourable
thing. 7. These are their most remarkable customs; and of the gods
they worship only Ares and Dionysos and Artemis. Their kings, however,
apart from the rest of the people, worship Hermes more than all gods,
and swear by him alone; and they say that they are descended from
Hermes. 8. The manner of burial for the rich among them is this:--for
three days they expose the corpse to view, and they slay all kinds of
victims and feast, having first made lamentation. Then they perform
the burial rites, either consuming the body with fire or covering it
up in the earth without burning; and afterwards when they have heaped
up a mound they celebrate games with every kind of contest, in which
reasonably the greatest prizes are assigned for single combat.[5] This
is the manner of burial among the Thracians.
9. Of the region lying further on towards
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