Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/246

 232 STRABO. CASAUB. 155. t victiml. They pjit. nfFlbp. rjg}]t ha-ndfl pf their prisoners., and 7. All the mountaineers are frugal, their beverage is water, they sleep on the ground, and wear a profuse quantity of long hairafter thejashion of w^men, which, they bind around the Torehead when they go to battle. 1 They subsist principally on the^esh of the goat,, which animal they sacrifice to Mars ? as also prisoners taken in war, and, horses. They likewise offer hecatombs of each kind after the manner of the Greeks, described by Pindar, ,' "To sacrifice a hundred of every [species]." 2 They practise gymnastic exercises, 3 both as heavy-armed soldiers, and cavalry, also tjoxing, running, skirmishing, and fighting in bands. For two-thirds of the year the mountaineers feed on the.asprn, which they dry, bruise, and afterwards grind and make intoakind of bread, which may be stored up for a long period. They also usejbeer ; wine is very scarce, and what is made they speedily consume in feasting with their relatives. In ^lace of oil thevjiise butter. Their meals they take sitting, on seats put ujTround the walls, and they take place on these according to their age and rank. The supper is carried round, and wjhilstdrmkinp; they dance to the sound Q f f h p flntgjind . trumpetTsprfngmg up and fljnlo'nor upon the knees. 4 In JSastetania the wnnTen^daTK^ promiscuously jwjth_the men^each holding the otEeps hand. They all dress in black, Tfie majority of themin cloaks called saga, in which they sleep on beds of straw. They make use of wooden vessels Tike the Kelts. The women wear dresses and embroidered garments. Instead of money, those who dwell far in the in- terior exchange merchandise, or give pieces of silver cut off 1 This reminds one of the glibs the Irish used to wear down to a recent period. 2 This passage is not found in any of the odes of Pindar now remaining. 3 The French translators observe, that we should probably understand this passage as follows, They exercise themselves as light-armed infantry, heavy-ai-med infantry, cavalry, &c. 4 Xenophon describes this, or one very similar, as the Eisian_dance : TsXof # TO HtpOlKOV Wp^lTO, KQOT&V TO.Q TrkTO.Q' KO.I WJfAtte, KOI ct- viaTctTo. " Last of all he danced the Persian dance, clashing his bucklers, and in dancing fell on his knees.then sprang up again." Xen. Anab. b. vi. c. I, lU.