the Paionians; and at this time, although the Perinthians proved
themselves brave men in defence of their freedom, the Persians and
Megabazos got the better of them by numbers. Then after Perinthos had
been conquered, Megabazos marched his army through the length of
Thracia, forcing every city and every race of those who dwell there to
submit to the king, for so it had been commanded him by Dareios, to
subdue Thracia.

3. Now the Thracian race is the most numerous, except the Indians, in
all the world: and if it should come to be ruled over by one man, or
to agree together in one, it would be irresistible in fight and the
strongest by far of all nations, in my opinion. Since however this is
impossible for them and cannot ever come to pass among them,[2] they
are in fact weak for that reason. They have many names, belonging to
their various tribes in different places; but they all follow customs
which are nearly the same in all respects, except the Getai and
Trausians and those who dwell above the Crestonians. 4. Of these the
practices of the Getai, who believe themselves to be immortal, have
been spoken of by me already:[3] and the Trausians perform everything
else in the same manner as the other Thracians, but in regard to those
who are born and die among them they do as follows:--when a child has
been born, the nearest of kin sit round it and make lamentation for
all the evils of which he must fulfil the measure, now that he is
born,[3a] enumerating the whole number of human ills; but when a man
is dead, they cover him up in the earth with sport and rejoicing,
saying at the same time from what great evils he has escaped and is
now in perfect bliss. 5. Those who dwell above the Crestonians do as
follows:--each man has many wives, and when any man of them is dead, a
great competition takes place among his wives, with much exertion on
the part of their friends, about the question of which of them was