Their  power  was  broken  in  the  first  instance  by  Philip  of
Macedon.  Fifty  years  after  that  prince  (about  350  before
Christ)  they  were  driven  eastward  by  the  Ghetes.  Their
remnants  were  fallen  upon  by  the  Sarmatians,  who  dis-
persed them,  and  occupied  their  territory.  Herodotus  and
Hippocrates  have  handed  down  to  us  the  fable  of  the  warlike
exploits  of  their  maidens.  u  When  the  Greeks,"  says  the
the  father  of  history,  "  had  fought  against  the  Amazons,
whom  the  Scythians  call  Ayor-Pata,  which  name  is  rendered
by  the  Greeks  in  their  language  Androchtones  (men-killers)
for  6  Ay  or '  in  Scythian  signifies  a  man,  and  <  Pata '  to
kill ;  when,  I  say,  they  had  engaged  and  defeated  these  people
on  the  banks  of  the  Thermoclon,  it  is  related,  that  they
carried  away  with  them  in  three  ships  all  such  as  they  had
made  prisoners.  When  they  had  got  out  to  sea,  they  rose  upon
their  conquerors,  and  cut  them  all  in  pieces ;  but  ignorant
of  navigation  and  unskilled  in  the  use  of  the  helm,  the  sails
and  the  oars,  they  suffered  the  ships,  after  they  had  killed
the  men,  to  drive  at  the  will  of  the  wind  and  waves,  and
landed  at  Kremnes  on  the  Maeotian  Sea.  Kremnes  was
situated  in  the  country  of  the  independent  Scythians.  The
Amazons  having  here  quitted  their  ships  and  penetrated  into
the  inhabited  districts,  seized  the  first  herd  of  horses  they
met  with,  mounted  them,  and  plundered  the  country  of  the
Scythians.  The  latter  could  not  conceive  who  were  these
enemies,  with  whose  language  and  dress  they  were  unac-
quainted. They  took  them  at  first  for  young  men  of  the
same  age,  and  came  to  an  engagement  with  them,  after
which  they  discovered  from  the  slain  that  the  intruders  were
women,"  &c.  So  far  Herodotus,  whom,  for  want  of  space,
we  cannot  follow  through  the  whole  narrative,  but  must
content  ourselves  with  a  short  account  of  the  fate  of  these
Amazons.
