HISTOKY AND ETHNOLOGY. 3 :i 



daring spirit of the nomadic tribes, have guarded the soil, PI. 4, Jig. 7, an 

 Arabian warrior. 



Ancient Armenia comprehended not only the districts and the sources 

 of the Rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Kyros, and of the Araxes to its junction 

 with the Kyros, but extended to the Caspian and Black Seas, and reached 

 far into Asia Minor. With its neighbor Assyria, it succumbed first to the 

 Median sway, afterwards to Persia, and never again recovered its inde- 

 pendence. Commerce was the favorite pursuit of this people. PL 4, fig. 

 4, Armenians, man and boy ; figs. 5, 6, Armenian warriors. 



B. From Cyrus to Augustus (560-530 B.C.). 



1. The Parthians. 



Parthia was a small province lying to the south-east of the Caspian. 

 Originally it formed a part of Hyrcania, a province of the Persian empii'e. 

 Under Arsaces it rose to the rank of a kingdom. His successors, the 

 Arsacidae, resided in Hecatompylos. Like Thessaly in Greece, Parthia 

 was celebrated for its excellent horses. The Parthians were distinguished 

 for their admirable riding, and the use of the bow. They led a wild, roving 

 life. PL 4, fig. 14, a Parthian. 



2. T IE Celts and Scythians. 



We have previously said that a portion of the Celts or Gauls overran 

 Western Europe. Another branch invaded Italy, and settled along the 

 shores of the Adriatic, while another horde peopled Gallia and a large 

 portion of Spain. Some even penetrated north, and crossed into Britain. 

 Thus the great Celtic root comprehended several important stocks, which 

 branched out in various directions, experienced singular vicissitudes, and by 

 frequent grafting, lost much of their original character. We now intro- 

 duce the following tribes. 



a. The GetcB. This tribe, descendants of the Scythians, inhabited that 

 part of Thrace lying between Mount Heemus and the River Ister (Danube). 

 They were a brave and hardy race, and vigorously contested every inch 

 of ground with the Romans ; but were at last compelled to surrender to 

 the emperor Trajan, who joined their country to Dacia. 



h. The Dacians. These also lived between Haemus and the Danube, 

 and were distinguished equally with the Getae for courage. They possessed 

 a strong and almost unconquerable nationality, and had peculiar customs ; 

 but they too yielded before the all-subduing might of the Romans under 

 Trajan. PL 4, figs. 9, 10, Dacian warriors ; ^^5. 11, 12, Dacian w^omen. 

 PL 6, fig. 27, common head-dress of the Dacians. 



c. The Celtiberians (pL 4, fig. 15) were a mixed tribe of native Iberians 

 and roving Celts, Who lived in the districts washed by the Iberus (Ebro) 

 and the upper part of the Durius (Duero) in Spain. 



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