Massagetae

Of the one third of the Massagetae forces that fought, there were more captured than killed.

About the origin of the name Massagetae, scholars have emphasized that:

Unfortunately for him, the Massagetae from the northeast of the empire decided he was indeed imposing his monarchy on them and they didn't like it.

He accompanied Cyrus on his expedition against the Massagetae.

He garrisons Bactria to keep the Massagetae at bay, as they are tribes, not a nation.

The Issedones and Massagetae were generally north of the Black Sea somewhere.

Spargapises is part of the Massagetae forces that battled against Cyrus the Great.

In the fight that ensued, the Massagetae got the upper hand, and the Persians were defeated with high casualties.

According to the accounts of Greek historians, Cyrus was victorious in his initial assault on the Massagetae.

St. Grigoris led an Armenian mission to convert the Massagetae tribesmen into Christianity.

Like the Massagetae to the west, the Issedones are described by Herodotus as similar to, yet distinct from, the Scythians.

Herodotus described the Massagetae as living on a sizeable portion of the great plain east of the Caspian Sea.

His predecessor on the throne Cyrus the Great was killed by a Scythian tribe, the Massagetae, during one of his military campaigns.

Their tribal name appears to be a combination of Tyras and Getae; cf. the names Thyssagetae and Massagetae.

Gauls, Germans, Scythians, Sarmatians, Massagetae and other peoples of the steppes and forests were barbarians.

Refuse, and I swear by the sun, the sovereign lord of the Massagetae, bloodthirsty as thou art, I will give thee thy fill of blood'.

In 533 CE, the general Belisarius once impaled a couple of Massagetae allied soldiers, for having killed a fellow soldier in a drunken brawl.

The Persians attacked while their opponents were incapacitated, defeating the Massagetae forces, and capturing Tomyris' son, Spargapises, the general of her army.

Buzand mentions the monastery in the context of his story about the invasion of Armenia by the Massagetae and Huns in 335 AD.

There was also a branch of Tyragetae on the Dniester River, and two tribes of Massagetae and Thyssagetae in Scythia.

From about 130 BC onwards, Parthia suffered numerous incursions by various nomadic tribes, including the Sakas, the Yueh-chi, and the Massagetae.

The Scythian groups that invaded India and set up various kingdoms, included besides the Sakas other allied tribes, such as the Medii, Xanthii, Massagetae.

According to Herodotus, Cyrus II the Great of Persia was killed during a battle against the Massagetae, led by Queen Tomiris.

Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC.

However, a distinction should be drawn between "aggressive gustatory cannibalism" (i.e., hunting humans for food) and the ritualized, reverential practices reported among the Issedones and Massagetae.