The Massagetae are a fierce nomadic tribe with a long history of destroying civilized armies, as their utter crushing of Cyrus the Great and his Persian army attests. From their steppe homeland, they have the power to sweep down on nomad and settled enemies alike, taking what they will and moving swiftly on to new victories and new conquests. By using their strengths as horsemen there is little they cannot achieve.
Historically, there is a good chance the Herodotus managed to get completely confused about the identities of the various steppe peoples. While he used the term Massagetae to describe these people, a word that translates as “great Getae", the original Getae were a Dacian tribe, not Scythian or nomadic. Herodotus also described them as living beyond the Caspian Sea. He did, however, say that they resembled the Scythians but with their own customs and practices. In particular, he mentions strange funeral rites that involve cooking and eating important men who die honourably. Quite sensibly, any who died of horrid diseases were not eaten…
