Book 7
110.1
Xerxes marched past these Greek cities of the coast, keeping them on his left. The Thracian tribes through whose lands he journeyed were the Paeti, Cicones, Bistones, Sapaei, Dersaei, Edoni, and Satrae.All these are tribes of the Nestus and Strymon valleys or the intervening hill country. Of these, the ones who dwelt by the sea followed his army on shipboard; the ones living inland, whose names I have recorded, were forced to join with his land army, all of them except the Satrae.
111.1
The Satrae, as far as we know, have never yet been subject to any man; they alone of the Thracians have continued living in freedom to this day; they dwell on high mountains covered with forests of all kinds and snow, and they are excellent warriors.
111.2
It is they who possess the place of divination sacred to Dionysus. This place is in their highest mountains; the Bessi, a clan of the Satrae, are the prophets of the shrine; there is a priestess who utters the oracle, as at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi; it is no more complicated here than there. Hdt. appears to mean that the method of divination is the “usual” one, as at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi; perhaps there were exaggerated accounts of the mysterious rites of the Bessi.
112.1
After passing through the aforementioned land, Xerxes next passed the fortresses of the Pierians, one called Phagres and the other +Bergama [27.166,39.133] (inhabited place), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Pergamus. By going this way he marched right under their walls, keeping on his right the great and high Pangaean range, where the Pierians and Odomanti and especially the Satrae have gold and silver mines.
