3.] The nation of the Scythians comprised within it a number of distinct tribes.

At the head of all was a royal tribe, corresponding to the "Golden Horde" of the Mongols, which was braver and more numerous than any other, and regarded all the remaining tribes in the light of slaves.
To this belonged the families of the kings, who ruled by hereditary right, and seem to have exercised a very considerable authority.

We often hear of several kings as bearing rule at the same time; but there is generally some indication of disparity, from which we gather that--in times of danger at any rate--the supreme power was really always lodged in the hands of a single man.
The religion of the Scythians was remarkable, and partook of the barbarity which characterized most of their customs.

They worshipped the Sun and Moon, Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and a god whom Herodotus calls Hercules.

But their principal religious observance was the worship of the naked sword.