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A Sports Dispute Started the Cuban Missile Crisis and Other Odd Facts

Khalid Elhassan October 28, 2019 31 min

Neckpiece from a 4th century BC Scythian royal burial site. Wikimedia

22. The Scythians Led Darius on a Wild Goose Chase

After assembling a huge army to settle the Scythians’ hash once and for all, Persia’s King Darius I launched an invasion along the western Black Sea coast, and into today’s southern Ukraine and Russia. The nomads simply retreated into the vastness of the Steppe, taking their families and herds with them.

Avoiding the decisive pitched battle Darius sought, the Scythians’ King Idanthyrsus laid waste in the countryside, blocking wells and destroying pastures, while attriting the invaders with skirmishes and hit-and-run attacks.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.