Herodorus' discussion of the Scyrhians thus acknowledges the danger of living in fortified towns: such structures become clear targets. Yet the lack of settlement is at the same time a mark of primitivism: city living, in Herodorus' view, is a key element in the development of civilisarion. The mobility of the Scythians, like that of Aristophanes' birds, is feasible because they lack large fixed structures like walls. Yet that mobility prevents them from unified action and thus from achieving anything on a large scale.

Herodorus' discussion of the
Scyrhians thus acknowledges the danger of living in fortified towns: such
structures become clear targets. Yet the lack of settlement is at the same
time a mark of primitivism: city living, in Herodorus' view, is a key element
in the development of civilisarion. The mobility of the Scythians, like that
of Aristophanes' birds, is feasible because they lack large fixed structures like
walls. Yet that mobility prevents them from unified action and thus from
achieving anything on a large scale.