“The residuum of truth, or at any rate the important conviction of the ancient writers, which remains after their stories are sifted, is the {{w|Scythians|Scythic}} character of the {{w|Parthia|Parthian people}}. On this point, Strabo, {{w|Justin (historian)|Justin}}, and Arrian are agreed. The manners of the Parthians had, they tell us, much that was Scythic in them. ... Their language was half-Scythic, half-{{w|Medes|Median}}. ... They armed themselves in the Scythic fashion. ... They were, in fact, Scyths in descent, in habits, in character.”