“In the daytime, however, the first thing to meet the Macedonians would be the terrifying sight of Scythians and Bactrians with their shaggy faces and long hair, and their enormous stature – and soldiers, he said, were more prone to groundless and irrational fears than to those having some justification”. – those were the words of Parmenion, the best tactician of Alexander the Great’s generals according to Quintus Curtious Rufus’ “History of Alexander“. That is why he was of the opinion that what was required was some ploy rather than pitched battle. The enemy could be crushed by an attack in the dead of night. More on the Scythians and their most prominent battles – in the “Royal Scythia, Greece, Kyiv Rus” book