evidence that the Saca invasion had begun by 130 b.c.[1] The story that the mercenaries arrived after hostilities had ceased, and consequently were refused their pay, must not be taken too literally. They are said to have demanded either reimbursement for their trouble or employment against some other enemy. When this was refused, they began to ravage the Parthian territory as far west as Mesopotamia.[2] Whether any considerable number of them ever reached the Land of the Two Rivers is doubtful.
The question of whence these invaders came and what caused their movement is part of the story of the Indian frontier and will be discussed in the succeeding chapter. Those who entered Parthia were probably a portion of the Sacaraucae (Saca Rawaca)[3] together with a still larger body of the Massagetae and other groups attracted by the opportunity for new territory and plunder. The invasion naturally followed the two main branches of the great road (cf. pp. 205 f.), one leading to Mesopotamia through Merv, Hecatompylos, and Ecbatana, and the other, utilized when resistance to the westward advance turned the hordes southward, leading to India through Merv, Herat, and Seistan.[4]
