Steppe changes

PETER HOMMEL is critical of some of the conclusions presented in a new study of the nomadic warriors of the central Eurasian steppe

- PETER HOMMEL

This latest book by Christopher Beckwith rides out to rectify popular perceptions of the “earliest historical central Eurasian steppe people” – the Scythians, whom he presents from start to finish as a unified and coherent community. For Beckwith, Scythian society was not only capable of great things, but was actually responsible for the “cultural flowering” of the Classical Age (from around the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD).

He introduces these bold claims with contagious enthusiasm, and it is hard to contest that we – encompassing most scholars and societies from Europe to China – have consistently misunderstood and misrepresented the roles of steppe societies in global history. If we stop treating them as denizens of some barbaric periphery, they “turn out to be more fascinating, creative and important than anyone… ever suspected”. So far, so good.