People
Otio Scythae
Listen to the story
Otio Scythae names a people, Scythians called the Otii, placed in the lands beyond the Sea of Azov. A stray dot after the letter S splits the name into two meaningless halves, probably the copyist's slip, and the same mistake recurs in the Sagae Scythae right beside it. The Greek geographer Strabo, the geographer Ptolemy and the Roman writer Pliny all knew this people under similar names. They are placed near the mouth of the Volga, around a river called the Udon, and were usually counted among the Sarmatians.