Harmatta János: Studies on the History of the Sarmatians - Magyar-görög tanulmányok 30. (1950)
The Western Sarmatians in South Russia from the Third to the First Century B. C.
The Western Sarmatians in South Russia from the Third to the First Century B. C. The significance of the nomadic Iranian peoples, the Scythians and Sarmatians, emerges with ever-increasing clarity from the point of view of the evolution of Slav culture and ethnic characteristics. Thus the more recent Russian historical science, as compared with the older trend which began the history of Russia only with the Varangians, in dealing with the antecedents of the formation of the first Russian state, goes back, at least as far as the Scythian epoch. Accordingly Grekov emphasizes the importance of Scytho-Sarmatian culture from the aspect of the Eastern Slavs1 and Ljascenko too deals in detail with these two peoples in his economic history of the USSR.2 An even more far-reaching significance is ascribed to the Sarmatians in connection with the Southern Slavs by Vernadsky, according to whose theory Slav and Sarmatian tribes had been living together as early as pre-Christian times in Southern Russia. This gave rise to the later Russians with regard to ethnic character and culture. In fact even the name “rus” derives from the name of a Sarmatian tribe.3 To some extent also the conception of Mavrodin tallies with this view.4 * Despite the recognition of the historical significance of the Sarmatians, their history nevertheless is obscure on many a point, in fact no unified picture could be formed of it. In the following we wish to throw light on one part of Sarmatian history which has hitherto not been elucidated. 1. Strabo in his description of the western part of the Pontic region mentions the Sarmatians several times, speaking of them in general terms. However, in the most essential passage he mentions particular tribes: VII 3, 17: r] bk uTrepK€i|uévr| Rácra xwpa roö Xexöévioc; geiaEu Bopucrhévous Kai "larpou rrpújTri pév écmv rj tújv reiwv épripía, eneira oí Tupaféxai, peS’oüc; oí MaEupes Xapjuárai Kai oí BacríXeioi -Xefógevoi Kai OupYOt, tö pév irXéov vopábeg, óXíyoi 1 B. D. Grekov, The Culture of Kiev Rus. Moscow, 1947. pp. 18. 2 P. I. Lja§cenko, Istorija narodnogo chozjaistva SSSR. Vol. I (1947), 38 — 40. 3 G. Vernadsky, Ancient Russia. New Haven, 1943. pp. 74, passim. See my remarks on the matter RHC. N. S. V (1947), pp. 230. 4 V. V. Mavrodin, Obrazovanie drevnerusskogo gosudarstva. Leningrad, 1945. 390.