We know little of the. history of the; Scythians dur 4ng the
Herodotus. In the time Strabo y/e
find the Pontic countries inhabited eithfpti>y new tribes^ ct^by
the old pnes-under different names. The Basilii, or the Royal
Tribe, s ti|| occur, but they,are. termed Sqrmatians and not
Seythians: the Ourgi of Strabo are perhaps .the Ge.cggi of Ilero-
4 btus. The Scythaeare mentioned in descriptions,of the§e times
as if fhey.vyere now one particular tribe. As ageheral appellation
the name of Sarmatae prevailed, and took the plfice of Scythae
or Scoloti. Diodorus says that the Sarm^tae had conquered the
Scojojti, and this §eems not unlikely from the many changes“
of .position which occur. Thracian .tribes had. now »parsed
to the^northward of the Danob.e;??the Sigynni,, had.Vanis’hpd^
the Agathyr'si are placed by Pliny far towards thp*North. The
country between the Danube and the Borysthenes^as^ccuipied
by Getae and • Tyriget®, and above th e p i. by t h ^ IB B H |
^ a rm a t^ : the Roxolani were,the most northerly,:, theyyfqd
their flocks on the plains between the Borysthenes andTaneis,
for ^1 theM countries consist of plains as far asyGermapy;
Beyond the Roxolani the.country was unknown^to^Straho.
The Tyrigetae by Ptolemy are termed Sarmatae Ty rengetae:- lhe,y
appear to have had their gnaine from the;Tyi;a^This,lasCvyriter
describes the country along all the sides of .the. g,ulf
as inhabited by Jazyges, Roxolani, ,and further inland by the.
Amazobii and Alaunian Scythians. Ptolemy,plages the tribe,
of Bodeni further towards the north-west, near the Bastarniae
and the Carpathian mountains; and Zeiissnonj ectures. f lppjt
these were the Budini of Herodotus, and probablyr the ancestors
-of the Scythian or Sarmatian Alani, who, like the Bip*
dini, were famed for xanthous complexions.
The Scythae or Scoloti were the predecessors and kinsmen
of the Sauromatae or Sarmatae. The Sarmatae were in. later
times called principally Roxolani and Jazyges. In order to
finish the history of the Scythian race as far as we shall attempt
to do so at present, and in the method of inquiry on
which we havé now commenced, it only remains to collect the
latest notices of these nations.
The Roxolani are placed by Strabo, as we have seen, furthest
towards the North, in thë' countries lying between the Don and
the Dnie|ler:* Ptolemy pl&cesfh’em, together with the Jazyges,
above the wh'öfë ©óasf^of the ïMaèofcië;.*f‘ It appears that the
principal'bbdy of the Roxolani remained on the eastern border
of Europe. Roxolani Sarinataëére placed in the Peutin-
gerian tabl$s“orl tile “riv'drs" tq the westward of the Tanais.^ It
Improbable/Us óbsëè'fés|f;that on the departure of
the Jazygies^owards ‘the; w#X, W e^ók'èlMp spread themselves
towards 'the D a n u , ' T h b y are mblmo^uHs taking, part in
thé wbi^lqf^hë’B a sthtnë^^bo lived'- tb$£rds the/Garpathian
hills, and* frorh whbfM, according to anbther p'assatge^f Pto-
lèmyjütK'ey* wéïb.sljia'rated b^ lêée Small cal^MAJnuni. [|
Seventy»ydafe after.Christ they invaded M'oesfa, when Adrian
mafle^èace with their kmgs.^f
f"'The Jazygêi1 advancëd 'towards the'Hve^t, raMeu the Carpathian
hlffib and settled 'örf thè! l Danube -to theTweslward
of ’ the river^Theiss or TibrScus. 1 They pecupi*'Hhb\plain.s
between' that river and 'the borders of the German Quadi:
here the^ a ïë termed by Ptolemy Jazyges' Meiafrastm(k Pliny
sky S/*f;SüperièrU inter DabUbium. et Herbym.um‘ sqltum usque
ad' Pannonia hiberna Carnunti, Germanorraaque ibi^c'onnj-
riiutn campos et plana Jazyges Sarmatae, montes yero et saltus
prope ab Ms- Daei tenen t,”*#
, ? ï shalbicpnclude this inquiry with the observation, not unimportant
in the ethnology of Europe, Jhat thé Scythians
and Sauromatae' of Herodotus, who were by that writer him-
M f identified in language, appear .clearly to have been the ancestors
Of" the Sarmatian tribes of the later1 Roman times, the
eastern race being the Roxolani, and the western the Jazyges,
Limigantes, and Metanastae. From thëëè last, as we have
already ’shown, were dèscendelF the Slavonic nations of
modem times.
* 'P< p $ o \a v o i Se ä pK T iK d ira ra r e t fu r a ^ x ) r-ov ^avcimisg,; kcu rod B opvirOsvovc
v t f ió f i i v o i ?reoia, Str. vii,. p. 306.
f ' Cl. Ptol. lib. l i t cap. 5.
$ Tab. Peutinger. segment, v. a Sarmatis Hamaxobiis usque ad Roxulanos,
§ Zeuss,- ubi supra/p. 283. ' ", i- Pt°l. iii. cap. 7-
f Spartian in Adrian, c. 6. . ** Plins if. 12.