Roxolani

The Roxolani were a Sarmatian people (a large Iranian confederation that existed in classical antiquity) [1] and are believed to be an offshoot of the Alans. However, according to Strabo, they were the most remote of Scythian peoples.[2]

The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138), showing the location of the Roxolani Sarmatians in the Wallachian plain (Romania)

Name

In his Getica (c. 551 CE), Jordanes uses a variant name, Rosomoni (or Rosomones) for the Roxolani. The following tribal names in Bavarian Geographer apparently belong here:

Sebbirozi habent ciuitates XC.
Attorozi habent ciuitates XLVIII, populus ferocissimus.
Vuillerozi habent ciuitates LXXX.
Zabrozi habent ciuitates CCXII.
Chozirozi habent ciuitates CCL.

The etymology of Roxolani may combine ruxh or rukhs Alanic "radiant light" + Alani. This would make Roxolani an endonym translatable as "bright Alans".[3][4] George Vernadsky suggested, along similar lines, that the Rocas (or Rogas), a tribe conquered by the Ostrogoths in the 4th century, may have been synonymous with the Roxolani/Rosomoni. To be specific, Vernadsky suggested that Rocas may have its origins in ruxh and the name of the Asii, a steppe tribe whose name may have been interchangeable with that of the Alans.[3]

Other theories suggest that Iranian-speaking steppe peoples, such as the Alans, merged in a variety of forms with early Slavic peoples. According to one hypothesis, the Antes originated as a sub-group of Alans.[5] A similar theory, reported by Vernadsky, suggests that Roxolani originated as a portmanteau of the names of the Slavic regions (Rus' Khaganate, Kievan Rus'', 'Rus' people) and the Alani.[3]

Geography

Their first recorded homeland lay between the Volga, Don and Dnieper rivers; they migrated in the 1st century AD toward the Danube, to what is now the Baragan steppes in Romania.

History

1st century BC

Around 100 BC, they invaded the Crimea under their king Tasius in support of the Scythian warlord Palacus but were defeated by Diophantus, general of Mithradates VI.[1]

1st century AD

In the mid-1st century AD, the Roxolani began incursions across the Danube into Roman territory. One such raid in AD 68/69 was intercepted by the Legio III Gallica with Roman auxiliaries, who destroyed a raiding force of 9,000 Roxolanian cavalry encumbered by baggage. Tacitus (Hist. Bk1.79) describes the weight of the armour worn by the "princes and most distinguished persons" made "it difficult for such as have been overthrown by the charge of the enemy to regain their feet". The long two-handed kontos lance, the primary melee weapon of the Sarmatians, was unusable in these conditions. The Roxolani avenged themselves in AD 92, when they joined the Dacians in destroying the Roman Legio XXI Rapax.

2nd century

During Trajan's Dacian Wars, the Roxolani at first sided with the Dacians, providing them with most of their cavalry strength, but they were defeated in the first campaign of AD 101–102 at Nicopolis ad Istrum. They appear to have stood aside as neutrals during Trajan's final campaign of AD 105–106, which ended in the complete destruction of the Dacian state. The creation of the Roman province of Dacia brought Roman power to the very doorstep of Roxolani territory. The Emperor Hadrian reinforced a series of pre-existing fortifications and built numerous forts along the Danube to contain the Roxolani threat.

3rd century

Later, Marcus Aurelius who was dead by the 3rd century, also campaigned against the Roxolani along the Danubian frontier. They are known to have attacked the Roman Province of Pannonia in 260; shortly afterwards contingents of Roxolani troops entered Roman military service.

4th century

Like other Sarmatian peoples, the Roxolani were conquered by the Huns in the mid-4th century.

Culture

The Greco-Roman historian Strabo (late 1st century BC-early 1st century AD) described them as "wagon-dwellers" (i.e. nomads).[6]

See also

• Alans
• Aorsi
• Iazyges

References

1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rhoxolani" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 273.
2. Strabo's Geographika, Book II, page 441
3. George Vernadsky (1959). The Origins of Russia. Clarendon Press. In the Sarmatian period the Rus' were closely associated with the Alans. Hence the double name Rus- Alan (Roxolani). As has been mentioned,1 ruxs in Alanic means 'radiant light'. The name 'Ruxs-Alan' may be understood in two ways: ... of two clans or two tribes.1 That the Roxolani were actually a combination of these two clans may be seen from the fact that the name Rus (or Ros) was on many occasions used separately from that of the Alans. Besides, the armour of the ...
4. Erik Kooper (1 January 2006). The Medieval Chronicle IV. Rodopi. pp. 118–. ISBN 90-420-2088-1.
5. Magosci, Paul Robert (2010). A History of Ukraine (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press, pp. 39–40.
6. Strabo's Geographika, Book VII

Sources

• Richard Brzezinski; Mariusz Mielczarek (2002). The Sarmatians, 600 BC-AD 450. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-485-6.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rhoxolani" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 273.