Arcaragantes
Arcaragantes[A] was a Sarmatian people that lived by the Tisza river, in Banat, in the 4th century.
History
They were probable descendants of the Roxolani, who had migrated from Dacia to Banat.[1] In 331, the Thervingi pushed west and south-west into the territory of the Arcaragantes.[1] In 332, the Sarmatians in Banat asked Constantine the Great for aid against the Thervingi.[2] These Sarmatians had armed their "slaves" in order to cope with the situation; according to contemporary sources there was two categories of Sarmatians: the "masters" – the Arcaragantes, and the "slaves" – Limigantes.[2] In 334, there was an internal conflict between the Arcaragantes and the Limigantes. The Limagantes had after the conflict with the Goths, turned and expelled the Arcaragantes who then settled in the area of the Victohali, and became their vassals.[3]
| “ | And these native chiefs, losing all their wisdom in their fear, fled to the Victohali, whose settlements were at a great distance, thinking it better in the choice of evils to become subject to their protectors than slaves to their own slaves.[4] | ” |
Annotations
- ^ Other spellings include: "Argaragantes", "Acaragantes" and "Ardaragantes".
References
- 1 2 Romanian Institute of Thracology 1998, p. 82.
- 1 2 Miron Constantinescu; Ștefan Pascu; Petre Diaconu (1975). Relations Between the Autochthonous Population and the Migratory Populations on the Territory of Romania: A Collection of Studies. Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România. p. 65.
- ↑ Alfonz Lengyel; George T. Radan (1980). The Archaeology of Roman Pannonia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 112. ISBN 978-963-05-1886-4.
- ↑ Ammianus, Res Gestae Libri XXXI, XVII.xii.19.
Sources
- Primary sources
- Chronicle of Hieronymus (or Jerome)
- Ammianus Marcellinus
- Secondary sources
- Romanian Institute of Thracology (1998). The Roman Frontier at the Lower Danube, 4th-6th Centuries. Romanian Institute of Thracology. ISBN 978-973-98829-3-4.