The Sciri were mentioned already in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the city of Olbia near modern-day Odesa. In the late 4th century they lived somewhere north of the Black Sea and Lower Danube in the vicinity of the Goths. By the early 5th century, the Sciri had been subdued by the Huns, whom they fought under at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451 AD.
After the death of Attila, the Sciri broke free from Hunnic rule at the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD. They subsequently were recorded holding their own kingdom north of the Middle Danube, under the leadership of Edeko and his son Onoulphus. After the destruction of this kingdom by the Ostrogoths in the late 460s AD, Odoacer, another son of Edeko, attained high status within the Roman army in Italy, ruling Sciri, Rugii and other non-Roman peoples as a king. Odoacer eventually made himself King of Italy in 476 AD, effectively ending the Western Roman Empire.
Odoacer was in turn deposed and killed by Theodoric the Great in 493 AD. Along with the Rugii, Heruli and other Middle Danubian peoples, the Sciri might also have contributed to the formation of the Bavarii.
Name
Since the 19th century, the etymology of the Sciri name has been connected to such Germanic words as Gothicskeirs ("sheer", "pure").[1] Rudolf Much, in the first edition of the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde pointed out that this could be interpreted three ways: "bright" (clari, splendidi), "honest" (candidi, sinceri) or "pure" and "unmixed", and he mentioned that the latter racial implication might make sense for a people living near a borderland.[2] In more recent times scholars such as Herwig Wolfram have often accepted this latter idea, interpreting the name Sciri to mean "the pure ones", and contrasting their name with that of the neighboring Bastarnae, who were ethnically mixed according to this interpretation, and thus, according to this account, named "the bastards".[3]
The Sciri are believed to have been Germanic-speaking.[6][7] In 1947, for example, Maenchen-Helfen argued that while Huns also often used Germanic names, all three known personal names of the leaders of the Sciri, the family of Odoacer, were Germanic, making the case stronger.[8] However, it is commonly accepted by scholars since then that Odoacer's father was described in one classical source as a Hun, and that there are different ways of explaining his name.[9][10][11] Some scholars thus propose that Odoacer's mother was his connection to the Sciri, while others feel that being called a Hun in one context did not make it impossible to be called something else in another, and that in any case it is likely that Odoacer had a "polyethnic" background.[12][13]
More specifically, the Sciri are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language like the Goths.[14]
Classification
The Sciri are classified as a Germanic people by modern scholars.[15][16] More specifically, they are frequently grouped together with the Goths, Vandals, Heruli, Rugii, Gepids and Burgundians as East Germanic peoples.[17][18][14][19]
In late Roman times, many East Germanic peoples, in addition to the non-Germanic Alans, were often referred to as "Gothic" peoples.[20] On at least one occasion, Procopius included the Sciri in such a list, together with the Alans.[21] The Sciri were not classified as Germanic in ancient sources.[22]
Reynolds and Lopez doubted that the Sciri were Germanic-language-speaking, and rather suggested that they might have been Balts or Sarmatians.[23] These doubts were rejected by Maenchen-Helfen, who considered it certain that the Sciri were Germanic.[8]
History
Origins and early history
The Bastarnae, Sciri and Vandals are believed to have been present near the Vistula by the 3rd century BC.[24] The Sciri were first mentioned in the Protogenes inscription of Olbia, which describes attacks upon the northern Black Sea coast by the "Galatians" and "Sciri" (Γαλάτας και Σκίρους).[25] This inscription is dated to approximately 220–200 BC.[26] The "Galatians" in this inscription are frequently identified as the Bastarnae, who are believed to have been a Germanic people with Celtic influences. It is thus believed that both the Bastarnae and Sciri had arrived in this area in the early 3rd century BC.[27] The Bastarnae and Sciri are generally associated with the Poienesti-Lukasevka culture. Historian Roger Batty has also associated them with the Zarubintsy culture.[28]
The Sciri are believed to have been one of several Germanic speaking peoples, including the Goths and Rugii, who had moved from the Polish region towards the Black Sea by the 3rd century AD.[32] Around 300 AD, the Verona List of "barbarians" living near the Roman Empire mentions the Sciri between the Sarmatians to the west and the Carpi to the east. Walter Goffart suggests that they lived in the Lower Danube valley.[33] Peter Heather suggests that the Sciri lived east of the Carpathians in the 4th century,[34] while Malcolm Todd suggests that they lived north of the Black Sea.[35]
The Sciri under Hunnic rule
Territory under Hunnic control in 450 AD
In the late 4th century AD, the Sciri were conquered by the Huns.[32] In 381 AD a force of Sciri, Carpi and some Huns crossed the lower Danube into the Roman Empire. They were forced back by the emperor Theodosius.[34][36][37]
Sometime in the late 4th or early 5th century, the Sciri are believed to have moved westwards into the Middle Danube region. Here they formed part of a polity established by the Hunnic leader Uldin.[38] In 409 AD the Sciri and Huns under Uldin crossed the Danube and invaded the Roman Balkans. They captured Castra Martis, but were eventually defeated and Uldin was killed.[38] While the Hunnic prisoners were drafted into the Roman army, captured Sciri were enslaved and sent as coloni to Anatolia.[38] The Sciri were a numerous people at this time, and the coloni were distributed over a widespread area in order to prevent them from revolting.[39] These events are described in the Codex Theodosianus.[40]
During the height of the Hunnic empire under their leader Attila, the Sciri were subjects of Attila and provided potent infantry for him. Attila's empire included not only Huns and Sciri, but also Goths, Gepids, Thuringi, Rugii, Suebi, Heruli, Alans and Sarmatians.[41][42] The Sciri participated in Attila's invasion of Gaul in 451 AD.[33]
As the Hunnic empire disintegrated, one group of Sciri were settled in the Roman empire in Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia south of the Lower Danube.[43][44] Jordanes mentions four tribes that remained loyal to the Huns under Dengizich: Ultzinzures, Bittugures, Bardores and Angisciri. The last might be a Scirian remnant.[45] The name Angisciri has been analyzed as Germanic for "grassland Sciri", but it may be an unrelated Turkic name since the other three names in the list are Turkic.[46]
Independent kingdom
After the death of Attila, the Sciri, Heruli, Rugii and others joined Ardaric of the Gepids in a revolt against the Huns, winning a major victory at the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD.[47] In the aftermath, Edeko established a Scirian kingdom in the Middle Alföld between the Middle Danube and the Tisza rivers,[48] which he ruled together with his sons Odoacer and Onoulphus.[49][50] A man by the name of Edeko had previously been a trusted advisor of Attila, and this Edeko is generally believed to have been the same person as the one who established the Scirian kingdom.[51][52] Edeko had served at one point as Attila's envoy to Constantinople, and once prevented an assassination plot against him.[35] Edeko was probably not a Scirian himself, but was married to a Scirian noblewoman.[49] He is believed to have been either a Thuringian or a Hun, or perhaps of mixed Thuringian-Hunnic ancestry.[53] A Thuringian origin of Edeko is attested by Malchus through the Suda, while a Hunnic origin of Edeko is attested by Priscus.[54] Goffart refers to Edeko as a Hun.[12] Heather considers a Thurungian origin more specific and thus more likely.[49] The Thurungi were also a Germanic people.[55]
In the subsequent years the Sciri competed with neighboring Goths, Gepids, Suebi and others for supremacy over the region.[36] Three graves at Bakodpuszta in Hungary has been identified with the Sciri. In the nearby Sarviz marshes a magnificent treasure has been discovered, and this treasure has been linked to Edeko.[35]
Jordanes reports that the Sciri were allies of the Ostrogoths, but were encouraged by Hunimund of the Suebi to break off this alliance.[56] In the 460s AD, both the Sciri and the Ostrogoths sought an alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire. Against the advice of his general Aspar, Emperor Leo I decided to help the Sciri.[55] In 468/469 AD the Sciri made a surprise attack on the Ostrogoths.[36] Although the Ostrogothic king Valamir was killed in this conflict, the Sciri were defeated.[57][58] Valamir was succeeded as king by Theodemir, who subsequently went on the offensive against the Sciri,[59] who in turn received support from the Suebi, Heruli and Sarmatians.[58] In the Battle of Bolia, the Ostrogoths defeated a coalition of Roman-supported peoples, including Sciri, Heruli, Suebi, Sarmatians, Gepids and Rugii.[57][56] Jordanes reports that the Sciri were dealt a severe blow in their conflict with the Ostrogoths.[56]
After the destruction of the Scirian kingdom, Odoacer led most of the surviving Sciri, in addition to many Heruli and Rugii, into Italy to join the Roman army, which was controlled by Ricimer.[60][61]Turcilingi are also reported as having been part of this group.[4] Jordanes calls Odoacer king of the Turcilingi,[62] and they have been interpreted as another East Germanic tribe and/or perhaps the royal family of the Sciri.[63][64] Odoacer's brother Onoulphus went to Constantinople with other Sciri.[48] Odoacer's group might have numbered 10,000 warriors,[65] and came to play a prominent role in the Roman army and Roman politics.[60][61] They were utilized by Ricimer in his conflict with Anthemius.[45]
In 476 AD, Odoacer led an uprising among the barbarian troops against Romulus Augustulus and the latter's father Orestes.[45] Odoacer then declared himself king of Italy, thus ending the Western Roman Empire.[45] He subsequently gained control over all of Italy.[62] It is possible that Odoacer's uprising was organized in coordination with his brother Onoulphus in Constantinople. In 486 Onoulphus fell out of favor with Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno, and moved to Ravenna with his Scirian followers to join Odoacer.[45] Soon afterwards, Zeno encouraged Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, to invade Italy. After a bloody conflict, Theodoric emerged victorious. On March 15, 493, Theodoric murdered Odoacer with his own hands and established the Ostrogothic Kingdom.[45][66] By this time the Sciri disappear from history.[67]
Remaining elements of the Sciri might have settled in modern-day Bavaria.[19] Along with the Heruli and Rugii, the Sciri may have been one of the tribes which contributed to the formation of the Bavarii.[68] Since the 19th century, the name of the Sciri has been detected in Bavarian placenames.[69]Wolfgang Haubrichs gives examples such as Scheyern (first attested as Scira in 1080), Scheuer (Sciri, c. 975), Scheuern in Neubeuern (Skira, 11th century) and perhaps Scheuring (Sciringen, 1150). These names are believed to designate these villages as Scirian, and it is proposed that the Sciri probably mediated the transfer of a few East Germanic lexical items to the Bavarian language, which otherwise shows no East Germanic influence.[70]
Culture
Historians Reinhard Wenskus and Herwig Wolfram believe that Sciri prided themselves on their unmixed ancestry, and did not allow intermarriage, and that similar practices were followed by other Germanic peoples such as the Rugii and Juthungi.[71]
↑ Maenchen-Helfen 1947, p.838. "It would be difficult to suggest a more farfetched etymology." Reynolds & Lopez 1947 responded that this represents "the position of the unflinching Germanizer, to whom it appears self-evident that every barbarian who distinguished himself must have been a German in his inner being".
1 2 Maenchen-Helfen 1947, pp.837–838. "Like the Heruli the Rugi were not "probably" (loc. cit., p. 43) but most certainly a Germanic tribe". "The Heruli and Rugians were Germans. So were the Scirians as proved by the names of their leaders."
↑ Macbain 1983, p.326. "[T]hey have generally been taken to be a German people."
↑ Fries-Knoblach, Steuer & Hines 2014, pp.11, 25, 243. "East Germanic ones (Sciri, Heruli)... We may not forget the East Germanic Sciri... East Germanic peoples (Goths, Gepids, Vandals, Sciri, Rugii and more)..."
1 2 Musset 1975, p.27. "The Skirians lived on the middle Danube; they were an East Germanic people who were associated with the Bastarnae for a long time and the last remnants of them seem to have ended up in Bavaria."
The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe.
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time; the Huns' arrival to Europe is associated with the migration westward of an Iranian people, the Alans. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, and by 430, they had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe, conquering the Goths and many other Germanic peoples living outside of Roman borders and causing many others to flee into Roman territory. The Huns, especially under their King Attila, made frequent and devastating raids into the Eastern Roman Empire. In 451, they invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul, where they fought a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, and in 452, they invaded Italy. After the death of Attila in 453, the Huns ceased to be a major threat to Rome and lost much of their empire following the Battle of Nedao. Descendants of the Huns, or successors with similar names, are recorded by neighboring populations to the south, east, and west as having occupied parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia from about the 4th to 6th centuries. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century.
The Ostrogoths were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who had settled in the Balkans in the 4th century, having crossed the Lower Danube. While the Visigoths had formed under the leadership of Alaric I, the new Ostrogothic political entity which came to rule Italy was formed in the Balkans under the influence of the Amal dynasty, the family of Theodoric the Great.
Odoacer, also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a Germanic soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux of Italy (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire as well as Ancient Rome.
The Heruli were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several "Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking by land, and notably also by sea. During this time they reportedly lived near the Sea of Azov.
The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians, were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his Germania who called them the Rugii, and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Some centuries later, they were considered one of the "Gothic" or "Scythian" peoples who were located in the Middle Danube region. Like several other Gothic peoples there, they possibly arrived in the area as allies of Attila until his death in 453. They settled in what is now Lower Austria after the defeat of the Huns at Nedao in 454.
The Gepids were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals.
The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River.
The Hunnic language, or Hunnish, was the language spoken by Huns in the Hunnic Empire, a heterogeneous, multi-ethnic tribal confederation which invaded Eastern and Central Europe, and ruled most of Pannonian Eastern Europe, during the 4th and 5th centuries CE. A variety of languages were spoken within the Hun Empire. A contemporary report by Priscus has that Hunnish was spoken alongside Gothic and the languages of other tribes subjugated by the Huns.
King Rodulf was king of the Heruli kingdom on the Middle Danube in the period around 500, and possibly of Scandinavian origin. He died in a battle with the neighbouring Lombards which led to the splitting up of the Heruli. He is probably the same Heruli king that Theoderic the Great wrote to in two surviving letters, in one of which Theoderic "adopted" him with a gift of arms. Less certainly, he is also sometimes equated to a King Rodulf that Jordanes mentions as having come from Scandinavia to Italy, to join Theoderic.
Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over Huns in dual kingship with his brother Dengizich, but in separate divisions in separate lands.
Dengizich, was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over the Huns in dual kingship with his brother Ernak, but separate divisions in separate lands.
Ellac was the oldest son of Attila (434–453) and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He ruled shortly, and died at the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD. Ellac was succeeded by brothers Dengizich and Ernak.
The Greuthungi were a Gothic people who lived on the Pontic steppe between the Dniester and Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the Tervingi, another Gothic people, who lived west of the Dniester River. To the east of the Greuthungi, living near the Don river, were the Alans.
By the name Edeko are considered three contemporaneous historical figures, whom many scholars identified as one:
The Turcilingi were an obscure barbarian people, or possibly a clan or dynasty, who appear in historical sources relating to Middle Danubian peoples who were present in Italy during the reign of Romulus Augustulus (475–76). Their only known leader was Odoacer (Odovacar), but he was described as a ruler of several ethnic groups.
Balamber was ostensibly a chieftain of the Huns, mentioned by Jordanes in his Getica. Jordanes simply called him "king of the Huns" and writes the story of Balamber crushing the tribes of the Ostrogoths in the 370s; somewhere between 370 and more probably 376 AD.
The Battle of Bolia, was a battle in 469 between the Ostrogoths and a coalition of Germanic tribes in the Roman province of Pannonia. It was fought on the south side of the Danube near its confluence with the river Bolia, in present-day Hungary. The Ostrogoths won, achieving supremacy in Pannonia, but soon migrated south towards richer lands.
The history of the Huns spans the time from before their first secure recorded appearance in Europe around 370 AD to after the disintegration of their empire around 469. The Huns likely entered Western Asia shortly before 370 from Central Asia: they first conquered the Goths and the Alans, pushing a number of tribes to seek refuge within the Roman Empire. In the following years, the Huns conquered most of the Germanic and Scythian barbarian tribes outside of the borders of the Roman Empire. They also launched invasions of both the Asian provinces of Rome and the Sasanian Empire in 375. Under Uldin, the first Hunnic ruler named in contemporary sources, the Huns launched a first unsuccessful large-scale raid into the Eastern Roman Empire in Europe in 408. From the 420s, the Huns were led by the brothers Octar and Ruga, who both cooperated with and threatened the Romans. Upon Ruga's death in 435, his nephews Bleda and Attila became the new rulers of the Huns, and launched a successful raid into the Eastern Roman Empire before making peace and securing an annual tribute and trading raids under the Treaty of Margus. Attila appears to have killed his brother and became sole ruler of the Huns in 445. He would go on to rule for the next eight years, launching a devastating raid on the Eastern Roman Empire in 447, followed by an invasion of Gaul in 451. Attila is traditionally held to have been defeated in Gaul at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, however some scholars hold the battle to have been a draw or Hunnic victory. The following year, the Huns invaded Italy and encountered no serious resistance before turning back.
Concerning the origin of the Goths before the 3rd century, there is no consensus among scholars. It was in the 3rd century that the Goths began to be described by Roman writers as an increasingly important people north of the lower Danube and Black Sea, in the area of modern Rumania, Moldava, and Ukraine. They replaced other peoples who had been dominant in the region, such as especially the Carpi. However, while some scholars, such as Michael Kulikowski, believe there is insufficient evidence to come to strong conclusions about their earlier origins, the most commonly accepted proposal is that the Goths known to the Romans were a people whose traditions derived to some extent from the Gutones who lived near the delta of the Vistula in what is now Poland. More speculatively, the Gutones may have been culturally related to the similarly named Gutes of Gotland and the Geats of southern Scandinavia.
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