The Sarmatians: a tribal confederation who carved an indelible mark on history
From Horse-lords to warrior women, the Sarmatians were a powerful tribal confederation who used their skills at warfare to carve an indelible mark on history.
However, they are typically not a familiar name on many people’s lips, which may lead to the question of who they were and what they achieved.
Who were the Sarmatians?
The Sarmatians were a collective of fierce and powerful tribes who were originally part of a larger group of peoples called the Scythians. However, due to their military prowess and skills on the battlefield, the Sarmatians quickly usurped the Scythians.
They also left an enduring impression on the Eurasian Steppe - a vast belt of grasslands, savannas, and shrublands that extended approximately 5000 miles from Hungary, through Ukraine and Central Asia, to Manchuria in the East. This area was dissected into distinct regions by mountain ranges, but this wasn’t a problem for the Sarmatians; like other nomadic tribes such as the Avars, they were skilled horsemen. Thus their lifestyle centred around the herding of horses as they facilitated their gathering of food, hunting, clothing, and success in battle.
As previously mentioned, the Sarmatians weren’t a singular tribe but instead a collective of nomadic groups that spoke the same language, one which is believed to be similar to modern Persian.
According to the Greek writer Strabo, the following groups were the main subgroups of the Sarmatians; the Sauromatae, the Roxolani, the Aorsi, the Siraces, and the Lazyges.
As a group, they seemed to have combined the manners typical of Asiatic barbarians with the appearance of ancient European civilisations. As Hippocrates once put it: “The people are swarthy, short, and fat, of a relaxed and phlegmatic temperament; the women are not fruitful, but their slaves being lean give birth to many children.”
Although this account of the Sarmatians could hardly be considered romantic in tone, the Sarmatians were clearly a source of inspiration for the Greeks.
In Greek mythology, the Amazons were fierce warrior women who resided in distant lands. However, the Amazons were likely based on the Sarmatians. Sarmatian women were as capable on horseback as the Sarmatian men and were also skilled in battle as they wore similar armour and could shoot arrows and javelins while riding. It is also possible that the Sarmatian society had a matriarchal influence, and thus women were seen as capable leaders. Although, as soon as Sarmatian women entered into marriage, they were no longer permitted to be fierce warrior women as they were expected to focus their energy on bearing children.
The rise and fall of Sarmatia
It is thought that the Sarmatians and the Scythians lived in relative harmony until the 3rd century B.C. However, documentation from this point in time relates an account of the Sarmatians crossing into the Scythian territories north of the Black Sea and forced them from their lands, thus replacing them as the rulers of almost all southern Russia.
Once the Sarmatians had secured a position of power, they allied with Germanic tribes. This brought them to the attention of the Romans, as the Germanic tribes were considered to be a threat to the Roman Empire.
In their remaining centuries of power, the Sarmatians invaded the area known as modern-day Romania and the lower Danube. Still, they couldn’t rally against the might of the Goths in the 3rd Century A.D. Although many of the Sarmatian tribes were assimilated by the Goths, the rest were felled by the Huns during their relentless besiegement.
Evidence from the 5th century shows that the Sarmatians still controlled parts of the Eurasian Steppe, but over time they ended up ceasing to exist as a distinct civilisation due to the increasing influence of the Proto-Slavic population.
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