The Argaragantes were a Sarmatian tribe that lived by the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

river, in

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

, in the 4th century.

Etymology

The only source in which the name of the ruling class of the Sarmatians is preserved in its original form is the Chronicle of

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

. According to

Wilhelm Tomaschek Wilhelm Tomaschek, or Vilém Tomášek (May 26, 1841, Olomouc – September 9, 1901, Vienna) was a Czech-Austrian geographer and orientalist. He is known for his work in the fields of historical topography and historical ethnography.

, it is of Iranian origin and means "those who wage war." According to

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky ( Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian Empire-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years ...

, it is a compound, the first component of which (''arcarag'') "must, in any case, be explained by the Ossetian language" because in Ossetian ''äqäräg'' means inaudible, quiet, depressed, dumb, while the second (''ante'') is identical to

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...

's and

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

's form of the name, i.e. ''Anta''. According to this interpretation, the Agaragantes would be "mute Antes". George Vernadsky (1887-1973) finds an explanation of this name in the story of

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

. After being defeated by the Romans, the Sarmatians sought their protection. Vernadsky reminds us that there is a curse in the

Ossetian language Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Oss ...

that corresponds to this story: "a voice betrayed you" (''äqäräg fäu'').

Prevalence

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

, the interfluve of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

and the

is marked as the area of Jaziga where the

Iazyges The Iazyges (), singular Ἰάζυξ. were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between th ...

live. This information led some scientists (Hugo Schuchardt (1842-1927), Johannes Schmidt and

Alfred von Domaszewski Alfred von Domaszewski (October 30, 1856 – March 25, 1927) was an Austrian historian born in Timișoara in the Habsburg monarchy. He received his education in Vienna, and following graduation remained in Vienna as a secondary school teacher. ...

) to the conclusion that

Limigantes The Limigantes is a name applied to a population that lived by the Tisza river, in Banat, in the 4th century. They are attested by Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus ( 390) in connection to Sarmatians. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus ( 390 ...

and Agaragantes lived right there. Heinrich Kipper also attributed "a large part of the area east of the Tisza" to them "because of the identity of the soil", but later he adhered (like Richard Kipper) to Ptolemy's data. According to Pač, the assumption that the Iaziges, at least later, after their strengthening in the new habitat, spread beyond Međurečje, ie to the east (since the west and south were in Roman hands until later) is not only indicated by the identity of both sides of the Tisza, but also to a large extent the number of Iaziges. This is evidenced by the data from the time of the conflict between Agaragantes and Limiganates. More than 300,000 Agaragantes fled to Roman soil. The number of those who fled to

Victohali The Victohali were a people of Late Antiquity who lived north of the Lower Danube. In Greek their name is ''Biktoa'' or ''Biktoloi''. They were possibly a Germanic people, and it has been suggested that they were one of the tribes of the Vandals. T ...

was not insignificant either since they later helped the Romans in the fight against the Limigantes under the new king. Both groups were numerically inferior to the Limigantes. In addition, it should be added those Iaziges, who were not affected by the revolution, and who, since they practiced human hunting, also had slaves at their disposal and were so powerful that, like the liberated Limigantes, they continued to ravage the Roman provinces despite losses. However, one should not believe everything that is written in the sources, nor make excessive conclusions. The incursions of nomadic peoples were usually reduced to rapid, sudden raids by smaller detachments, and the number of 300,000 Agragantes was probably exaggerated. In any case, the question arises as to whether the lowlands between the Danube and the Tisza could then provide sufficient means of subsistence for so many people with freedom of movement, all the more so as they also nurtured horse breeding. The cause of Jaziga's increasing incursions into the Roman provinces of Pannonia and Moesia was probably not only a propensity for war and plunder (and later German pressure) but also partly limited living space and overcrowding.

History

They were probable descendants of the Roxolani, who had migrated from

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

. In 331, the

Thervingi The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the G ...

pushed west and south-west into the territory of the Arcaragantes. In 332, the Sarmatians in Banat asked

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

for aid against the Thervingi. 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 Agaragantes, and the "slaves" –

. 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

, and became their vassals.

Annotations

References

Cited sources

Sources

* * * * * * * {{cite journal, last=Vernadsky, first=George, year=1951, title=Der sarmatische Hintergrund der germanischen Völkerwanderung, journal=Saeculum, volume=2, page=340—92, doi=10.7788/saeculum.1951.2.jg.340, s2cid=170085131