The Limigantes is a name applied to a population that lived by the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

river, in

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

, in the 4th century. They are attested by Roman historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

( 390) in connection to

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

. Roman historian

( 390) described the Limigantes as ''Sarmatae servi'' ("Sarmatian slaves/serfs"), as opposed to the

Arcaragantes The Argaragantes were a Sarmatian tribe that lived by the Tisza river, in Banat, 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. ...

, ''Sarmatae liberi'' ("free Sarmatians").Ammianus XVII.13.1 It is unclear whether the Limigantes were simply an under-class of ethnic Sarmatians or a non-Sarmatian subject people.

History

330s

In 332, the Sarmatians in Banat asked

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

for aid against 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 Gre ...

. These Sarmatians had armed their "slaves" in order to cope with the situation; according to contemporary sources there were two categories of Sarmatians: the "masters" – the

Agaragantes The Argaragantes were a Sarmatian tribe that lived by the Tisza river, in Banat, 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. ...

, and the "slaves" – Limigantes. In 334, there was an internal conflict between the Agaragantes 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 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. ...

, to the south of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, and became their vassals.

Conflict with Rome

In AD 357, the Roman emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

(ruled 337-361) faced a large force of Limigantes, who had successfully rebelled against their

Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...

overlords and then launched an invasion of Roman territory on the South bank of the Danube. The barbarians entered the empire near the confluence of the rivers Danube and

, invading the province of

Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballia ...

(roughly mod.

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

). In a hard-fought battle, the Romans routed the Limigantes, slaughtering a large number. After this, the remaining Limigantes surrendered and were assigned lands to settle in beyond the imperial border, but which were apparently under Roman control (possibly seized from the "free Sarmatians" separately defeated earlier in the same year). In 358, the Limigantes broke the terms of their treaty with Constantius and raided outside the territory assigned to them the previous year.Ammianus XIX.11.1

Studies

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years Born in Saint Petersburg on August 20, 1887, Vernadsky stemmed from a respectable ...

believed that the

were Sarmatians and the Limigantes were Slavs.

References

Sources

;Primary *Chronicle of Hieronymus of Milano (or Jerome) *

;Secondary *{{cite book, first=George , last=Vernadsky, title=The Origins of Russia, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPHTAAAAMAAJ, year=1959, publisher=Clarendon Press Sarmatian tribes History of Banat Ancient history of Vojvodina