Sarosius (, ), also called Sarodius (Σαρώδιος ''Sarṓdios'') or Saroes {{IPAc-en, ˈ, s, æ, r, oʊ-, iː, z (Σαρόης ''Saróēs''), was the king of the

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

in the early 6th century while they were still in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He acted as diplomatic negotiator between the Central Asian Pseudo-Avar refugees led by

Kandik Kandik or Kazrig was one of the three Scythian brothers mentioned in the chronicle of Michael of Syria, the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. After leading their Iverian people as refugees away from the Turks as Pseudo-Avar khagans, Kazrig and his b ...

and the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

in 557 and then again between

Justin II Justin II (; ; died 5 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora. Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empir ...

and the Turks in 569. From the latter we learn that the Avars whom Sarosios helped in 557 were in fact renegades from the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

(who surrendered to the

Göktürks The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...

and

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

in 567) and apparently had no right to use the title of Avar

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

. The diplomatic ties that Sarosios fostered led to the Göktürks' agreement with Emperor Maurice in 598,Theophylact Simocatta, Ed. Bonn, 282ff, Chavannes, Documents, 246ff to support a ruler,

Sandilch Sandilch (''Σάνδιλ'', ''Σάνδιλχος''; Turkic: "boat") was a chieftain of the Utigurs in the 6th century. The origin of the name is probably Hunnic. Although he initially protested against leading the Utigurs into war against a relat ...

, approved of by the Ashina clan. The only written source about Sarosius is Menander the Guardsman's ''History''.

References

External links

Sixth Century Alania
Alanic kings 6th-century monarchs in Europe