Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)
Andrea Vaday: Military system of the Sarmatians
Quadian kingdom was founded west of the Marus (Morava=March) River (ALFÖLDI 1942, 179-180, note 85; Tac. Ann. 2, 63) 3 in an area designated by the Romans. According to Pliny's description 4 , the eastern border was set at Carnuntum, adjacent to the territory of the Sarmatians. The Quadi spread to the east, and their eastern borders were shared by the tribes of Cotini and the Osi at the end of Vannius's reign (Tac. Germania 43). The Jazyges probably withdrew westwards and southwards at the same time. According to the Antique records, the fields and plains were inhabited by the Sarmatian Jazyges, and the hills and the marshes by the Dacians who had been driven by the Sarmatians to the Tisza (Plin. Nat.Hist. 4, 80-81). The home of the Jazyges at that time was the northern part of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve. Two important facts can be read from the taciturn records. One is that they were involved in a feud with the Dacians; the other is that they arrived at some agreement with the Quadi, since the Quadian diffusion and the Jazygian retreat took place in peace. They became allies of the Quadi, and in 50 A.D. they provided the cavalry of the barbarian army alongside the Quadian King Vannius's German infantry. 5 This subordinate role as an ally and the events of the years 68/69 indicate that only the advanced tribes of the immigrant Sarmatians lived in the region, since Tacitus mentioned only principes (Hist. 3, 5): "Principes sarmatarum Iazygum, penes quos civitatis regimen, in commilitium adsciti.". 6 The Romans accepted the help of Vangio and Sido as Quadian kings {reges), but took care not to accept that of the Jazyges, although they had offered their people and their cavalry. It is striking that Vangio and Sido were called rex, king, while the Jazygian negotiators are mentioned as principes. The Latin word princeps referred in this period to a tribal aristocrat, but not a ruler, a king, a rex, or a viceroy, a subregulus. In all likelihood, the Jazygian advanced bodies led by the tribal aristocracy of the resettled Jazyges had not yet been organised into a unified barbarian bloc, which was probably to some extent due to their small number. They played a subordinate role to the Quadi both politically and militarily, indicating that they were not yet partners to the Empire equal to the Quadi. And the fact that only the members of the aristocracy took part in the negotiations may imply that the main body, and the king, had not yet arrived in the Hungarian Plain at the time of the events cited (VADAY 1982/83). This is supported by the explanatory conclusion to Tacitus's text: "penes quos civitatis regimen". It is necessary to interpret the Latin expressions, since the Roman and the barbarian social structures and power systems were different and the Roman terms cannot always automatically be applied. Regimen certainly means government, leadership. The name civitas, however, is used by Tacitus with various connotations in his works: it could mean a state, a people, a town, a village or the citizens. The king (rex) stood at the head of a barbarian "state" or "people", so the word civitas could not have been used in this sense. It is also important that although both the gens and the 3 The borders of the kingdom have been debated as the name of the Cusus (Gusen?) River does not occur in any other source. Some of the modern technical literature on the topic is cited in MÓCSY 1977, 443-444, note 27. 4 Plin. Nat.Hist. ÍV. 80-81: "...superiora autem inter Danuvium et Hercynium saltum usque ad Pannonica hiberna Carnunti Germanorumque ibi confinium, campos et plana Izagyges Sarmatae, montes vera et saltus pulsi ab iis Daci ad Pathissum amnem a Maro, sive Duria est a Suebis regnoque Vanniano dirimens eos..." 5 Tac. Ann. XII. 29. 3. "...Vannius... ipsi manuspropria pedites eques e Sarmatis lazygibus erat." 6 A. Alföldi interpreted the datum to mean that the Jazyges Metanastae were ruled by several princes (ALFÖLDI 1942, 173, 69).
