Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Eszter Istvánovits - Valéria Kulcsár: Sarmatians through the eyes of strangers. The Sarmatian warrior

The numismatic features of the multipla from Verkhivnia suggest to the archaeologist who published it that the medallion commemorated the victory of Constantius II over the Sarmatae Limigantes in 357-358 (GARBUZ 1993). S. Iatsenko, analysing the costume of this barbarian, concluded that the special cut of his shirt (with three "tails") and his hair arranged in several braids had analogies among Parthian and other eastern costumes characteristic of persons of royal origin (IATSENKO 1993). Hence, we may suggest that the man shown on the multipla from Verkhivnia is the king of the rebel Limigantes. What is unusual, however, is that he is wearing an earring (an item of jewellery not found in burials) and his very special hairstyle is not paralleled in other works of Roman art, though we have a number of similar representations of the same motif (cf. LEVI 1952, pl. X: 2-3 - coins of the second half of 4

th c, pl. XV Chronograph of 354: personification of Treviri with a "small barbarian"). But the face on the Verkhivnia medallion, the whole shape of the head and the beard are strikingly similar to the Sarmatians on the Aurelian Column (fig. 5: 4-10); thus there may be some anthropological authenticity in these depictions. Turning to depictions of armed men, in our opinion (ISTVÁNOVITS-KULCSÁR in print), the Jazyges - the first Sarmatian wave into the Carpathian Basin - supplied mercenary troops to other peoples (e.g. cavalry to Vannius). We know very little, however, about the military equipment and organisation of this earliest group. From their earlier tactics, and partly from the sparse literary sources, we can assume that they were primarily cavalry. "Vannius's own native force was infantry, and his cavalry was from the lazyges ofSarmatia; an army which was no match for his numerous enemy. Consequently, he determined to maintain himself in fortified positions, and protract the war. But the lazyges, who could not endure a siege, dispersed themselves throughout the surrounding country and rendered an engagement inevitable" (Tac. Ann. XII, 29-30). From ca. 100, the time of Trajan's Dacian wars, there are some archaeological finds from the Carpathian Basin, but only very few. Literary sources also mention Sarmatians in connection with Dacian campaigns. Some depictions of Sarmatians from this period also appear on Roman works of art. Here, we should note that some depictions of the Adamklissi monument (fig. 14: 6-7) have been considered to be Sarmatian. In our opinion, there is no evidence for this view, which is why we do not deal with Tropaeum Traiani here. Returning to indisputably Sarmatian depictions, we should first mention three scenes from Trajan's Column. Scenes XXXI (fig. 7: 3) and XXXVII (fig. 7: 2) depict Roxolan cataphracts. Scene С illustrates Jazygian envoys (fig. 12: 1). The degree of accuracy of the depictions on the Column has long been a matter of debate. As Alföldi pointed out more than fifty years ago, to judge from the individual features of the faces, these reliefs can be considered authentic (ALFÖLDI 1942, 173). As for the weapons depicted on Trajan's Column, the Roxolani have swords, bow, helmet and scale armour; the Jazyges (standing beside the "envoys" or "kings" in a long skirt-like costume) have sword (fig. 8: 4), quiver (fig. 10: 13), helmet (fig. 6: 9), knife and breastplate (the last one is questionable). The sword belonging to one of the scale-armoured Roxolani reaches from his breast down to his knee: it could be 6070 cm long (fig. 8: 4). The sword of the Jazygian warrior is longer: 80-90 cm (fig. 8: 5).