Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)
Mark B. Shchukin: Forgotten Bastarnae
Forgotten Bastarnae Mark B. Shchukin The aim of my paper is to draw the attention of specialists dealing with the Carpathian region to the following paradoxical situation. The people named the Bastarnae were mentioned rather frequently in literary and epigraphic sources from the 3 rd c. B.C. to the 3 rd c. A.D. For six centuries, they played a very important role in the history of the region between the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea. They were described by Titus Livius, Strabon, Tacitus, Pliny the Elder and other ancient authors. According to Ptolemy, the Bastarnae were one of the greatest peoples dwelling alongside the Venedi and various Sarmatian tribes on the territory of so-called "European Sarmatia" between the Black and Baltic Seas and the rivers Vistula and Tanais (Don) (Ptol. Geogr. Ill, 5). Obviously, it was a rather numerous population. However, modern historians and archaeologists have not paid serious attention to the Bastarnae in their reconstructions of the events of the region. This is especially true of the later Bastarnae of the l st-3 rd c. A.D. Whereas the problem of the early Bastarnae of the 2 nd-l st c. B.C. has been discussed several times in the literature, first and foremost by Mircea Babes, (BABEÇ 1969; BABES 1993), the later period has been passed over unnoticed. In particular, the archaeological equivalent of the later Bastarnae of the period between the l st-3 rd c. A.D. is completely unclear. In fact, the fate of the Bastarnae is rather sad: they have been forgotten, although this "great people" calls for purposeful research. Efforts must be made to find their settlements and cemeteries. Let us try torestore some degree of equity and collect here the main information concerning the Bastarnae. As regards the earliest Bastarnae, the situation is more or less clear. Trogus Pompeius was the first to mention their name in connection with the events of 233229 B.C. on the Balkan Peninsula (Trog. Proleg. XXVIII, 1). He wrote that certain "movements of the Bastarnae" had taken place sometime during this period, although he did not state where it had happened. Around 216 B.C., Demetrios from Callatis recorded them as "the newcomer Bastarnae" in the Lower Danube region (Ps.Scymn. 797). After that the Bastarnae were constantly present on the pages of literary and epigraphic sources. Their actions on the Balkan Peninsula between 179-168 B.C. were described in detail by Titus Livius (Liv. XL, 5, 10; LVII, 4-5, 8; LVIII, 8; XLPV, 26, 2-3, 14; 27, 3; Oros. IV. 20, 34). The Macedonian kings Philippos V and Perseus invited the Bastarnae three times to help in wars against Rome. The question of the ethnicity and language of the Bastarnae is irresolvable. Titus Livius called them Gauls (Celts), but other ancient authors listed them among the Germanic tribes. We now know only five words of the Bastarnae; two of them can be compared with German, but three do not correspond with any language (BRAUN 1899,112). It is conceivable that they spoke a certain specific language which later completely disappeared. Perhaps they were one of the „Völker zwischen Kelten und Germanen" (HACHMANN-KOSSACKKUHN 1962). The Bastarnae were apparently the Bastarnae.
