Monumenta Vetera

[Michael Kerr]

I think a lot of later Roman authors had no choice but to turn to Herodotus to get an understanding of the tribes and peoples of the Pontic & Eastern regions. I don't know if Herodotus ever visited these areas himself or just heard stories but when it comes to the Amazons and a lot of Scythian customs, I sometimes think that someone may have been pulling his leg after a few drinks of Greek wine. However Tacitus sort of confirms that women played a prominent role in Sarmatian society when he wrote much later about the Bastarnae sub-tribe the Sidoni and compared them to other Germanic tribes who were their neighbours and was disgusted that they were led by a woman (a typical Roman attitude) which sometimes makes me think that they were, if not Sarmatian themselves, some say Celtic, Germanic or Getae, may have been pretty sarmaticized regarding customs and habits. Whoever they were or wherever they came from they had a lot of interaction with Roxolani, both frequenting the various river systems like Danube, Dniester & Dnieper and doing a lot of trade, maybe a few intermarried over time and would have been hard to tell apart in looks and attire. Strabo in one of his passages actually thinks that Roxolani are not Sarmatian but Bastarnae however seeing Roxolani used the heavy contus and didn't use wicker shields like the Bastarnae, and came from the east I think that is unlikely. But the two peoples were very close neighbours and allies.
Regards
Michael Kerr