Agathyrsi
Encyclopedia
Agathyrsi were a people of Scythian, Thracian
, or mixed Thraco-Scythic origin, who in the time of Herodotus
occupied the plain of the Maris (Mures
), in the mountainous part of ancient Dacia
now known as Transylvania
, Romania
. According to most authorities, Agathyrsi were of Thracian stock, although their ruling class seems to have been of Scythian origin
The Agathyrsi existence is archaeologically attested by the Ciumbrud inhumation type, in the upper Mureş
area of the Transylvanian plateau
. In contrast with the surrounding peoples who practiced incineration, the Ciumbrud people buried their dead. These tombs, containing Scythian artistic and armament metallurgy (e.g. acinaces
), have moreover been dated to 550-450 BC — roughly the timeframe of Herodotus' writing. Archaeologists use the term "Thraco-Agathyrsian" to designate these characteristics, owing to the evident Thracian
elements. At the time of Herodotus they were already absorbed by the native Thracians.,
Herodotus
himself regards the Agathyrsi as not a Scythian people, but as closely related to the Scythians. Elsewhere Herodotus implies that Agathyrsi and Budini are 'non-Scythians' (e.g. Hdt. IV 49; 104, 119.) thus it seems that the designation of the word “Scythian” was variable even for the same author in the same text. He also mentions that in other respects their customs approach nearly to those of the Thracians This is to say that Agathyrsi Scythians were completely denationalized at that time
Agathyrsi appear in the description of the great nomadic Scythian empire of the sixth century BC and in the elaborately recounted the expedition (516 - 513 BC) of Darius I of Persia
(522-486 BC) against the Scythians in the N. Pontic. In the second part of Darius campaign, he turned westwards and pursued two Scythian divisions at speed at a day’s distance, first through Scythian lands, then into the lands of those people who had refused alliance – Melanchlaeni, Androphagi, Neuri- and finally to the border of the Agathyrsi, who stood firm and caused the Scythian divisions to return to Scythia, with Darius in pursuit.
History records the name of Spargapeithes
(an Iranian name), a king of the Agathyrsi who killed the Scythian king Ariapeithes, in consequence, no doubt, of some border squabble or political rivalry in the lands lying between the Carpathians and the Tyras
Herodotus mentioned the Agathyrsi together with another tribe, the Geloni. The Agathyrsi refused to join in a fight against the Persians unless directly provoked — highlighting the autonomy and voluntary association of the members of the Scythian confederation.
He also reported that Greeks viewed the Agathyrsi, Gelons, and Scythians as brothers. They are described by Herodotus as of luxurious habits, wearing many gold ornaments (the district is still auriferous) and having many wives
an assertion made about many other people elsewhere but probably quite fantastic.
The description of the pomp and splendor of the Agathyrsi of Transylvania is most strikingly confirmed by the discoveries made at Tufalau (Romania) – though this pomp is itself really pre-Scythian (Bronze Age local nobility) in character.
Herodotus recorded the Pontic Greek myth that the Agathyrsi were named after a legendary ancestor Agathyrsus, an oldest son of Hercules
and the monster Echidna
.
mentions their practice of solemnly reciting their laws in a kind of sing-song to prevent their being forgotten, a practice in existence in his days, also found at Gallic Druids.
They tattoo
ed their bodies, degrees of rank being indicated by the manner in which this was done, and colored their hair dark blue.
Aristotle was the last author to mention them as a real people. Since then they had led a purely literary existence
(2,i) and the historian Pliny the Elder
, writing in the first century AD, also list the Agathyrsi among the steppe tribes. Pliny alludes to their "blue hair."
In later times, the Agathyrsi were driven farther north. The 2nd century geographer Claudius Ptolemy lists the Agathyrsi among the tribes in 'European Sarmatia', between the Vistula and the Black Sea
in Res Gestae Ch. 22, 8 writes that beyond the Palus Maeotis together with Geloni live Agathyrsi, among whom there is an abundance of adamantine
stones. Further, he writes that over the border from Geloni are Agathyrsi, who tattoo their bodies and dye their hair blue, the common people with a few small, but the nobles with many large marks (Amm. 31, 2, 1-11) Ammianus also describes the Alan
ian empire that the Alans cobbled together before the end of the 2nd century, and that by repeated victories the Alans incorporated under their own national name the Geloni, Agathyrsi, Melanchlaeni
, Anthropophagi
, Amazons
, and Seres
.
Servius on Aenid 4.v.146 relates that probably closer to 300 AD the Agathyrsi sent across a contingent over the sea to Scotland
, where it became identified with the Picts
, formidable warriors who seriously fatigued all who stood against them.
The sixteenth century British chronicler Raphael Holinshed
also mentioned the Agathyrsi origin of the Picts, and their tradition of painting their bodies blue.
the Agathyrsi and we know that the Trausi lived in the Rhodope Mountains.
or Dacians
(North Thracians).
first mentioned by Priscus
in Vol XI, 823, Byzantine History, who described them leading a nomadic life on the Lower Volga, and reported them as having been Hunnic subjects before the time of Attila. This older theory is not mentioned at all by modern scholars Helfen or Golden
. According to E.A. Thompson, the conjecture that connects the Agathyrsi with Akatziri should be rejected outright.
The Acatziri were a main force of the Attila's army in 448. Attila appointed Karadach
or Curidachus as the Akatzirs' chieftain. (Thompson, p. 107).
Jordanes
, who quotes Priscus
in Getica, located the Acatziri to the south of the Aesti
(Balts
) — roughly the same region as the Agathyrsi of Transylvania — and he described them as "a very brave tribe ignorant of agriculture, who subsist on their flocks and by hunting."
The Encyclopædia Britannica 1897 and 1911 editions consider the Acatziri to be precursors of the Khazars of later antiquity, although modern scholars like Professor Peter Golden, E.A. Thompson and Maenchen-Helfen consider this theory to be nothing more than conjecture and Thompson has rejected it outright. There does not seem to be any modern reputable scholar that holds such a theory as factual though no reasons have been given.
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
, or mixed Thraco-Scythic origin, who in the time of Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
occupied the plain of the Maris (Mures
Mures County
Mureș is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km²....
), in the mountainous part of ancient Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
now known as Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. According to most authorities, Agathyrsi were of Thracian stock, although their ruling class seems to have been of Scythian origin
Archaeological evidence
The Scythians arrival in Carpathians is dated 700 BCThe Agathyrsi existence is archaeologically attested by the Ciumbrud inhumation type, in the upper Mureş
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
area of the Transylvanian plateau
Transylvanian Plateau
The Transylvanian Plateau is a plateau in central Romania.The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Western branches of the Carpathian Mountains...
. In contrast with the surrounding peoples who practiced incineration, the Ciumbrud people buried their dead. These tombs, containing Scythian artistic and armament metallurgy (e.g. acinaces
Acinaces
The acinaces, also spelled akinakes or akinaka is a type of dagger or short sword used mainly in the first millennium BC in the eastern Mediterranean region, especially by the Medes, Scythians and Persians, then by the Greeks.The acinaces is of Scythian origin, but was made famous by the...
), have moreover been dated to 550-450 BC — roughly the timeframe of Herodotus' writing. Archaeologists use the term "Thraco-Agathyrsian" to designate these characteristics, owing to the evident Thracian
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
elements. At the time of Herodotus they were already absorbed by the native Thracians.,
Fifth century BC
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
himself regards the Agathyrsi as not a Scythian people, but as closely related to the Scythians. Elsewhere Herodotus implies that Agathyrsi and Budini are 'non-Scythians' (e.g. Hdt. IV 49; 104, 119.) thus it seems that the designation of the word “Scythian” was variable even for the same author in the same text. He also mentions that in other respects their customs approach nearly to those of the Thracians This is to say that Agathyrsi Scythians were completely denationalized at that time
Agathyrsi appear in the description of the great nomadic Scythian empire of the sixth century BC and in the elaborately recounted the expedition (516 - 513 BC) of Darius I of Persia
Darius I of Persia
Darius I , also known as Darius the Great, was the third king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire...
(522-486 BC) against the Scythians in the N. Pontic. In the second part of Darius campaign, he turned westwards and pursued two Scythian divisions at speed at a day’s distance, first through Scythian lands, then into the lands of those people who had refused alliance – Melanchlaeni, Androphagi, Neuri- and finally to the border of the Agathyrsi, who stood firm and caused the Scythian divisions to return to Scythia, with Darius in pursuit.
History records the name of Spargapeithes
Spargapeithes
-See also:*List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia...
(an Iranian name), a king of the Agathyrsi who killed the Scythian king Ariapeithes, in consequence, no doubt, of some border squabble or political rivalry in the lands lying between the Carpathians and the Tyras
Herodotus mentioned the Agathyrsi together with another tribe, the Geloni. The Agathyrsi refused to join in a fight against the Persians unless directly provoked — highlighting the autonomy and voluntary association of the members of the Scythian confederation.
He also reported that Greeks viewed the Agathyrsi, Gelons, and Scythians as brothers. They are described by Herodotus as of luxurious habits, wearing many gold ornaments (the district is still auriferous) and having many wives
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
an assertion made about many other people elsewhere but probably quite fantastic.
The description of the pomp and splendor of the Agathyrsi of Transylvania is most strikingly confirmed by the discoveries made at Tufalau (Romania) – though this pomp is itself really pre-Scythian (Bronze Age local nobility) in character.
Herodotus recorded the Pontic Greek myth that the Agathyrsi were named after a legendary ancestor Agathyrsus, an oldest son of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and the monster Echidna
Echidna (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Echidna was half woman half snake, known as the "Mother of All Monsters" because most of the monsters in Greek myth were mothered by her...
.
Fourth century BC
AristotleAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
mentions their practice of solemnly reciting their laws in a kind of sing-song to prevent their being forgotten, a practice in existence in his days, also found at Gallic Druids.
They tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
ed their bodies, degrees of rank being indicated by the manner in which this was done, and colored their hair dark blue.
Aristotle was the last author to mention them as a real people. Since then they had led a purely literary existence
First and second century AD
The Roman geographer Pomponius MelaPomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera and died c. AD 45.His short work occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print. It is laconic in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing...
(2,i) and the historian Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, writing in the first century AD, also list the Agathyrsi among the steppe tribes. Pliny alludes to their "blue hair."
In later times, the Agathyrsi were driven farther north. The 2nd century geographer Claudius Ptolemy lists the Agathyrsi among the tribes in 'European Sarmatia', between the Vistula and the Black Sea
Fourth century AD
Around 380 AD, Ammianus MarcellinusAmmianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
in Res Gestae Ch. 22, 8 writes that beyond the Palus Maeotis together with Geloni live Agathyrsi, among whom there is an abundance of adamantine
Adamantine
Adamantine is a mineral, often referred to as adamantine spar. It is a silky brown form of corundum. It has a Mohs rating of 9.Adamantine is also used as an adjective to refer to non-metallic, brilliant light reflecting and transmitting properties, known as adamantine luster...
stones. Further, he writes that over the border from Geloni are Agathyrsi, who tattoo their bodies and dye their hair blue, the common people with a few small, but the nobles with many large marks (Amm. 31, 2, 1-11) Ammianus also describes the Alan
Alan
-People :*Alan , the given name*alan , female Tibetan singer active in Japan*Alan , Mexican boy band singer*Alan , aka Gato Eveready, who wrestles in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración...
ian empire that the Alans cobbled together before the end of the 2nd century, and that by repeated victories the Alans incorporated under their own national name the Geloni, Agathyrsi, Melanchlaeni
Melanchlaeni
Melanchlaeni may refer to two ancient tribes. One is a tribe mentioned by Herodotus that lived north of Scythia. They have been identified by some with various Finnic tribes .The other tribe is mentioned by Pliny the Elder....
, Anthropophagi
Anthropophagi
An anthropophage or anthropophagus was a member of a mythical race of cannibals described first by Herodotus in his Histories as androphagi , and later by other authors, including the playwright William Shakespeare...
, Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
, and Seres
Seres
Seres was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the inhabitants of eastern Central Asia. It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
.
Servius on Aenid 4.v.146 relates that probably closer to 300 AD the Agathyrsi sent across a contingent over the sea to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where it became identified with the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
, formidable warriors who seriously fatigued all who stood against them.
The sixteenth century British chronicler Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
also mentioned the Agathyrsi origin of the Picts, and their tradition of painting their bodies blue.
Sixth century AD
The gloss preserved by Stephen of Byzantium explains that the Greeks called the TrausiTrausi
The Trausi or Thrausi were a Thracian tribe who inhabited the southwestern region of the Rhodopes.Herodotus writes of the Trausi:The ethnonym Trausi may derive from Trauos, the name of a river...
the Agathyrsi and we know that the Trausi lived in the Rhodope Mountains.
19th century
In 19th century, Niebuhr regards the Agathyrsi of Herodotus, or at least the people who occupied the position assigned to them by Herodotus, as the same people as the GetaeGetae
The Getae was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania...
or Dacians
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
(North Thracians).
Acatziri
An old theory of 19th century writers (Latham, V. St. Martin, Rambaud, Newman) which, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, is based on 'less convincing proof', suggested an identification of the Agathyrsi with the later Agatziri or AkatziroiAkatziroi
One of the nations in the Hunnish tribal confederacy. The Akatziroi were ruled by a king called Karadach or Karidachus, and appear in the account of Priscus...
first mentioned by Priscus
Priscus
Priscus of Panium was a late Roman diplomat, sophist and historian from Rumelifeneri living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. He accompanied Maximinus, the ambassador of Theodosius II, to the court of Attila in 448...
in Vol XI, 823, Byzantine History, who described them leading a nomadic life on the Lower Volga, and reported them as having been Hunnic subjects before the time of Attila. This older theory is not mentioned at all by modern scholars Helfen or Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden
Peter Benjamin Golden is Professor of History at Rutgers University. He earned his bachelors degree from CUNY Queens College in 1963 and his M.A. and PhD in History from Columbia University in 1968 and 1970, respectively...
. According to E.A. Thompson, the conjecture that connects the Agathyrsi with Akatziri should be rejected outright.
The Acatziri were a main force of the Attila's army in 448. Attila appointed Karadach
Karadach
Karadach was a warlord of the Akatziroi during the reign of Attila. A vassal of the Hunnish king, Karadach was courted by Roman diplomats as a potential ally against the Huns, but to no avail. He was succeeded by Dengizich....
or Curidachus as the Akatzirs' chieftain. (Thompson, p. 107).
Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
, who quotes Priscus
Priscus
Priscus of Panium was a late Roman diplomat, sophist and historian from Rumelifeneri living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. He accompanied Maximinus, the ambassador of Theodosius II, to the court of Attila in 448...
in Getica, located the Acatziri to the south of the Aesti
Aesti
The Aesti were a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania . According to this account, the Aestii lived on the shore of the Suebian Sea , eastward of the Suiones and westward of the Sitones. They were a population of Suebia...
(Balts
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
) — roughly the same region as the Agathyrsi of Transylvania — and he described them as "a very brave tribe ignorant of agriculture, who subsist on their flocks and by hunting."
The Encyclopædia Britannica 1897 and 1911 editions consider the Acatziri to be precursors of the Khazars of later antiquity, although modern scholars like Professor Peter Golden, E.A. Thompson and Maenchen-Helfen consider this theory to be nothing more than conjecture and Thompson has rejected it outright. There does not seem to be any modern reputable scholar that holds such a theory as factual though no reasons have been given.