Antes people

This article is about the historic Slavic tribal union of the Antes

Historiography

Procopius and Jordannes mention the Antes as one of three major groups of Slavic people, who remarked that they inhabited the left (north) bank of the lower Danube. He states that they looked and sounded 'identical' (ie very similar) to the Sclavanoi, who dwelt along the middle Danube.

The word Antes is considered by some linguists to be an Iranic name. They suggest that the Antes were one of the Sarmatio-Alanic tribes that inhabited the region between the Caucasus and Ukrainian steppes, perhaps between the Prut and lower Dneister rivers. As they moved north from the open steppe to the forest steppe, they encountered Slavic tribes. They organised Slavic tribes under their control and the name Antes came to be used for the mixed Slavo-Alanic body. Eventualy they were completely absorbed by the Slavs, but the name was preserved. A comparative theory exists for other Slavic tribes, namely Serbs and Croats.

By the 4th century, the Antes had evolved into a powerful tribal unit. Jordannes described them as the “bravest of these people dwelling in the curve of the Sea of Pontus (Black Sea]), spread from the Dneister to the Dneiper”. An antean "King" called Boz is mentioned. The Antes were involved in conflicts with the Goths, who had migrated to the Ukrainian steppe from Scandinavia. Possibly subject to the Goths, they provided the Slavic elements found in the ulti-ethnic Chernyakov culture. They undertook successful raids into the Byzantine Empire. The apogee of Antean power occurred in the 5th century. As the Goths were defeated by the Huns, and the Huns subsequently shifted to the Pannonian basin, the Antes filled the resulting power vacuum.

A sedentary settlement consisting of numerous villages came into being, with cattle breeding and agriculture being the primary occupation. They were involved in trade on a local scales, but also at an 'international' level- reaching Roman and Byzantine markets. They established several hillforts, known as horodyshcha, where artisans produced pottery and metalwares. Remnants of their settlements have been found by archaeologists, and have attributed the Pen’Kovka culture to the Antes. Some scholars, such as Francis Dvornik, sugest that the Antean tribal league evolved into the first Slavic state; or even an empire stretching from to the Oder river in the west to the Donets in the east.

What is certain is that they were last mentioned in 602. Byzantine chroniclers document an attack by the Avars in this year. The Antean union had largely dissolved as many of its tribes had migrated Subsequently, many Antes were subjugated by the Avars and undertoointo the Balkans and central Europe, either on their own accord, or as subjects of the Avars. The descendents of the Antes lay dispersed throughout much of eastern Europe. They contributed to much of the ethnogenesis of South Slavs, Czecho-Slovaks, as well as what would become Hungarians and Romanians. Those who remained in the steppes |contributed to formation of East Slavic tribes such as Uliches and Teverians.

References

1. Slavs in Antiquity. Valentin Sedov. 1994 2. Southeastern EUrope in the middle ages, 500-1250. Florin Curta. 3. The early medieval Balkans. John Fine, Jr.