Eriles

Tuomo Pekkanen
The Ethnic Origin of the δουλοσπόροι
pp. 139 - 144

'THE SCYTHAE DEGENERES SOURCES
The tradition of the degenerate Scythians can be traced in the following sources, which are here quoted in chronological order:

Hdt. 4,
http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.4.iv.html
1 μετ`α δ`ε τ`ην βαβυλωνος α´ίρεσιν `εγένετο `επ`ι σκύθας α`υτου~ δαρείου `έλασις. `ανθεύσης γ`αρ της `ασίης `ανδράσι κα`ι χρημάτων μεγάλων συνόντων `επεθύμησε ´ο δαρει~ος τείσασθαι σκύθας, ´ότι `εκει~νοι, πρότεροι `εσβαλόντες `ες τ`ην μηδικήν κα`ι νικήσαντες μάχη, το`υς `αντιονμένους ´υπη~ρξαν `αδικίης. τη~ς γ`αρ `άνω `ασίης `η~ρξαν, ´ως κα`ι πρότερόν μοι ε`ίρηται, σκύθαι `έτεα δυω~ν δέοντα τριήκοντα. κιμμερίους γ`αρ `επιδιώκοντες `εσέβαλον `ες τ`ην `ασίην, καταπαύσαντες τη~ς `αρχη~ς μήδους· ο´υ~τοι γ`αρ πρ`ιν ``η σκύθας `απικέσθαι `ηρχον τη~ς `ασίης. το`υς δ`ε σκύθας `αποδημήσαντας οκτώ κα`ι ε`ίκοσι `έτεα κα`ι δια χρόνου τοσούτου κατιόντας `ες τ`ην σφετέρην `εξεδέξατο ο`υκ `ελάσσων πόνος του μηδικου~· ε`υ~ρον γ`αρ `αντιουμένην σφίσι στρατιήν ο`υκ `ολίγην· α´ι γ`αρ τω~ν σκυθέων γυναι~κες, ´ώς σφι ο´ι `άνδρες `απήσαν χρόνον πολλόν, `εφοίτων παρ`α το`υς *δούλους*.
[After the taking of Babylon, an expedition was led by Darius into Scythia. Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the Scyths, who had once in days gone by invaded Media, defeated those who met them in the field, and so begun the quarrel. During the space of eight-and-twenty years, as I have before mentioned, the Scyths continued lords of the whole of Upper Asia. They entered Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians, and overthrew the empire of the Medes, who till they came possessed the sovereignty. On their return to their homes after the long absence of twenty-eight years, a task awaited them little less troublesome than their struggle with the Medes. They found an army of no small size prepared to oppose their entrance. For the Scythian women, when they saw that time went on, and their husbands did not come back, had intermarried with their slaves.]
2 το`υς δ`ε *δούλους* ο´ι~ σκύθαι πάντας τυφλου~σι του~ γάλακτος ε´ίνεκεν του πίνουσι, ποιευ~ντες ´ω~δε .... τούτων μ`εν ε´ινεκα `απαντα τ`ον ``αν λάβωσι ο´ι σκύθαι `εκτυφλου~σι· ο`υ γ`αρ `αρόται ε`ισ`ι `αλλ`α νομάδες.
[Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing their milk. The plan they follow is to thrust tubes made of bone, not unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare, and then to blow into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while the others blow. They say that they do this because when the veins of the animal are full of air, the udder is forced down. The milk thus obtained is poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round. That which rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part; the under portion is of less account. Such is the reason why the Scythians blind all those whom they take in war; it arises from their not being tillers of the ground, but a pastoral race.]
3 `εκ τούτων δ`η `ω~ν σφι τω~ν *δούλων* κα`ι τω~ν γυναικω~ν `επετράφη νεότης, ´ο´ι `επείτε `έμαθον την σφετέρην γένεσιν, `ηντιου~ντο α`υτοι~σι κατιου~σι `εκ τω~ν μήδων. κα`ι πρώτα μ`εν τήν χώρην `απετάμοντο, τάφρον `ορυξάμενοι ε`υρέαν κατατείνουσαν `εκ τω~ν ταυρικω~ν `ορέων `ες τ`ην μαιη~τιν λίμνην, τη,~ πέρ `εστι μεγίστη· μετ`α δ`ε πειρωμένοισι `εσβάλλειν τοι~σι σκύθη,σι `αντικατιζόμε­νοι `εμάχοντο. γινομένης δ`ε μάχης πολλάκις κα`ι ο`υ δυναμένων ο`υδ`εν πλέον ´έχειν τω~ν σκυθέων τη,~ μάχη, ε´ι~ς α`υτω~ν `έλεξε τάδε· ο´ι~α ποιευ~μεν, `άνδρες σκύθαι. *δούλοισι* τοι~σι `ημετέροισι μαχόμενοι α`υτοί τε κτεινόμενοι `ελάσσονες γινό­μεθα κα`ι `εκείνους κτείνοντες `ελασσόνων τ`ο λοιπ`ον `άρξομεν. νυ~ν `ω~ν μοι δοκέει α`ιχμάς μ`εν κα`ι τόξα μετει~ναι, λαβόντα δ`ε ´έκαστον του~ ´ίππου τ`ην μάστιγα `ιέναι `α~σσον α`υτω~ν, μέχρι μ`εν γ`αρ ´ώρων ´ημέας ´όπλα `έχοντας, ο´ι δ`ε `ενόμιζον ´όμοιοί τε κα`ι `εξ ´ομοίων ´ημι~ν ε`ι~ναι· `επεάν δ`ε `ίδωνται μάστιγας `αντ`ι ´όπλων `έχοντας, μαθόντες ´ως ε`ισ`ι ´ημέτεροι *δου~λοι* κα`ι συγγνόντες του~το ο`υκ ´υπομενέουσι.
[When therefore the children sprung from these slaves and the Scythian women grew to manhood, and understood the circumstances of their birth, they resolved to oppose the army which was returning from Media. And, first of all, they cut off a tract of country from the rest of Scythia by digging a broad dyke from the Tauric mountains to the vast lake of the Maeotis. Afterwards, when the Scythians tried to force an entrance, they marched out and engaged them. Many battles were fought, and the Scythians gained no advantage, until at last one of them thus addressed the remainder: "What are we doing, Scythians? We are fighting our slaves, diminishing our own number when we fall, and the number of those that belong to us when they fall by our hands. Take my advice- lay spear and bow aside, and let each man fetch his horsewhip, and go boldly up to them. So long as they see us with arms in our hands, they imagine themselves our equals in birth and bravery; but let them behold us with no other weapon but the whip, and they will feel that they are our slaves, and flee before us." ]
4 ταυ~τα `ακούσαντες ο´ι σκύθαι `εποίευν `επιτελέα· ο´ι δ` `εκπλαγέντες τω γινομένω, τη~ς μάχης τε `επελάθοντο κα`ι `έφευγον. ο´ύτω ο´ι σκύθαι της τε `ασίης `η~ρξαν κα`ι `εξελασθέντες α`υ~τις ´υπ`ο μήδων κατη~λθον τρόπω, τοιούτω, `ες τ`ην σφετέρην. τω~ν δ`ε ε´ίνεκα ´ο δαρει~ος τείσασθαι βουλόμενος συνήγειρε `επ α`υτο`υς στράτευμα.
[The Scythians followed this counsel, and the slaves were so astounded, that they forgot to fight, and immediately ran away. Such was the mode in which the Scythians, after being for a time the lords of Asia, and being forced to quit it by the Medes, returned and settled in their own country. This inroad of theirs it was that Darius was anxious to avenge, and such was the purpose for which he was now collecting an army to invade them.]

Callistr. Hist. (FGrH 433, 4 = FHG 4, 354)
τάφραι· κα`ι τάφρη ´ενικω~ς· χώρα ταφρεύθει~σα περ`ι τ`ην μαιω~τιν λίμνην ´υπ`ο *δούλων* τα·~ς δεσποίναις συμμιγέντων κατ`α τ`ον πολυχρόνιον πόλεμον τω~ν σκύθω~ν, τω~ν δεσποτω~ν πολε­μούντων τοι~ς θραιξ`ιν ``η τοι~ς `εντ`ος `ίστρου, ´ως καλλίστρατος εν γ. τα`υτην την χώραν κατοικήσαι *σατορχαίους*.

Plin. nat. 4, 80
Ab eo (scil. Histro) in plenum quidem omnes Scytharum sunt gentes, varie tamen litori adposita tenuere, alias Getae, Daci Romanis dicti, alias Sarmatae, Graecis Sauromatae, eorumque Hamaxobii aut Aorsi, alias *Scythae degeneres et a serνis orti aut Trogodytae*, mox Alani et Rhoxolani.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=25
[On setting out from this spot, all the nations met with are Scythian in general, though various races have occupied the adjacent shores; at one spot the Getæ, by the Romans called Daci; at another the Sarmatæ, by the Greeks called Sauromatæ, and the Hamaxobii or Aorsi, a branch of them; then again the base-born Scythians and descendants of slaves, or else the Troglodytæ; and then, after them, the Alani and the Rhoxalani.]

Val. Fl. 6, 84 ff.
linquitur abruptus pelago Tyra, linquitur et mons
Ambenus et gelidis pollens Ophiusa venenis.
*degeneres*que ruunt *Sindi* glomerantque paterno
crimine nunc etiam metuentes verbera turmas.
hos super aeratam Phalces agit aequore nubem
cum fremitu, densique levant vexilla Coralli,
barbaricae quis signa rotae ferrataque dorso
forma suum truncaeque Iovis simulacra columnae.
http://www.theoi.com/Text/ValeriusFlaccus6.html
[Tyra with its swift seaward course is left behind, left is Mount Ambenus and Ophiusa powerful with chilling poisons. The degenerate Sindi come flocking in hot haste, still fearful of the lash for the crime their fathers wrought. Next to these Phalces leads over the plain a cloud of shouting bronze-clad warriors, and the serried Corallians lift their banners; barbaric wheels are their emblems and the shapes of swine with iron-coated backs, and broken columns, effigies of Jove]

Polyaen. 7, 44, 2 (Latyšev I, 566)
σκύθαι τ`ην `ασίαν κατέτρεχον. α´ι σκύθίδες γημάμεναι τοι~ς ο`ικέταις `επαιδοποιήσαντο. `επανελθόντας ο´ι *δου~λοι* το`υς δεσπότας ο`υκ `εδέξαντο. πόλεμος `η~ν. ο´ι μ`εν ο`ικέται φαλαγγηδ`ον `επή,εσαν ´ωπλισμένοι· σκύθης δ`ε `αν`ηρ δείσας α`υτω~ν τ`ην `εξ `απονοίας μάχην συνεβούλευσεν ´όπλα μ`εν κα`ι τόξα καταβαλει~ν, μάστιγας δ`ε `ανατειναμένους `επι το`υς ο`ικέτας βαδίζειν. ο´ι μ`εν `ανατεινάμενοι τ`ας μάστιγας `εφώρμησαν, ο´ι δ`ε τ`ο συνειδ`ος τη~ς δουλείας ο`υ φέροντες α`υτίκα φεύγοντες `ώ,χοντο.
http://www.attalus.org/translate/polyaenus7.html#44.1
[While the Scythians were fighting in Asia, the Scythian women, thinking that they had been deserted by their husbands, had children by their slaves. When their masters returned, the slaves decided to resist them by force. They accordingly took the field; and advanced in arms, to give them battle. One of the Scythians, fearing that, once the fighting started, desperation might make the slaves brave, advised that the Scythians should lay down their arms and bows, and advance against their slaves with whips in their hands. Accordingly the Scythians took up their whips; and the slaves, suddenly made conscious of their own servitude, immediately threw down their arms, and fled.]

Iust. 2, 5 (Latyšev II, 58 f.)
Scythae autem tertia expeditione Asiana cum annis octo a coniugibus ac liberis afuissent, servili bello domi excipiuntur. Quippe coniuges eorum longa expectatione virorum fessae nee iam teneri bello, sed deletes ratae *serνis* ad custodiam pecorum relictis nubunt, qui reverses cum victoria dominos velut advenas armati finibus prohibent. Quibus cum varia victoria fuisset, admonentur Scythae mutare genus pugnae, memores non cum hostibus, sed cum *serνis* proeliandum, nec armorum sed dominorum iure vincendos, verbera in aciem, non tela adferenda, omissoque ferro virgas et flagella ceteraque servilis metus paranda instrumenta. Probato omnes consilio instructi, sicut praeceptum erat, postquam ad hostem accessere, inopinantibus verbera intenta; adeoque illos perculerunt, ut quos ferro non poterant, metu verberum vincerent, fugamque non ut hostes victi, sed ut fugitivi servi capesserent. Quicumque capi potuerunt, supplicia crucibus luerunt. Mulieres quoque male sibi consciae partim ferro, partim suspendio vitam finierunt. Post haec pax apud Scythas fuit usque tempora Ianthyri regis.
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans2.html#5
[The Scythians, in their Asiatic expedition, having been absent from their wives and children eight years, were met on their return home by a war raised by their slaves. For their wives, weary of waiting so long for their husbands, and thinking that they were not detained by war, but had perished in the field, married their slaves that had been left at home to take care of the cattle; who, taking up arms, repelled their masters, returning with victory, from the borders of their country, as if they had been strangers. Success against them being uncertain, the Scythians were advised to change their method of attack, remembering that they were not to fight with soldiers, but with slaves, who were to be conquered, not by means of arms, but of magisterial authority; that whips, not weapons, were to be used in the field; and that, swords being laid aside, rods and scourges, and other instruments of terror to slaves, were to be provided. This suggestion being approved, and all being equipped as was prescribed, the Scythians, as soon as they drew near the enemy, held out scourges towards them unexpectedly, and struck them such terror, that they conquered with the dread of stripes those whom they could not conquer with the sword, and who took to flight, not as defeated enemies, but as fugitive slaves. As many as could be taken, paid the penalty for their rebellion on the cross. The women too, conscious of their ill conduct, put all end to their lives partly by the sword and partly by hanging. After this occurrence, there was peace among the Scythians till the time of king Jancyrus...]

Gregorius Nazianzenus, Oratio IV, Contra Iulianum I, 109 (PG 35, 645 = Latyšev I, 713)
... πρω~τος γ`αρ χριστιανω~ν `επανάστασιν τω,~ δεσπότη,), καθάπερ ο´ι *δου~λοί* ποτε τοι~ς σκύθαις . . . `επενόησας.
http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_nazianzen_2_oration4.htm
[For thou art the first of the Christians that hast plotted rebellion against thy Master, just as the slaves did against the Scythians, as history tells us;]

Amm. 22, 8,
http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ammianus_22_book22.htm#C8
40 dein Borysthenes a montibus oriens Nerviorum, primigeniis fontibus copiosus, concursuque multorum amnium adolescens, mari praeruptis undarum verticibus intimatur, cuius in marginibus nemorosis Borysthenes est civitas, et Cefalonesus, et arae Alexandro Magno, Caesarique Augusto sacratae.
[After that we come to the Dnieper (Borysthenes), which rises in the mountains of the Neuri; a river very large at its first beginning, and which increases by the influx of many other streams, till it falls into the sea with great violence; on its woody banks is the town of Borysthenes, and Cephalonesus, and some altars consecrated to Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar.]
41 longo exinde intervallo, paene est insula, quam incolunt *Sindi ignobiles*, post eriles in Asia casus, coniugiis potiti dominorum et rebus, quibus subiectum gracile litus `αχιλλέως vocant indigenae δρόμον, exercitiis ducis quondam Thessali memorabilem. eique proxima est civitas Tyros, colonia Foenicum, quam praestringit fluvius Tyras.
[Next, at a great distance, is an island inhabited by the Sindi, a tribe of low-born persons, who upon the overthrow of their lords and masters in Asia, took possession of their wives and properties. Below them is a narrow strip of coast called by the natives the Course of Achilles, having been made memorable in olden time by the exercises of the Thessalian chief, and next to that is the city of Tyros, a colony of the Phoenicians, watered by the river Dniester.]

Claud. 18, 506 ff. (Latyšev II, 383)
. . . Non est iaculis hastisve petendus:
Conscia succumbent audito verbere terga,
Ut Scytha post multos rediens exercitus annos,
Cum sibi *servilis* pro finibus obvia *pubes*
Iret et arceret dominos tellure reverses,
Armatam ostensis aciem fudere flagellis:
Notus ab inceptis *ignobile* reppulit horror
*Vulgus*, et adductus sub verbera torpuit ensis.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Claudian/In_Eutropium/1*.html#500
[No need to attack him with javelin or spear. At the crack of the whip will be bowed the back that has felt its blows. Even so when after so many years the Scythian army came back from the wars and was met on the confines of its native land by the usurping crowd of slaves who sought to keep their returning masters from their country; with displayed whips they routed the armèd ranks; back from its enterprise the familiar terror drove the servile mob, and at threat of the lash the bondsman's sword grew dull.]

Nonnus Abbas ad S. Gregorii orat. I contra Julianum 73 (PG 36, 1024 = Latyšev I, 716)
περ`ι τω~ν σκύθικω~ν *δούλων*.
τω~ν νομάδων σκυθω~ν μέρος τι `εξη~λθεν `εκ τη~ς σκυθίας ηλανώμενον `επ`ι ληστεία. ε`ίασαν δ`ε ο´υ~τοι ο`ικέτας, ´ώστε μετ`α τω~ν γυναικω~ν τυρεύειν τ`ο γάλα. το`υς δ`ε ο`ικέτας α`υτω~ν `εξετύφλουν οι σκύθαι ζηλοτυπου~ντες, κα`ι ο´ύτω παρει~χον α`υτοι~ς τυρεύειν τ`ο γάλα. χρόνου δ`ε γενομένου, κα`ι τω~ν σκνθω~ν τω~ν εξελθόντων μ`η ´υποστρεφόντων, α`ι γυναι~κες φοιτω~σι πρ`ος το`υς *δούλους* το`υς `εκτυ­φλωθέντας κα`ι σνγγίνονται α`υτοι~ς, κα`ι συλλαμβάνονσι, κα`ι γεννώσι· κα`ι γίνονται παι~δες αντ`ι τω~ν `εξελθόντων σκυθω~ν. `ε~σαν δ`ε *δου~λοι* ο´ι τεχθέντες κατ`α τ`ο σπέρμα. ο´ι ο`υ~ν πάλαι `εξελθόντες σκύθαι ´υποστρέψαντες ε´υ~ρον τούτους το`υς γεννηθέντας `εκ τω~ν δούλων ´ηβήσαντας κα`ι `επαντιουμένους α`υτοι~ς· κα`ι γενομένου πολέμου μεταξ`υ τω~ν *δουλοσπόρων* κα`ι τω~ν `επανελθόντων σκύθω~ν, ηττω~νται πάνυ οι `επανελθόντες. τούτοις ο`ι~ν ´ηττηθει~σιν ε´ι~ς συνε­βούλευσέ τις μ`η ´όπλοις α`υτο`υς πολεμη~σαι, `αλλ`α δι`α μαστίγω~ν. τ`ο γ`αρ δι` ´όπλων, φησ`ι, πολεμη~σαί τινας, ´ως `απ`ο `ίσων πρ`ος `ίσους `εστ`ιν ´ο πόλεμος· τ`ο δ`ε `απ`ο μαστιγω~ν α`υτοι~ς `επελθει~ν, ´ως `από δ`εσποτω~ν εις δούλους εστίν. ο´ι ο`υ~ν *δουλό­σποροι*, θεασάμενοι το`υς σκύθας μετ`α τω~ν μαστιγω~ν, υπέκυψαν ´ως ο`ικείοις δεσπόταις, κα`ι ο´ύτω κατελύθη ´ο πόλεμος.

Cosmas Hierosolymitanus 22 (PG 38, 627)
περ`ι *δουλοσπόρων σκυ-θω~ν* κα`ι μαστιγω~ν.
τω~ν νομάδων σκύθω~ν μέρος τι `εξη~λθεν `εκ τη~ς σκυθίας ηλανώμενον `επ`ι λη,στεία,· ε`ίασαν δ`ε το`υς ο`ικέτας ο´υτοι μετ`α τω~ν γυναικω~ν τυρεύειν τ`ο γάλα, το`υς δ`ε ο`ικέτας α`υτω~ν `εξετύφλουν ο´ι σκύθαι, κα`ι ο´ύτως παρει~χον α`υτοι~ς τυρεύ­ειν. χρόνου ο`υ~ν `εγγενομένου, κα`ι τω~ν σκυθω~ν τω~ν `εξελθόντων μ`η ´υποστρε­φόντων, α´ι γυναι~κες φοιτω~σι παρ`α τοι~ς `εκτυφλωθει~σι *δούλοις*, κα`ι συγγί­νονται παι~δες `αντ`ι τω~ν `εξελθόντων σκυθω~ν· `η~σαν δ`ε *δου~λοι* κατ`α τ`ο σπέρμα. ο´ι ο`υ~ν πάλαι `εξελθόντες σκύθαι ´υποστρέψαντες ε´υ~ρον το`υς `εκ τω~ν δούλων γεννη­θέντας ´ηβήσαντας κα`ι `εναντιουμένους α`υτο`υς α`υτοι~ς· κα`ι γενομένου πολέμου μεταξύ τω~ν *δουλοσπόρων* κα`ι τω~ν `επανελθόντων σκυθω~ν, ηττω~νται πάνυ ο´ι `επανελθόντες. τούτοις ο`υ~ν ´ηττηθει~σιν εις τις συνεβούλευσεν μ`η ´όπλοις α`υτοι~ς πολεμη~σαι, `αλλ`α δι`α μάστιγος. τ`ο γ`αρ δι` ´όπλων, φησ`ι, πολεμησαί τινας ´ως `απ`ο `ίσων πρ`ος `ίσους `εστ`ιν ´ο πόλεμος, τ`ο δ`ε δι`α μαστιγω~ν α`υτοϊς `επελθεϊν ως `από δεσποτω~ν εις δούλους εστίν. ο´ι ο`υ~ν *δουλοσπόροι* θεασάμενοι το`υς σκύθας μετ`α τω~ν μαστιγω~ν υπέκυψαν ´ως `ιδίοις δεσπόταις, κα`ι ο´ύτως κατελύθη ´ο πόλεμος.

Tab. Peut. 9, 1 (Miller, Itineraria Romana p. 618)
Fossa facta per *servos* Scutarum.
[Trench made by the slaves of the Scythians]


There is no doubt that the literary tradition of the degenerate Scythians is preserved by Herodotus in its earliest form.1 According to Callistratus 'the bastards' were born during the war between the Scythians and the Thracians, whereas Herodotus says that this war was between the Scythians and the Medes. As it has been established in the previous chapter that the Scythae degeneres are identical with those Scythians who according to Str. 7, 4, 5 waged war against the Thracians and occupied a part of their country,2 it seems to me that Callistratus has confused two wars, both of which were connected with the bastards in question: the war between the Scythians and the Medes, during which the bastards were born, and that between the bas­tards themselves and the Thracians. Callistratus also mentions the σατορ-χαι~οι in the same context in which he tells about the slaves of the Scythians. Therefore, Müllenhoff has suggested that the Scythae degeneres of Pliny might be the same tribe.3 In my opinion this view will not bear closer investigation. Callistratus only tells that the trench in question (τάφραι) was dug by the slaves of the Scythians and adds that the region was occupied in his time by the σατορχαι~οι. He does not in any way identify the slaves with the later inhabitants of the area known by the name τάφραι. The σατορχαι~οι, known also by the name Satarchae, are, however, in certain respects connected with the subject of this book and therefore they will be discussed separately on pp. 144 ff

In chapter III, I came to the conclusion that the Scythae degeneres et a servis orti in Plin. nat. 4, 80 must be identical with the *σκύθαι βαστάρναι of Nic.4 The Alani, mentioned by Pliny next to them, seem to be derived from another source of information of a later date and they may be regarded as those already mentioned by Seneca, who locates them in the area of the lower Danube.5 It is most interesting to notice that Nonnus and Cosmas call the degenerate group δουλόσποροι (δουλοσπόροι) or δουλόσποροι σκύθαι.6 Nonnus wrote in the sixth century,7 and Cosmas lived two centuries later.8

However, the Plinian wording Scythae . . . a servis orti corresponds exactly to the above Greek expression, and it thus seems to me quite evident that it already existed in the Greek source which Pliny used.9 At all events, the fact is that the Bastard-Scythians, which I take to be the same group as the Bastar­nae, were also known among the Greeks as σκύθαι δουλόσποροι. Since a com­parison between Jordanes and Tacitus suggests the identity of the Bastarnae with the Sclaveni and Antes (Antae),10 the similarity of the name σκνύθαι δου­λόσποροί with the σπόροι of Procopius cannot be fortuitous. This name, which according to Procop. Goth. 3, 14, 29 was the earlier designation of both the Sclaveni and the Antes (Antae) will be discussed in more detail on pp. 133 ff.

The designation Trogodytae (τρωγοδύται, τρωγλοδύται) is given in ancient literature to barbarians living in subterranean abodes or caves.11 A com­parison between Plin. nat. 4, 80 - Nic. 756 - Str. 7, 5, 12 - Ptol. Geog. 3, 10, 4 shows that the northern neighbours of the Crobyzi were called either σκύθαι or τρωγλοδύται (Trogodytae),12 from which it is quite evident that these two groups must be at least to some extent identical, i. e. the degenerate Scythians, because of their abodes, could be called Trogodytae, a fact which need not, however, imply that all the Trogodytae in the area should be regar­ded as Scythians.13 It also remains unsettled whether this mode of dwelling came to Dobrudja with the degenerate Scythians or was already known among the earlier inhabitants. Since there is reason to connect the degenerate Scy­thians with the σπόροι of Procopius, it must, however, be remembered that semi-subterranean huts were well-known among the ancient Slavs from their very earliest history.14

Valerius Flaccus and Ammianus Marcellinus call the degenerate group by the name Sindi. The former mentions as next after them the Thracian Coralli; according to the latter they dwelt between the rivers Borysthenes and Tyras. They can therefore scarcely be the same as the Sindi of the Taman peninsula.15 According to Heeren, Valerius and Ammianus derived their information about the Sindi from a common source, probably Sallustius.16 He also holds the view that Herodotus' account of the slave-born Scythians has been applied to the Sindi at second hand. In this he may be right. Nevertheless, the simila­rity of the names Sithones (Sidones) - Sindi remains. If Sithones (Sidones) is the German equivalent of the Baltic γαλίνδαι, as suggested above,17 the phonetic similarity of the two names must be fortuitous. If it is non-Germanic, there is the possibility that Sithones (Sidones) and Sindi are derived from the same root. It is worth noticing that Mela I, 19, 110-111 calls the Sindi of the Taman peninsula by the name Sindones. At all events, the truth is that the tradition of the degenerate Scythians is not connected with the Sindi in the extant sources until circa 700 years after the historical events described in Hdt. 4, 1 -4; therefore it cannot have any great bearing on my conclusions based on Herodotus himself.

As the whole tradition of the degenerate Scythians began with Herodotus' account in 4, 1-4, there is reason to give these passages special attention, for not only the origin of the Bastard-Scythians but also that of the Sclaveni and Antes (Antae) seems to be closely connected with this tradition.
...


1 Cf. FGrH, commentary on no. 433, p. 266; Heeren, De chorographia pp. 52 f.; Rostovtzeff, Skythien und der Bosporus I, 55.
2 See pp. 114 ff. above.
3 DA III, 51; cf. also Weissbach, RE II A, 60.
4 See pp. 113 f. above.
5 Thy. 629 f. an feris Hister fugam / praebens Alanis; cf. Heeren, op. cit. pp. 26-27; Tomaschek, RE I, 1282 ff.
6 Cf. Stephanus, Thesaurus Graecae linguae s. v.
7 RE XVII, 904 s. v. Nonnos 14.
8 Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur p. 674.
9 About this source, however, nothing definite can be said; for the sources of Plin. nat. 4, 79-91 cf. Detlefsen, Die Anordnung pp. 62-65.
10 See p. 97 above.
11 RE VII A, 2497.
12 See pp. 113 f. above.
13 Cf. Weiss, Die Dobrudscha im Altertum p. 26 »Das (scil. 'Troglodyten') ist aber wohl nur ein Name, den die griechisohe Küstenbevölkerung für Bewohner des Inneren, Skythen oder Geten, in Hinsicht auf deren Wohnweise aufgebracht hat. Noch heute gibt es in der rumäni­schen Dobrudscha Dörfer, in denen ein Teil der Bewohner in Raumcn haust, die ... in den Löss gegraben sind».
14 Niederle, Manuel de l'antiquité slave II, 96 ff.; Rhamm, Die altslawische Wohnung p. 95; Gimbutas, The Balts p. 108; DA III, 51.
15 This is even the opinion of Rostovtzeff, Skythien und der Bosporus I, 55, who connects Plin. nat. 4, 84 Scythia Sindica with these Sindi: »Nicht umsonst setzt er (scil. Plinius) Sindica zwischen Dnjepr und Donau, an den Flussen Buces, Gerrhus und Hypanis».
16 De chorographia p. 53.
17 See p. 90 above.


I find it interesting that Ammianus uses the term <eriles>, not <domini> for the (former) masters of the Sindi Ignobiles.
Cf.
Ernout-Meillet
'erus, -ī m.; era, -ae f.(forme ancienne esa, domina dans les Glo­ses?; la graphie avec h, herus, influencée par he:re:s, est incorrecte): maître, maîtresse, par opposition à seruus, famulus. Le mot est souvent mis dans la bouche des esclaves, e.g. Pl., Am. 452 (c'est Sosie qui parle), nonne erae meae nuntiare quod erus meus iussit licet ?
Dérivé: erīlis, archaïque (Pl., Enn., Tér.) et repris par les poètes de l'époque d'Auguste (pas d'ex. dans la prose). Fait sans doute d'après seruīlis.
Composé:
erifuga Catulle 63,51, fait sur trānsfuga.
D'après Festus, P.F.73,7, il aurait existé un substantif eritūdō, synonyme de seruitūdō et formé comme lui. Mais il n'y en a pas trace dans les textes, pas plus que de eritium (Gl.) fait sur seruitium.
Erus, concurrencé par dominus, est rare; la prose classique ne l'emploie guère (Cic., Off. 2,7,24; Reρ.1,41); il ne semble plus at­testé après Horace, et n'est pas représenté dans les l. romanes,
Le gaulois a, dans les noms propres, esu- qui semble être un nom de divinité, mais avec e:, d'après Lucain 1,445.
Vieux mot, employé notamment avec valeur religieuse, qui se retrouve dans hitt. ešhaš "maître", cf. Sturtevant, Compar. Grammar, p.88, dans le thème iranien ahu- "maître, génie présidant à quelque chose", et dans le nom reli­gieux skr. ásurah. = av. ahura-, désignant un type de divinités de carac­tère moral. On aurait donc ici un terme de l'ancien vocabulaire religieux conservé en indo-iranien et en italo-celtique, mais devenu profane en latin. Main l'existence do esa est douteuse; et d'autre part la brève de iln ĕrus ne s'accorde pas avec la longue de E:rus.'

de Vries
'erilaR
Run. Da. (Kragehul 5 cent., Krause Nr 39),
Sw. (Lmdholm 5-6 cent., Krause Nr 38),
Norw. irilaR (By, end of 6. cent. Krause Nr 62, Veblungsnes 6 cent., Krause Nr 42).
Hints of a priestly function. The word is a side form of jarl.

jarl m. "earl, chieftain",
Icel. Norw. jarl, Faroese jallur, OSw. iarl, iærl, ODa. jærl.
-> OIr erell (Ulster Ann. 847), ierll (892), iarla (917).
(On these forms s. Marstrander NVA 1915 Nr 5, 77);
-> Welsh iarll (Mühlhausen, Fschr. Win­disch 322).
- OE eorl "warrior, hero, prince", OS OHG erl "man".
- cf. Erlendr and Erlingr.
Beside these words stand Run. erilaR "term for a magic-­religious function" and the Latin-Gmc. ethnonym Heruli. The word jarl goes back to *erlaR...'

This slave word for master (<- *asur-?) of the Asian steppe seems to have come with the slave trade to Rome, and also to Scandinavia.


Torsten