Product Code Database
The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people. They are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language. Their name probably means "the pure ones".
The Sciri were mentioned first in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the city of Olbia near modern-day Odesa. Centuries later, in the late 4th century AD they still lived somewhere north of the Black Sea and Lower Danube in the vicinity of the Goths. By the early 5th century, the Sciri had been subdued by the Huns, whom they fought under at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451 AD.
After the death of Attila, the Sciri broke free from Hunnic rule after the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD. They were subsequently recorded holding their own kingdom north of the Middle Danube, under the leadership of Edeko and his son Onoulphus. After the destruction of this kingdom by the Ostrogoths in the late 460s AD, Odoacer, another son of Edeko, attained high status within the Roman army in Italy, ruling Sciri, Rugii and other non-Roman peoples as a king. Odoacer eventually made himself King of Italy in 476 AD, effectively ending the Western Roman Empire.
Odoacer was in turn deposed and killed by Theodoric the Great in 493 AD. Along with the Rugii, Heruli and other Middle Danubian peoples, the Sciri might also have contributed to the formation of the Bavarii.
Not all scholars have accepted this. Robert L. Reynolds and Robert S. Lopez, for example, suggested an Iranian etymology for Sciri, relating it to the Middle Persian shīr ("milk, lion"). This theory was dismissed by Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen.. "It would be difficult to suggest a more farfetched etymology." responded that this represents "the position of the unflinching Germanizer, to whom it appears self-evident that every barbarian who distinguished himself must have been a German in his inner being".
More specifically, the Sciri are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language like the Goths.
In late Ancient Rome times, many East Germanic peoples, in addition to the non-Germanic Alans, were often referred to as "Gothic" peoples. On at least one occasion, Procopius included the Sciri in such a list, together with the Alans., Book V, I (= Gothic War, I, 1). The Sciri were not classified as Germanic in ancient sources.
Reynolds and Lopez doubted that the Sciri were Germanic-language-speaking, and rather suggested that they might have been Balts or Sarmatians. These doubts were rejected by Maenchen-Helfen, who considered it certain that the Sciri were Germanic.. "Like the Heruli the Rugi were not "probably" (loc. cit., p. 43) but most certainly a Germanic tribe". "The Heruli and Rugians were Germans. So were the Scirians as proved by the names of their leaders."
The Sciri are not mentioned in the works of Julius Caesar or Tacitus. The 1st century Roman writer Pliny the Elder described the peoples inhabiting the region east of the Vistula, as the Sarmatians, Vistula Veneti, "Sciri" and Hirri., Book IV, Chap. 27
The Sciri are believed to have been one of several Germanic speaking peoples, including the Goths and Rugii, who had moved from the Polish region towards the Black Sea by the 3rd century AD. Around 300 AD, the Verona List of "barbarians" living near the Roman Empire mentions the Sciri between the Sarmatians to the west and the Carpi to the east. Walter Goffart suggests that they lived in the Lower Danube valley. Peter Heather suggests that the Sciri lived east of the Carpathians in the 4th century, while Malcolm Todd suggests that they lived north of the Black Sea.
Sometime in the late 4th or early 5th century, the Sciri are believed to have moved westwards into the Middle Danube region. Here they formed part of a polity established by the Hunnic leader Uldin. In 409 AD the Sciri and Huns under Uldin crossed the Danube and invaded the Roman Balkans. They captured Castra Martis, but were eventually defeated and Uldin was killed. While the Hunnic prisoners were drafted into the Roman army, captured Sciri were enslaved and sent as coloni to Anatolia. The Sciri were a numerous people at this time, and the coloni were distributed over a widespread area in order to prevent them from revolting. These events are described in the Codex Theodosianus.
During the height of the Hunnic empire under their leader Attila, the Sciri were subjects of Attila and provided potent infantry for him. Attila's empire included not only Huns and Sciri, but also Goths, Gepids, Thuringi, Rugii, Suebi, Heruli, Alans and Sarmatians. The Sciri participated in Attila's invasion of Gaul in 451 AD.
As the Hunnic empire disintegrated, one group of Sciri were settled in the Roman empire in Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia south of the Lower Danube. Jordanes mentions four tribes that remained loyal to the Huns under Dengizich: Ultzinzures, Bittugures, Bardores and Angisciri. The last might be a Scirian remnant. The name Angisciri has been analyzed as Germanic for "grassland Sciri", but it may be an unrelated Turkic name since the other three names in the list are Turkic.
In the subsequent years the Sciri competed with neighboring Goths, Gepids, Suebi and others for supremacy over the region. Three graves at Bakodpuszta in Hungary has been identified with the Sciri. In the nearby Sarviz marshes a magnificent treasure has been discovered, and this treasure has been linked to Edeko.
Jordanes reports that the Sciri were allies of the Ostrogoths, but were encouraged by Hunimund of the Suebi to break off this alliance. In the 460s AD, both the Sciri and the Ostrogoths sought an alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire. Against the advice of his general Aspar, Emperor Leo I decided to help the Sciri. In 468/469 AD the Sciri made a surprise attack on the Ostrogoths. Although the Ostrogothic king Valamir was killed in this conflict, the Sciri were defeated. Valamir was succeeded as king by Theodemir, who subsequently went on the offensive against the Sciri, who in turn received support from the Suebi, Heruli and Sarmatians. In the Battle of Bolia, the Ostrogoths defeated a coalition of Roman-supported peoples, including Sciri, Heruli, Suebi, Sarmatians, Gepids and Rugii. Jordanes reports that the Sciri were dealt a severe blow in their conflict with the Ostrogoths.
In 476 AD, Odoacer led an uprising among the barbarian troops against Romulus Augustulus and the latter's father Orestes. Odoacer then declared himself king of Italy, thus ending the Western Roman Empire. He subsequently gained control over all of Italy. It is possible that Odoacer's uprising was organized in coordination with his brother Onoulphus in Constantinople. In 486 Onoulphus fell out of favor with Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno, and moved to Ravenna with his Scirian followers to join Odoacer. Soon afterwards, Zeno encouraged Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, to invade Italy. After a bloody conflict, Theodoric emerged victorious. On March 15, 493, Theodoric murdered Odoacer with his own hands and established the Ostrogothic Kingdom. By this time the Sciri disappear from history.
Remaining elements of the Sciri might have settled in modern-day Bavaria. Along with the Heruli and Rugii, the Sciri may have been one of the tribes which contributed to the formation of the Bavarii. Since the 19th century, the name of the Sciri has been detected in Bavarian placenames.Schütte cites Johann Andreas Schmeller, Bayerisches Wörterbuch, Vol.3 (1836) Wolfgang Haubrichs gives examples such as Scheyern (first attested as Scira in 1080), Scheuer ( Sciri, c. 975), Scheuern in Neubeuern ( Skira, 11th century) and perhaps Scheuring ( Sciringen, 1150). These names are believed to designate these villages as Scirian, and it is proposed that the Sciri probably mediated the transfer of a few East Germanic lexical items to the Bavarian language, which otherwise shows no East Germanic influence.
|
|
