The Alans appear on the Don and in the North Caucasus
In the 1st century the Alans, Iranian-speaking nomads from the east, became the leading people among the Sarmatians between the Don and the Caspian. Roman writers mention them from the middle of the century, and by 72 they were living by the Don and the Sea of Azov.
- Date
- between 50 and 72exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Steppes of the Sea of Azov and the North Caucasusapproximate locationtoday: Rostov Oblast, Krasnodar and Stavropol krais, Russia · Eastern Europe
- Participants
- Alans, Sarmatians
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Alani; Alanliao; Yancai; Аланьляо; Яньцай
The Alans belonged to the Sarmatian world. Their rise is usually explained by their growing strength within the confederation of Sarmatian tribes north of the Caspian led by the Aorsi, and historians also connect them with the Yancai of Chinese sources, whose land, according to the Book of the Later Han, took the name Alanliao. The earliest Roman mention is found in Seneca’s tragedy Thyestes, written in the middle of the 1st century. Josephus says that the Alans lived around the Tanais (Don) and Lake Maeotis (the Sea of Azov) and tells how, with the leave of the king of Hyrcania, who held the pass closed by Alexander’s “iron gates”, they broke into Media and Armenia (the raid is dated to 72): King Pacorus of Media fled, and King Tiridates of Armenia was nearly captured with a lasso.
By the early 2nd century the Alans held the lower Volga and the Kuban, where the Aorsi and the Siraces vanish from the sources, and from the steppes of the Sea of Azov and the North Caucasus they raided Crimea, Transcaucasia, Media and Asia Minor. Their Eastern Iranian language is the ancestor of modern Ossetian. The date is an interval: the first Roman mentions belong to the middle of the century, and Josephus’ account finds the Alans by the Don at the time of the raid of 72.
Connections
Related events
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49 · Eastern Europethe Aorsi and Siraces of this war later vanish from the sources, apparently absorbed by the Alans
- Reign of Vologases I51–78 · Middle East and Egyptaround 72 the Alans raided Media and Armenia
- Alan raid of 135135 · Balkans and Anatoliathe Alans had reached the steppes north of the Caucasus in the 1st century
- The Huns conquer the Alans and the Greuthungic. 370 – 376 · Eastern Europethree centuries later the Huns subdued the Alans of the Don
Same participants
- Sauromates II defeats the Siraces and the Scythiansbetween 193 and 194 · Eastern Europevia Sarmatians
Adjacent events in the thread
- Plautius Silvanus lifts the Scythian siege of Chersonesusbetween 61 and 66 · Eastern Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64
- Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Romebetween 64 and 68
- Nero crowns Tiridates I in Rome66
Balkans and Anatolia
- Dioscorides’ De materia medicabetween 50 and 70
- Missionary journeys of Paulc. 46 – between 57 and 58
Middle East and Egypt
- Roman–Parthian War of 58–6358–63
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea40s … 70s
- Reign of Vologases I51–78
- First Jewish–Roman War66 – between 73 and 74
- Siege of JerusalemApril 70 – 8 September 70
+ 1 event
Africa
- Nero’s expedition to the sources of the Nilebetween 61 and 62
- Adulis and Aksum in the Periplus40s … 70s
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
Central and Northern Asia
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100
- The Xiongnu split into Northern and Southern48
- Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empirebetween 20 and 50
- Ban Chao’s campaigns in the Tarim Basin73–102
South Asia
- Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxilabetween 50 and 70
- Apostle Thomas in India (tradition)52 (?)
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
- Gautamiputra Satakarni defeats Nahapanabetween 71 and 130
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuyebetween 1 and 100
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Alans
- Wikipedia (Russian): Аланы
- Josephus Flavius. The Jewish War, VII.7.4 (VII.244–251).
- Alemany A. Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation. — Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2000.
- Кузнецов В. А. Очерки истории алан. — Орджоникидзе: Ир, 1984.