Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antes
Around 550 two authors in Constantinople gave the first detailed accounts of the Slavs: Jordanes placed the Sclaveni and the Antes between the Vistula, the Danube and the Dnieper, and Procopius described their way of life and their god of lightning.
- Date
- between 550 and 554exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Antes, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Eastern Europe and Rus’ before the Baptism (1st–10th c.)
- Also known as
- Getica; Procopius on the Slavs; Venethi; Венеды; Склавены
Jordanes completed his Getica in 551. He writes that the numerous Venethi occupy a vast land from the sources of the Vistula and are now called chiefly Sclaveni and Antes: the Sclaveni live between the lower Danube, the Dniester and the Vistula, and the Antes, whom he calls the strongest of them, from the Dniester to the Dnieper, where the Black Sea curves. Procopius of Caesarea, in the books of his Wars written about 550–554, adds that both peoples speak one language, are not ruled by one man but have long lived under a kind of popular rule, and believe that one god, the maker of lightning, is lord of all — a god commonly identified with Perun.
By then Slavic raids across the Danube were a constant concern of Justinian’s government. The Antes are first mentioned in connection with an invasion of Thrace at the beginning of the reign of Justin I (518), and from 545 they served Byzantium as allies. The two texts remain the foundation of all later discussion of early Slavic history.
Connections
Related events
- Vinitharius’ war with the Antes of Bozbetween 375 and 380 · Eastern Europethe story is known only from Jordanes’ Getica
- Gothic War (535–554)535–554 · Western and Central EuropeProcopius’ account of the Slavs is part of his history of this war, in which Antes served in Italy
- The Avars ravage the lands of the Antesbetween 560 and 562 · Eastern Europe
- Early Slavic cultures: Prague-Korchak, Penkovka and Kolochinc. 450 – c. 700 · Eastern EuropePrague-Korchak is linked with the Sclaveni, Penkovka with the Antes
Same participants
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
- Lombard invasion of Italy2 April 568 – 572 · Western and Central Europevia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Gothic War (535–554)535–554
- The Avars settle in the Carpathian Basinbetween 567 and 568
- Lombard invasion of Italy2 April 568 – 572
- Benedict of Nursia founds Monte Cassinobetween 529 and 530
Eastern Europe
- The Avars ravage the lands of the Antesbetween 560 and 562
- Early Slavic cultures: Prague-Korchak, Penkovka and Kolochinc. 450 – c. 700
- Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv: the legendary founding of Kyivbetween 500 and 700
Africa
- Vandalic WarJune 533 – March 534
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Getica
- Wikipedia (English): Sclaveni
- Wikipedia (Russian): О происхождении и деяниях гетов
- Wikipedia (Russian): Склавины
- Свод древнейших письменных известий о славянах. Т. 1 (I–VI вв.). — М.: Восточная литература, 1991.
- Прокопий Кесарийский. Война с готами / Пер. С. П. Кондратьева. — М.: Изд-во АН СССР, 1950.