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108-542: Established by Augustus in 14 BCE, it did not operate permanently until the principate of Nero . Indeed, it seems that as early as 46 a Roman naval expedition had pushed along the coast of Pontus Euxinus ( Black Sea ), as far as the Tanais River ( Don River ). In 57 a new expedition to the area reached the Tauric Chersonese , or the present Crimean peninsula . Following these events a new permanent fleet

216-701: A derivation from Old Persian , Avestan bast- "bound, tied; slave" (cf. Ossetic bættən "bind", bast "bound") and Iranian *arna- "offspring", equating it with the δουλόσποροι "slave Sporoi" mentioned by Nonnus and Cosmas , where the Sporoi are the people Procopius mentions as the ancestors of the Slavs . The earliest classical mentions of the Bastarnae locate them north of the Lower Danube, although they apparently made frequent crossings impacting upon

324-637: A direct descendant of Antigonus , one of the Diadochi , the generals of Alexander the Great who had shared his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Macedonian king had suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Romans in the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC), which had reduced him from a powerful Hellenistic monarch to the status of a petty client-king with a much-reduced territory and

432-521: A distinct ethnic group at all (endonym) or whether it was a generic exonym used by the Greco-Romans to denote a disparate group of tribes of the Carpathian region that could not be classified as Dacians or Sarmatians. One possible derivation is from the proto-Germanic word *bastjan (from Proto-Indo-European root * bʰas- ), meaning "binding" or "tie". In this case, Bastarnae may have had

540-471: A great extent with the locations of Celtic tribes attested in the northern Carpathians. (The modern name of this region, Galicia , is generally regarded as having a later origin, in either a Slavic or Turkic language. However, some scholars have instead suggested that the name Galicia may derive from its former Celtic inhabitants the Taurisci , Osi , Cotini and Anartes of Slovakia and northern Romania and

648-581: A language like the Germanic peoples. The Greek geographer Strabo (64 BC – 24 AD) writing c. 5–20 AD, made several remarks about the location of the Bastarnae in his own time. In one passage he says that their country borders on that of the Tyregetans towards the Black Sea and Danube, and Germanic peoples to the west, and that they "one might say", were of "Germanic stock". The Roman geographer Pliny

756-414: A large number of prisoners [...] and after destroying the temples, buildings and all that was beautiful and magnificent, they returned home with many ships. Loaded by now with huge spoils, on their way back they also sacked the city of Panticapaeum , in present-day Crimea , disrupting the grain supplies needed by the Romans in that region. The situation was so serious that Gallienus was forced to rush along

864-534: A massive hailstorm. Then the Thracians ambushed them, turning their descent into a panic-stricken rout. Back at their wagon fort in the plain, around half of the demoralised Bastarnae decided to return home, leaving c. 30,000 to press on to Macedonia. Philip's son and successor Perseus , while protesting his loyalty to Rome, deployed his Bastarnae guests in winter quarters in a valley in Dardania, presumably as

972-612: A more limited and precise chronological sense, the term Principate is applied either to the entire Empire (in the sense of the post-Republican Roman state), or specifically to the earlier of the two phases of Imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire before Rome's military collapse in the West ( fall of Rome ) in 476 left the Byzantine Empire as sole heir. This early Principate phase began when Augustus claimed auctoritas for himself as princeps , and continued (depending on

1080-584: A mountainous region called the "Peuca" mountains south of the Costoboci and Transmontani . The Sidones, named as one part of the Bastarnae by Strabo, are described by Ptolemy as one of the peoples east of the Vistula, although the location is not clear. It thus appears that the Bastarnae were settled in a vast arc stretching around the northern and eastern flanks of the Carpathians from western Ukraine to

1188-483: A paternalistic ideology , presenting the princeps as the very incarnation of all virtues attributed to the ideal ruler (much like a Greek tyrannos earlier), such as clemency and justice, and military leadership, obliging the princeps to play this designated role within Roman society, as his political insurance as well as a moral duty. What specifically was expected of the princeps seems to have varied according to

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1296-465: A powerful fortress called Genucla (Isaccea, near modern Tulcea, Romania, in the Danube Delta region), controlled by Zyraxes , the local Getan king. The man selected for the task was Marcus Licinius Crassus , grandson of Crassus the triumvir and an experienced general at 33 years of age, who was appointed proconsul of Macedonia in 29 BC. The Bastarnae provided the casus belli by crossing

1404-508: A prelude to a campaign against the Dardani the following summer. However, in the depths of winter their camp was attacked by the Dardani. The Bastarnae easily beat off the attackers, chased them back to their chief town and besieged them, but they were surprised in the rear by a second force of Dardani, which had approached their camp stealthily by mountain paths, and proceeded to storm and ransack it. Having lost their entire baggage and supplies,

1512-624: A separate name until ca. 300 AD, probably implying retention of their distinctive ethno-linguistic heritage up to that time. Polybius (200–118 BC) writing about the time of Perseus of Macedon (d. 166 BCE) explained how the Dardanians sought help from the Romans against the Bastarnae, who were allied with the Macedonian and Celtic (Galatian) enemies of Rome, which can be taken as implying that they were not Galatian. He described them as numerous, physically large, and valorous warriors. On

1620-656: A tactic he had already used with disastrous results against the Dardani. Dio implies that he did so out of cowardice, in order to avoid the imminent clash with the opposition, but it is more likely that he was pursuing a large enemy cavalry force, probably Sarmatians . A Bastarnae host, which had crossed the Danube to assist the Histrians, promptly attacked, surrounded and massacred the Roman infantry, capturing several of their vexilla (military standards). This battle resulted in

1728-402: A technicality. Thousands of fleeing Bastarnae perished, many asphyxiated in nearby woods by encircling fires set by the Romans, others drowned trying to swim across the Danube. Nevertheless, a substantial force dug themselves into a powerful hillfort. Crassus laid siege to fort, but had to enlist the assistance of Rholes , a Getan petty king, to dislodge them, for which service Rholes was granted

1836-513: A threat to Roman hegemony in the lower Danube until the rise of Decebal 130 years later (86 AD). Once he had established himself as sole ruler of the Roman state in 30 BC, Caesar's grand-nephew and adopted son Augustus inaugurated a strategy of advancing the empire's south-eastern European border to the line of the Danube from the Alps , the Dinaric Alps and Macedonia. The primary objective

1944-680: A tiny army. After nearly 20 years of slavish adherence to the Roman Senate's dictats, Philip had been goaded by the incessant and devastating raiding of the Dardani , a warlike Illyrian tribe on his northern border, which his treaty-limited army was too small to counter effectively. Counting on the Bastarnae, with whom he had forged friendly relations, he plotted a strategy to deal with the Dardani and then to regain his lost territories in Greece and his political independence. First, he would unleash

2052-750: Is a great island called Peuce; and when the Bastarnians took possession of it they received the appellation of Peucini." In one passage Pliny the Elder located the Bastarnae "and other Germanic peoples" in the lands beyond the Iazyges and Dacians ( aversa Basternae tenent aliique inde Germani ). In another he describes "the Peucini, the Basternae", as neighbours of the Dacians . In the second century AD,

2160-413: Is impossible to attribute a "culture" to a particular ethnic group: it is likely that the material cultures discerned in the region belonged to several, if not all, of the groups inhabiting it. These cultures probably represent relatively large-scale socio-economic interactions between disparate communities of the broad region, possibly including mutually antagonistic groups. It is not even certain whether

2268-609: The Antonine dynasty , it was standard for the Emperor to appoint a successful and politically promising individual as his successor. In modern historical analysis, this is treated by many authors as an "ideal" situation: the individual who was most capable was promoted to the position of princeps. Of the Antonine dynasty, Edward Gibbon famously wrote that this was the happiest and most productive period in human history , and credited

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2376-683: The Baltic coast of today's north-west Poland, on the grounds of correspondences in archaeological material, e.g. a Pomeranian-style fibula found in a Poieneşti site in Moldavia , although Batty considers the evidence insufficient. Babeş identifies the Sidoni, a branch of the Bastarnae which Strabo mentioned with the Sidini located by Ptolemy in Pomerania. Batty argues that Greco-Roman sources of

2484-520: The Black Sea , pushed on to the very edge of the Roman Empire, near the city of Pityus , which fortunately for it had a very solid walled enclosure and a well-equipped harbor. Here they were repulsed thanks to vigorous resistance on the part of the local population, organized for the occasion by the then governor Successianus . The Goths, on the other hand, having departed with their ships from

2592-526: The Britogalli of the Danube Delta region. ) In addition, archaeological cultures which some scholars have linked to the Bastarnae (Poieneşti-Lukashevka and Zarubintsy) display pronounced Celtic affinities. Finally, the arrival of the Bastarnae in the Pontic-Danubian region, which can be dated to 233–216 BC according to two ancient sources, coincides with the latter phase of Celtic migration into

2700-638: The Carpathian mountains between about 300 BC and about 300 AD, stretching in an ark from the sources of the Vistula in present day Poland and Slovakia, to the Lower Danube, and including all or most of present day Moldava. The Peucini were sometimes described as a subtribe, who settled the Peuke Island in the Danube Delta , but apparently due to their importance their name was sometimes used for

2808-515: The Chernyakhov culture became established in the modern-day western Ukraine and Moldova region inhabited by the Bastarnae. The culture is characterised by a high degree of sophistication in the production of metal and ceramic artefacts, as well as of uniformity over a vast area. Although this culture has conventionally been identified with the migration of the Gothic ethnos into the region from

2916-713: The Danube and brought great devastation to Roman soil. Gallienus, having known these facts, gave the Byzantines Cleodamus and Athenaeus the task of rebuilding and walling the cities, and when fighting near Pontus the barbarians were defeated by the Byzantine generals. The Goths were also beaten in a naval battle by the general Venerian, and he himself died during the fight. And so the various tribes of Scythia, such as Peucini , Greuthungi , Ostrogoths , Thervingi , Visigoths , Gepids , Celts and Heruli , lured by

3024-613: The Goths , who were undoubtedly Germanic-speakers, as "Scythians". On the other hand it is likely that Bastarnae were influenced the surrounding Sarmatians, as reflected in Tacitus' comment that "mixed marriages" debasing them to appear more like the Sarmatians. According to Malcolm Todd , traditional archaeology has not been able to construct a typology of Bastarnae material culture, and thus to ascribe particular archaeological sites to

3132-471: The Navarchus princeps , later tribunus liburnarum . A single ship was commanded by a trierarchus (officer), oarsmen and a centuria of sailor-combatants ( manipulares / milites liburnarii ). The fleet staff ( Classiari or Classici ) was therefore divided into two groups: the sailors and the soldiers. Service lasted 26 years (as opposed to 20 for the legionaries and 25 for the auxilia ). From

3240-504: The Poieneşti-Lukashevka culture ( Lucăşeuca ) in northern Moldavia. These cultures were characterised by agriculture, documented by numerous finds of sickles. Dwellings were either of surface or semi-subterranean types, with posts supporting the walls, a hearth in the middle and large conical pits located nearby. Some sites were defended by ditches and banks, structures thought to have been built to defend against nomadic tribes from

3348-528: The Roman Republic . 'Principate' is etymologically derived from the Latin word princeps , meaning chief or first , and therefore represents the political regime dominated by such a political leader, whether or not he is formally head of state or head of government . This reflects the principate emperors' assertion that they were merely " first among equals " among the citizens of Rome. Under

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3456-574: The Roxolani , generally considered by scholars to have been a Sarmatian tribe, in a list of Bastarnae subgroups. However, this may simply be an error due to the close proximity of the two peoples north of the Danube Delta. In the third century, the Greek historian Dio Cassius (155–235 AD) stated that the "Bastarnae are properly classed as Scythians" and "members of the Scythian race". Likewise,

3564-634: The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC). The presence of Roman forces in the Danube Delta was seen as a major threat by all the neighbouring transdanubian peoples: the Peucini Bastarnae, the Sarmatians and, most importantly, by Burebista (ruled 82–44 BC), king of the Getae . The Getae occupied the region today called Wallachia as well as Scythia Minor and were either a Dacian - or Thracian - speaking people. Burebista had unified

3672-615: The Trojan War , ed. ) The main port of the Classis Pontica was placed at Trapezous (today's Trabzon in Turkey) after the annexation of Pontus around 63 B.C., used for patrolling especially the eastern part of the Black Sea . This was where the fleet of Mucianus was concentrated in 69, before traveling to Illyricum and then to Italy during the civil war of those years. And also from this port Arrian departed on patrol of

3780-463: The equestrian order . In his turn the direct subordinate of the praefectus was a sub praefectus , who in turn was accompanied by a series of praepositi , officers placed in charge of each patrol by individual locality. Other officers were the Navarchus princeps , which would correspond to the rank of rear admiral today. In the 3rd century the Tribunus classis was created with the functions of

3888-716: The "newcomers" to the region of the present-day Azov Sea , the Heruli and numerous other peoples launched the most astonishing invasion of the third century from the mouth of the Tyras River (near the city of the same name ), which disrupted the coasts and hinterland of the Roman provinces of Asia Minor , Thracia , and Achaia facing the Pontus Euxinus and the Aegean Sea . The Scythians ( to be understood as Goths, ed. ), sailing through Pontus Euxinus penetrated

3996-473: The Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire. Many Bastarnae were resettled within the Roman Empire in the late third century. The origin of the tribal name is uncertain. It is not even clear whether it was an exonym (a name ascribed to them by outsiders) or an endonym (a name by which the Bastarnae described themselves). A related question is whether the groups denoted "Bastarnae" by the Romans considered themselves

4104-460: The Bastarnae against the Dardani . After the latter had been crushed, Philip planned to settle Bastarnae families in Dardania (southern Kosovo / Skopje region) to ensure that the region was permanently subdued. In a second phase, Philip aimed to launch the Bastarnae on an invasion of Italy via the Adriatic coast. Although he was aware that the Bastarnae were likely to be defeated, Philip hoped that

4212-422: The Bastarnae as a "Scythian" or "Sarmatian" people, but this was a reference to their location, and customs, rather than a linguistic category. Although largely sedentary, at least one Roman writer, Tacitus , stated that the Bastarnae had adopted some Sarmatian customs. So far, no archaeological sites have been conclusively attributed to the Bastarnae. The archaeological horizon most often associated by scholars with

4320-720: The Bastarnae as a whole. Near the sources of the Vistula another part of the Bastarnae were the Sidones, while the Atmoni, another tribe of the Bastarnae are only mentioned in one listing by Strabo . The earliest Graeco-Roman historians to refer to the Bastarnae imply that they were culturally Celtic . Also consistent with connections to the cultures to their west, later Roman-era sources state directly that they spoke Germanic languages , and could be considered Germanic peoples . In contrast, like other peoples who lived in this geographical region, Graeco-Roman writers also sometimes referred to

4428-589: The Bastarnae is that both cultures had disappeared by the early first century AD, while the Bastarnae continue to be attested in those regions throughout the Roman Principate . Another issue is that the Poieneşti-Lukashevka culture has also been attributed to the Costoboci , a people considered ethnically Dacian by mainstream scholarship, who inhabited northern Moldavia, according to Ptolemy (ca. 140 AD). Indeed, Mircea Babeş and Silvia Theodor ,

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4536-461: The Bastarnae is the Poieneşti-Lucașeuca culture . From the first records which mention them, the Bastarnae were active in the region of the Danube estuary on the Black Sea coast. The Bastarnae first came into conflict with the Romans during the first century BC when, in alliance with Dacians and Sarmatians, they unsuccessfully resisted Roman expansion into Moesia and Pannonia , south of

4644-673: The Bastarnae to be next beyond the Germanic Peoples, but he indicates that it is also possible that "others lie in between, either the Iazyges, or the Roxolani, or certain other of the wagon-dwellers — it is not easy to say". In yet another similar passage he describes the Bastarnae as the most inland (northerly) of the peoples living between the Borysthenes (Dnieper) and the Ister (Lower Danube), and indicates that their neighbours

4752-442: The Bastarnae were obliged to withdraw from Dardania and to return home. Most perished as they crossed the frozen Danube on foot, only for the ice to give way. Despite the failure of Philip's Bastarnae strategy, the suspicion aroused by these events in the Roman Senate, which had been warned by the Dardani of the Bastarnae invasion, ensured the demise of Macedonia as an independent state. Rome declared war on Perseus in 171 BC and after

4860-529: The Bastarnae were sedentary, nomadic or semi-nomadic. Tacitus' statement that they were "German in their way of life and types of dwelling" implies a sedentary bias, but their close relations with the Sarmatians, who were nomadic, may indicate a more nomadic lifestyle for some Bastarnae, as does their attested wide geographical range. If the Bastarnae were nomadic, then the sedentary "cultures" identified by archaeologists in their lebensraum would not represent them. Nomadic peoples generally leave scant traces, due to

4968-422: The Bastarnae. A complicating factor is that the regions where Bastarnae are attested contained a patchwork of peoples and cultures (Sarmatians, Scythians, Dacians, Thracians, Celts, Germans and others), some sedentary , some nomadic . In any event, post-1960s archaeological theory has questioned the validity of equating material "cultures", as defined by archaeologists, with distinct ethnic groups. In this view, it

5076-513: The Basternae". Batty argues that assigning an "ethnicity" to the Bastarnae is meaningless; as in the context of the Iron Age Pontic-Danubian region, with its multiple overlapping peoples and languages, ethnicity was a very fluid concept, which changed rapidly and frequently, according to socio-political vicissitudes. That was especially true of the Bastarnae, who are attested over a relatively-vast area. The Bastarnae maintained

5184-808: The Boii, the Scordisci, and the Taurisci". He confirmed that historically "the Scythians and Bastarnians and Sauromatians on the far side of the river [the Lower Danube] often prevail to the extent that they actually cross over to attack those whom they have already driven out, and some of them remain there, either in the islands or in Thrace". In particular, Near the outlets of the Ister River [Lower Danube]

5292-414: The Cotini, Osi,...[missing tribal name] and Anartii to the power of the emperor Augustus and of the people of Rome." The three names of Bastarnae leaders found in ancient sources are of Celtic origin: Cotto, Clondicus and Teutagonus. Three Greco-Roman geographers of the first century AD associated the Bastarnae and Peucini with the Germanic peoples , and one source, Tacitus, specifies that they spoke

5400-472: The Crimean peninsula, reached the mouth of the Phasis River (located in the Guria region of Georgia , in the vicinity of the present town of Sukhumi ); they also advanced toward Pityus, which they succeeded this time in occupying, partly because Successianus, who had been promoted prefect of the Praetorium , had followed Emperor Valerian to Antioch . The great fleet then continued on to Trapezounta , succeeding in occupying this important city as well, which

5508-537: The Danube Delta. The Peutinger Map (produced ca. 400 AD, but including material from as early as the first century) shows the Bastarnae (mis-spelt Blastarni ) north of the Carpathian mountains and appears to name the Galician Carpathians as the Alpes Bastarnicae . Because of their apparent cultural and linguistic connections to the west, the Bastarnae are generally believed to have moved originally from that direction, but this remains uncertain. Babeş and Shchukin argue in favour of an origin in eastern Pomerania on

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5616-422: The Danube. Later, they appear to have maintained friendly relations with the Roman Empire during the first two centuries AD. This changed around 180 AD, when the Bastarnae are recorded as participants in an invasion of Roman territory, once again in alliance with Sarmatians and Dacians. In the mid-3rd century AD, the Bastarnae were part of a Gothic -led grand coalition of lower Danube tribes that repeatedly invaded

5724-437: The Danube. The Bastarnae were also a target because they had recently subjugated the Triballi, whose territory lay on the southern bank of the Danube between the tributary rivers Utus (Vit) and Ciabrus (Tsibritsa), with their chief town at Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria). In addition, Augustus wanted to avenge the defeat of Gaius Antonius at Histria 32 years before and to recover the lost military standards. These were held in

5832-407: The Danubian borders to reorganize his forces after this devastating invasion, as an inscription from the legionary fortress of Viminacium would testify. The following year, in 256, a new invasion of Goths traveled along the Black Sea , again by sea but this time to the west coast, advancing as far as Lake Fileatina (present-day Derkos ) west of Byzantium . From here they continued as far as below

5940-559: The Dardani and the Moesi , becoming the first Roman general to reach the Danube with his army. His successor, Marcus Licinius Lucullus (brother of the famous Lucius Lucullus ), campaigned against the Thracian Bessi tribe and the Moesi, ravaging the whole of Moesia , the region between the Haemus ( Balkan ) mountain range and the Danube. In 72 BC, his troops occupied the Greek coastal cities of Scythia Minor (modern Dobruja region, Romania/Bulgaria), which had sided with Rome's Hellenistic arch-enemy, King Mithridates VI of Pontus , in

6048-493: The Elder (c. 77 AD), classified the Bastarnae or Peucini as being one of the five main subdivisions of Germanic peoples, the other subdivisions as the three West Germanic groups, the Inguaeones , Istuaeones and Hermiones , and the East Germanic Vandili . Notably, the Roman historian Tacitus (56–120 AD), writing about 100 AD, described the Bastarnae as probably being a Germanic people, but with substantial Sarmatian cultural influence and intermarriage: Strabo includes

6156-426: The Germanic word bastard , meaning illegitimate or mongrel, and this name is sometimes contrasted to proposed Germanic etymologies for the name of the Sciri who lived in the same general region. However, Roger Batty considers this Germanic derivation unlikely. If the name is an endonym, then this derivation is unlikely, as most endonyms have flattering meanings (e.g. "brave", "strong", "noble"). Trubačev proposes

6264-515: The Getae tribes into a single kingdom, for which the Greek cities were vital trade outlets. In addition, he had established his hegemony over neighbouring Sarmatian and Bastarnae tribes. At its peak, the Getae kingdom reportedly was able to muster 200,000 warriors. Burebista led his transdanubian coalition in a struggle against Roman encroachment, conducting many raids against Roman allies in Moesia and Thrace, penetrating as far as Macedonia and Illyria . The coalition's main chance came in 62 BC, when

6372-450: The Greek cities rebelled against Roman rule. In 61 BC, the notoriously oppressive and militarily incompetent proconsul of Macedonia, Gaius Antonius , nicknamed Hybrida ("The Monster"), an uncle of the famous Mark Antony , led an army against the Greek cities. As his army approached Histria , Antonius detached his entire mounted force from the marching column and led it away on a lengthy excursion, leaving his infantry without cavalry cover,

6480-410: The Greek historian Plutarch (about 46-120 AD), also talking the time of Perseus of Macedon, went further, writing that the Roman consul Hostilius "secretly stirred up the Gauls settled along the Danube, who are called Basternae". Another reason to consider the Bastarnae as Celtic is that the regions they are documented to have occupied (the northern and eastern slopes of the Carpathians) overlapped to

6588-434: The Haemus and attacking the Dentheletae , a Thracian tribe who were Roman allies. Crassus marched to the Dentheletae's assistance, but the Bastarnae host hastily withdrew over the Haemus at his approach. Crassus followed them closely into Moesia but they would not be drawn into battle, withdrawing beyond the Tsibritsa. Crassus now turned his attention to the Moesi, his prime target. After a successful campaign which resulted in

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6696-509: The Macedonian army was crushed at the Battle of Pydna (168 BC), Macedonia was split up into four Roman puppet-cantons (167 BC). Twenty-one years later, these were in turn abolished and annexed to the Roman Republic as the province of Macedonia (146 BC). The Bastarnae first came into direct conflict with Rome as a result of expansion into the lower Danube region by the proconsuls (governors) of Macedonia in 75–72 BC. Gaius Scribonius Curio (proconsul 75–73 BC) campaigned successfully against

6804-409: The Republic, the princeps senatus , traditionally the oldest or most honored member of the Senate , had the right to be heard first on any debate. Scipio Aemilianus and his circle had fostered the (quasi-Platonic) idea that authority should be invested in the worthiest citizen ( princeps ), who would beneficently guide his peers, an ideal of the patriot statesman later taken up by Cicero . In

6912-401: The Romans would be distracted long enough to allow him to reoccupy his former possessions in Greece. However, Philip, now 60 years of age, died before the Bastarnae could arrive. The Bastarnae host was still en route through Thrace, where it became embroiled in hostilities with the locals, who had not provided them with sufficient food at affordable prices as they marched through. Probably in

7020-406: The Tyregetans are closer to the Black Sea. Strabo also mentioned their interactions with other peoples near the Danube, specifying that in his time, "wagon-dwelling" Scythians and Sarmatians, "as well as the Bastarnian tribes, are mingled with the Thracians (more indeed with those outside the Ister [North of the Danube], but also with those inside). And mingled with them are also the Celtic tribes —

7128-445: The collapse of the Roman position on the lower Danube. Burebista apparently annexed the Greek cities (55–48 BC). At the same time, the subjugated "allied" tribes of Moesia and Thrace evidently repudiated their treaties with Rome, as they had to be reconquered by Augustus in 29–8 BC (see below). In 44 BC, Roman dictator-for-life Julius Caesar planned to lead a major campaign to crush Burebista and his allies once and for all, but he

7236-423: The division by the Augustan Principate of the provinces between imperial provinces and senatorial provinces . Lawyers developed a theory of the total delegation of authority into the hands of the emperor. Bastarnae The Bastarnae , Bastarni or Basternae , also known as the Peuci or Peucini , were an ancient people who are known from Greek and Roman records to have inhabited areas north and east of

7344-416: The eastern coast of Pontus Euxinus . In addition, some vexillationes of legions XII Fulminata and XV Apollinaris may belong to this period as well. From the Tetrarchic period an entire Roman legion , Legio I Pontica, was installed here for greater protection of the coast. Another important military base of the fleet, protecting the western part of the Black Sea and the straits of the Dardanelles ,

7452-431: The exhausting civil wars by a de facto dictatorial regime within the constitutional framework of the Roman Republic – what Gibbon called "an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth" – as a more acceptable alternative to, for example, the early Roman Kingdom . Although dynastic pretenses crept in from the start, formalizing this in a monarchic style remained politically perilous; and Octavian

7560-437: The first century AD locate the Bastarnae homeland on the northern side of the Northern Carpathian mountain range, encompassing south-east Poland and south-west Ukraine (i.e. the region traditionally known as Galicia ). Scholars hold divergent theories about the ethnicity of the Bastarnae. One view, implied by some of the earliest reports, is that they spoke a Celtic language . The only explicit description of their language,

7668-439: The fleet in 365. The Classis Pontica used ships belonging to the previous kingdom of Thrace (annexed in 46 by Claudius). For the Pontic provincial fleet, the number of personnel was around a few thousand classiarii , which was increased by the fourth century with the creation of Legio I Pontica. The commander of the fleet was the praefectus classis or the commander of the southern part of Pontus Euxinus , pertaining to

7776-483: The full-scale pitched battle with the Romans that they had tried to avoid. The Bastarnae tried to retreat into the forest but were hampered by the wagon train carrying their women and children, as these could not move through the trees. Trapped into fighting to save their families, the Bastarnae were routed. Crassus personally killed their king, Deldo, in combat, a feat which qualified him for Rome's highest military honour, spolia opima , but Augustus refused to award it on

7884-527: The hope of loot, came to Roman soil and wrought great devastation here, while Claudius was engaged in other actions ( against the Alamanni, ed. .. ). Three hundred and twenty thousand armed men were fielded from the different populations... as well as having two thousand ships (six thousand according to Zosimus), i.e. twice the number used by the Greeks... when they undertook the conquest of the cities of Asia (

7992-529: The impermanent materials and foundations used in the construction of their dwellings. Scholars have identified two closely related sedentary "cultures" as possible candidates to represent the Bastarnae (among other peoples) as their locations broadly correspond to where ancient sources placed the Basternae: the Zarubintsy culture lying in the forest-steppe zone in northern Ukraine and southern Belarus, and

8100-547: The northwest, Todd argues that its most important origin is Scytho-Sarmatian. Although the Goths certainly contributed to it, so probably did other peoples of the region such as the Dacians, proto-Slavs , Carpi and possibly the Bastarnae. The Bastarnae first appear in the historical record in 179 BC, when they crossed the Danube in a massive force. They did so at the invitation of their long-time ally, King Philip V of Macedon ,

8208-408: The original meaning of a coalition or bund of tribes. It is possible that the Roman term basterna , denoting a type of wagon or litter, is derived from the name of this people (or, if it is an exonym, that the name of the people is derived from it) who were known, like many Germanic tribes, to travel with a wagon train for their families. It has also been suggested that the name is linked with

8316-574: The other hand a much later report of these events by Livy (64 BC – 17 AD), writing about 10 AD, is sometimes understood to imply that the Bastarnae spoke a Celtic language (or a related language) because when comparing them to the Scordisci , a major Galatian tribe of Pannonia , it specifies that the Bastarnae were "neither in speech nor habits were they dissimilar". The Scordisci are described as Celtic by Strabo , although he adds that they had mingled with Illyrians and Thracians). Much later still,

8424-626: The peoples living south of the Danube. Strabo (about 20 AD) made several remarks about the location of the Bastarnae. In one place he described the lands beyond the Rhine and Danube as the home of the Galatian (Celtic) and the Germanic peoples, and beyond these (to the east) were the Bastarnae and their neighbours the Tyregetans "and the River Borysthenes" (Dnieper). However, in another similar passage he says only that "most writers suspect"

8532-426: The political period of the 'uncrowned' Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) under the motto Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and people of Rome") or SPQR . Initially, the theory implied the 'first citizen' had to earn his extraordinary position ( de facto evolving to nearly absolute monarchy) by merit in the style that Augustus himself had gained the position of auctoritas . Imperial propaganda developed

8640-617: The public and charitable institutions also served as popularity boosters, while the construction of public works provided paid employment for the poor. With the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in AD 68, the principate became more formalized under the Emperor Vespasian from AD 69 onwards. The position of princeps became a distinct entity within the broader – formally still republican – Roman constitution . While many of

8748-561: The region (400–200 BC). In addition, inscription AE (1905) 14, recording a campaign on the Hungarian Plain by the Augustan-era general Marcus Vinucius (10 BC or 8 BC ), also appears to distinguish the Bastarnae from neighbouring Celtic tribes: "Marcus Vinucius... governor of Illyricum, the first [Roman general] to advance across the river Danube, defeated in battle and routed an army of Dacians and Basternae, and subjugated

8856-591: The revolt. During the period called the Crisis of the 3rd century , the fleet was engaged several times to face barbarian invasions. In 255, the Goths undertook a new attack, this time by sea, along the coast of Asia Minor , after commandeering numerous vessels from the Cimmerian Bosporus , an ally of Rome. The first to seize these vessels, however, were the Borans, who, traveling along the eastern coast of

8964-518: The same cultural and political expectations remained, the civilian aspect of the Augustan ideal of the princeps gradually gave way to the military role of the imperator. Rule was no longer a position (even notionally) extended on the basis of merit, or auctoritas , but on a firmer basis, allowing Vespasian and future emperors to designate their own heir without those heirs having to earn the position through years of success and public favor. Under

9072-589: The servant of the Senate, and often of the whole citizen body". Thereafter, however, the role of princeps became more institutionalized: as Dio Cassius puts it, Caligula "took in one day all the honours which Augustus had with difficulty been induced to accept". Nevertheless, under this "Principate stricto sensu ", the political reality of autocratic rule by the Emperor was still scrupulously masked by forms and conventions of oligarchic self-rule inherited from

9180-442: The sixth-century historian Zosismus (490s–510 AD), reporting events around 280 AD, refers to "the Bastarnae, a Scythian people". However, late Greco-Roman chroniclers used the term "Scythian" without regard to language. The earliest Scythians were steppe nomads associated with Iranic languages, as were their successors the Sarmatians, who were also called Scythians, while classical authors such as Zosimus also routinely refers to

9288-436: The source) up to the rule of Commodus , of Maximinus Thrax , or of Diocletian . The title, in full, of princeps senatus / princeps civitatis ("first amongst the senators" / "first amongst the citizens") was first adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), the first Roman "emperor" who chose not to reintroduce a legal monarchy . Augustus likely intended to establish political stability desperately needed after

9396-412: The steppe. Inhabitants practiced cremation. Cremated remains were either placed in large, hand-made ceramic urns, or were placed in a large pit and surrounded by food and ornaments such as spiral bracelets and Middle to Late La Tène -type fibulae (attesting the continuing strength of Celtic influence in this region). A major problem with associating the Poieneşti-Lukashevka and Zarubintsy cultures with

9504-545: The submission of a substantial section of the Moesi, Crassus again sought out the Bastarnae. Discovering their location from some peace envoys they had sent to him, he lured them into battle near the Tsibritsa by a stratagem. Hiding his main body of troops in a wood, he stationed as bait a smaller vanguard in open ground before the wood. As expected, the Bastarnae attacked the vanguard in force, only to find themselves entangled in

9612-617: The system of succession as the key factor. The autocratic elements in the Principate tended to increase over time. It was after the Crisis of the Third Century , which almost resulted in the Roman Empire's political collapse, that Diocletian firmly consolidated the trend to autocracy. He replaced the one-headed principate with the Tetrarchy ( c.  AD 300 , two Augusti ranking above two Caesares ), in which

9720-784: The texts attached to Ptolemy's Geography say that "above Dacia are the Peucini and the Basternae"; "between the Peucini and the Basternae are the Carpiani "; "between the Basternae and the Rhoxolani" who he places on the Black Sea coast, "are the Chuni" (otherwise unknown); and "below the Basternae near Dacia are the Tigri and below these are the Tyrangitae" whose names are linked to the Tyras or Dniester river. Possibly relevant, he also mentioned

9828-435: The third century it was increased to 28 years of service. At the time of discharge ( Honesta missio ) sailors were given a settlement , land and usually also granted citizenship , as they were in the condition of peregrini at the time of enlistment. Marriage, on the other hand, was allowed to them only at the end of permanent active service. Below are some notable praefecti classis : Principate The Principate

9936-548: The times, and the observers: Tiberius , who amassed a huge surplus for the city of Rome , was criticized as a miser, while his successor Caligula was criticized for his lavish spending on games and spectacles. Generally speaking, it was expected of the Emperor to be generous but not frivolous, not just as a good ruler but also with his personal fortune (as in the proverbial "bread and circuses" – panem et circenses ) providing occasional public games, gladiators, chariot races and artistic shows. Large distributions of food for

10044-405: The title of socius et amicus populi Romani ("ally and friend of the Roman people"). The following year (28 BC), Crassus marched on Genucla. Zyraxes escaped with his treasure and fled over the Danube into Scythia to seek aid from the Bastarnae. Before he was able to bring reinforcements, Genucla fell to a combined land and fluvial assault by the Romans. The strategic result of Crassus' campaigns

10152-478: The troops upon their ascension and for special events; limiting senatorial control over the legions by way of controlling military provinces through "extraordinary military commands"; and using oaths to bind the military to the emperor personally. Tiberius , like Augustus , also acquired his powers piecemeal, and was proud to emphasize his place as first citizen: "a good and healthful princeps , whom you have invested with such great discretionary power, ought to be

10260-458: The two Romanian archaeologists who identified Lukashevka as Bastarnic, nevertheless insisted that the majority of the population in the Lukashevka sphere (in northern Moldavia) was "Geto-Dacian". A further problem is that neither of these cultures were present in the Danube Delta region, where a major concentration of Bastarnae are attested by the ancient sources. Starting in about 200 AD,

10368-417: The vestigial pretense of the old republican forms was largely abandoned. The title of princeps disappeared, together with the concept of only one emperor. New forms of pomp and awe were deliberately used in an attempt to insulate the emperor(s) and the civil authority from the unbridled and mutinous soldiery of the mid-century. The political role of the Senate went into final eclipse, no more being heard of

10476-399: The vicinity of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria), the Bastarnae broke out of their marching columns and pillaged the land far and wide. The terrified local Thracians took refuge with their families and animal herds on the slopes of Mons Donuca ( Mount Musala ), the highest mountain in Thrace. A large force of Bastarnae chased them up the mountain, but were driven back and scattered by

10584-519: The walls of Chalcedon . The city was plundered of all its great riches, although, as Zosimus reports, the garrison outnumbered the Goth assailants. Many other important cities of Bithynia , such as Prusa , Apamea and Cius were sacked by the Gothic armies, while Nicomedia and Nicaea were set on fire. Ten years after the first major invasion, in late 267-early 268, the Goths, together with Peucini ,

10692-452: Was Cyzicus , which had a number of vessels in Caesar 's time. Marcus Junius Brutus gathered a fleet there, while Strabo claimed there were more than two hundred bays. The fleet of Septimius Severus was stationed there before the decisive clash against his rival Pescennius Niger in 193. A fleet was also present there in 218. The port was still reported to have been fortified to protect

10800-411: Was a mauch later remark by Tacitus, who said they spoke a language like the Germanic peoples. However others hold that they were Scythian/Germanic, or mixed Germanic/Sarmatian. A fringe theory is that they were Proto-Slavic . Shchukin argues that the ethnicity of the Bastarnae was unique and rather than trying to label them as Celtic, Germanic or Sarmatian, it should be accepted that the "Basternae were

10908-428: Was assassinated before it could start. However, the campaign was made redundant by Burebista's overthrow and death in the same year, after which his Getae empire fragmented into four, later five, independent petty kingdoms. These were militarily far weaker, as Strabo assessed their combined military potential at just 40,000 armed men, and were often involved in internecine warfare. The Geto-Dacians did not again become

11016-548: Was created to garrison and patrol the Pontus Euxinus (today's Black Sea ): the Classis Pontica . During the civil war of 68-69 , a certain Anicetus, praefectus Classis of the Classis Pontica , initially supported Vitellius. It is said that he burned the fleet and fled to Caucasian Iberia , turning himself into a fearsome pirate. And so a new fleet was built by the Romans, who eventually succeeded in suppressing

11124-519: Was due in part to their immense wealth, being named Pater Patriae or "father of the country " , and by having a monopoly on political power. To this, emperors would satisfy the senatorial class with appointments to the high offices and to the provinces, effectively removing threats to their power in Rome . As such, emperors went to great lengths to control and satisfy the needs of the army (their ultimate source of power) by proving gracious donatives to

11232-417: Was protected by a double wall and several thousand soldiers, as Zosimus relates: The Goths, as soon as they noticed that the soldiers inside the walls were lazy and drunken and did not even go up along the walkways of the walls, pulled over a few logs to the wall, where it was possible, and in the middle of the night, went up in small groups and conquered the city. [...] The barbarians seized great wealth and

11340-542: Was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate . The principate was characterized by the reign of a single emperor ( princeps ) and an effort on the part of the early emperors, at least, to preserve the illusion of the formal continuance, in some aspects, of

11448-416: Was the permanent annexation of Moesia by Rome. About a decade later, in 10 BC, the Bastarnae again clashed with Rome during Augustus' conquest of Pannonia (the bellum Pannonicum 14–9 BC). Inscription AE (1905) 14 records a campaign on the Hungarian Plain by the Augustan-era general Marcus Vinucius : Marcus Vinucius...[patronymic], Consul [in 19 BC]...[various official titles], governor of Illyricum,

11556-463: Was to increase strategic depth between the border and Italy and also to provide a major fluvial supply route between the Roman armies in the region. On the lower Danube, which was given priority over the upper Danube, this required the annexation of Moesia. The Romans' target was thus the tribes which inhabited Moesia, namely (from west to east) the Triballi , Moesi and those Getae who dwelt south of

11664-422: Was undoubtedly correct to work through established Republican forms to consolidate his power. He began with the powers of a Roman consul , combined with those of a Tribune of the plebs ; later added the role of the censor and finally became pontifex maximus as well. In addition to these legal powers, the principate was also characterized by the emperor being the " ultimate source of patronage ". This

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