Сарматы, Сарматия и Северное Причерноморье

Вестник древней истории. 2015. № 1. С. 109–135.

Mordvintseva V.

On the world map compiled by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in the 1st century BC the territory 
earlier known as Scythia was designated as Sarmatia. Since both peoples were practically the same 
from the point of view of the Greeks and Romans, the question arises why one ethnonym was 
substituted for the other. The name of Sarmatia appeared within an external narrative tradition, and 
the observer from the outside could have chosen the name of the most active part of the Barbarian 
population dealing with the Greco-Roman civilization as eponym of this region. It is most probable 
that the term “Sarmatians” was used to designate an elite group acting as a subject of international 
politics. This conclusion fi nds some implicit corroboration in the written and epigraphic sources.

Keywords: political elite, политическая элита, Северное Причерноморье, North Pontic region, archaeological culture, археологическая культура, Sarmatians, сарматы, ethnotoponym, этнотопоним