The Anglo-Saxons are a people who migrated in the 5th-6th centuries from the Cimbrian Peninsula and its environs to England. They were part of the great Saxon confederation that stretched from the Elbe to the Rhine. The hostility of this huge people has long troubled the western regions of Europe. When the Germanic peoples took over the most important provinces of Rome, the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain shortly after the Romans left it. The indigenous inhabitants and descendants of the Roman settlers perished under the advancement of the new conquerors, or fell into slavery. Saxon laws, the Saxon language, Saxon customs, orders and forms of government spread on their lands.
These fundamental changes, whose prehistory is presented to us more than completely, arouse our keen interest in the fate of the Saxons throughout their entire historical period. And although later other invaders appeared on the island, the influence of the Anglo-Saxon settlements prevailed over all others. Our language, our form of government and our laws are everywhere reminiscent of our Germanic ancestors: they live not only in our chronicles and traditions, but also in our civic institutions and eternal rationality. The parent tree, undoubtedly, is significantly strengthened by the branches grafted on it, brought from other regions, as well as by new shoots born into the world by the circumstances of time and the development of society. Nevertheless, it does reveal its Saxon origin and retains its Saxon characteristics, despite the fact thatthat since that time more than thirteen centuries have passed with all their upheavals and vicissitudes.
Although on the continent the name of the Saxons became a household name for the confederation of peoples, nevertheless, at first, it meant a separate state. Roman mentions of him began in the second century of the Christian era; before this period, it avoided the attention of the conquerors of the world, and favorable obscurity became a reward for the absence of those devastations to which their ambitious plans generously doomed humanity.
THE FIRST REMINDER ABOUT SAXES PTOLEMEEM
Ptolemy of Alexandria was the first known author to mention the Saxons. According to a passage in his Geography and an analysis of their entire subsequent history, it was established that until 141 AD there was a people called the Saxons, who inhabited the territory along the northern bank of the Elbe on the isthmus of Cimbrian Chersonesos and three small islands at the mouth of this river. It is also clear from the mention of Pliny that the Saxons during this period did not have any significance, for in addition to them and the remnants of the Cimbri on this peninsula, which is now divided into Jutland, Schleswik and Holstein, at least six other peoples were located.
However, it is unlikely that the Saxons suddenly emerged suddenly during the time of Ptolemy. The question of their previous history was thus seriously debated; on this occasion, an equal number of scientific theories and absurdities have been put forward.
It is known that the wildest and most inconsistent speculations were created to explain the origin of the Saxons. By the way, not only our country, working for the benefit of studying the incomprehensible antiquity, distinguished itself by such a perversity of human thought; any nation can do this kind of childishness.
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The statement about the exorbitant length of the history of its people has become an obsession with any state that has attained at least some slightest fame. As a child, we heard about the tales of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Indians and Chinese, and we know that even the Athenians wore a golden grasshopper as a symbol of what they were the product of the land they cultivated in times that lie far beyond human history. And therefore we can forgive and forget these fables of the Saxon patriots.
NOT SIGNED WITH TACIT
It is very surprising that Tacitus, who many years before Ptolemy created a detailed description of Germany, did not mention the Saxons. None of the explorers was willing to admit that they arrived at Elbe in the short period of time between these two writers; and therefore, for the most part, it was assumed that the people that Tacitus called Phosis were the very warriors who later achieved such great fame under the name of the Saxons.
Before admitting such violent hypotheses, it seems necessary to ask the question, does Ptolemy mention any other people in his geography of Germany, which Tacitus did not indicate? If so, then Tacitus' omission is not strange in this case; if not, the suggestion that the Fos were Saxons can be taken with some confidence.
OTHER TRIBES NOT REFERRED TO BY TACIT
After comparing the other tribes of Cimbrian Chersonesos, indicated by Tacitus, with the description of the same place by Ptolemy, the above question is easily resolved. Ptolemy mentions not only the Saxons on this peninsula; on the contrary, he names six other peoples in turn before going on to the Cimbri. Tacitus, after mentioning the Frisians, Hawks and Cherusci, speaks of the Fossae and ends his list of this part of Germany with the Cimbri. Tacitus forgot to name not only the Saxons, but also the sigulons, sabaling, kobands, chals, fundus and haruds. If any of these tribes later achieved fame, then he, so successful, would be considered phos. The Saxons became famous, and it was their glory, and not their location, that prompted some scholars to seek them out from Tacitus. Strictly speaking,the name phos can be applied to the Saxons with the same correctness as to the rest of the others.
However, from the silence of Tacitus it cannot be concluded that in his time there were no Saxons beyond the Elbe. In this part of his map of Germany, he apparently did not intend to give those smallest details in the presentation of the material, which, fortunately for the subject under consideration, was cited by Ptolemy. Tacitus directed his philosophical gaze to the German states, which differ both in lifestyle and in name. He rarely gives a complete list; he seems to list most carefully those peoples whose wars, customs, fame, vicissitudes and power were different from the rest. Since the Saxons and their neighbors did not fit into any of the listed categories, he either did not know about them, or he passed over in silence. Ptolemy, on the other hand, adheres to a plan for the clear and careful work of the geographer; it seeks to fix locations, latitudes, distances and names,almost completely omitting the presentation of history and customs from his essay. That is why, in one of his places of work, the Saxons are reported, for she was more consistent than Tacitus, who let them in.
The only conclusions that can be safely drawn from the silence of Tacitus and the previous geographers are that the Saxons at this time were a little-known and insignificant people who did not annoy the more famous peoples and did not incur the hostility of the Roman state.
SKYTHIAN POPULATION OF EUROPE
There is no point in wasting precious time listing the many erroneous theories of the origin of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. It will be much more useful to select the few facts on this issue that can be gleaned from ancient writers, and to present to the reader what he can rather believe than what he should reject.
We have already mentioned the early migration of the Cimmerian and Celtic tribes to Europe. The next stream of barbarian tribes, constituting the second huge influx of population into Europe, consisted of Scythian, Germanic and Gothic tribes. They also came to her from Asia. It is very important to remember the place of their initial stay, because it corresponds to the fact that Herodotus, in addition to the main Scythia, which he places in Europe, also mentions Eastern, or Asiatic Scythia, beyond the Caspian Sea and the Syr Darya. As newcomers began to drive out the Cimmerians and Celts, their predecessors, these peoples, under the constant onslaught of the Scythian invaders, began to retreat to the western and southern extremities of Europe. This new wave of population gradually spread through the mountains, vast forests and swamps of Europe, until, under the name of the Germans, the name,which Tacitus mentions as having recently come into use, they not only reached the Rhine, but crossed it in France. Here Caesar discovered their ancestors, a large, densely settled people. He calls them Belgi, although the tribes of his constituents had their own specific names. In addition, he met a huge army of newly arrived Germanic conquerors under the leadership of Ariovistus.
This second family of the European population is especially interesting to us, since it is from its branches that not only our immediate ancestors, but also the ancestors of the most glorious peoples of modern Europe, originate. Anglo-Saxons, Lowland Scots, Normans, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Lombards and Franks all arose from this great source of the human race, which we characterize in terms of Scythian, Germanic or Gothic.
The ancient languages of these peoples confirm their ancient similarity, the adjacent chronology of their origin and common origin; they provide evidence of those truths by which anyone can resolve their doubts or satisfy their curiosity. We have extant documents written in ancient Gothic and Saxon languages, as well as in Frankish and Icelandic, in which the philologist can easily grasp the relationship. Comparing them with modern German, Danish, Dutch, Swedish and Flemish, will objectively demonstrate the relationship between the ancient ancestors and their present descendants.
Scythians in Asia
The first appearance of the Scythian tribes in Europe took place, according to Strabo and Homer, in about the eighth, or, according to Herodotus, in the seventh century BC. Herodotus also mentions the stories of the Scythians themselves that their people are younger than the rest, and that they numbered only one thousand years between Targitai, their first king, and the invasion of Darius. The original places of their civilized residence and increasing power were in Asia, east of the Aras. Here they, unknown to Europe, for several centuries grew in population and expanded their territorial boundaries. Themselves they called the skolots, the Greeks called them Scythians, Skutoi or nomads.
To this thoughtful and believable account of Herodotus we will add the information collected by Diodorus. He says that the Scythians, formerly insignificant and few in number, possessed a narrow space on the Aras, but they were gradually strengthening in number and courage. They expanded their borders in all directions, until, finally, they raised their country to a great kingdom and glory.
Led by one of their kings, brave and experienced in the art of war, they annexed to their land the mountainous regions near the Caucasus, as well as the lowlands by the ocean and Palus Maeotis (Lake Meotian), and other areas near Tanais. Over time, they subdued many peoples between the Caspian Sea and the Meotian Lake, as well as beyond the Tanais. Thus, according to Diodorus, the people grew and had kings to be remembered. Saki, Massagetae and Arimaspas originated from them.
The Massagets seem to have been the most eastern branch of the Scythian people. The wars that arose between them and other tribes of the Scythians caused the process of emigration. This reason, which served as the reason for their resettlement to Europe, is called by Herodotus as the most, in his opinion, reliable. Such feuds and wars more than anything contributed to the dispersal of their barbarian population around the world.
Resettlement of the Scythians to EUROPE. 600 - 700 BC
Having begun the migration, the Scythians crossed the Araks, left Asia and, attacking the Cimmerians, in the seventh century BC, suddenly appeared in Europe. Some of the Cimmerians fled to Asia Minor, some tribes from the Scythian horde began to persecute them, however, turning in a direction different from the one in which the Cimmerians were moving, they missed their intended prey and inadvertently attacked the Medes. After defeating the Medes, they rushed to Egypt, and ruled in those parts of Asia for twenty-eight years, until Cyaxar, King of Media, finally expelled them.
The Scythian tribes, meanwhile, continued to enter Europe en masse; and during the reign of Darius, their rather numerous European colonies became so famous that after the capture of Babylon by the Persian monarch, ambitious aspirations prompted him to take military action against them. True, all these efforts have failed. During the time of Herodotus, they acquired an important position in Europe. They seem to have spread along it from Tanais to the Danube, and then moved westward; but their kindred colonies in Thrace extended to the south. Their most northern offshoot in Europe was the Roksolan tribe, who lived beyond Borisfen, the present Dnieper.
It is quite bold in relation to such a colossal subject of history to participate in a minute consideration of the question of the Scythian tribes. They became better known to us in later periods under the name Getae and Goths, their most famous offshoots.
As they spread across Europe, the Cimmerian and Celtic populations retreated west and south. At the time of Caesar, the most advanced tribes of the Scythians, or the Goth people, were known to the Romans under the name of the Germans. They occupied most of the continent, with the exception of the Cimbrian Peninsula, and reached and even crossed the Rhine. After some time, the Belgi, one of their tribes, settled in Flanders and parts of France; another tribe, led by Ariovistus, attempted a similar settlement practically in the center of Gaul. This invasion was prevented by Caesar. It is most likely that the Belgians of Britain were the descendants of the Belgian colonists or invaders from Flanders and Gaul.
The names Scythians and Skolots were, like the Gauls and Cimmerians, not so much local as generalized names. Various Scythian tribes, like the Cimmerian and Gallic, had their own distinctive names.
SAKI-SUNA, IN ALL PROBABILITY - SAXES
The Saxons were Germans or Teutons, that is, a Gothic or Scythian tribe; of the various Scythian tribes attested, the Saks (Σακαι or Sacae) are the people from which the origin of the Saxons can be assumed with the least probable error. The word Sakai-suna, or sons of the Saks, abbreviated to Saksun, sounds similar to the word Saxon and seems to be a reasonable etymology of the word Saxon. The Saks, called sacae in Latin, were the most famous people of Scythia. They stood out so much that the Persians called all Scythians Sakas; and Pliny, who mentions this, marks them among the most significant peoples of Scythia. Strabo places them to the east of the Caspian, and states that they made many raids on the Cimmerians and Treres (in Russian translation "like the Cimmerians and Treres" - approx. Al_avs),both for long distances and for short ones. They captured Bactriana and the most fertile part of Armenia, which was named Sakasena from them; they defeated Cyrus and reached Cappadocia on the Euxine Sea. This important fact about the part of Armenia called Sakasena is mentioned by Strabo in another place, and seems to indicate the geographical location of our primitive ancestors, and explains the Persian words that occur in the language of the Saxons, for they must have entered Armenia from sides of the northern regions of Persia.indicates the geographical location of our primitive ancestors, and explains the Persian words that are found in the Saxon language, for they must have entered Armenia from the northern regions of Persia.indicates the geographical location of our primitive ancestors, and explains the Persian words that are found in the Saxon language, for they must have entered Armenia from the northern regions of Persia.
The fact that some offshoots of this people were really called Saka-suna is obvious from Pliny, for he says that the Saki who settled in Armenia were called Sacassani, which is nothing more than Saka-suna, recorded a person who does not understand the meaning of complex words. And Sakasena - the name they gave to the part of Armenia they occupied, sounds almost the same as Saxony. It is also important to note that Ptolemy mentions a Scythian tribe descended from the Saks, by the name of the Saxones. If the Saks who reached Armenia were called Sakassans, then it is quite possible that they appeared in Europe under the same name, which was borrowed from them by the Romans and subsequently abbreviated when written in accordance with their pronunciation, probably with "x" instead of "ks" … In this case, there are no more variations between Saxones and Sacassani or Saksuna,than is found between French, Francois, Franci and their Greek name Φραγγι, or between Spain, Espagne and Hispania.
Nor is it so unbelievable that some of these raiding Sakas or Sakassans gradually made their way to the western shores of Europe, where they were discovered by Ptolemy, and from which they vexed the Roman Empire in the third century AD. On the Euxine Sea, according to Stephen [Byzantine], there was a people called the Saxoi. We can also consider him as a people of the same origin, who, in the wanderings of the Saks from Asia to the German Ocean, remained on the Euxine Sea, while others preferred to move to Armenia. Here it is necessary to recall the traditional origin of Odin, brought to us by Snorri [Sturluson] in his Edda and descriptions of past events. This great ancestor of the Saxon and Scandinavian leaders migrated from the city of Asgard, located east of Tanais in a country called Asland, i.e.from the city and land of the Aesir or Asians. The reason for this resettlement was the campaigns of conquest by the Romans (35). One, as stated, first went to Russia, and from there to Saxony. This is very plausible. The wars between the Romans and Mithridates involved and roused most of the barbarian peoples in the area, and may have aroused the need and inevitability of Western or European emigration.
Deities of the ancient Scythians
We only know about their gods that there were seven of them, and their character and distinctive features were, according to Herodotus, similar to some of the most famous gods of Greek mythology:
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Tabiti, their supreme deity, the Greek "analogue" of Papey Oytosir Artimpasa, or Arippasa Fagimasad Api, wife of Papey |
Hestia. Zeus. Apollo. Aphrodite Urania. Poseidon. Gaia. |
They also worshiped the god of war, like Ares, whose name we do not know; and to him alone they erected altars, statues and temples, and annually sacrificed horses and sheep, and a certain number of their captives. There were sayings about their bows. In battle, they drank the blood of the first enemy they killed. They scalped their opponents and brought their heads to their king; they made drinking cups from the skulls of their worst enemies or defeated friends. They had many fortunetellers who used willow rods for their prophecies. In these customs, our Goth ancestors were very much like them. They had the moral foundations and dignity of nomadic peoples. Aeschylus gives them an epithet that embodies the traditions of their social justice. Homer declares that no nation was more just than they; and Strabo wonderswhy wonder if they showed the least interest in money or transactions, which he considers to be sources of civilized dishonesty.
SLAVS
The peoples who invaded Europe after the Scythian (or Gothic, or Teutonic) tribes were called Slavs or Sarmatians. They formed the third great community of peoples to emerge on the vast Germanic continent. Sarmatians or Slavic tribes settled in Russia, Poland, East Prussia, Moravia, Bohemia and their environs. Since our ancient history is not connected with these peoples, it will suffice to note that they reached the vicinity of Tanais on the borders of Europe during the time of Herodotus, who calls them Sauromats. This fact provides one solid foundation for their objective chronology. Herodotus lived 450 years before our era. During this period, he testifies to the existence and approach to Europe of the Sarmatian tribes.
The Slavic group of languages is a family of languages that any expert would distinguish from Celtic and Gothic. Today's Russian is said to be the most accurate example of the original Slavic language. Poles, Bohemians, Dalmatians, Croats, Bulgarians, Corinthians, Moravians and some other neighboring tribes used its various dialects before. It prevailed in those parts of Europe where the ancient writers placed the Sarmatians. Numerous Slavic-speaking tribes retained their ancient name, Wends, long after their invasion of Germany in the 5th-6th centuries, although they were also called Slavi. Their successes allowed them to reach the limits of the Saxons and Franks, but their conquests were stopped by the opposition of Charlemagne and their own incessant civil strife.
CHRONOLOGY OF MOVEMENT TO EUROPE
The irrefutable fact of the existence in ancient Europe of at least three families of very different languages from each other leads us with confidence to the conclusion that the peoples who spoke them must also differ in the time of their origin. Since the Celtic tribes were found in the westernmost extremities of Europe, it is reasonable to assume that they moved to it earlier than others. Likewise, the Slavic peoples living on its eastern borders can rightly be regarded as the last settlers.
The states of the Goths or Teutons, according to their location, rightly claim an interim period. When they advanced westward, the Celts retreated under their onslaught. The branches of the Scythians - the Saxons and the Goths - moved to the German Ocean, after which masses of Slavs rushed from Asia. Saxony was one of the Gothic or Teutonic states, and at the time of Ptolemy was located significantly west of the Elbe. So the Saxons were, in all likelihood, as ancient visitors to Europe as any other Goth tribe. Their position seems to indicate that they moved in the first waves of the second great migration of peoples to Europe, but the specific dating of their arrival on the Elbe, or any more accurate calculation of it, cannot be supported by evidence, and, therefore, it is pointless to discuss …In the 16th-17th centuries, the most prominent of the Slavic peoples were the Poles, but the Russian branch has since reached such an advantage that, in power, influence and limits of the empire, now surpasses, beyond any competition, the rest of the peoples of Sarmatian origin.
Translated by A. V. Synkovsky