The Antes or Antae were an ancient Slavic-Iranian tribal union in Eastern Europe who lived north of the lower Danube and the Black Sea (on the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine) in the 6th and 7th century AD and who are associated with the archaeological Penkovka culture.
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Procopius and Jordanes mention the Antes as one of three major groups of Slavic people, who inhabited the left (north) bank of the lower Danube. They remarked that they looked and sounded 'identical' (i.e. very similar) to the Sclavanoi, who dwelt along the middle Danube.
The word Antes is considered by some linguists to be an Iranic name. They suggest that the Antes were one of the Sarmato-Alanic tribes that in the 4th century inhabited the region between the Caucasus and Ukrainian steppes, perhaps between the Prut and lower Dneister rivers [1] in what is now modern Moldova and southwestern Ukraine. With time, their center of power shifted northward into what is now western and central Ukraine. In the fifth and sixth centuries they settled in Volhynia and subsequently in the middle Dnieper region near the present-day city of Kiev.[1] As they moved north from the open steppe to the forest steppe, they mixed with Slavic tribes. They organised the Slavic tribes and the name Antes came to be used for the mixed Slavo-Alanic body. Eventually they were completely absorbed by the Slavs, but the name was preserved. A comparable theory exists for other Slavic tribes, namely Serbs and Croats.
The Antes had evolved into a powerful tribal unit. The 6th century Roman historian Jordanes described them as the “bravest of these people dwelling in the curve of the Sea of Pontus (Black Sea), spread from the Dniester to the Dnieper”. An Antean "King" called Boz is mentioned. The Antes were involved in conflicts with the Goths, who had migrated to the Ukrainian steppe from Scandinavia. Possibly subject to the Goths, they provided the Slavic elements found in the multi-ethnic Chernyakhov culture. The apogee of Antean power occurred in the 5th century. As the Goths were defeated by the Huns, and the Huns subsequently shifted to the Pannonian basin, the Antes filled the resulting power vacuum.
Some scholars, such as Francis Dvornik, suggest that the Antean tribal league evolved into the first Slavic state (Slavs ruled by Antes, who from ethnic point of view were Sarmatian upper class [2]); or even an empire stretching from to the Oder river in the west to the Donets in the east. On the western extent of the Antean territory, they mingled with the Romanized autochthons on the Danube and Prut basins (in southern and eastern Romania and northern Bulgaria), forming the Ipoteşti-Cândeşti culture characterized by a fusion of Slavic and Roman elements.
The first documented raid on Roman territory was in 518 AD. From then on, the Romans engaged the Antes as allies (foederati), paying them stipends and even giving them an abandoned imperial city called Turris somewhere north of the Ister (Danube). A detachment of Antean soldiers fought for the Romans in Italy against the Ostrogoths. Engaged in conflicts with Cutrigurs and other Sclavenes, their territory was then 'devastated' by Avar attacks in the 590s. They were last mentioned in 602 AD, after which the Antean union disappears from history. It is likely that many Anteans were subjugated by the Avars and served as soldiers for the qagan, whilst others fled across the Danube into imperial Moesia. Both, independently and under Avar control, the people of the 'Antean nation' became dispersed throughout much of central and southeastern Europe. Bulgarian scholar Vasil Zlatarski theorizes that the Severians, Teverians and Ulichians are 'successor' polities.[3] Thus the Antes are often held to be the linguistic ancestors of the Bulgarians, as well as East Slavs.
A sedentary settlement consisting of numerous villages came into being, with cattle breeding and agriculture being the primary occupation, living in typical semi-subterranean dwellings. They practiced bi-ritual flat burials. They were involved in trade on a local scale, but also at an 'international' level- reaching Roman markets. They established several hillforts, known as horodyshcha, where artisans produced pottery and metalwares. Among the most important fortified trade centers were Volyn and Kiev.[1] Remnants of their settlements have been found by archaeologists, who have attributed the Pen’kovka culture to the Antes. However, this position has recently been challenged by Florin Curta, who challenges the dating of such settlements, placing them well after the extinction of the Antean political entity.