tribal confederation · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Antes

500 CE – 602 CE (approx.)

An early Slavic people between the Dniester and the Dnieper, known from Byzantine writers as raiders and allies of the 6th-century empire.

Origins

The Antes appear in the 6th century in Procopius and Jordanes, who describe them as a people related to the Sclaveni living east of the Dniester. Archaeologists usually connect them with the Penkovka culture. Jordanes also tells how an Antian leader named Boz was killed by the Goths, but the story is hard to date.

Rule and society

Procopius says the Antes were not ruled by one man but lived in a kind of democracy, deciding matters in common, and worshipped a god of lightning as lord of all. They farmed, kept livestock and lived in scattered villages. From the 530s they raided the Balkans, but Justinian also hired them as allies to guard the Danube.

Decline and legacy

The Avars attacked them in the 560s, and an Avar expedition sent against them in 602 is the last time the Antes are mentioned. Their people were absorbed into the East Slavic tribes of later centuries, while the title Anticus lingered for a time in the Byzantine emperor's style.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Antes. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antes
MLA
“Antes.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antes. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Antes.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antes.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Antes’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/antes (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻