nomadic confederation · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Roxolani

150 BCE – 375 CE (approx.)

A Sarmatian people of the steppe between the Don and the Danube, famous for heavy cavalry and repeated raids on Roman Moesia.

Origins

The Roxolani were one of the main Sarmatian tribes, first recorded between the Don and the Dnieper in the 2nd century BCE. Under their leader Tasius they fought on the Scythian side against Diophantes, general of Mithridates VI, around 107 BCE. Over the following century they moved west towards the lower Danube.

Rule and society

Like other Sarmatians they were mounted pastoralists ruled by kings and nobles. Roman writers describe their lancers in scale armour, terrifying in a charge but helpless when unhorsed. Their relations with Rome swung between raids across the Danube and treaties paid for with subsidies.

Decline and legacy

In 69 CE a large Roxolani raid into Moesia was destroyed in winter, and Hadrian later restored payments to their king Rasparaganus. Gothic expansion in the 3rd century and the Hunnic invasion of the 370s broke them up, and their remnants merged with Goths, Alans and Huns.

Connections (2)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻