nomadic confederation · Central Asia and the Steppe

Sauromatae

600 BCE – 300 BCE (approx.)

Iranian-speaking nomads between the Don and the southern Urals, ancestors of the Sarmatians, remembered by Herodotus for their armed and riding women.

Origins

Herodotus places the Sauromatae east of the Don, beyond the Royal Scythians, in the 5th century BCE, and tells the legend that they descended from Scythian men and Amazons. Archaeologists link them to the Early Sarmatian or Sauromatian culture of the lower Volga and southern Urals, which took shape around the 6th century BCE.

Rule and society

They lived as pastoral nomads moving between seasonal pastures, burying their dead in kurgans with weapons, bronze mirrors and stone altars. A striking feature of their graves is the number of women buried with arrows, swords and horse gear, which matches Herodotus' remark that their women rode, hunted and fought, and could not marry before killing an enemy.

Decline and legacy

From the 4th century BCE the Sauromatae merged into the larger Sarmatian confederations, including the Aorsi and Siraces, which pushed west across the Don and displaced the Scythians. Their name largely gives way to 'Sarmatians' in later Greek and Roman sources.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

SauromataeSarmatians 300 BCE – 375 CE

More states of Central Asia and the Steppe →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻