Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/20

  the native Slaves and resisting the power of Rome. A portion of their territory was taken from them by Decebalus, which, after Trajan's Dacian conquests, was incorporated with the Roman dominions. (Dion Cass, xlviii. 10, 11.) Pannonia and Moesia were constantly exposed to their inroads; but, A.D. 171, they were at length driven from their last holds in the province, and pushed across the Danube, by M. Aurelius. In mid-winter they returned in great numbers, and attempted to cross the frozen stream; the Romans encountered them upon the ice, and inflicted a severe defeat, (Dion Cass. lxxi. 7, 8, 16.) At a later period, as the Roman Empire hastened to its fall, it was constantly exposed to the attacks of these wild hordes, who, beaten one day, appeared the next, plundering and laying waste whatever came in their way. (Amm. Marc. xvii. 12, 13, xxix. 6.) The word "peace" was unknown to them. (Flor. iv. 12.)

They called themselves "Sarmatae Limigantes," and were divided into two classes of freemen and slaves, "Sarmatae Liberi," "Sarmatae Servi." Ammianus Marcellinus (xvii. 13. § 1) calls the subject class "Limigantes" (a word which has been falsely explained by "Limitanei"), and St. Jerome (Chron.) says that the ruling Sarmatians had the title "Arcagarantes." By a careful comparison of the accounts given by Dion Cassius, Ammianus, Jerome, and the writer of the Life of Constantine, it may be clearly made out that the Sarmatian Iazyges, besides subjugating the Getae in Dacia and on the Lower Danube, had, by force of arms, enslaved a people distinct from the Getae, and living on the Theiss and at the foot of the Carpathians. Although the nations around them were called, both the ruling and the subject race, Sarmatians, yet the free Sarmatians were entirely distinct from the servile population in language, customs, and mode of life. The Iazyges, wild, bold riders, scoured over the plains of the Danube and Theiss valleys on their unbroken horses, while their only dwellings were the waggons drawn by oxen in which they carried their wives and children. The subject Sarmatians, on the other hand, had wooden houses and villages, such as those enumerated by Ptolemy (l. c.); they fought more on foot than on horseback, and were daring seamen, all of which peculiarities were eminently characteristic of the ancient Slaves. (Schafarik, vol. i. p. 250.)

The Slaves often rose against their masters, who sought an alliance against them among the Victofali and Quadi. (Ammian. l. c.; Euseb. Vit. Constant. iv. 6.) The history of this obscure and remarkable warfare (A. D. 334) is given by Gibbon (c. xviii.; comp. Le Beau, Bas Empire, vol. i. p. 337; Manso, Leben Constantins, p. 195). In A. D. 357—359 a new war broke out, in which Constantius made a successful campaign, and received the title "Sarmaticus." (Gibbon, c. xix.; Le Beau, vol. ii. pp. 245—273.) In A. D. 471 two of their leaders, Benga and Babaï, were defeated before Singidunum (Belgrade) by Theodoric the Ostrogoth. (Jornand. de Reb. Get. 55; comp. Gibbon, c. xxxix.; Le Beau, vol. vii. p. 44.) The hordes of the Huns, Gepidae, and Goths broke the power of this wild people, whose descendants, however, concealed themselves in the desert districts of the Theiss till the arrival of the Magyars.

Another branch of the Sarmatian Iazyges were settled behind the Carpathians in Podlachia, and were known in history at the end of the 10th century of our era; it is probable that they were amongthe northern tribes vanquished by Hermanric in A. D. 332—350, and that they were the same people as those mentioned by Jornandes (de Reb. Get. 3) under the corrupt form.

There is a monograph on this subject by Hennig (Comment de Rebus Iazygum S. Iazvingorum, Regiomont, 1812); a full and clear account of the fortunes of these peoples will be found in the German translation of the very able work of Schafarik, the historian of the Slavish races.

In 1799 a golden dish was found with an inscription in Grcek characters, now in the imperial cabinet of antiquities at Vienna, which has been referred to the Iazyges. (Von Hammer, Osman. Gesch. vol. iii. p. 726.)

 IBAN (, Cedren. vol. ii. p. 774), a city which Cedrenus (l. c.) describes as the metropolis of Vasbouragan.

The name survives in the modern Ván. St. Martin, the historian of Armenia (Mém. sur l'Armenie, vol. i. p. 117), says that, according to native traditions, Ván is a very ancient city, the foundation of which was attributed to Serairamis. Ruined in course of time, it was rebuilt by a king called Van, who lived a short time before the expedition of Alexander the Great, and who gave it his name; but, having again fallen into decay, it was restored by Vagh-Arshag (Valarsases), brother to Arsases, and first king of Armenia of the race of the Arsasidae. In the middle of the 4th century after Christ it was captured by Sapor II. (Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. ix. pp. 787, 981; London Geog. Journal, vol. viii. p. 66.) [.]

 IBER. [.]

 IBE′RA, a city of Hispania Citerior, mentioned only by Livy, who gives no explicit account of its site, further than that it was near the Iberus (Ebro), whence it took its name; but, from the connection of the narrative, we may safely infer that it was not far from the sea. At the time referred to, namely, in the Second Punic War, it was the wealthiest city in those parts. (Liv. xxiii. 28.) The manner in which Livy mentions it seems also to warrant the conclusion that it was still well known under Augustus.

Two coins are extant, one with the epigraph MUN. HIBERA JULIA on the one side, and ILERCAVONIA on the other; and the other with the head of Tiberius on the obverse, and on the reverse the epigraph M. H. J. ILERCAVONIA; whence it appears to have been made a municipium by Julius, or by Augustus in his honour, and to have been situated in the territory of the. The addition DERT. on the latter of these coins led Harduin to identify the place with Dertosa, the site of which, however, on the left bank of the river, does not agree with the probable position of Ibera. Florez supposes the allusion to be to a treaty between Ibera and Dertosa. The ships with spread sails, on both coins, indicate its maritime site, which modern geographers seek on the S. side of the delta of the Ebro, at S. Carlos de la Rapita, near Amposta. Its decay is easily accounted for by its lying out of the great high road, amidst the malaria of the river-delta, and in a position where its port would be choked by the alluvial deposits of the Ebro. It seems probable that the port is now represented by the Salinas, or lagoon, called Puerto de los Alfaques, which signifies Port of the Jaws, i. e. of the river. (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4; Harduin, ad loc.; Marca, Hisp. ii. 8; Florez, Med. de Esp. vol. ii. p. 453; Sestini, 