Iazyges

Not to be confused with the Iapydes or the Iasi.

Sculpted image of a Sarmatian from the Casa degli Omenoni[1]

A physical map of Europe under Emperor Hadrian with the borders of Rome in red
The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138), showing the location of the Iazyges in the plain of the Tisza river[2]

The Iazyges (/aɪˈæzɪdʒiːz/)[a] were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in c. 200 BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In c. 44 BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between the Danube and Tisza rivers, where they adopted a semi-sedentary lifestyle.

In their early relationship with Rome, the Iazyges were used as a buffer state between the Romans and the Dacians; this relationship later developed into one of overlord and client state, with the Iazyges being nominally sovereign subjects of Rome. Throughout this relationship, the Iazyges carried out raids on Roman land, which often caused punitive expeditions to be made against them.

Almost all of the major events of the Iazyges, such as the two Dacian Wars—in both of which the Iazyges fought, assisting Rome in subjugating the Dacians in the first war and conquering them in the second—are connected with war. Another such war is the Marcomannic War that occurred between 169 and 175, in which this time, Iazyges fought against Rome but were defeated by Marcus Aurelius and had severe penalties imposed on them.

An ancient map of Dacia showing land in tan, mountains in brown, and water in blue
The Ninth European Map (in two parts) from a 15th-century Greek manuscript edition of Ptolemy's Geography, showing the Wandering Iazyges in the northwest between Pannonia and Dacia[3]
  1. ^ Coppadoro 2010, p. 28.
  2. ^ Leisering 2004, pp. 26–27.
  3. ^ Map after Ptolemy's Geographia.


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