Antes (people)

The Antes or Antae (Greek: Áνται) were an early Slavic tribal polity which existed in the 6th century lower Danube and northwestern Black Sea region (modern-day Moldova and central Ukraine). They are commonly associated with the archaeological Penkovka culture.

First mentioned in 518, the Antes invaded the Diocese of Thrace at some point between 533 and 545. Shortly after, they became Byzantine foederati, and were given gold payments and a fort named Turris, somewhere north of the Danube at a strategically important location, so as to prevent hostile barbarians invading Roman lands. Thus, between 545 and the 580s, Antean soldiers fought in various Byzantine campaigns. The Antes were eventually attacked and destroyed by the Pannonian Avars at the beginning of the 7th century.

Based on the literary evidence provided by Procopius (ca 500 to ca 560) and by Jordanes (fl. ca 551), the Antes (along with the Sklaveni and the Venethi) have long been viewed as one of the constituent proto-Slavic peoples ancestral both to medieval groups and to modern nations. Studying the Antes since the late 18th century, modern scholars have at times engaged in heated polemics regarding Antean origins and the attribution of their ancestors. They have variously regarded the Antes as ancestors of specifically the Vyatichi or Rus (from a medieval perspective), and of the Ukrainians versus other East Slavs (with regard to extant populations). Additionally South Slavic historians have regarded the Antes as the ancestors of the East South Slavs.

Although regarded as a predominantly Slavic tribal union, numerous other theories have arisen, especially with regard to the origins of their ruling core; including theories of a Gothic, Iranic and Slavic ruling nobility, or some mixture thereof. Much dispute arose because of scant literary evidence: little is known apart from the tribal name itself and a handful of anthroponyms.

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