The article analyzes the center-periphery relationship between the Sarmatians, Meotians and Tanais. Tanais and Meotian settlements were economic centers of the region. Nomadic world acted as a periphery in the economic space of the region. However, the analysis of the political situation in the steppe zone and the Lower Don region shows that the relationship between sedentary and nomadic centers was fundamentally different. Sarmatians were one of the important centers of power in the steppes of Eastern Europe. Therefore, if we try to describe the political situation in terms of center-periphery, strong nomadic hordes should be considered the center, while Meotians should be regarded as its dependent periphery. In such circumstances, Tanais, the border outpost of the Bosporus, was forced to consider the impact of the nomads. This system of relations was formed in the 1st century BC - 1st century AD. The decline of this system, where the Sarmatian groups served as the political center relying on the economic potential of Meotian settlements, was associated with the arrival of nomads from Ciscaucasia in the Don region in the middle of the 3rd century AD.
|
