Editing Bastarnae (section)

==== Third century ====
During the late second century, the main ethnic change in the northern Black Sea region was the immigration, from the Vistula valley in the North, of the [[Goths]] and accompanying Germanic tribes such as the [[Taifali]] and the [[Hasdingi]], a branch of the [[Vandal]] people. This migration was part of a series of major population movements in the European ''barbaricum'' (the Roman term for regions outside their empire). The Goths appear to have established a loose political hegemony over the existing tribes in the region.

Under the leadership of the Goths, a series of major invasions of the Roman empire were launched by a grand coalition of lower Danubian tribes from c. 238 onwards. The participation of the Bastarnae in these is likely but largely unspecified, due to Zosimus' and other chroniclers' tendency to lump all these tribes under the general term "Scythians" – meaning all the inhabitants of Scythia, rather than the specific [[Iranic languages|Iranic]]-speaking people called the [[Scythians]].<ref>Wolfram (1988) 45</ref> Thus, in 250–251, the Bastarnae were probably involved in the Gothic and Sarmatian invasions which culminated in the Roman defeat at the [[Battle of Abrittus]] and the slaying of Emperor [[Decius]] (251).<ref>Wolfram (1988) 45–46</ref> This disaster was the start of the [[Third Century Crisis]] of the Roman Empire, a period of military and economic chaos. At this critical moment, the Roman army was crippled by the outbreak of a second [[smallpox]] pandemic, the [[plague of Cyprian]] (251–70). The effects are described by Zosimus as even worse than the earlier [[Antonine Plague|Antonine plague]] (166–180), which probably killed 15–30% of the empire's inhabitants.<ref>Zosimus I.16, 21</ref>

Taking advantage of Roman military disarray, a vast number of barbarian peoples overran much of the empire. The Sarmato-Gothic alliance of the lower Danube carried out major invasions of the Balkans region in 252, and in the periods 253–258 and 260–268.<ref>Zosimus I.16, 20, 21</ref> The Peucini Bastarnae are specifically mentioned in the 267/268 invasion, when the coalition built a fleet in the estuary of the river ''Tyras'' ([[Dniester]]). The Peucini Bastarnae would have been critical to this venture since, as coastal and delta dwellers, they would have had seafaring experience that the nomadic Sarmatians and Goths lacked. The barbarians sailed along the Black Sea coast to Tomis in Moesia Inferior, which they tried to take by assault without success. They then attacked the provincial capital [[Marcianopolis]] (Devnya, Bulgaria), also in vain. Sailing on through the [[Bosporus]], the expedition laid siege to [[Thessalonica]] in Macedonia. Driven off by Roman forces, the coalition host moved overland into Thracia, where finally it was crushed by Emperor [[Claudius II]] (r. 268–270) at [[Battle of Naissus|Naissus]] (269).<ref>Zosimus I.22-3</ref>

Claudius II was the first of a sequence of military emperors (the so-called "[[Illyrian emperors]]" from their main ethnic origin) who restored order in the empire in the late third century. These emperors followed a policy of large-scale resettlement within the empire of defeated barbarian tribes, granting them land in return for an obligation of military service much heavier than the usual conscription quota. The policy had the triple benefit, from the Roman point of view, of weakening the hostile tribe, repopulating the plague-ravaged frontier provinces (bringing their abandoned fields back into cultivation) and providing a pool of first-rate recruits for the army. It could also be popular with the barbarian prisoners, who were often delighted by the prospect of a land grant within the empire. In the fourth century, such communities were known as ''[[laeti]]''.<ref>Jones (1964) 620</ref>

The emperor [[Marcus Aurelius Probus|Probus]] (r. 276–282) is recorded as resettling 100,000 Bastarnae in Moesia, in addition to other peoples, including Goths, Gepids and Vandals. The Bastarnae are reported to have honoured their oath of allegiance to the emperor, while the other resettled peoples mutinied while Probus was distracted by usurpation attempts and ravaged the Danubian provinces far and wide.<ref name="Zosimus I.34"/><ref>Historia Augusta ''Probus'' 18</ref> A further massive transfer of Bastarnae was carried out by Emperor [[Diocletian]] (ruled 284–305) after he and his colleague [[Galerius]] defeated a coalition of Bastarnae and [[Carpi (Dacian tribe)|Carpi]] in 299.<ref>Eutropius IX.25</ref>