| |
The article deals with a complex matter of military and political strategy on the north-eastern borders of the Roman Empire during the reign of Nero. According to the authors, King Pharzoy's humiliating concessions to the barbarians in the Northern Black Sea Region during this period were justified in the eyes of the public by the necessity of confrontation against the northern tribes – Przeworsk culture carriers and the restoration of the Vistula Amber Road functioning. With this objective in view, through the hands of their new allies, the Romans blocked Przeworsk culture carriers' access to the amber shore at the mouth of the Vistula as well as to the south-east towards the Black Sea coast. The expansion along the amber road to the Danube limes was also complicated for the barbarians because of the established friendly relations with the empire of the Vannius's nephews, who divided his kingdom among themselves.
On the one hand, by transferring attention to the external threat and conducting complex operations abroad, Nero's entourage tried to eliminate the negative impact of the emperor's foreign policy failures on domestic political life in the state. Though, on the other hand, the difficult situation that prevailed in the north-eastern near and far borders of the empire by the time of the emperor's reign connected with the formation of two powerful barbarian alliances – the union of the Lugii tribes and the ‘kingdom’ of Pharzoy, actually required urgent preventive measures. In accordance with their favourite tactics, the Romans once again directed their efforts to divide their obvious and potential enemies.
However, in Europe such actions objectively contributed to the intensification of the barbarians' migration processes from Scandinavia that, sooner or later, should have set in motion the tribes living on the mainland. Moreover, the conquest wars of the northern squads sanctioned by the Romans turned into a decisive factor of Goths ethnogenesis. As far as its formation, the new people increasingly broke away not only from its Scandinavian roots but also from the direction of the Roman policy, gradually turning into a major driving force of the initial phase of the Great Migration – a process that would eventually destroy the ancient world.
Keywords:The Roman Empire, Emperor Nero, kingdom of Pharzoy, the Vistula Amber Road, Przeworsk culture, Wielbark culture, Goths, Vandals, Lugii, Bastarnae.
|
LEGAL
INFORMATION:
