People
Alani
Alanorum
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The Alani were a confederation of steppe tribes, and the map sets their name east of the Sea of Azov, in the lands reaching from the Caspian to the river Don. From the first century BC they replace the Sarmatian tribes in Roman sources, and the poet Lucan has Pompey meet them during the war against Mithridates. Later they raided Armenia, Media and, under Hadrian, Cappadocia, and in AD 242 they pushed as far as Philippopolis in Thrace. Around 370 the Huns overran them. Some joined the Vandals on their way to Africa, and the Ossetians of the Caucasus are regarded as their descendants.