People
Arsoae
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Arsoae appears twice on the map above the Caucasus, here in small black letters, and presumably again in larger red lettering nearby. Scholars identify them as the Aorsoi, a powerful Sarmatian people who roamed the steppe between the Caspian Sea and the lower Don. They grew rich on trade, taking camel caravans to Armenia and Media and exchanging northern furs and metals for Indian, Persian and Babylonian goods, and wore gold jewellery. The Roman historian Tacitus records their prince Eunones as Rome's ally against the Siraces. Their name may come from an Ossetian word for white, and the Alans later emerged from them.