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The situation changed when Sarmatians, a
new nomadic tribe of Iranian origin, started moving from the East and
penetrating the steppes in the beginning of the second century B.C. More
primitive, cruel and resistant than the Scythians, who by that time had become
partly settled, the Sarmatians managed to defeat them and become new rulers of
the steppes. In battle the Sarmatians were helped by their very aggressive and
combative wives, whose bravery matched that of the men. However, the similar
origins, habits and cultures of the two peoples helped them to forget easily
about their discordances and struggles and soon they started intermixing. In
the field of arts this interchange was quite remarkable, and the Sarmatians
contributed their highly developed craftsmanship and made another step forward
by decorating their gold and silver objects with colored gems, a novelty that
they most probably had brought with them from the East. After the Sarmatians,
Rome ruled over this area for some time, followed by great barbaric migrations
that swept away both the Scythians and the Sarmatians, leaving behind their
tumuli to confirm their existence and tell us something about their life.
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