Sciri

The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people, who were first mentioned in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the city of Olbia near modern-day Odesa. Along with the Bastarnae, who are much more frequently mentioned, they are among the earliest, and most easterly, of the Germanic peoples mentioned by Greek or Roman authors.

Centuries later, in the late 4th century AD they still lived somewhere north of the Black Sea and Lower Danube in the vicinity of the Goths. By the early 5th century, the Sciri had been subdued by the Huns, whom they fought under at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in AD 451.

After the death of Attila, the Sciri broke free from Hunnic rule after the Battle of Nedao in AD 454. They were subsequently recorded holding their own kingdom north of the Middle Danube, under the leadership of Edeko and his son Onoulphus. After the destruction of this kingdom by the Ostrogoths in the late 460s AD, Odoacer, another son of Edeko, attained high status within the Roman army in Italy, ruling Sciri, Rugii and other non-Roman peoples as a king. Odoacer eventually made himself King of Italy in AD 476, effectively ending the Western Roman Empire.

Odoacer was in turn deposed and killed by Theodoric the Great in AD 493. Along with the Rugii, Heruli and other Middle Danubian peoples, the Sciri might also have contributed to the formation of the Bavarii.

The Sciri are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language, like the Goths. Their name probably means "the pure ones".