SIRACE´NI
Eth.
SIRACE´NI (
Σιρακηνοί,
Ptol. 5.9. § § 17, 19), a great and mighty people of Asiatic Sarmatia on the east shore of the Maeotis, beyond the Rha and on the Achardeus, in the district called by Strabo (11.504) Siracene. They appear under various names. Thus Strabo (
xi. p.506) and Mela (1.19) call them Siraces; Tacitus (
Tac. Ann. 12.15, seq.) Siraci (in
Strabo xi. p.492,
Σιρακοί); and in an inscription (Böckh, ii. p. 1009) we find the form
Σιράχοι. They were governed by their own kings, and the Romans were engaged in a war with them, A.D. 50. (Tac.
l.c.; Strab. ib. p. 504.)
[
T.H.D]
