The name Rus is first directly attested to in the ‘Life of St. George of Amastris‘ written by Ignatios the Deacon (d. after 845). Here is the quote: “The things that happened next were even more amazing. There was an invasion of the barbarian Rus, a people, as everyone knows, who are brutal and crude and bear no remnant of love for humankind. They have savage customs and are inhuman in their deeds, displaying bloodthirstiness in their very appearance. They rejoice in slaughter more than in any other thing that people naturally enjoy. This nation, destructive both in deed and name, began their brutal outrage from the Propontis and then spread up the coast. They came as far as the native city of the saint and cut down unsparingly people of both sexes and every generation. They did not pity the old or overlook the young but rather raised their bloodthirsty hands equally against all and hastened to bring destruction with as much force as possible. Knocking over churches and desecrating relics, they set up ungodly altars in their place and performed unlawful libations and sacrifices. They renewed that ancient Tauric slaying of strangers, the slaughter of youths, men as well as women. No one provided aid, no one stood against them. Even meadows and springs and trees feared them. Perhaps divine providence allowed this so that evil would be multiplied, something that happened many times to Israel as we have learned from Scripture.” (Life of St. George of Amastris)
Strangely, historians and scholars who use this quote avoid the highlighted part. Most likely, because it contradicts their conviction that by the 9th century AD, there were no Scythians left, (although Ignatios the Deacon was a contemporary of the events and knew the people he was describing). Could he be mistaken?
Only a decade after Ignatios’ death, in 860 AD, the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (d. 891) described the attack of the Rus as “a people from the north” on Constantinople. The famous passage reads “An obscure nation, a nation of no account, a nation ranked among slaves, unknown, but which has won a name from the expedition against us… this people was once identified with a “fierce and barbarous Scythian tribe.”
Read the previous article on the Tauroscythians >
The “Gardariki, Ukraine” ebook has more information on the topic.
