Sporoi (Greek:Σπόροι) orSpori was according to Eastern Roman scholarProcopius (500–560) the old name of theAntes andSclaveni, twoEarly Slavic branches. Procopius stated that the Sclaveni and Antesspoke the same language, but he did not trace their common origin back to theVeneti (as per Jordanes) but to a people he called "Sporoi".[1] He derived the name from Greekσπείρω ("to sow"), because "they populated the land with scattered settlements".[2]
Ukrainian historianMykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866–1934) noted the scholarly view on the matter: Procopius' etymology was rejected as mistaken, and many scholars linked the term with theSerbs; some sought a connection toPtolemy'sSerboi, but "these Serboi lived far to the east, in theVolga region". He noted that the Slavic Serbs appear in historical records in the 9th century, andSerbs may have had a broader sense as suggested by two completely distinctSlavic peoples (BalkanSerbs andLusatian Sorbs), however, according to him, identical names occurred frequently among theSlavs and the "[Early] Slavs may not even have had their own common name to designate nationality. Such names often emerged only with time.".[2]
According to Czech historianFrancis Dvornik (1893–1975), the Sporoi were probably theSpali mentioned byJordanes (fl. 551) andSpalei mentioned byPliny the Elder (fl. 77–79).[3] According to theNorth American Society for Serbian Studies, rather than connecting the ethnonym to the poorly knownSpali, it was more likely, as per the old view, a Greek rendering of the nameSorpoi orSorboi, connected to the Serbs.[4]
According to British archaeologistPaul M. Barford, writing in 2001, it most likely derived from theProto-Slavic word for "multitude" (sporъ, whence Polishsporo, etc.).[1]
A connection has also been made with theZeriuani mentioned by the 9th-centuryBavarian Geographer.[5] It states that the Zeriuani "which is so great a realm that from it, as their tradition relates, all the tribes of the Slavs are sprung and trace their origin" (Zeriuani tantum est regnum, ut ex eo cunctae gentes Sclavorum exortae sint, et originem, sicut affirmant, ducant).[5]
In contrast to Procopius, the Roman bureaucratJordanes wrote about the Slavs in his workGetica (551): "although they derive from one nation, now they are known under three names, the Veneti, Antes and Sclaveni" (ab unastirpe exorti, tria nomina ediderunt, id est Veneti, Antes, Sclaveni); that is, the West Slavs, East Slavs, and South Slavs.[6] He stated that the Veneti were the ancestors of the Sclaveni and the Antes, the two having used to be calledVeneti but are now "chiefly" called Sclaveni and Antes.[7]
Zeruiani
Jordanes left no doubt that the Antes were of Slavic origin, when he wrote: 'ab unastirpe exorti, tria nomina ediderunt, id est Veneti, Antes, Sclaveni' (although they derive from one nation, now they are known under three names, the Veneti , Antes and Sclaveni). The Veneti were the West Slavs, the Antes the East Slavs, and the Sclaveni the South or Balkan Slavs.