Map of Scythian Lands c.500 BC

The Scythians were a westwards extension of the Indo-Iranian Sakas of Central Asia (the latter's lands are shown in vertical stripes above and to the east of the Caspian Sea). In creating their domain on the Pontic steppe (to the north of the Black Sea) they seemingly dominated the early Slavs who were still largely located around the Dnieper and perhaps as far north as the headwaters of the Vistula.

The period between about 800-600 BC saw the Scythians expand from the Pontic steppe into the outer edges of Central Europe. These steppe horsemen appeared in Moravia (now eastern Czechia), and what is now Romania and Hungary. The powerful Cimmerians had already been defeated and expelled from their homeland around the Crimea, and for a while, prior to the rise of the Persian empire, the Scythians also dominated Anatolia and the Zagros Mountains.

Between about 600-500 BC the Scythians looked north, reaching the borders of the western Baltic lands. This was seemingly due to their becoming involved in wars against the Persians who launched several campaigns around the Black Sea coast. Balt defences were never seriously breached though.

Between about 500-400 BC large numbers of Iron Age La Tène Celtic peoples migrated eastwards from Central Europe, to locations in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, the Balkans, and Ukraine. This served to pin back the Scythians in the west of their lands.

By around 100 BC a clearly-defined Scythian kingship was in operation, although whether this was just one of many is not known. Ruling from Crimea, the Scythians were defeated by the Pontic kingdom which had replaced Persian rule in northern Anatolia, and the Scythians were broken. Their lands - known as Scythia - were referred to as such for several more centuries but the nomadic Scythian horsemen no longer posed a threat to the civilisations to their south.

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Iron Age Iberia 600 BC

Eastern Europe 500 BC

Iberian Tribes 300 BC