Carpi (people) - Moldavia After 318

Moldavia After 318

There are several indications that the Carpi may have been largely eliminated north of the Danube by 318:

1. The evidence of Aurelius Victor, writing in 361, that all the Carpi were deported to the empire.
2. The sheer scale of losses in the wars against the Romans and subsequent mass deportations. These must have severely depleted a relatively small population, whose territory probably did not exceed half of Moldavia,
3. The disappearance, c. 318, of the "Daco-Carpic" culture in Moldavia, according to Bichir.
4. The absence of any mention of the transdanubian Carpi in the contemporary history of Ammianus, whose surviving books provide a detailed account of the period 353-378. (Ammianus does mention the Carpi twice, but only those settled inside the empire).
5. The fact that the Carpicus title was not claimed after 318.

Many historians dispute that the Carpi were eliminated from the Carpathian region and argue that many Carpi remained, a view accepted by Millar and Batty. Beyond 318, specific evidence of Carpi continuity is limited to Zosimus' reference to Karpodakai joining in a barbarian invasion of the empire in the 380s. But this notice, even if historically valid, may not refer to the Carpi (see Ethno-linguistic Affiliation, above).

Even if some Carpi did remain in Moldavia, it is clear that they lost their political independence, according to Heather. After the death of Constantine, the Wallachian plain and Moldavia fell under the domination of the Tervingi branch of the Gothic nation, as evidenced by the existence of a substantial Gothic kingdom in the mid fourth century.

Transylvania, on the other hand, appears to have been dominated in the fourth century by another, probably Germanic group, the Taifali. However, the Taifali appear to have been under Gothic suzerainty. These Germanic kingdoms were overwhelmed by the Huns, resulting in the great Gothic-led migration that culminated in the Roman disaster at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Carpi are nowhere mentioned in Ammianus' detailed account of these epic events, again suggesting that any remaining Carpi may have lost their distinct identity.