Sauromate

Sauromate is a bit of a puzzle. The label appears regularly in the area north of the Black Sea, in roughly the same regions as Taurica, Tartaria, and Sarmatia. From an etymological standpoint, there were Iron-Age tribes in this area known as the Sauromatians, plus an ancient Bosporan kingdom in the area of the Kerch Strait, near Caffa and Copa, several of whose kings were named Sauromates. Despite the fact that there is no historical connection between the Sauromatians and the Sarmatians, it seems more likely that Sauromate (which appears very commonly on the Sfera Map 1) is a version of Sarmatia.