Getae and Dacians? Are they the same? Or is this unknowable?

[Alanus]

Correct. The Roxolani had to be the first of the mixed Caucasian-Asiatic to reach the western steppes, then going through Iron Gate Pass onto the Hungarian Plain to admix with the Iazyges. Thus we find newer graves-- tumuli-- and the introduction of the longer sword to Europe. Simply because the Roxolani appeared prior to the Alans does not mean they were other than Alanic. They were just the lead-group of the migrating culture. Even their name is Alanic. I believe the Taifali followed behind the Roxolani, but they were cleaved from the migration by the approach (from the northwest) of the Goths, and that the Tailfali were squeezed between the Tyrfingi Goths and Greutungi Goths. They formed an association, probably as part of the "kunja," with the Tyrfingi that lasted for at least 8 generations until 378.

Of note to these RAT forums, both the Iazyges and Taifali were formed into Roman cavalry units; and both were sent into Britain, the first around 177, the second around 396.

The Sarmatian cultures are certainly interesting, even with all the controversy of their origin. They gave us great inventiveness-- the "quick-draw dagger," the concept of "jousting," the steppe horse-dance (still seen in Austria's haut ecole), and the knight in shining armor. Not a bad legacy, eh?