One of the documents that appeared in the early 4th century is a list of 53 peoples attached to a list of Roman provinces. It is preserved in a 7th-century manuscript in the Chapter House Library (Biblioteca Capitolare, MS II (2)) in Verona (hence, the “Verona List” or Laterculus Veronensis or Veroneser Völkertafel).
This list’s title is “Barbarian Nations that Sprang Up Under the Emperors” (Gentes barbaras quad pullulaverunt sub imperatoribus). It was first published by Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei (hence Mafei) in 1742 in his Opuscoli Ecclesiastici but was really brought to light by Mommsen in 1862. The following peoples are listed:
“Scoti Picti Caledonii Rugi Heruli Saxones Chamavi Frisiavi Amsivari Angli [?] Angrivari Flevi Bructeri Chatti Burgundiones Alamanni Suebi Franci Chattovari Iuthungi Armilausini Marcomanni Quadi Taifali Hermunduri Vandali Sarmatae Sciri Carpi Scythae Gothi Indii Armenii Osrhoeni Palmyreni Mosoritae Marmaridae Nabathei Isauri Fryges Persae… Item gentes quae in Mauretania sunt: Mauri Quinquegentiani, Mauri Mazices, Mauri Barbares, Mauri Bacuates, Celtiberi, Turduli, Ausetani, Carpetani, Enantes.”
Or rather this is the list put together recently by Mathisen based on the 1878 Riese edition. But if you look at the below you will see a number of differences (e.g., not Suebi but Suevi, Angri not Angli, Gallovari not Chattovari, etc.). These differences are based on different interpretations of a single manuscript! This should give you some sense of how much interpretive leeway historians and editors take!
Here is the 1742 Maffei edition (the peoples list portion is in red):
And here the 1862 Mommsen edition (again, the peoples list portion is in red):
However, what is interesting is that in all of these versions of the same thing the name Indii appears right between the Gothi and the Armeni. The list otherwise seems within its European portion to follow a West-to-East pattern. Thus, if the Indii are located between the Goths (who were then in Ukraine?) and the Armenians (who were presumably where they’ve always been and are) the Indii would be somewhere in the Caucasus.
Therefore, these Indii could not be Indians as in Indians of India. Could they be Vindi? That does not necessarily mean Veneti as in the Slavs. The most likely candidate would be the Svaneti that we mentioned recently.
Of course, that would mean that there are no explicit Slavs on the list (though, by the same reasoning, neither are there any Deutsche to be seen unless Maffei is right and Mommsen is wrong).
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