There are no detailed and correct written sources concerning the society and the social structure of the Sarmatians arriving in the Carpathian Basin. Regarding only the longer works, we find that only faint traces of Herodotus's ethno-historical aspects can be detected in Pausanias's and Strabo's historico-geographical works in the literature written in Greek language. The historical events of barbarian territories, which had no impact on the provinces, stood outside the sphere of interest of 'Rome-centric' minded writers. Cassius Dio, Zosimos and Sozomenos, who wrote in Greek, described only the data connected with individual military activities. From Latin literature, only a sporadic event history can be compiled as compared to the Herodotus type interpretation, which can be completed with epigraphic and numismatic data. Germania by Tacit also contains only indirect data, and in accordance to the title of the work, he mentions the Sarmatians only from the aspects of the Germans. The Annales and the Historiae provide only short historical notes, which regarded the Romans. Ptolemy listed geographical data, while the debated Historia Augusta Vita published scattered information that was not supported by other authors and is not accepted by modern research. It is only Ammianus Marcellinus who wrote more details about the inner warfares of the Sarmatians with regard to the events of the 4th century A.D. The Greek and Latin literature can be characterised, beside describing the events, by the banal repetition of Sarmatian customs and tactics, which were strange for the Romans.

All the above reveal that archaeological information retains a decisive role beside the written sources poor in detail concerning this topic if we want to clarify the problem. The discontinuous historical events and the archaeological data together are suitable to give information on the military and political situation of the Sarmatian Barbaricum with their tendencies even if they are often no more than an indication. Archaeological historical research, namely, has not paid enough attention to the inner organisation of the Barbaricum although it is impossible that the Barbarians would have lived without significant inner structure along the borders of the Roman Empire. The same is supported by the fact that they responded fast to the events that took place in the neighbouring provinces. This is the reason why I am analysing the military system within the Carpathian Basin in my communication based on historical-archaeological data in the period from the 1st century A.D. to Attila's death.