Turcae

TURCAE (Τοῦρκοι, Suid. s. v.), a Scythian people of Asiatic Sarmatia, dwelling on the Palus Maeotis, which appears to be identical with the Ἰῦρκαι of Herodotus (Hdt. 4.22, &c.). The various hypotheses that have been started respecting the Turcae only show that nothing certain is known respecting them. (Cf. Mannert, 4. p. 130; Heeren, Ideen, 1.2, pp. 189, 281, 307; Schaffarik, Slav. Alterth. 1. p. 318, &c.) Humboldt (Central-Asien, 1. p. 245, ed. Mahlmann) opposes the notion that these Turcae or Jyrcae were the ancestors of the present Turks.