Sporoi

Sporoi () or Spori was according to Eastern Roman scholar Procopius (500–560) the old name of the Antes and Sclaveni, two Early Slavic branches. Procopius stated that the Sclaveni and Antes spoke the same language, but he did not trace their common origin back to the Veneti (as per Jordanes) but to a people he called "Sporoi". He derived the name from Greek ("to sow"), because "they populated the land with scattered settlements".

==Studies== Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866–1934) noted the scholarly view on the matter: Procopius' etymology was rejected as mistaken, and many scholars linked the term with the Serbs; some sought a connection to Ptolemy's Serboi, but "these Serboi lived far to the east, in the Volga region". He noted that the Slavic Serbs appear in historical records in the 9th century, and Serbs may have had a broader sense as suggested by two completely distinct Slavic peoples (Balkan Serbs and Lusatian Sorbs), however, according to him, identical names occurred frequently among the Slavs and the "[Early] Slavs may not even have had their own common name to designate nationality. Such names often emerged only with time.".