Sanctuary of the Mysteries at Eleusis in Greece, which is believed to have been carved by priests after this temple was sacked by the Costoboci during their invasion of 170/1. The inscription refers to the "crimes of the Sarmatians". Some scholars argue that this proves the Costoboci were Sarmatians. However, other scholars suggest that the name of the Sarmatians was used as an umbrella term for raiders crossing the lower Danube, or that it attests a joint invasion by Costoboci and Sarmatians. Conflict with Rome During the rule of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire fought the Marcomannic Wars, a vast and protracted struggle against Marcomanni, Quadi, and other tribes along the middle Danube. The Costoboci also joined the anti-Roman coalition at some stage. The invasion of 170/1 In AD 167 the Roman legion V Macedonica, returning from the Parthian War, moved its headquarters from Troesmis in Moesia Inferior to Potaissa in Dacia Porolissensis, to defend the Dacian provinces against the Marcomannic attacks. Other auxiliary units from Moesia Inferior participated in the middle Danube campaigns, leaving the lower Danube frontier defenses weakened. Taking the opportunity, in 170 or 171, the Costoboci invaded Roman territory. Meeting little opposition, they swept through and raided the provinces of Moesia Inferior, Moesia Superior, Thracia, Macedonia and Achaea. Northern Balkans Crossing the Danube, the Costoboci burnt down a district of Histria which was thus abandoned. Their attacks also affected Callatis and the walls of the city required repairs. Two funerary inscriptions discovered at Tropaeum Traiani in Moesia Inferior commemorate Romans killed during the attacks: Lucius Fufidius Iulianus, a decurion and duumvir of the city and a man named Daizus, son of Comozous. A vexillatio made of detachments of the legions I Italica and V Macedonica was deployed at Tropaeum in this period, perhaps to defend against these attacks. The raiders then moved west reaching Dardania. A tombstone found at Scupi in Moesia Superior was dedicated to Timonius Dassus, a decurion from the Roman auxiliary cohort II Aurelia Dardanorum, who fell in combat against the Costoboci. Their offensive continued southwards, through Macedonia into Greece. Greece In his description of the city of Elateia in central Greece, the contemporaneous travel-writer Pausanias mentioned an incident involving the local resistance against the Costoboci: Thereafter, the barbarians reached Athens where they sacked the famous shrine of the Mysteries at Eleusis. In May or June 171, the orator Aelius Aristides delivered a