▁he ▁put ▁it , ▁a ▁ver itable ▁" R oman ian ▁California ". ▁His ▁later ▁research ▁trac ed ▁the ▁first ▁Roman ian ▁presence ▁in ▁that ▁area ▁to ▁the ▁Dark ▁A ges , ▁rev ived ▁by ▁the ▁C oss ack ▁Het man ate ' s ▁border ▁policy , ▁particularly ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 6 5 0 s . ▁According ▁to ▁him , ▁there ▁were ▁two ▁main ▁stages ▁in ▁the ▁migration ▁and ▁res ett lement ▁of ▁Mold av ian ▁pe as ants ▁to ▁what ▁became ▁his ▁hom eland . ▁The ▁first ▁was ▁under ▁Mold av ian ▁Prince ▁George ▁Duc as ▁( late ▁ 1 7 th ▁century ); ▁the ▁second ▁under ▁Russian ▁Em press ▁Catherine ▁the ▁Great . ▁Sm och in ă ▁spoke ▁in ▁detail ▁about ▁the ▁Roman ian ▁colon ies ▁of ▁ 1 8 th - century ▁" New ▁Russia ", ▁that ▁reached ▁as ▁far ▁east ▁as ▁Ole ks and ri ya . ▁ ▁The ▁Sm och in ă s ▁themselves ▁were ▁descend ants ▁of ▁Roman ian ▁ye omen ▁( r ă ze și ), ▁originally ▁from ▁Mold avia , ▁and ▁reported ly ▁spoke ▁an ▁arch a ic ▁variant ▁of ▁the ▁Roman ian ▁language . ▁The ▁literary ▁historian ▁Al . ▁Hus ar , ▁who ▁met ▁Sm och in ă ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 4 0 s , ▁re called ▁that ▁his ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁eastern ▁dialect ▁had ▁the ▁" sc ent ▁of ▁ages ", ▁and ▁" se emed ▁to ▁me ▁a ▁wonder ▁of ▁the ▁Roman ian ▁language ." ▁ ▁Sm och in ă