The Bosporan kingdom arose in the 5th century BC. e. as a result of the unification of Greek city-colonies (Phanagoria, Gorgippia, Kepa, Patus, etc.) under the rule of the hereditary rulers of the Bosporus from the Archeanactid family (480-438 BC). The capital of the Bosporan kingdom was the city of Panticapaeum (now Kerch). The greatest expansion of the territory of the Bosporan kingdom occurred during the reign of Spartacid dynasty , which arose from the first archon of the Bosporan kingdom Spartok I (438 BC-433 BC)
In the works of ancient Greek literature the name is known Pardokas – Παρδοκας - Scythian policeman from the comedy of Aristophanes. The historian Bledyse reads the Scythian name Pardokas as Spardokas - Σπαρδοκας or Spardakos -Σπαρδακος, and considers this name identical to the Latin name Spartacus - Spartacus - Spartak.
During the reign of the Bosporan archon Satyr I (407-389 BC), lands were annexed to the Bosporan kingdom south-eastern coast of Crimea, the cities of Nymphaeum, Heraclea, Feodosiya. The heirs of the Spartokid dynasty began to call themselves “archons of Bosporus and Feodosia” from 349 BC.
During the reign of the Bosporus King Leukon I (389 -349 BC) The Bosporan kingdom managed to subjugate the local tribes living on the coast of Myotis (Sea of Azov) and on the shores of the Taman Peninsula. King Levkon I, became known as "Basileus of all Sinds and Maeots, Archon of Bosporus and Feodosia."
Along the banks Myotids (Sea of Azos) lived myotae, Sarmatians and Sindians. Sindikoy, that is, the lands of the Kuban River basin and part of the Northern Black Sea region were called the land of the Sinds. Name Kuban River comes from the ancient Greek word “Gopanis” (Gipanis) – “horse river”, “violent river”.
From the end of the 2nd century BC. e. The Bosporan state joined the Pontic Kingdom (Pontus), which occupied in 302 - 64. BC. vast territories on the southern coast of the Black Sea in Asia Minor.
The rise of the power of the Bosporan state is associated with the name of the Pontic , who reigned from 121 to 63 BC. e.
Believing in his power and the invincibility of his army, Mithridates IV Eupator began to fight with the Roman Empire.
As a result three Mithridatic wars with Rome (89-84; 83-81; 74-64 BC) The Bosporan and Pontic kingdoms were included in the Roman Empire and became eastern Roman provinces in 64 BC.At the end of the 4th century BC, in the Bosporan kingdom, brutal internecine wars began between his sons Perisada I. In the struggle for the royal throne princes Satyr, Eumelus and Prytan They involved the inhabitants of the Bosporan cities and nomadic tribes in a bloody internecine war. The entire Kuban region, and possibly the Lower Don, became the territory of hostilities.
Basileus (king) of all Sinds and Maeots from 310 BC. e.-304 BC e. Eumelus became Archon of Bosporus and Theodosius , son of Perisad I.
Having reigned on the Bosporan throne, he was forced come to terms with the presence of Roman troops in some cities. The next century and a half became a time of relative stability and tranquility in the Northern Black Sea region, the era of economic prosperity of the Bosporan cities, the era of their gradual settlement by the Sarmatians. Sarmatian nobility and ordinary Sarmatian nomads began to settle in Bosporan cities. Some of the Sarmatians were able to achieve high positions in the Bosporan administration, for example, the Sarmatian Neol became governor of Gorgippia.At the end of the 2nd and first half of the 3rd centuries. AD most city positions in Tanais It was not occupied by Greeks or descendants of Greeks from mixed marriages. The names of the ruling dynasties of Bosporus have changed; among the Bosporan kings there are known rulers who wore name Savromat (Sarmat)
The Bosporan state lasted until the 4th century AD. and fell under the onslaught of the Huns.
In the Northern Black Sea region in the 5th century BC - 4th century AD. It was located on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Kerch Strait), the capital was Panticapaeum (now Kerch). During periods of greatest prosperity, it included the Eastern Crimea (at times also the territory of Chersonesus in Western Crimea), the Taman Peninsula, the Lower Kuban region, the Eastern Azov region and the Don delta. Large centers are Phanagoria, Hermonassa, Gorgippia, Theodosius, Nymphaeum, Tanais. The first Greek colonies were founded on the territory of the Bosporan state in the mid-6th century BC. Around 480, as a result of the union of several poleis of the Kerch and Taman peninsulas in the face of the Scythian expansion, the Bosporan state was formed around Panticapaeum. The ruling dynasties are the Archeanactids (until 438), then the Spartokids (until the end of the 2nd century BC). The Spartokids completed the unification of the Greek city-states into the Bosporan state, under them it acquired the character of a hereditary corporate tyranny. Representatives of this dynasty were the supreme kings of the subject barbarian peoples, preserving their traditional power structures, and the archons of Greek cities. The Bosporan state had its own chronology and coins. The basis of the army under their rule was made up of barbarian and mercenary contingents. The economy of the Bosporan state was based on the production and export of grain; its largest exporters were the tyrants themselves and their entourage. In prosperous years, grain exports reached enormous proportions (16 thousand tons annually to Athens alone). The bulk of commercial grain was produced by the semi-independent and partly dependent local population, as well as by slaves. Slaves, livestock, leather, fish, and furs were exported. For domestic needs, viticulture and winemaking, vegetable gardening, horticulture, and beekeeping developed. Ceramic, metallurgical (including casting of statues) production, wood and stone processing, and weaving were developed. Wines, olive oil, fabrics, metal products, artistic ceramics and works of monumental art, weapons, jewelry, etc. were imported. Trade (including intermediary) with the barbarian environment played an important role. Already in the 5th century, the Bosporans had trading quarters in local settlements and strongholds in the Don Delta, where the city of Tanais was founded in the 3rd century. In the classical and Hellenistic periods, the Bosporan city-states maintained close ties with the cities of Greece and Asia Minor. In relations with Scythia, periods of alliances were replaced by intense rivalry. The main cults in the Bosporan state are Apollo (the deity-leader of the colonists), Demeter, Cybele, Aphrodite (the sanctuary of Apatur on the Taman Peninsula), “God of the Highest Listener” (in Roman times, under the influence of Judaism, part of the population of the Bosporan state gravitated towards monotheism). From the beginning of the 3rd century, the Bosporan rulers began to call themselves kings. From the 1st half of the 3rd century, the Bosporan state maintained intensive ties with Egypt. From the 2nd half of the 3rd century, crisis phenomena appeared in the economy and finances of the Bosporan state, which, coupled with the complicated political situation at the end of the 2nd century caused by pressure from the Scythians and Sarmatians, led to the fall of the Spartokids. Perisades V, the last representative of the Spartokids, transferred power to the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. The speech against Mithridates in 107 by the Scythian prince Savmak, a pupil of Perisad, was suppressed. The Bosporan state was drawn into the struggle with Rome as a support base for the troops of Mithridates. Mithridates' son Pharnaces II, having received power from Rome, made an unsuccessful attempt (50-47) to unite his father's possessions in the Bosporus and Pontus. At the turn of our era, the Sarmatian dynasty of Tiberius-Julians, associated with Mithridates, established itself in the Bosporan state, a vassal to Rome. The Bosporan state acted as an ally of the Roman Empire, but pursued a fairly independent policy. In the 1st-2nd centuries AD, the Bosporan kings repeatedly successfully fought against the Scythians and Taurians in the Crimea, the Sarmatians in the Azov region, controlling the latter up to and including the mouth of the Don, and often subjugated Chersonesos. The influx of Sarmatians into the cities of the Bosporan state during this period caused a significant Sarmatization of its culture.
During the wars of the mid-3rd century, part of the Bosporan cities (Gorgippia, Tanais, etc.) and a significant number of rural settlements were destroyed by barbarians. In the 340s, the production of Bosporan coins ceased, and from the 2nd half of the 4th century, the East Germanic (Gothic or Herulian) presence in the Bosporan state increased. The Christianization of the Bosporus state is evidenced by the participation of Bishop Cadmus of Bosporus in the Council of Nicaea in 325, archaeological and epigraphic data. The Bosporan state lost its independence in the 530s, after being captured by Byzantine troops. See also Ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region.
The artistic culture of the Bosporan state was formed as a result of the interaction of the Greek tradition introduced by the colonists and the aesthetic preferences of the autochthonous environment (mainly Scythian). The cities of the Bosporan state had a layout typical of the cities of Ancient Greece. In the 5th-4th centuries BC, monumental fortress walls with towers were built. Since the 4th century BC, stone has been actively used in architecture, and construction technology has reached its peak. In residential architecture, types of buildings characteristic of Greece and Asia Minor were used (including a house with a peristyle courtyard); one of the significant local features was the presence of stone basements. The necropolises of the Bosporan state are represented by both ground burial grounds and mounds. In the 4th century BC, a distinctive type of stone burial crypts with “false” stepped vaults appeared (Golden and Royal burial mounds). At the beginning of the 3rd century BC, burial mound crypts with semi-circular vaults were borrowed from Greek architecture (the first crypt of Vasyurinskaya Mountain on the Taman Peninsula).
Wall painting was associated with architecture (2nd half of the 4th century BC - early 4th century AD) - the most interesting part of the ancient heritage in the art of the Bosporan state, which formed a unique local school of painting. In the 4th-2nd centuries BC, painting was mainly of a decorative nature (“the crypt of 1908” on Mount Mithridates, the painting of the walls of the second crypt of the Bolshaya Bliznitsa mound), from the 1st century BC, plot images appeared (the crypt of Demeter on Glinische, the “crypt Stasov 1872-1899"). Mosaics were used to decorate homes.
Vase painting on the territory of the Bosporan state is represented by imported painted ceramics, mainly from Attica and Asia Minor. The most original are the so-called Phanagorian vessels - three painted figured lekythos (in the form of a sphinx, Aphrodite and a siren) from the necropolis of Phanagoria (late 5th - early 4th centuries BC, Hermitage, St. Petersburg). At the end of the 4th-3rd centuries BC, local ceramic vases (so-called watercolors) and silver dishes (kylixes with a relief image of Helios's team) were produced.
The sculpture of the Bosporan state also developed under Greek influence. The main artistic features of Ionian sculpture were manifested in monuments of both the Archaic era (marble head of the kouros, State Historical Museum, Moscow) and the Classical era (the upper part of the stele with the image of an athlete from Kerch, 1st half of the 5th century BC, Hermitage). From the 5th century BC there are works from Attica (relief on the edge of a marble disk from Panticapaeum, 2nd half of the 5th century BC; grotesque figurines from the Bolshaya Bliznitsa mound, Hermitage). In some sculptures of the 4th century BC, the tradition of the Greek masters - Praxiteles, Scopas - is palpable. Numerous works of Greek glyptics come from the Panticapaean burials of the 4th century BC (a gem of blue chalcedony with an image of a flying heron by the famous master of the 2nd half of the 5th century BC Dexamenes from the island of Chios, Hermitage). Starting from the 3rd century BC, in the sculpture of the Bosporan state there are works of various Hellenistic schools: Alexandrian (head of the goddess Hygieia, 3rd century BC, Hermitage), Pergamon (head of a Hellenistic king from Panticapaeum, late 2nd - 1st centuries BC, Hermitage ). Terracotta figurines remained popular during the Hellenistic period. In the 1st-3rd centuries AD, the works of local sculptors, especially funerary reliefs, marked by an ever-increasing schematism of the image, became widespread.
Toreutics, made in the tradition of Greco-Scythian art, is widely represented in the art of the Bosporan state (gold items of the 4th century BC from the Kul-Oba, Chertomlyk, etc. mounds, the Hermitage).
Lit.: Rostovtsev M.I. Antique decorative painting in the south of Russia. St. Petersburg, 1913-1914. [T. 1-2]; aka. Scythia and Bosporus. M., 1925; aka. State and culture of the Bosporan kingdom // Bulletin of ancient history. 1989. No. 2-4. 1990. No. 1; Blavatsky V.D. Art of the Northern Black Sea region of the ancient era. M., 1947; Gaidukevich V.F. Bosporan Kingdom. M.; L., 1949; Ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region. M.; L., 1955. T. 1; Ivanova A.P. Sculpture and painting of the Bosporus. K., 1961; Kobylina M. M. Terracotta figurines of Panticapaeum and Phanagoria. M., 1961; History of the art of the peoples of the USSR. M., 1971. T. 1, Tsvetaeva G. A. Bosporus and Rimskoy M., 1979; Ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region. M., 1984; Tolstikov V.P. On the problem of the formation of the Bosporan state // Bulletin of ancient history. 1984. No. 3; Traister M. Yu. Bosporus and Egypt in the 3rd century BC // Ibid. 1985. No. 1; Shelov-Kovedyaev F.V. History of the Bosporus in the VI-IV centuries BC // The most ancient states on the territory of the USSR. Materials and research. 1984. M., 1985; Essays on the archeology and history of the Bosporus. M., 1992; Maslennikov A. A. Hellenic Chora on the edge of the Oikumene: Rural territory of the European Bosporus in ancient times. M., 1998; Crimea, North-Eastern Black Sea region and Transcaucasia in the Middle Ages: IV-XIII centuries M., 2003 (bib.).
F. V. Shelov-Kovedyaev, L. I. Taruashvili (artistic culture).
The situation in the North Caucasus at the beginning of the Iron Age and Greek colonization
By the time of the Iron Age (beginning of the 1st millennium BC), according to scientists, the following ethnic situation had developed in the territory. Indigenous people, mountain people, represented occupied foothills and mountainous areas.
On the plains of Ciscaucasia, starting from the 8th century BC. Iranian-speaking militarized hordes of steppe nomads consistently dominated ( Scythians, Cimmerians, Sauromatians, Siracians, Sarmatians). These were unions of tribes related by origin with signs of military democracy and the beginnings of primitive statehood.
In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. a more developed culture begins to have a certain influence on some local peoples, Ancient Greek Civilization. In the 6th century BC. from the Asia Minor coast of the Aegean Sea, especially from the city Miletus, waves of Greek settlers settle in Crimea and on the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus.
Open full sizeThe reasons that prompted the Greeks to go to distant lands were demographic factors, the inability to feed themselves in their old places of residence, and, of course, trade interests.
The development of the Black and Caspian Sea basins by the Greeks was thus an integral part of Great Greek Colonization(8th-6th centuries BC). Throughout the 11th century BC. Greeks conquer the eastern part Crimean Peninsula and the entire Taman Peninsula. At the latter, cities arise Phanagoria(modern village of Sennaya), Hermonassa(modern village of Taman), Gorgippia(Anapa), Caps, Syndic and others.
The Taman Peninsula itself is so densely populated that the distance between cities and towns does not exceed 10 kilometers. Already by the 6th century BC there were more than 60 Greek settlements on Taman. The colonies were founded as independent cities, that is, city-states with a democratic form of government, which involved popular assemblies of citizens electing officials, archons.
On the coast of the Azov and Black Seas, the Greeks had to face local tribes, which they began to call Sindami and Maeotami. Greek authors of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. information about the aborigines of the North-Western Caucasus is often found, but mainly coastal tribes were described, which have already begun to be divided into separate entities: Dandaria, Torets, Psess, Kerkets and so on. Modern archaeologists have clarified the territory inhabited by these peoples and, if in the west it abutted the Azov and Black Seas, then in the east it reached the Stavropol Upland.
Open full size Thanks to reports from ancient authors and surviving inscriptions, part of the Sinds and Maeots are attributed to the Western Caucasus. The data says so place names, study of geographical names, (Psoa, Psekhano, Psat) and onomastics, the doctrine of proper names, (Bago, Bleps, Dzazu). These data directly testified to the connections of those ancient tribes with the Circassians, Abazas and Abkhazians. Another part of the tribes inhabiting the region were close to Iranian-speaking nomads.
Archaeological excavations showing that Sindo-Meotian culture persisted for a long time, 6-3 centuries BC, and the historical fate of the Sinds and Maeots turned out to be closely intertwined with the further history of the Greek colonies.
Creation of the Bosporan Kingdom
Approximately around 480 BC. An equal agreement is concluded between all policies of the eastern Crimea, the Azov and Black Sea coasts, which was dictated by the need for joint resistance to local barbarian tribes and nomads, as well as economic interests. Thus arises Bosporan Kingdom centered in the city Panticapaeum(modern Kerch). Power is first in the hands of the dynasty Archaeanactids and then dynasties Spartokids.
Open full size The Bosporan Kingdom reached its greatest prosperity by the 4th century BC. In the North-West Caucasus, it covers the modern Taman Peninsula, territories near Anapa and Novorossiysk, the Azov coast of the modern Krasnodar Territory.
By its nature, the Bosporan Kingdom was typical slave society, where privileges were on the side of the Greek colonists, and local residents who were captured were turned into slaves.
The rulers derived the greatest profits from grain trade. Only in Athens in the 4th century BC. About one million poods of grain were supplied annually. The most important export items were fish, leather, slaves, honey.
Greek influence on the population of the North-West Caucasus
Local Sindian and Meotian tribes, one way or another, were involved in various relationships with the cities of the Bosporan Kingdom. Some of the aborigines moved to these cities, others entered military service as mercenaries. The Sindian and Meotian leaders themselves became more and more interested in various Bosporan goods, which during archaeological excavations were discovered not only in the Kuban region, but also in remote areas of the Caucasus.
Those most involved in this relationship were Sinds, over time they will borrow the Greek language, writing, names, customs, and part of the Sindian nobility is among the Bosporan aristocracy. Have taken place Hellenization processes, there were also reverse processes, because over time the population of the Greek Black Sea colonies itself changed in composition. As a result assimilation processes it mixed not only with the Sindians and Meotians, but also with the Sarmatian tribes. Thus, Hellenization flowed into barbarization. Over time, not only the composition of the population of the Bosporan Kingdom changes, but also its form of government.
By the second century B.C. The Bosporan Kingdom loses its independence and falls under the rule of Pontic Kingdom, whose possessions were located on the southern coast of the Black Sea (king - Mithridates 6 Eupator). Later in the middle of the 1st century BC. The Pontic Kingdom is conquered Rome and the Bosporan Kingdom, accordingly, finds itself under Roman domination.
In the 3rd century AD, along with the development of the crisis, its remote provinces also fell into decay, and Rome itself lost control over them. It was from this time that the cities of the Bosporus were regularly disturbed raids ready, and at the end of the 4th century AD. nomadic hordes who came from Central Asia Huns cease the existence of the Bosporan state forever.
It is obvious that the dominance of the Greeks and Romans had an impact on the aborigines of the North Caucasus, but at the same time it maximally covered only the coastal areas, while remote and mountainous areas experienced this impact only to a minimal extent.
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The Bosporan state was a very unique phenomenon that did not fit into the framework of those ideas that are usually associated with the concept of the Greek polis. The Bosporus state, or simply Bosporus, in the flourishing time of its existence, in the 4th and first half of the 3rd century. BC e., occupied a vast territory. His possessions covered the entire Kerch Peninsula up to Feodosia inclusive, the entire Taman Peninsula with the adjacent coastal strip to Novorossiysk, as well as the territory adjacent to Taman along the Kuban and its tributaries. The areas lying along the northern and eastern coasts of the Sea of Azov, if not firmly part of the Bosporus, were in any case within the sphere of its economic influence. And in another respect, the Bosporus differed from Olbia and Chersonesos. The latter were typical Greek poleis (city-states). A state arose in the Bosporus, which, along with the Greek cities, included local tribes that played a significant role in the entire subsequent history of the Bosporus.
While Olbia and Chersonese were typical slave-owning republics in their state system, in the Bosporan state quite quickly after its formation a monarchical form of government was established, which remained until the end of the history of Bosporus.
The geographical position of the Cimmerian Bosporus in the Kerch Strait and its wealth inevitably attracted the attention of Greek sailors. The Kerch Strait, connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, opened routes to the far north, to countries with Scythian, Maeotian and Sarmatian populations. The wealth of the Bosporus consisted of bread and fish. Strabo, describing the Kerch Peninsula, says that, starting from Feodosia, there is a plain with fertile soil, and that the land, loosened by any plough, gives a rich harvest. The inhabitants of the peninsula were farmers; Strabo contrasts them with the nomadic inhabitants of the steppe strip, who, he says, did not cultivate the land themselves, but provided it for rent for a moderate fee. When the territory of the basins of the Kuban and its tributaries became part of the Bosporan state, its grain resources increased to an even greater extent. Fish was found in abundance both in the seas surrounding the Bosporus and in the rivers flowing into the Sea of Azov.
Trade relations between the Ionians and local tribes living along the shores of the Kerch Strait began in the 7th century. BC e. The founding of Bossian cities by Greek colonists dates back to the 6th century. BC e. During this period, colonies arose here: in the eastern Crimea - Feodosia, Nymphaeum, Tiritaka, Panticapaeum, Myrmekium and others, on the Taman Peninsula - Kepi, Phanagoria, Hermonassa, etc. These colonies were founded by the Ionians, mainly settlers from Milegos; Phanagoria was a colony of Theos, a city on the western coast of Asia Minor. The founding of Hermonassa is attributed by some sources to Mytilene, a city on the island of Lesbos. The named cities were the core from which the Bosporan state was created. The significance of these cities was different; Panticapaeum and Phanagoria played the largest role in the life of the Bosporus. According to Strabo, “the main city of the European Bosporans is Panticapaeum, and of the Asians - Phanagoria,” with Panticapaeum serving as the residence of the Bosporan rulers.
In addition to the cities listed, there were a significant number of other settlements within the Bosporan kingdom. They were located mainly along the shores of the Kerch Strait, and partly also in the inner parts of the Kerch and Taman peninsulas. On the lower Don there was a settlement of Tanais founded by the Panticapaeans, which was, according to Strabo, “the largest marketplace of barbarians after Panticapaeum.” Soon Tanais acquired city rights, had its own archon and enjoyed a certain independence.
Beyond the coastal strip of the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, on which the Bosporan cities and settlements were located, lay vast expanses of arable land that belonged to the local population. The settlement of the Ionian Greeks in the Bosporus promised great benefits to the local nobility. She got the opportunity to enter into regular trade with the Greeks. The Bosporan cities made every effort to involve the upper strata of the local population in the circle of their commercial interests. The rapprochement of the Greeks with the local elite led to the fact that the latter began to undergo Hellenization. A striking example in this regard was the Sindians who lived on the Taman Peninsula, in the immediate vicinity of the Greek colonies. Back in the second half of the 5th century. BC e. Sindica, which was then a kingdom independent of the Bosporus, minted its coins on the model of the Greek coins. Sind king, who ruled at the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th century. BC e., bore a Greek name, and the Bosporan ruler of that time not only was friends with him and helped him in the fight against enemies, but also married his daughter to him.
Initially, all Bosporan cities were independent city-states (tsolis). But already in 480 BC. e. they united, which was the beginning of the formation of the Bosporan state. City-states banded together to successfully resist the local tribes around them. The unification entailed the recognition by all cities of the primacy of Panticapaeum and the power of its rulers (arhoites). The Archons of Panticapaeum belonged to the Archeanactidae family.
The Archaeanactids ruled the Bosporus until 438. Don. e. They were replaced by the Spartokid dynasty, named after its first representative Spartok. We do not know whether the change of dynasty took place violently or peacefully, but the first assumption seems more likely. But it can be said with confidence that the Spartokids, in contrast to the Archaeanactid Greeks, by their origin did not come from the Greek, but probably from the local nobility. There are various hypotheses regarding the origin of the Spartokids. Some researchers were inclined to consider Spartok a Thracian, others - a Scythian; Recently, it has been suggested that he was a representative of the local Sindo-Meotian nobility.
Under the first Spartokids, the Bosporus extended its power to numerous local tribes. IV and first half of the III century. BC e. are considered the era of the highest economic and political prosperity of the Bosporus. Already the successor and son of the founder of the dynasty, Satyr began a war with Theodosia, which until then had maintained its independence. Heraclea Pontic intervened in this war, concerned about the aggressive policy of the Bosporus on the Tauride Peninsula and, above all, the threat hanging over Chersonesos. The military operations that continued under Satyr's successor, his son Levkoye (389-349 BC), ended with the inclusion of Feodosia into the Bosporan state. From that time on, the rulers of the state began to be titled “archons of the Bosporus and Feodosia,” and the concept of “Bosporus” included the collection of Greek cities along the shores of the Kerch Strait.
Simultaneously with the conquest of Feodosia, the Spartocids turned their expansion in an eastern direction. First of all, Levkoi included into his kingdom the region of Sindica, which, as indicated above, had already been sufficiently subjected to Greek influence. Here on the Black Sea coast there was a significant city of Gorgippia, on the site of modern Anapa. Then he conquered the Toretov and Dandarii Ipses tribes living in the vicinity of the Sindians. Under Leukon's successors, his sons Spartok and Perisada, who ruled jointly for some time, the territory of the Kuban region, where the Meotian tribes of Fateiidoskhs lived, became part of the Bosporan state. The Bosporan rulers now became the owners of large and fertile areas in the Asian part of the Bosporus. On the eastern outskirts of the state they organized fortifications, making extensive use of Sindo-Meotian fortresses. Thanks to the excavations of Soviet archaeologists, we became well aware of the fortress, the ruins of which are now called the Semibratny settlement, near the station. Varenikovskaya. This city, which arose at the turn of the 6th and 5th centuries. BC e., was a major economic and strategic point of the Sinds. It was surrounded by 2.5 m thick stone walls; wide stone stairs led up to the walls and towers. 30 km from the Semibratny settlement, near the Krasnobatareiny village, there was an even more powerful fortification. Here, stone walls, combined with a whole system of earthen ramparts, protected a vast area.
Spartokids in the 4th century. Don. e. They called themselves kings only of local tribes, but in relation to the Greek population of the Bosporus subject to them they were called archons, that is, elected rulers, although in fact their power was hereditary. The Greek cities of the Bosporus continued to enjoy municipal self-government, but were politically dependent on the Spartokids, who relied on a large mercenary army. The large cities of the Bosporus - Panticapaeum, Theodosius, Phanagoria - each minted their own coins according to the same system, common to the entire state.
After the death of Perisad (309 BC), quarrels arose between his three sons over the throne. The eldest son, Satyr, who ascended the throne, was opposed by the younger son, Eumelus, who attracted some local tribes of the eastern part of the Bosporus to his side. Satyr with significant military forces, consisting of Greek and Thracian mercenaries, as well as allied Scythian troops, crossed from Panticapaeum to the Taman Peninsula and defeated his brother. Eumelus took refuge in the fortress of his ally, the king of the Fatei Arifarnes. During an unsuccessful assault on the fortress, Satyr received a mortal wound and died. With his middle brother, Prytan, who came to the throne, Eumelus began negotiations, proposing to share power: Prytan would rule in the European part of the Bosporus, and he, Eumelus, in the Asian part, that is, on the Taman Peninsula, in the Kuban basin and in the Azov region. When Prytan refused, Eumelus, relying on the support of local tribes, captured all the fortified points of the Asian part of the Bosporus. Prytan, who opposed Eumelus, was pushed back and returned to Panticapaeum, but soon tried to resume the fight again, but this time he was unsuccessful - he died a violent death. Eumelus, who turned out to be the winner in the internecine struggle, dealt harshly with the adherents of his rivals. During his five-year reign (309-303), Eumelus developed energetic activities: he sought to strengthen friendly ties between the Bosporus and the Black Sea cities, tried to secure shipping in the Black Sea, which suffered from pirates, and provided all possible support to merchants.
The Greek population of the Bosporan cities was mainly engaged in trade and craft activities. Greek settlers also had land plots. There is little information about the nature of land ownership in the Bosporus. However, according to some sources, one can conclude that there was large land property in the hands of the ruling dynasty, as well as the upper layer of the Greek and local population. The presence of large land ownership was associated with the formation of large slaveholding farms, which, given the imperfection of the then agricultural technology, required the use of significant slave force. Such slaveholding farms provided the Bosporus with an abundant and uninterrupted supply of grain bread, which not only satisfied the needs of the state, but also opened up wide opportunities for grain exports. Along with large landholdings, there were also small ones, especially in the early period. The temples apparently also had significant plots.
Important information about the early period of the economic history of the Bosporan state can be gleaned from archaeological material discovered on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas - building remains, household items, as well as coins, the oldest copies of which, minted in Panticapaeum, date back to the second half of the 6th century. The types of ancient coins indicate Ionian (Milesian and Samian) influence on Panticapaean coinage. Relations with Ionia, and then with Attica, are evidenced by ceramics and metal objects found during excavations of Bosporan cities, their necropolises and burials of nobles of local tribes, starting from the 6th century. BC e. However, already at this time, along with Greek imports, the Bosporan cities also traded products of their own handicraft production, the importance of which increased in subsequent centuries. Already in the 6th century. Don. e. In Panticapaeum, rich buildings were erected at a high level of construction. Excavations at the site of the supposed acropolis of the city revealed part of the architrave and the base of columns of the Ionian order, apparently from the temple. On the same Mount Mithridates, on which Panticapaeum was located, the remains of a multi-room residential building from the end of the 6th century were discovered. BC e., the walls of which were carefully laid out of stone.
During excavations of the ruins of the Bosporan city of Nymphaeum, remains of the production (kilns, etc.) of pottery from the second half of the 6th century were recently discovered. BC e., molds for making terracotta figurines of the same early period were also found there. In Tiritaka, excavations discovered very interesting ruins of a residential building from the second half of the 6th century. BC e., which vividly reflected the life of the colonists who settled on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus. In the house, along with imported items (painted Greek vessels from Corinth, Klazomen, Athens, terracotta figurines from the islands of Rhodes and Samos), there were vessels of Greek work, but undoubtedly made locally, i.e. in the Bosporus. It is no less interesting that, along with Greek household items, a typical Scythian bowl, made without the use of a potter's wheel, was discovered. Probably, not only the Greeks who migrated from Ionia lived in the Bosporan cities, but also local residents, which led to a complex process of cultural interaction.
From the second half of the 5th century. BC e. The Bosporus conducted brisk trade with Athens.
With the acquisition of vast possessions in eastern Crimea and the Kuban, the Spartokids were able to increase trade operations with the Athenian state. For the latter, the Bosporans lived in the first half of the 4th century. Don. e. were a true treasure, since it was constantly in need of imported bread.
It was beneficial for Bosporus to have a regular customer in Athens. The Athenian aristocrats, ruined during the Peloponnesian War (431-404), willingly sent their sons to the Bosporus for trading purposes. The Bosporan government paid special attention to Athenian merchants. They had the right to export grain in any quantity from the Bosporus duty-free. In turn, the Bosporans could export goods purchased on the Athenian market from Athens duty-free. Operations for the purchase of Bosporan grain were carried out on credit; in the Athenian state bank the amounts due to the Bosporan kings for the sold grain were kept as a deposit. Income received from the export of grain and other goods apparently constituted the main source of income for the Bosporan state.
Lively trade, based mainly on the export to Greece of a huge amount of bread for that time, as well as salted fish, made it possible for the Greek and local slave-owning nobility of the Bosporus to enrich themselves and accumulate enormous wealth, which, in particular, was reflected in the burials of the Bosporan rich. A large number of expensive, sometimes artistically executed things, which will be discussed below, were placed in stone crypts under high mounds along with the dead.
Fabrics, wine, olive oil, various types of jewelry and cosmetics were brought to the Bosporus in large quantities. Wine was imported mainly from the islands of Chios, Thasos, Rhodes, Kos, from the Asia Minor city of Knidos, as well as from Heraclea Pontus. A major supplier of olive oil from the second half of the 4th century. BC e. was Sinope. Wine and oil were brought in amphorae, the handles and necks of which were often stamped with the names of the owners of the ceramic workshops. Branded amphorae and their fragments are found in large quantities during excavations of Bosporan settlements.
Everyday utensils were imported from Athens to the Bosporus: bowls for drinking wine, clay lamps, vessels for incense and a significant number of highly artistic painted vases found during excavations of the necropolises of Bosporan cities and burial mounds.
Metal products were also imported to the Bosporus, including artistic crafts - expensive gold and silver vessels and various jewelry: rings, earrings, necklaces, etc.
The Bosporus's own production has become well known in recent years thanks to archaeological studies of the ruins of the cities of Panticapaeum, Phanagoria, Nymphaeum, Myrmekia, Tiritaki and agricultural settlements. The population of the Bosporan cities largely consisted of artisans - potters, blacksmiths, jewelers, stonemasons, carpenters. The processing of agricultural products was concentrated mainly in large farms and was carried out by the labor of slaves and the labor of dependent peasants, consisting of indigenous people - Scythians, Sinds, etc.
Bosporan potters produced huge quantities of roofing tiles, household utensils, artistic ceramics and terracotta - clay figurines. Bosporan vessels from the 3rd century are very interesting. BC e. with bright polychrome painting (so-called watercolor vases).
Particular mention should be made of Bosporan toreutics - the production of embossed artistic metal utensils and jewelry made of precious metals. Bosporan craftsmen skillfully adapted to the tastes of the consumer, which was mainly the wealthy Bosporan, Scythian and Meotian nobility. They created original works of art depicting scenes from the life of the Scythians, striking with their subtle knowledge of their life, customs and tastes. Remarkable works of the Bosporus torevs were found not only in the rich burials of the Bosporus, but also far beyond its borders. These include a silver amphora from the Chertomlytsky mound, silver gilded vessels and a golden comb from the Solokha mound, and much more.
The skillful hands of Bosporus craftsmen carved numerous tombstones decorated with reliefs.
Of the trades related to agriculture, winemaking apparently occupied the first place. Since the 3rd century. BC e., local winemaking acquired a large scale. During the excavations of Myrmekia, the vessel of Tnritaki and other Bosporan cities, the remains of many wineries were discovered, that is, buildings in which devices (pressing platforms, tanks, presses) used for making wine were preserved.
The main city of the Bosporan state was Panticapaeum - the residence of the king, a craft, trade and cultural center.
The name of this city cannot be explained in Greek. It is believed to be of local origin and originally belonged to the local pre-Greek population. On the site of local settlements, Tiritaka and a number of other Bosporan cities and settlements arose.
According to Strabo, Panticapaeum was a hill built up on all sides, with a circumference of 3.5 km. On the eastern side of the city there was a harbor and docks for 30 ships. The city was surrounded by a fortress wall, the remains of which were still visible at the beginning of the last century. A second powerful wall surrounded the acropolis, located on the top of a hill currently called Mount Mithridates. On the acropolis there were luxurious palace buildings of the Bosporan kings and temples. On the highest point of the acropolis stood the sanctuary of Cybele, as evidenced by the large marble statue of the goddess found here.
In the IV-III centuries. BC e. the boundaries of Panticapaeum expanded in a western and southwestern direction. The architectural structures of this time are distinguished by a high level of construction art.
At the end of the 19th century. Well-preserved remains of a vast, rich building from the 3rd century were discovered. BC e., the interior of which was artistically decorated with painted plaster. The city had sewerage and running water. During excavations, lead and clay pipes were found. The city was kept clean, garbage was removed outside the city limits. Excavations in recent years have shown that buildings and streets were located along the steep slopes of the hill on terrace-like ledges, the creation of which required large excavations. Retaining walls have been discovered, one of which dates back to the 5th century. BC e., which indicates the terrace-like layout of Panticapaeum already in this period. Excavations in Kine reveal signs of the existence at this time of agricultural buildings within the city, which appeared later. Industrial premises, houses of artisans and the urban poor were located on the outskirts of the city. The second most important Bosporan city was Phanagoria. Strabo reports that Phanagoria was a trading city where goods were delivered from Maeotis (the Sea of Azov) and the barbarian country located beyond it. Phanagoria was located near the mouth of one of the navigable branches (now defunct) of the Kuban delta and occupied an extremely advantageous position in terms of trade. Systematic excavations are currently underway at the huge settlement of Phanagoria. The boundaries of the ancient city were determined, the remains of monumental buildings of the 5th century were discovered. BC e., one of them, apparently, was a gymnasium in which the Phanagorians engaged in physical exercises, which were very popular both in the cities of Greece and in the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region. It is no coincidence that in the burials of the 6th-3rd centuries. find accessories related to gymnastic exercises. In Phanagoria, recent excavations have revealed a whole warehouse of amphorae from the 5th century. BC e.; Also found were the remains of rusticated masonry buildings with painted plaster, column bases and pebble mosaics, indicating the wealth of public and private buildings in Phanagoria. Inscriptions were found here that contain important information for the history of the Bosporus. In the vicinity of the city, many mounds with rich burials of the inhabitants of Phanagoria and its surroundings were discovered, and in the immediate vicinity of the city, in the necropolis on the hills, a large number of graves of the 5th-4th centuries. Don. e., containing a significant amount of dishes, decorations and other items.
Under one of the large mounds in the 60s of the last century, a female burial of the end of the 5th century was discovered. BC BC, which contained wonderful painted figured vases made in Athens: one of them represents a sphinx, another - Aphrodite in a shell, and the third - a siren. The amazingly fine painting of the vases and the perfection of form make them true masterpieces of Greek artistic craft.
The religious cults that were widespread in the Bosporus reflected the crucial importance of agriculture in the Bosporan economy. In the first place were the cults of female deities: Demeter, Aphrodite, Cybele, Artemis, who were perceived as the personification of the forces of nature and its fertility. The popularity of these cults was also due to the fact that they corresponded to a similar worship of the forces of nature, personified in the form of a female deity, among the local population. The cult of Poseidon, the ship-savior, and Aphrodite, the captain of the ship, indicates the close connection of the Bosporan religious cults with trade and navigation. In the same connection is the cult of Apollo Delphinius, the patron saint of navigation and tamer of sea storms. The cult of Apollo the physician, who enjoyed the special patronage of the Spartokids, should also be noted.
The patrons of the cults were the Bosporan nobility, including the Bosporan kings and their closest relatives, from whose midst they became priests.
Numerous burial mounds of the Greek and local nobility of the Bosporus enclose monumental crypts. These structures usually consisted of a burial (most often quadrangular) chamber and a dromos (corridor) leading into it. The crypts were made of hewn limestone slabs without the use of a binding solution. The burial chambers were covered with a stepped vault, consisting of several rows of slabs, successively pushed forward and protruding above the underlying rows. The covering of the dromos was arranged in a similar way. This form of ceiling made it possible for the crypt to withstand the pressure of the large earthen embankment of the mound. Crypts of this type were discovered in the vicinity of Kerch, especially on the Yuz-Oba stone ridge, in mounds on the Taman Peninsula and in the Anapa region. The most remarkable are the crypts of the Golden and Tsarsky mounds, located near Kerch, and Melek-Chesmensky, located on the territory of Kerch.
In the 3rd century. BC e. crypts with stepped roofs began to be replaced by crypts with semi-cylindrical vaults; the walls and vaults were plastered and covered with paintings, which were only occasionally used in earlier times. Of the painted crypts, noteworthy is the small crypt of the second half of the 4th century, opened in 1908 in Kerch. BC e. Its walls are painted with wide colored stripes, and at the top under the ceiling there is a frieze on which various objects associated with gymnastic exercises are depicted hanging on nails: alabasters (vessels for oil), strigil (an instrument that gymnasts used to cleanse the body after exercises), towels with patterns , cloth bandage, wreaths of laurel leaves (award for the winners of the competition). The wall painting corresponded to the things found in the crypt: small clay vessels for incense oil and an iron strigil. Bosporan burial crypts occupy an important place in the history of architecture.
Representatives of the Panticapaean nobility were buried in expensive wooden sarcophagi, sometimes covered with inlay or painting.
In 1830, a mound known as Kul-Oba was excavated 6 km west of Kerch. The discovery of the Kul-Ob mound with its treasures, which became world famous, at one time made a great impression on wide public circles and forced us to pay special attention to the excavations of mounds on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, in which a large number of precious highly artistic jewelry, expensive dishes, weapons and other items. In the Kul-Ob mound, inside a vast crypt covered with a stepped vault, the burial of a famous Scythian warrior, his wife or concubine and a slave-servant was discovered in a cypress hearse, and the wife and servant were apparently forcibly killed during the funeral of their ruler. This burial dates back to the 4th century. Don. e. Along with the noble Scythian lay an iron sword in a gold scabbard and with a hilt covered with gold, on which animals are depicted, a whip handle braided with a gold ribbon, a burning bow, a whetstone in a gold frame and a gold bowl. The headdress of the deceased consisted of a gold diadem and a Scythian pointed felt cap decorated with gold plaques. On the headdress there were four golden figurines of Scythians, one of them depicting two Scythians drinking wine from one vessel. Around the neck of the deceased was worn a large golden hryvnia, the ends of which were decorated with images of Scythian horsemen. On her hands were massive gold bracelets ending with the figures of sphinxes.
On the western side of the sarcophagus lay the skeleton of a woman. Her head was decorated with an electric diadem with floral patterns, two large gold pendants depicting the head of Athena and two gold earrings of the finest Greek jewelry. On the neck was a massive gold hryvnia with ends in the form of lying lions and a gold necklace. Near the female skeleton, two gold bracelets were found with images of vultures attacking deer, and a bronze mirror, the handle of which was overlaid with gold and decorated with images of the Scythian animal style.
Between the legs of the skeleton stood the famous electrified round vessel with the image of the Scythians. The decayed clothes of the dead, as well as the funeral blankets, were decorated with many gold and electroplates.
At the southern wall of the crypt lay the skeleton of a servant. Iron knives with bone handles were found near his head. In the southwestern corner of the crypt, in a special recess, horse bones, a Greek bronze helmet and bronze knemids (greaves) were discovered. Along the northern wall were bronze vessels, including a Scythian bronze cauldron containing ram bones. Another bronze cauldron containing mutton bones stood in the northwestern corner of the crypt. Clay pointed-bottomed amphorae for wine were placed along the western wall; near them, in a gilded silver basin and on a silver dish, lay several massive silver vessels of excellent chased work. Two long iron spearheads also lay here. Several hundred bronze arrowheads and spears were scattered throughout the crypt. Bone plates with drawings, amazingly finely executed through engraving, were also found - apparently, the lining of a bed or sarcophagus. Under the stone floor of the crypt there was a cache in which a golden plaque from the pan-tsar in the form of a deer was found.
In the second half of the 3rd century. BC e. The economic weakening of the Bosporus began, which affected itself with even greater force in the 2nd century. BC e. This is due to the fact that from the middle of the 3rd century. BC e. In Greek markets, Bosporan bread began to be replaced by cheap bread from Egypt. Foreign trade of the Bosporus narrowed, and the turbulent situation created in the Northern Black Sea region, in connection with the advance of the Sarmatian tribes to the west, prevented the development of trade with the tribes surrounding the Bosporus. Meanwhile, the weakening of economic ties with the Mediterranean pushed the Bosporan slave-owning aristocracy to strengthen trade ties with the cities of the southern Black Sea coast and local tribes.
Since the financial power of the state was shaken, it was not able to maintain mercenary troops in the same size. And if earlier the Bosporan kingdom followed the path of expanding its borders, now it no longer had enough strength to defend its territory from the Scythians, who had strengthened their state in the Crimea. In an effort to avoid coming under the rule of the Scythian kings, the Bosporan ruling elite entered into a conspiracy with Mithridates of Pontus, as a result of which the ruler Perisad, the last of the Spartokid dynasty, renounced power in favor of Mithridates Eupator.
The transfer of power by Perisad to Mithridates caused great unrest in the Bosporan kingdom. The Greek nobility of the cities of Bosporus and the Hellenized Scythian, Maeotian and Sindian elites, who made up the privileged class of the Bosporan population, considered the replacement of the ruler as a means of maintaining their class dominance within the state. The numerous ordinary population of the Bosporus, a significant part of which in the eastern Crimea were Scythians, perceived Perisad’s abdication differently. The forced, oppressed population of the villages, deprived of any political rights, as well as numerous slaves in the cities, undoubtedly had high hopes for the victory of the Scythians, who were exerting pressure from the central part of Crimea. These hopes for an improvement in the situation now, after the transfer of power to Mithridates, could not be realized. Therefore, the Scythian lower classes responded to the change of power in the Bosporus with a revolutionary act, the roots of which must be sought in the deep contradictions that had long existed between the ruling class and the enslaved class, between the slave-owning nobility and slaves. The banner of the uprising was raised by Savmak, a Scythian by origin, a slave (“foster”) of Perisad. The uprising began in Panticapaeum and quickly spread among the dependent population of the entire Kerch Peninsula up to and including Feodosia. The rebels killed Perisad and proclaimed Savmak king, which is confirmed by the surviving Bosporan coins with his name and title of king. The uprising occurred during the second stay in Panticapaeum of Diophantus, the Pontic commander, who shortly before, together with the Chersonesos, waged a war against the Scythians in eastern and central Crimea. A conspiracy was drawn up against Diophantus, but he managed to escape on a ship sent from Chersonesos.
How significant the size of the uprising was is shown by the duration and seriousness of the preparation of the punitive expedition that was sent to the Bosporus by Mithridates. This was Diophantus's third expedition to the Tauride Peninsula; it began approximately six months after the start of the uprising, with the land army accompanied by the navy. Chersonesus was chosen as the base for the deployment of military operations. As a result of a long campaign that lasted at least six months, Diophantus managed to capture Feodosia and Pantika-pei, where the rebels were strong. After this, the uprising was suppressed. The most active part of its participants were exterminated.
Apparently, as a result of military events, Panticapaeum was severely destroyed. This is evidenced by the large construction work that followed in the 1st century. BC e., which was clarified by excavations.
After the defeat of the Savmak uprising, the cities of Bosporus and Chersonesos became part of the Pontic kingdom of Mithridates, who sought to create a powerful state in the Black Sea region, capable of resisting Roman aggression in the East. Mithridates waged a long and intense struggle with Rome, and in this struggle, the Tauride Peninsula, according to his plans, was supposed to play an important role, supplying the Pontic kingdom with soldiers for the army and supplying the latter with food. The further Mithridates's struggle with Rome dragged on, the more and more severe were the duties he imposed on the Northern Black Sea region. The inhabitants of the Tauride Peninsula, together with Sindica, located on the Asian side of the Bosporus, had to pay Mithridates an annual tribute of 180,000 medimnov of bread (about 107,000 hectoliters) and 200 talents of silver (about 290,000 rubles). In addition to regular tribute, large levies in money and kind were imposed on the inhabitants of the Bosporus from time to time. In the cities of the Black Sea region there were governors of Mithridates. In the army of Mithridates there were Scythian, Sarmatian and Maeotian detachments.
After the first war with Rome, when the power of Mithridates was shaken, the inhabitants of the Bosporus rebelled and declared themselves independent of Mithridates. Having pacified this uprising after the second war with Rome, Mithridates in 79 BC. e. transferred control of the Bosporus to his son Mahar. When Mithridates, during the third war with Rome, began to suffer defeats from the Roman commander Lucullus, Machar went over to the latter’s side. Later, when Mithridates, finally defeated by Roman troops in Asia Minor, retreated through the Caucasus to the Bosporus, Macharus, fearing reprisals for betraying his father, fled from Panticapaeum to Chersonesus, where he either committed suicide or was killed on the orders of Mithridates in 65. BC e.
From Panticapaeum, Mithridates tried to negotiate peace with Rome. However, they came to nothing, since Pompey (Lucullus's successor in the war with Mithridates) demanded complete surrender, including the personal surrender of Mithridates. Then Mithridates decided to make a last desperate attempt. His plan was to strike Rome from the north through Thrace, Paunonia and Macedonia. At the same time, Mithridates counted on the support of the Scythian-Sarmatian tribes, the ruling layers of which already understood the danger of Roman expansion. Sources indicate that the Scythians, Tauri, Sarmatians and all the tribes living around Lake Maeotia were allies of Mithridates, who, trying to further strengthen the alliance with them, gave his daughters as wives to the leaders of the most powerful tribes.
The preparation of a new grandiose campaign against Rome required a lot of weapons, military vehicles, ships, provisions, etc. To carry out all these activities, the inhabitants of the Bosporus, “not excluding the poorest,” as Appian notes, were subject to taxes and duties in kind, and on this basis Gross arbitrariness, abuse and theft of officials flourished, which caused embitterment among the population. What measures Mithridates resorted to when creating his army is shown by the fact that access to the army was open not only to free people, but also to slaves. The Bosporan merchants also suffered severely from the naval blockade that the Roman fleet had inexorably carried out since Mithridates settled in Panticapaeum. All this ultimately led to Phanagoria revolting. The latter, as a long-awaited signal, was picked up by Nymphaeum, Theodosia and Chersonesos. Taking advantage of this, Roman agents, through the son of Mithridates-Pharnaces, who went over to the Roman side, caused an uprising in the army of Mithridates, and this finally decided his fate. Not wanting to fall into the hands of the Romans, the once formidable king committed suicide (63 BC). Thus, Mithridates’ attempt to create a coalition of tribes and peoples of Asia Minor and the Black Sea region to fight against Roman expansion ended unsuccessfully.
History of Bosporus VI-I centuries. BC e. is divided into several stages. VI and early V centuries. BC e. characterized by the founding and strengthening of independent city-colonies, 5th century. BC e. - the unification of these cities, the creation of the Bosporan state and the strengthening of its economic base. From the end of the 5th and especially in the 4th century. BC e. There is a sharp expansion of the borders of the state to include the territories of local tribes and nationalities on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, in the lower reaches of the Kuban and the eastern Azov region. IV and first half of the III century. BC e. characterized by the high development of the economy of the Bosporus (trade, craft production, urban planning, agriculture, etc.), an increase in its international position and military power. The period from the middle of the 3rd to the first half of the 1st century. BC e. marked by economic and political weakening, which led to the subordination of the Bosporus to Mithridates Eupator. The Bosporan state was one of the early slave states on the territory of the USSR.
The gradually increasing class antagonism between the slave-owning aristocracy and the masses of the enslaved population culminated at the end of the 2nd century. in a great uprising under the leadership of Savmak, which had a huge impact on the further development of the Bosporus.
The most striking feature of the Bosporan state is the inclusion of local peoples in it. Therefore, the Bosporus was not a purely Greek, but a Greek-local state. Among all the ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region, the influence of the culture of local tribes and nationalities had the strongest impact in the Bosporan state.
Bosporan Kingdom: a brief historical sketch
The Bosporus Kingdom is a Greek monarchical formation of the Northern Black Sea region. The history of its origin begins with the emergence of resettlement policies that grew up in the coastal zones of the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea and Taman. These apoikias were built by Asia Minor and Hellenes from the Aegean Sea.
Among them were democratic republics and states with an oligarchic form of government. The rich land allowed the newly arrived Greeks to engage in farming, raising livestock, fishing and, of course, trade with the metropolis, neighboring tribes and policies. Unifying tendencies arose in the cities, which intensified under the influence of the threat of attacks by the barbarian Scythians. Panticapaeum gradually acquired the status of a metropolitan polis.
If you believe the ancient writer Diodorus Siculus, the Bosporan kingdom existed from 480 BC. e. It was then ruled by the Archeanactids - immigrants from Miletus, who managed to maintain tyrannical power for 42 years, passing it on by inheritance.
The Archeanactids were replaced by the Spartokids, who headed the Bosporan kingdom almost until the 1st century. BC e. Historians do not know how Spartok came to power. One can only assume that events like a coup took place. However, we can also assume that there was a voluntary transfer of power.
The first rulers of the kingdom were the archons of Bosporus. Despite the tyrannical nature of the government, the cities of the Bosporan kingdom still had some signs of autonomy. This is confirmed by information about the people's assemblies and councils existing there. In addition, positions in such policies were elective.
The next era of the Bosporan kingdom is associated with the activities of Satyr I, Leukon I and Perisad I. They increased the territory of the power (it included the mouth of the Don, the lower reaches of the Kuban and the eastern part of the Azov region), conquered Feodosia, and later the Sindo-Meotians and Scythians living nearby.
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Economic relations of the Bosporan kingdomThe economy of the Bosporan kingdom was based on trade. At first, his policies collaborated with the settlements of Asia Minor and the Greek islands of the Mediterranean. Then, around the 5th century. BC e., goods began to be transported to Athens. In parallel, there was an exchange with dependent barbarian tribes. The Scythians, Maeotians and Sindians were good suppliers of slaves, and slaves were valued in overseas markets. Hellas supplied the Bosporan kingdom with wines, olive oil, and products made by artisans. The main product of the Bosporus was grain, but, in addition to it, fish, skins, and wool were imported overseas. The Greeks received all this thanks to their own labor and the efforts of dependent barbarians who sold agricultural and craft products. In exchange for these goods, the Hellenes gave the tribes items made by local artisans and things delivered by sea. The Bosporan kingdom also had trade relations with Olbia and Chersonesus, with the Southern Black Sea region and the Eastern Pontus. Towards the end of the 6th century. BC e. in Panticapaeum they started minting their own money. Later, the issue of coins continued, but it is known that during the economic crisis of the 3rd century. BC e. gold and silver replaced low-quality copper equivalents. After the reform of Leucon II the situation stabilized. Agriculture, cattle breeding and crafts in the Bosporan kingdomIn a state that actively exported grain crops, special attention was paid to agriculture. Agricultural districts were located around urban centers, and some farmers lived in koma villages. A lot of grain was grown in the Scythian areas and on the lands of the Sindo-Meotians. Residents of ancient settlements used the plow method and a two-field soil cultivation system. They grew crops such as wheat, barley, vetch, lentils, and millet. The Greeks also grew legumes, alternating them with cereals. Viticulture brought significant profits. In the Bosporan kingdom they kept cattle, with which they cultivated the lands. The craftsmen of the Bosporan kingdom reached a high level of skill. Especially in woodworking and stone construction. They knew how to make ships, houses, furniture, personalized tiles. Local craftsmen skillfully processed metals; many iron and bronze objects made in the Greek city-states of the Bosporus have been found. No less striking were the jewelry of the Bosporans: jewelry that was attached to clothing or harness, rings, bracelets, etc. Many such things were found in Scythian burials. In addition, the Hellenes knew how to weave, processed leather on their own, made crafts from bones and, of course, clay products. In the pottery workshops of the Bosporan kingdom, kitchen utensils were produced, which were distributed among the Greeks and representatives of the tribes subject to them.
Bosporan Kingdom: life, religion and cultural featuresThe entire population of the Bosporan kingdom represented three social groups: slaves, the elite and the middle stratum (communal peasants, foreigners, people who did not have slaves). The ethnic composition of the state was quite varied, since it included representatives of barbarian tribes. By the way, many of them managed to occupy high positions in society. The amount of arable land significantly prevailed over urban areas, therefore, among the settlements of the Bosporan kingdom there were not only policies, but also small villages inhabited by farmers. The cities were distinguished by their splendor. Among them, the most majestic was Panticapaeum: its houses, temples, and public buildings were richly decorated; during the construction of the structures located there, the latest technologies for that time were used, and artificial terraces were made. The phenomenon of Bosporan culture is artistic craft. On objects made in ancient policies there are many scenes from the life of the Scythians. Probably, things were made to order and in the Bosporan kingdom there was a whole school of craftsmen who were engaged in this kind of painting. The high level of culture of the Bosporans is evidenced by the developed poetry and their existing theatrical art, which was not inferior to real Greek. Poems were recited to music and even competitions were organized in which the best reciter won. In the Bosporan kingdom they loved poetry and dancing, just like in the Mediterranean cities. With the penetration of the Sarmatians, elements of the traditions of the nomadic Iranian-speaking people began to be traced there. Residents of the Bosporan state revered the gods of fertility. Their deities were of Greek and Eastern origin. Among them are Aphrodite, Apollo, Astarte, Kibera, Koru, Zeus, etc. In their honor, the Greeks built temples and made sculptures and figurines. To date, two religious complexes from ancient times have been discovered: the Nymphaean sanctuary of Demeter and Apatur in Taman. Thus, the Bosporan kingdom arose in the 5th century. BC e. and existed until the last decades of the 4th century. n. e. That's eight hundred years. It was founded by the Archeanactids, but after some 42 years they were replaced by the Spartokids, who ruled until the 1st century. BC e. Satyr I, like his followers, including Perisada I, managed to expand the territories of the monarchy. From the end of the 4th century. BC e. Barbarians occupied an important place in the life of the kingdom. It all ended with the fact that in the 2nd century BC. e. the Hellenes paid them tribute. At the end of the 2nd century. BC e. The campaigns of Diophantus took place and the Bosporan kingdom became part of the Pontic state. It is known that this stage in the history of the monarchy was marked by an economic crisis. Almost all the money that could have gone to the development of cities was given to fight Rome. In the middle of the 1st century. n. e. everything changed: the former enemy of the Bosporan state became its ally, although he was unable to protect the Bosporans from the destructive raids of the Huns. Despite the efforts of enemies, the economy and culture developed in this state. At the best of times, the living conditions of Bosporan citizens resembled those of Rome. INLIGHT | ||||
