O L B I A A S A FRONTIER SOCIETY

by

Edwin P h i l i p Teece
B.A., V i c t o r i a C o l l e g e ,

1963

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS

i n the Department
of

CLASSICS

We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming
r e q u i r e d standard.

THE

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

September,

1971

to the

In

presenting

this

thesis

an advanced degree at
the L i b r a r y
I

shall

f u r t h e r agree

for scholarly
by h i s
of

the U n i v e r s i t y

make

it

written

for

financial

Sffifllflr

British
for

Columbia,

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Columbia

I agree

r e f e r e n c e and
this

that

not

copying or

for

that

study.
thesis

b y . t h e Head o f my Department

is understood

dftSSICS

The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h
Vancouver 8, Canada

Date

It

permission.

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of

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be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my

ABSTRACT

In t h i s study the Greek colony o f O l b i a , on the

n o r t h c o a s t o f the B l a c k Sea, i s examined i n the l i g h t
of b o t h the l i t e r a r y and the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l evidence r e l a t i n g to the c i t y ' s f i r s t
The

effects

two c e n t u r i e s o f s e t t l e m e n t .

upon the c o l o n i s t s

c e n t r e s of Greek urban l i f e ,
vironment

of i s o l a t i o n from the g r e a t

o f the h o s t i l e

i n t o which the Greek s e t t l e r s

civilization,

p h y s i c a l en-

transplanted their

and of the b a r b a r i a n peoples who

the colony are s t u d i e d .

surrounded

I t can be seen from the evidence

gathered here t h a t the O l b i o p o l i t a i ,

m a i n t a i n a Greek way of l i f e

while s t r u g g l i n g to

i n their

city, yielded i n

some measure t o the a r t i s t i c , r e l i g i o u s

f l u e n c e s of t h e i r S c y t h i a n

neighbours.

and p o l i t i c a l i n -

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S

I'would l i k e t o express my g r a t i t u d e t o
P r o f e s s o r Malcolm F. McGregor, who o f f e r e d
f u l and d e t a i l e d
and

c r i t i c i s m of the f i r s t

care-

draft,

to P h i l l i p E. Harding, who provided the i n s p i r -

a t i o n f o r , and p a r t i c i p a t e d
paration

of t h i s study.

c l o s e l y i n the pre-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

. . p.l

II

TESTIMONIA

p. 8

III

L I F E IN A NEW ENVIRONMENT

p. 39

IV

THE SCYTHIANS

CONNEXION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. . . p.70

VI

THE OLBIAN WAY OF L I F E

p.83

VII

THE HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

p.98

p.56

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . .

p. 105

APPENDIX

p. 109

( .

INTRODUCTION

O l b i a , a l s o c a l l e d Borysthenes-jj was founded

on the

Hypanis (the Bug) R i v e r , n o r t h of the Black Sea, by c o l o n i s t s

from M i l e t o s d u r i n g the second h a l f of the seventh
B.C.

century

Eusebios f i x e s the date of i t s f o u n d a t i o n as the f i r s t

y e a r o f the t h i r t y - f o u r t h Olympiad, 6i][/3 B.C. A r c h a e o l o g i c a l

evidence

confirms the presence

of Greek c o l o n i s t s on the s i t e

d u r i n g a t l e a s t the f i n a l q u a r t e r of the seventh

century.

One of the most f a s c i n a t i n g a s p e c t s of t h i s colony

ing

the f i r s t

dur-

two c e n t u r i e s of i t s e x i s t e n c e i s i t s i s o l a t i o n ;

b o t h i n the Greek i m a g i n a t i o n and i n f a c t

the shores of the

Northern Pontos were i n a world apart from

and a l i e n t o the

f a m i l i a r environment of the Aegean.

Not o n l y i t s g r e a t d i s -

tance from home ( O l b i a was n e a r l y a thousand m i l e s by sea from

M i l e t o s ) , but the harshness

of i t s c l i m a t e and the s t r a n g e -

ness of the n a t i v e S c y t h i a n c u l t u r e , i n t o c l o s e c o n t a c t

with

which the c o l o n i s t s a t O l b i a were f o r c e d , evoked i n the G

1

Herodotos i s the f i r s t w r i t e r who uses the name "Borysthenes'. Coins and i n s c r i p t i o n s from the colony a t
every date r e f e r to the c i t y as O l b i a .

r e e

2.

i n h a b i t a n t s of the n o r t h e r n
of e x i l e .

And,

c o a s t of the B l a c k Sea

a feeling

because of the d i f f i c u l t i e s of t r a n s p o r t

and

communication that arose from n a v i g a t i o n a l hazards p e c u l i a r

to

the B l a c k Sea,

was

t h i s I s o l a t i o n was

more than an i l l u s i o n ; i t

a fact.
In s p i t e of the h a r d s h i p ,

have d e t e r r e d a p r o s p e c t i v e

r e a l and

imagined, that might

c o l o n i s t from exchanging the warm

c i v i l i z a t i o n of M i l e t o s f o r the c h i l l y w i l d e r n e s s

of the

panis R i v e r i n Pontos, there were i n c e n t i v e s f o r the

ous.

C h i e f among these was

adventur-

the abundance of a r a b l e l a n d on

Hypanis, f o r , although M i l e t o s and

i n the seventh century,

Hy-

the

the I o n i a n c o a s t were not,

so d e s p e r a t e l y

short of l a n d as

the

c i t i e s of the mainland of Greece, t h e i r f i e l d s were never q u i t e

enough, and,

a f t e r the P e r s i a n conquest of Lyriia i n the

s i x t h century,
age

the M i l e s i a n s perhaps foresaw a p o s s i b l e s h r i n k -

of the lands a v a i l a b l e f o r t h e i r use.

u c t i v e l a n d , the B l a c k Sea's n o r t h e r n
sibility

of l u c r a t i v e t r a d e ;

could supply

c a t t l e , hides,

a t i v e a r t , and
oil

mid-

In a d d i t i o n to prod-

c o a s t o f f e r e d the pos-

the S c y t h i a n n a t i v e s of the
s l a v e s and

c e r t a i n kinds of

region
decor-

i n exchange they were g l a d to o b t a i n wine

and other products

of a warmer c l i m a t e .

i n d u s t r y suggested i t s e l f

i n the convenient

Another

and

promising

coincidence

of

abundant e d i b l e f i s h i n the e s t u a r i e s of the great r i v e r s

and

n a t u r a l d e p o s i t s of the s a l t

t h a t i s used to p r e s e r v e f i s h

f o r export.
A first

glance at the s i t u a t i o n of O l b i a ' s e a r l i e s t c o l o n -

i s t s the p r o s p e c t s that l u r e d them t h e r e , and

f a m i l i a r i t y of the environment

the harsh un-

i n t o which they found

themselves

t r a n s p l a n t e d suggests an obvious analogy: European

i n e a r l y North America found themselves
ation.

settlers

i n a very similar

I n both cases the c o l o n i s t s p l a c e d themselves

situ-

into

circ-

umstances of more or l e s s permanent e x i l e as a r e s u l t of the

problems of t r a n s p o r t and the d i s t a n c e s i n v o l v e d .

I n both cases,

too, the people i n v o l v e d were a d v e n t u r e r s , w i l l i n g to abandon the f a m i l i a r i t y and s e c u r i t y of home i n o r d e r to f i n d mate r i a l w e a l t h and a b e t t e r way
century America

of l i f e .

And

i n both

seventeenth-

and seventh-century O l b i a the c o l o n i s t s were

f a c e d w i t h the problem

of e s t a b l i s h i n g workable

r e l a t i o n s with

native populations.
The p h y s i c a l environment
omed harshness.
frontier

i n each case was

J u s t as the s e t t l e r s of the N o r t h

created a special l o r e

p l a i n s and

of an unaccustAmerican

about the barrenness of the

the u n e a r t h l i n e s s of the w i n t e r s , so the

Greeks

developed, I n connexion w i t h the Euxine r e g i o n ,

f o r b i d d i n g environmental l o r e ;
gerated

a particularly

the Greeks at home heard exag-

t a l e s of e t e r n a l m i s t s ,

grey, stunted

v e g e t a t i o n , and

b i z a r r e p h y s i o l o g i c a l e f f e c t s of the f r i g i d n o r t h e r n
By

g r e a t l y i n c r e a s i n g the r e l u c t a n c e

the n o r t h e r n

climate.

of t r a v e l l e r s t o voyage to

c o l o n i e s , these f a n c i f u l r e p o r t s

tended t o aggrav-

ate the i s o l a t i o n of o u t p o s t s such as O l b i a .

In the case of the N o r t h American settlement,

the h a r s h

environment, the c o n t a c t w i t h a n a t i v e p o p u l a t i o n ,
l i m i t l e s s a v a i l a b i l i t y of p r o d u c t i v e

the almost

l a n d and, above a l l , the

i s o l a t i o n of the s e t t l e r s from t h e i r mother c o u n t r i e s , l e d to

the e v o l u t i o n of a s t y l e of l i f e
spects from t h a t of Europe.
American c o l o n i z a t i o n there

t h a t was d i f f e r e n t i n many r e -

D u r i n g the c e n t u r i e s of N o r t h
existed i n d u s t r i a l

enterprises,

modes of a r c h i t e c t u r e and even a s t y l e of l i v i n g

culiar

to the f r o n t i e r

Did

society.

the strangeness of the environment, the c o n t a c t

a native population

(the Scythians)

produce i n that colony

in

that were pe-

the f i r s t

inhabitants
existence,

with

and the i s o l a t i o n of O l b i a

a unique way of l i f e ?

To what

extent,

two c e n t u r i e s a f t e r the c i t y ' s f o u n d i n g , d i d

the

c l i n g , i n s p i t e of the " f r o n t i e r " aspect

of t h e i r

to Greek t r a d i t i o n s i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

of t h e i r

5.

city,

i n their

architecture,

g e n e r a l l y i n t h e i r way
An examination

of

their

and

and

life?

of the evidence b e a r i n g on these

i o n s i s the concern of t h i s study.

it

art, their religion

The

evidence,

i s incomplete, does appear to warrant

quest-

although

some c o n c l u s i o n s ,

some t e n t a t i v e answers to the q u e s t i o n s .

Literary

sources f o r O l b i a b e f o r e I4.OO B.C.,

on the n o r t h e r n c o a s t of the Black Sea,

and f o r

are not

voluminous.

References

to t h i s r e g i o n i n the w r i t i n g s of A r c h i l o c h o s ,

Herodotos,

H i p p o k r a t e s , Homer, Strabo and Theophrastos

v i d e a s k e t c h of the c o n d i t i o n s under which l i f e

had

pro-

to be

lived

at O l b i a the c l i m a t e , the c o n d i t i o n of the s o i l ,

flora

and fauna, and

the r e s o u r c e s of the a r e a .

Olbia.
ities

and

t e c t u r e are b r i e f l y

about

t h e i r r e l a t i o n s w i t h the s e t t l e r s of

Hippokrates d e s c r i b e s some of the p h y s i c a l

of the S c y t h s .

the

In the

f o u r t h book of Herodotos one f i n d s a wealth of d e t a i l

the S c y t h i a n people

life

The

s i t e of the c i t y

and

peculiar-

i t s archi-

touched upon by a number, of authors,

n o t a b l y Dio Chrysostom, Herodotos and S t r a b o .

i n d u s t r i e s are d i s c u s s e d by P o l y b i o s and
About the O l b i o p o l i t a i

themselves

The

region's

Strabo.

at t h i s e a r l y p e r i o d

6.

t h e r e i s o n l y a s m a t t e r i n g of w r i t t e n i n f o r m a t i o n .

D i o Chrys-

ostom p r o v i d e s a h i n t about the mode of d r e s s a t O l b i a , D i o doros and Herodotos mention the c o l o n i s t s ' M i l e s i a n o r i g i n and
d e s c r i b e t h e i r d e a l i n g s w i t h the S c y t h i a n s , and Strabo
us that a major,preoccupation
few

tells

of the O l b l o p o l i t a i was t r a d e .

i n s c r i p t i o n s p r o v i d e a fragmentary

p i c t u r e of O i b i a n ex-

t e r n a l r e l a t i o n s i n the s i x t h and f i f t h c e n t u r i e s .
All

the l i t e r a r y evidence i s p r e s e n t e d , under the heading

"Testimonia,

11

i n the next

chapter.

We must t u r n t o archaeology i n order to f i l l

the r a t h e r

spacious gaps i n the w r i t t e n t r a d i t i o n about O l b i a .

Unfortun-

a t e l y , a l t h o u g h the s i t e

Russia)

( near N i k o l a e v i n Southern

has been excavated, much of the d e t a i l e d i n f o r m a t i o n r e g a r d i n g

the R u s s i a n e x c a v a t o r s ' work i s d i f f i c u l t
ern

hemisphere.

o f access i n the West-

Prom the r e p o r t s t h a t are a v a i l a b l e , however,

e s p e c i a l l y the l i s t s of a r t i f a c t s r e c o v e r e d from

the c i t y ' s

e a r l i e s t l a y e r s , one can make a good b e g i n n i n g i n the t a s k of

r e c o n s t r u c t i n g d e t a i l s o f O i b i a n l i f e i n the s i x t h and f i f t h
c e n t u r i e s B.C.

Some s i g n i f i c a n t o b s e r v a t i o n s can be based

upon

the O i b i a n f a c t o r i e s t h a t s p e c i a l i z e d i n i m i t a t i o n s of S c y t h i a n
art,

upon the domestic

a r c h i t e c t u r e adapted

In construction

7.

and

style

to the s p e c i a l demands of the O l b i a n c l i m a t e , and

upon the p o t t e r y t h a t o r i g i n a t e d i n the f a c t o r i e s of o n i a n

i

Greece and Athens, as w e l l as upon O l b i a n c o i n s t h a t bear some

interesting political

and r e l i g i o u s c l u e s .

An appendix pro-

v i d e s i l l u s t r a t i o n s of some f i n d s of p o t t e r y and metalwork, p a r t icularly

their

those

e x h i b i t i n g a d i s t i n c t l y Scythian influence i n

design.
E p i g r a p h i c a l evidence

c e n t u r i e s of her e x i s t e n c e .
earthed

on the s i t e

at O l b i a i s scanty f o r the e a r l i e s t
Pew of the many i n s c r i p t i o n s un-

can be dated

before

the t h i r d

century

B.C.;

a p a r t from b r i e f s e p u l c h r a l monuments, o n l y one or two i n s c r i p t i o n s can be s a i d to antedate the end of the f i f t h

From the evidence

that does e x i s t , however, an attempt can

be made to r e c o n s t r u c t the O l b i a n way of l i f e

c e n t u r i e s a f t e r the colony's f o u n d a t i o n .
be

examined w i t h a view to uncovering,

aspects

of l i f e

century.

i n the f i r s t

T h i s evidence

" a t home."

will

where p o s s i b l e , the

i n the O l b i a n s o c i e t y that r e p r e s e n t

ure from the s t y l e of l i f e

two

a depart-

8.

II

TESTTMONIA

The

literary

evidence f o r the arguments of the f o l l o w i n g

c h a p t e r s i s s e t out here b o t h i n the Greek and i n t r a n s l a t i o n .

The Greek t e x t of each author i s t h a t of the e d i t i o n c i t e d i n
the b i b l i o g r a p h y , except i n the case of i n s c r i p t i o n s , where
I use the p u b l i c a t i o n s of L a t y s c h e v

and T o d

and c i t e by

number.
The m a t e r i a l has been r o u g h l y c l a s s i f i e d a c c o r d i n g t o content under the f o l l o w i n g headings: The S i t e and Surrounding
Country, The Climate and L i v i n g C o n d i t i o n s , Resources

and Ind-

u s t r i e s , The S c y t h i a n s , The O l b i o p o l i t a i , E x t e r n a l R e l a t i o n s .
In the body of t h i s study, r e f e r e n c e w i l l be made to these
t e s t i m o n i a by number.
a. THE SITE AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY
T l . D i o Chrysostom, XXXVI, '1,2.
rj yap 710X15 TO uev etXncpev

anb TOC Bopuo^evou? 6ioc TO ndWo?

1. L a t y s c h e v , B a s i l i u s , I n s c r i p t i o n e s Antiquae Orae S e p t e n t r i o n a l l s P o n t l E u x l n l Graecae e t L a t i n a e , H i l d e s h e i m , 1965.

2. Tod, Marcus N., A S e l e c t i o n of ;Greek H i s t o r i c a l I n s c r i p t i o n s
I I , Oxford, 19l|8.
~

9.

xa\

TO ueye^os TOG noTauou, x e t T a t 6e %pbq TCU T n d v i 6 t , r{ TC

vuv

xa t i i n p o r e p o v
N

xaAoujie'vnc; a x p a c ,
ou

ev TG

x a \ aTepebv Monep

TO

6e

Tt

btaxoatous*

6e

aiiTou

evTeu^ev

ytyveTat

For,

T(6T)

OU TCOXU a v i o S e v ir{c; TTCTCO\CXOU

dvTtxpu.
TOGTO 6e e a T t TT}C; x ^ p a g

ourto? coxelTO,
Hat*

eu^oXov,

XtuvaCouat

not Tb

eupog

uep't

ne'xpt

ov\

TO u.ev TC\E'OV T e ' v a y o ?

o auuntTCTOuatv o l

T)TTOV

xat

eVt

ftaXxcTTnc;
TauTT)

axebo'v

aTabtouc,

TCOV TtoTau&v.

Y XT)VTi xalc;
a

TtoTap.ot.

eubtatg

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\tp.vT)

OTaSepa'.

the c i t y has taken i t s name from the Borysthenes

because of t h a t r i v e r ' s g r e a t s i z e and beauty; i t l i e s on the

Hypanis R i v e r a n d

the o r i g i n a l s e t t l e m e n t was founded on t h i s

s i t e n o t f a r upstream from the headland c a l l e d H i p p o l a u s , on

the o p p o s i t e side o f the r i v e r .
which the two r i v e r s

This point of land

converge i s sharp and l i k e

about

a ramming- beak,

but the t e r r a i n from t h e r e to the sea f o r almost two hundred

stades forms a marshy b a s i n , and t h e w i d t h o f the r i v e r
not l e s s than t h a t .
s h o a l water

here i s

There i s In t h a t r e g i o n a g r e a t d e a l o f

and a calm brought about by the l a c k of winds,

as one f i n d s on a q u i e t
T 2 . D i o Chrysostom,

such

lake.

XXXVI, 6 .

TT)C; d v a a T a o e w s r{ T e m a u X o r i r s tfiv otxo6ou.np.dTwv x a t TO

a u v e a T a M t a t TTIV TCOXLV hq P p a x u .
uepet Y P t ^ v t npoawxoboianTat
TOU T t a X a t o u - r c e p t p d X o u , x a $ ' o u t f p Y o t T t v e g ou TCO\\O\ b t a u e v o u a t v
Enue'Cov 6e

10.

ov upbs

TO

poor

The

upo$
v

uxYeftoc, ou6e

XTJV

tox^v

TT]S noXeto?.

q u a l i t y o f the b u i l d i n g s

the c i t y w i t h i n n a r r o w l i m i t s

and the s h r i n k i n g

are evidence o f i t s o v e r t h r o w ;

f o r I t has been b u i l t up near one p a r t i c u l a r

old

of

s e c t i o n of

the

c i t y - w a l l along which a s m a l l number o f towers remain stand-

i n g , now d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e

to the s i z e

and power of

the c i t y .

T3. Herodotos, IV, 101.

anb

yap.Iaxpou

xe erci

TT)V

kn\

xCuvnv

B o p u a $ e v e a Sena

nevous etnoat riuepe'cov 0605.

axa6ia aupipepXnxai u o i .
o*xa6wv

dena K O U
xot>s HaxO'iTep-&e

6e 060s

TJ

tiuepnaCn

Exu-frecov

O!HT)-

ava 6ir)K<5caa

ovxws av eiT) xf)s Z H U $ I H T ) S xa e T u x a p a i a

nat

exe'pwv xoaouxtov axa6uiov.

TI

anb B o p u a & e v e o c ;
T O anb S-aXaaanc;

06 6q,

xrjv Matf)xuv exe'petov

e$ ueaoYaiav es xoug MeXayxXaivouc;

xexpaHtaxiXiu)v

Tiuepewv

xa

op&ta

xa

ec,

XT)V

neaoyatav

cpepovxa

rj utv vuv yt) curcn eax\ u-eya^os xoa-

auxT).

Prom the I s t r o s to the Borysthenes R i v e r i t i s a ten-day

journey,

and t e n days' f a r t h e r t r a v e l b r i n g s one to the M a i -

o t i a n Lake; from the sea i n l a n d

beyond

to the B l a c k Cloaks who d w e l l

the S c y t h i a n s i s a j o u r n e y o f twenty days.

Now,

since

by my r e c k o n i n g a day's j o u r n e y i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y two hundred

stades, the b r e a d t h of

S c y t h l a would be about f o u r t'aotisand

s t a d e s , and the i n l a n d d i s t a n c e a s i m i l a r number of

units.

the same

The l a n d , then, i s o f t h i s order o f magnitude.

11

Tlj.. S t r a b o , V I I ,

&r)pai

lj.,8.

6' e l o t v , ev |iev x o i s eXeatv eXacpwv not

ovaypwv xa\ 6opxa6wv.

xolc; ne6Cot?
Y^vea^at

ev

xotc;

XO'TCOIC,

ouuevos xoXos, uexai>

ouxepos

xouxcov

etx* evxeu^ev

XT\<;

.kXacpou

6po^ici),

H O I

Ttlfviov

'tduov 6 e ' x t xoa T O aexov U T )

eaxt 6e x(3v xexpaTiodcov o xa\xpiou xo pi^Ye^og, Xeuxo'e;,

xotc,

pio'&cucav eie;

TT)V

xe9a\T)v,

e'u? T)uxpas xauteviov TtXet'ovc,, wax''ev x p &vv6p({) v ^ -

ea$ou pa6u*)s.
'Prfvou xou

x Q

xouxotc;.

o-aaypcov, ev 6e

xotaurq

nev rj exxbc;'laxpou rcScra TI nexaEu xou

x o O Tavaidoc, Ttoxauoft, u e ' x p i x^novxtxf}? ftaXaxxnc; xcu

Maiotfxifios.
The w i l d game i n the marshes i n c l u d e deer and w i l d

w h i l e on the p l a i n s t h e r e are w i l d
it

i s a strange f a c t

try.

boar,

asses and a n t e l o p e . But

t h a t the e a g l e I s n o t found i n t h i s

There i s a f o u r - f o o t e d c r e a t u r e c a l l e d

the

"stump-horn-

ed goat," which f a l l s between the deer and the domestic

i n s i z e , b u t i s more s w i f t - f o o t e d

coun-

than e i t h e r o f them.

c r e a t u r e , which i s white ii c o l o u r , d r i n k s up water

sheep
The

through i t s

n o s t r i l s i n t o i t s head, managing on t h a t supply f o r many days

a f t e r w a r d so t h a t i t s u r v i v e s without d i f f i c u l t y
regions.

Such i s the whole r e g i o n beyond

i n waterless

the I s t r o s R i v e r from

the Rhenos to the T a n a i s as f a r as the B l a c k Sea and Lake

Maiotis.

12.

T5.

Strabo, VII,

eixa

3,17.

BopuaSevTK noxa^bc;

nXwxbc; e<p' efcaHoaious axadCouc;

wai

TtXnaiov IxXXoc; noxaubs"Y-rcavK n a t VTIOOS rcpb xou axouaxoc; xou

Bopua$evouc;,

exouaa

ouc; dianoat'ouc;
xaXeixai,

Xiu^va.

6u(j5vup.os

TiXetfaavxi, 6e xbv

\xya e u n o p t o v ,

Texcov

Zapuaxat

x x t a u a MIXT|O-IGJV .

o l BaatXeiou

itXeov v o u a 6 e s ,

XeyoVevoi

xaV

bXiYOi- HCXI y e w P Y ^ S

r\ 6e

uaaa

6uepHetnevTi

xai/Taxpou

e p n u t a , 'ercetxa ou T u p e y e x a i ,

xa\

^OXBia

xQ uoxauQ TIOXIC;. r) 6' OCUXT) not

X<4pa xou Xex^evxo? u.exau BopuaSevouc;

il xwv

Bopua^evn a x a 6 i -

upwxri u.ev

eaxtv

ued' ouc; ou 'icfeuYec;

Oupyot,

uv

xo

emueXouuevoi.

Next i s the B o r y s t h e n e s R i v e r , n a v i g a b l e f o r a d i s t a n c e
of

s i x hundred

called

s t a d e s , and

the H y p a n i s .
t h a t has

s t a d e s up

the Borysthenes,

great

trading

i t there i s another

At the mouth of the B o r y s t h e n e s

an i s l a n d

name as t h e r i v e r ;

adjoining

an a n c h o r a g e .

the c i t y

one

I f one

will

i s also

sails

two

c e n t r e , a colony of M i l e t o s .

Of

there i s

hundred

come u p o n a c i t y
called Olbia.

river

o f the

It i s a

a l l the

territ-

o r y b e y o n d whst I have d e s c r i b e d , b e t w e e n t h e B o r y s t h e n e s
the I s t r o s ,
one

the f i r s t

part

comes t o t h e T y r e g e t a n s

so-called

i s the D e s e r t o f the G e t a i ,
and

R o y a l S c y t h i a n s , and

t h e most p a r t ,

a l t h o u g h a few

same

and

and

the I a z y g i a n Sarmatians,

then

the

t h e O u r g o i , who a r e nomads f o r
of

them engage i n f a r m i n g .

13.

b. THE CLIMATE AND LIVING CONDITIONS

T6. Herodotos, IV, 28.

6vaxM-ipoc; 6e auTT) rj xaTa\ex$e*to"a uaaa x^pn OUTW 6T/ T t e a T t ,
ev$a Tobs uev OHTW TGV unvflv acpopnTos
Totat

y ^ v e T a t n p u u o s , ev

ubiop CHX&XC, 7tn\bv ou Tcotrfaets, rcGp 6e avaHatwv

T[T)\ov.
not

oTos

Tcotrfaets

T) 6e daXaaaa Ti^yvuTat x a t 6 Bo'aTtopos Ttas 6 Kt|iu.eptos,

e r a TOU x p u a T a W o u ot

evTbs Tacppou Enu&at HaTOtHnu.evot a T p a T -

euovTat na't T a s a u a a s iTteAauvouat Ttepnv s TOU? E t v b o u s .

OUTIO

uev 6r) TOUS OHTIO uflvac; 6 t a T e \ e e t xe^P-wv eiov, TOUS 6* ent\otTtous

Teaaepas

4>uxea auTO$t e a T t .

TPOTCOUS Ttaat T o t a t ev a W o t a t

nextoptaTat

6e OUTOS O XELHWV TOUS

xupioioa Y < Y v o u e v o t a t

'ev TtJ TT)V |iev copatnv OUH uet Xoyou a t o v

oubev,

xziiiQoi,

TO 6e $epos

ua)v OUH a v t e t .

All

t h i s l a n d that I have d e s c r i b e d s u f f e r s harsh w i n t e r s

to such a degree that f o r e i g h t months o f t h e year there occurs

unbearable c o l d , and I n these months you cannot c r e a t e mud by
p o u r i n g out water, b u t by l i g h t i n g a f i r e .

The sea and a l l

the Kimmerian Bosporos f r e e z e over, and a l l

the Scyths who

d w e l l on t h i s side of the channel make e x p e d i t i o n s a c r o s s the

i c e and d r i v e t h e i r wagons a c r o s s to the S i n d o i .

Thus w i n t e r

continues f o r e i g h t months, b u t there i s c o l d weather there

d u r i n g even the f o u r r e m a i n i n g months.

T h i s k i n d of w i n t e r I s

In-

d i f f e r e n t from the w i n t e r s t h a t occur i n a l l other

lands;

here, i n the season when one would expect r a i n , none f a l l s

worth r e c o r d i n g , b u t d u r i n g the summer i t never stops r a i n i n g .

T7. Homer, Odyssey, X I ,

13-19.

TI 6' ec; TteCpad* I'xave Ba^uppoou "'Qxeavolo.

ev$a 6e Kuujjeptwv hvdpGiv
Tjepi

6f]uoc; xe
/

TCOXIC;

xe,

xai, verpeXn xexaXuauevoi ou6e TIOX'auxouc;

TieXioc; $ae^u)v xaxade'pxexai axxiveaaLv,

ou$' 6 n o V civ a x e i x n a i rcpbc, oupavbv

ou$' oV
aXX'

ETCI

av a4; e i u YCUBV

aaxepoevxa,

cW oOpocvodev

Ttpoxpatrnxai,

v0 oXor) xexaxcu SeLXo'iai. ppoxo'Dai.

She came t o the ends of d e e p - f l o w i n g Ocean, where the r a c e

of the Kimmerians
and c l o u d s .

have t h e i r

c i t y , and are shrouded i n m i s t

Never does the sun l o o k down upon them w i t h h i s

r a y s e i t h e r when he i s r i s i n g i n t o the s t a r r y h e v e n , or when

9

a g a i n he s e t s from the heavens, earthward; b u t unbroken n i g h t

covers l o w l y m o r t a l s .

T8. Strabo, I I , 1,16.

anaaa
TWV

5' rj xwpa 6uaxiuepos

iaxi

u^xpi

xflv eVt tfaXaxtr, T^TXOJV

pxTafcu Bopoo^evouc; x a i xou axouaxoc;

Tffc

Mcuwxi6oc.

auxwv

15.

6e T<3V ent $ a \ a T T r ) xh

xe

-to

apxTtxioraTa

xa\ ex\ u'aWov TO xou Bopua^e'vouc; xai

xoXuou,

x a \ Kapxtv^xou,

xa$'$v

axou,a xr\q

Matcoxtboc;.

o' uuxdc; TOO Tauupdxou

tadubc; XTJC, \xeya\r)<; Xeppovifaou.

6TI\O1 6e xa ipu'xTl, xatrcep ev rcebtotc; otxou'vxcov* ovou? Te

ou xpecpouat

(bJaptyov

yap

yap TO C&OV), ot T e poe? ot uev axepto

viovxat, TOJV 6'(XTtopptvaJat xa xepaxa (xat yap TOUTO buaptyov

fiepos), o t TC u u i o t
6e xaKxal

ubptat,

utxpot,

Ta

6e T t p o p a T a ueyaXa*

T a 6' evoyTa auurciftTeTat.

a<po6po TT)s ud\ terra

ex

6oc, 6T)\O'S c r t t v .

du.aeueTat yap

Ix

TOU n a v T t x a n a t o u ,

All

Tt13v a u u p a t v c f v T i o v

coerce xa\ r c a y o v

Ttep t
v

btdnXouc;

el v a t

TQV 6e
Tb

yevTO

pifrTOVTat
Twfytov

TI

Tfic; M a t u r e t -

aTOua

o etc; $ a v a y o p t a v
xa\

o6ov.

t h i s r e g i o n as f a r as the c o a s t a l l a n d between the

Borysthenes R i v e r and the entrance to Lake M a i o t i s s u f f e r s

treme' w i n t e r s .

ex-

In f a c t , of the p l a c e s on the Pontos, the most

n o r t h e r l y are the mouths of the M a i o t i s and the even more

n o r t h e r l y Borysthenes, and the lagoon of the Tamyrakian

Gulf

and the K a r k i n i t i s i n t o which p r o j e c t s the isthmus of Great

Ghersonesos.
A l t h o u g h there are people l i v i n g on the p l a i n s , i t i s
c e r t a i n that i t i s a cold r e g i o n .

Por the i n h a b i t a n t s do not

breed tbe ans, a s p e c i e s t h a t i s i n t o l e r a n t of the c o l d ,

they have c a t t l e without horns, or e l s e they f i l e
because

and

the horns o f f

the horns are a p a r t of the animal that i s i n t o l e r a n t

of the c o l d .

T h e i r horses are s m a l l , and the sheep

larger.

16.

When the f l u i d w i t h i n f r e e z e s s o l i d ,
open.

bronze j a r s

split

But the i n t e n s i t y o f the c o l d i s demonstrated most

l y by the phenomenon o f the entrance t o Lake M a i o t i s :

the

clear-

there

channel between P a n t i k a p a i o n and Phanagoria i s crossed by

wagon, the i c e b e i n g as s o l i d

as a highway.

T9. H i p p o k r a t e s , de Aere, 19.

t j x t a x a TCOXU\OVOV e a x t , x a \ rf xwpn e X a x t a x a S n p t a xpecpet

ueye^os
xols

xai. . TCXT)$OS.

xpatv dpxxots xat

#peat %oi<z P m a t o t a t v , o$ev 6 popenc; nvel.

xeXeuxuW
xa\

uV a u x f i a t

x e t x a t yap

hyyvxa-za y t v e x a t , o x d x a v

xoxe oXtyov

xpovov

$epuavet

eVt

xaxd

o x e rjXtoc

xd? $eptvds

eX$n

rceptobous

x a t ou acpobpa* x d x e n v e u -

u a x a o u x d c p t x v e t x a t , T)v UTI o X t y a x t s

x a \ d a ^ e v e a , aXX* anb xu>v

'dpxxoov d t e \ Tcveouat n v e u u a x a (puxpa drcd' x e xi'Ovoc; x c u x p u a x a X X o u

xai

ubdxwv TCOXXSV

e'axtv.

6uaotXTixd

ev x o u x o t a t

be x"a opea e x X e t u e t *

oube'rtoxe
Tirfp

x e x a x e x e i - noXus x f ] s

btatxeuvxat*

iptXd x d \ o u x eaxecpdvwvxat

'dpxxiov
yriv

axeTtaCeadat.

oxt

oux

e a x t v dXen

e t a t ueyaXat

oube

axe'Tin.

o'uotu) eadr)xt x e XT)

iie'pa u b a x e t v b v
Xtbvoc,

xat

eXxovxes

Tcayexcov,

auxo\

auxr}

xTje;

a t be uexapoXaX

ecouxolc;

Y * k

xaXatTtiupou

aueovxec;.

oux

uexaXXaaaouaat

x a \ $epeoc; x a t XELH^VOS,
uoaxa

TJ (JHXOXTJS,

xOv topewv

e t a t atxw xe

x a \ rcaxu'v* x d x e

x o u xe

rcebta

u e y a X a , aXX' o^ta x e ' e a x t v

t a x u p a t , 'aXX* o u o t a t x a t b x f y o v

b t o x t x a t x d e t b e a o'uotot
ate\

iiexeiopa y a p to

xe^U^v xooXuet xou,

6* Y & P

oube

iiue'pnc; x d u e b t a , xoct

o p e a t v , aXX* rj d v d v x e a a n b xwv

auxo&t x a \ x d $x\pCa ob yivexai

uno

xouxcov b e

waxe x b v u"ev xe^P^vcx a t e \ . e l v a t , x b

b'e $epoc; bXtyac; T l H ^ p a s x a \ x a u x a ? nr) X t n v .

xai

diro

xpewuevot
xbv

xe

u t v o v x e c ; arco

17.

The S c y t h i a n r a c e i s f a r from p r o l i f i c
ory

breeds

and t h e i r

territ-

animals t h a t are v e r y small i n both s i z e and number.

The r e a s o n f o r t h i s i s that the r e g i o n l i e s near

the n o r t h e r n

e x t r e m i t i e s of the world and the R h i p a i a n mountains from which

the n o r t h wind blows.
at

As f o r the sun, even when i t i s n e a r e s t ,

the end of the p e r i o d of i t s p a s s i n g through the summer

s o l s t i c e , i t r a i s e s the temperature
to

a s m a l l degree.

f o r only a b r i e f period,

and

Winds blowing from the warm l a t i t u d e s

never r e a c h so f a r n o r t h , except f e e b l y on r a r e o c c a s i o n s .

Prom

the a r c t i c r e g i o n s , however, winds c h i l l e d by snow, i c e and

heavy r a i n s blow u n e n d i n g l y .
the mountains,

Because t h i s c o l d never l e a v e s

they are u n i n h a b i t a b l e .

The

S c y t h i a n s spend

t h e i r l i v e s on p l a i n s over which m i s t s hang throughout

so t h a t w i n t e r i s continuous, and a dubious
l a s t s o n l y a few

the

day,

s o r t of summer

days.

A l t h o u g h the p l a i n s , which are h i g h and unwooded, are

not e n c i r c l e d by mountains,
reaches.

No

they are steep i n t h e i r n o r t h e r n

s i z e a b l e b e a s t s are indigenous to t h i s r e g i o n , but

only the s p e c i e s that can s h e l t e r under ground.

for

their

The

reason

s c a r c i t y i s the c o l d and the bareness of the l a n d ,

which p r o v i d e s no warmth or s h e l t e r .

As f o r the seasons,

their

18

changes are s l i g h t

and i n s i g n i f i c a n t ,

the same without v a r i a t i o n .

a l l months b e i n g much

Thus the people here a l l l o o k

a l i k e because they a l l eat the same food and wear the same
c l o t h i n g , summer and w i n t e r ; and they are a l l s u b j e c t to b r e a t h i n g the t h i c k , m o i s t atmosphere, and to d r i n k i n g water
comes from snow and i c e , and to a v o i d i n g heavy

c. RESOURCES AND

that

exertion.

INDUSTRIES

T10. D i o Chrysostom, XXXVI, 3.

.

.TO

6potc;.
taxots

6e

XOCTCOV

rjtov ianv

k\u6r)<; xa\ 6aae1a xa\.auu> xat 6ev-

tpauvexat 6e xflv 6efv6pu)v TtoWa x a l ev ut:ap XT) Xtuvp, u$s

Tcpoaeotnevat,

we; in\ nXola

x a i ffcn xtvec; xQv anetpoxpajv 6uriuapxov

enexovxes.

o$ev ot %\eiovq

xauxr) 6e x a l x&v ci\u)v eaxt xb

xflv BapBapwv Xaupavouaiv wvouuevou

x<3v 'EWrfvwv x a l Zxu&Sv oi Xeppovnaov

olxoGvxec;

The remainder of the r i v e r s i d e i s marshy

covered w i t h r e e d s and t r e e s .
up even f a r out i n the r i v e r ,

XTJV

and

TOUC;

TX\T)VOS

aXac; xa\

Tauptxrfv.
thickly

In f a c t many of the t r e e s

stand

g i v i n g the appearance of s h i p ' s

masts, so that there have been o c c a s i o n s when c e r t a i n r a t h e r

i n e x p e r i e n c e d men,

supposing themselves to be approaching s h i p s ,

have been l e d o f f course.

Here too i s the g r e a t

concentrat-

i o n of s a l t works from which most of the b a r b a r i a n s and the

Greek and S c y t h i a n i n h a b i t a n t s of the T a u r i c Chersonese purchase

salt.

19

Til.

Herodotos, IV, 53,

2-lj..

. . .ntvea&at xe nbtaxos e a x t , peet xe xa$apbs napd

^oXepdTat,

aTtopos xe Ttap* auxbv aptaxos y t v e x a t , notn xe, xri ou aitetpexat

TI

x^PT)

aXes xe era xQ axbuaxt auxou auxo'uaxot

pa&uxdxiT

vuvxat a i t X e x o f

xfijed xe ueyaXa dvdxav^a, xd dvxaxatous

ouat, Ttapexexat i s

d r i n k , and

flows c r y s t a l

xaXe-

xapCxeuatv....

(The Borysthenes) i s the sweetest of r i v e r s from

to

TCTIY-

which

compared to other r i v e r s , which are muddy, i t

clear.

The b e s t crops grow along i t s banks,

v e r y t a l l grass wherever

the l a n d i s not c u l t i v a t e d .

At the

r i v e r ' s mouth, boundless n a t u r a l s a l t - b e d s accumulate,

g r e a t s c h o o l s of s p i n e l e s s f i s h , which they c a l l

and

and

a n t n k a i o l , are

available f o r salting.
T12. P o l y b i o s , IV, 38,J+-5.
rcpbs uev yap xaq dvayxatas xou ptou x P ^ S tcx xe ^peuuaxa not
E

TO x<3v e l s t a s bouXetixs dyoue'viov au)p.dxu)v TCXT}OS ot xaxd xbv

IIovxov f\\itv xonot TtapaaxeuaCouat

xPU

bacHXe'axaxov xa\

a t

x a T O V

ouoXoyouue'vws, Tipbs b ueptouatav ueXt Hrjpbv xdptxos dcp^bvcos

T\utv xoPT^youatv.

bexovxat yz urjv xu3v ev xol^s ^ap Jiu/tv xo'rcots

neptxxeubvxwv eXatov xat rcav o'tvou yevoc;. atxu) 6 duetpovxat,

J

Ttoxe

uev

euxatptos bibovxes Ttoxe b Xaupdvovxes.

As f o r the n e c e s s i t i e s of l i f e ,

everyone

agrees t h a t the

r e g i o n of the B l a c k Sea p r o v i d e s most abundantly and

conven-

i e n t l y our supply of c a t t l e and the g r e a t e s t number of

men

20.

who

can be used as s l a v e s .

p l i e s an abundance

And In a d d i t i o n t h a t r e g i o n sup-

o f honey, wax, and p r e s e r v e d f i s h w i t h o u t

l i m i t , r e c e i v i n g from our l o c a l i t i e s

i n exchange our p l e n t i -

f u l o l i v e o i l and wine o f every k i n d .

But as f o r g r a i n , the

s i t u a t i o n v a r i e s ; i n some growing-seasons they export

grain,

and i n o t h e r s they import i t .

T13. S t r a b o , V I I , 6,2.

XOXTTOUS) iiinCnxovaa TJ T c n X a u u c ; a X u a x e T t u p a 6uu>s 6ude x e TO TtX.fv&os OCUTTIS x a u TT)V B u a v TOO a u v e X a u v o v T O S p o0

xou TV o*TevoTT)Tcx TOV H6\TIWV, <&rce x a u x e p c u v a\uaxea$au 6ua
TTJV a T e v o x w p u a v . y e v v a x a u u e v oSv TO Cwov e v TOUS e\eau
MauWTU6OS, laxuaav 6e uuxpbv exuuVteu 6ua TOO aTouaTos ayeX-n&bv xau
cpepexau naph TTJV A a u a v r ) v 'rjuova ue'xpu TpaneCouvTOs xa\ $apvaxuas*
e v T a u ^ a 6e i x p o T e p o v a u v C a T a a ^ a u
auuSau'veu TTJV -ihjpav, o u i t o W r j
. . . e l s ous ( sc.

6'* e a T u v

o u yap TOO TO rcpoaT)xov ^ x e i ueyeSos.

e l s 6e Euvunrnv

rcpo'uoOaa w p a u o T e p a 7tpos T e

TTJV

$rjpav

xa\

TTJV

Tapuxeuav

COTUV.

The tunny f i s h , r u s h i n g down i n t o these (the Bosporan)

straits,
the

are e a s i l y caught because o f t h e i r great number and

f o r c e o f the c u r r e n t that d r i v e s them along,

combined

w i t h the narrowness o f the waters; here, because o f the conf i n e d passage, they can be caught even by hand.

The t u n n i e s

21.

begin l i f e

i n the shallows of Lake M a i o t i s , and then, having

gained a l i t t l e

s t r e n g t h , they migrate i n s c h o o l s out through

the narrows and are swept along the A s i a n coast toward

ezos and Pharnakia where f o r the f i r s t

Trap-

time I t i s p o s s i b l e to

make a c a t c h of them,- a l t h o u g h not a g r e a t one.

they have not y e t reached a u s e f u l s i z e .

At t h i s

point

But by the time they

have reached Sinope, they are more n e a r l y ready f o r c a t c h i n g

and

salting.

Tllj.. Theophrastos,

IV, 5,3

TWV 6e

Tpttaxd

vnv

T^uepouu-evtov

xou.

uupptvnv,

TU> n b v x a )

pota\

6e

TT)V

apa

& i H a t xr\c; 6e
6e

Tieuxn
uypa

xP^vxat
TI e v

ayptac;

xa\

6e

aurn

ye

xat
Ttpbs

TOTtots

xP^otat.

u\ns

ikdxr)

a\)xr\ TtX^v
Ttat

auxat

TteptaxeuaCouevat.

TxavTobanurcaTat x d \

xa\

ndvTOv

ipuxpois

ZXI

npb<z xa<z t e p o a u v a s *

axat

TCOXU

To"ts

xa\

eaTt

TUTUS OUX

xzipwv
xa

6p0s

TcoXXa\

xai

eaTtv

xa\

ueXta
ou6l

TtX^jv
xat

o'Xcos

Itvwutxfis,

xaOxa

eu-

6e xaY u n X e a t

6' e a p t v a \

rcTeXea

TCOXU xr\c\

uTtat-Opta.

6e

6e

ev

aTcoubaCovTiov

autot

aurat

6occp-

unou-eveiv

u.upptvT)v....

rcept n a v T t x d r t a t o v ovtf e r e p o v xatrcep

ueye&etc; x a t

fvbctbov

ev

TOUTWV 6e TJTTOV

xa\

TidvTa p i n x a v a j u e v w v

auTtt.

cpaatv

uxv

otv

TtXe't-

et

xot-

oaa

ou6ev

wore

rcep\

ou6e
xbv

auTOU.

Of g l l the domestic p l a n t s , they say t h a t the l a u r e l and

the m y r t l e are l e a s t

a b l e to stand the c o l d , and the m y r t l e

l e s s than any.... In the Pontos near P a n t i k a p a i o n n e i t h e r grows,

22.
even though people are most anxious to r a i s e

these

plants,

and t r y every means to encourage them because they are needed f o r r e l i g i o u s r i t e s .

But many good-sized f i g and pome-

granate t r e e s are c u l t i v a t e d under s h e l t e r , and numerous pear

and apple t r e e s of v a r i o u s k i n d s a l l
grow t h e r e .
are

of them p r o l i f i c

These bear f r u i t i n the s p r i n g except when they

retarded.

Although

the i n d i g e n o u s f o r e s t i n c l u d e s such

t r e e s as oak, elm and ash, n e i t h e r f i r , p i n e , nor any of the

r e s i n o u s woods occur at a l l .
inferior
of

to that of Sinope,

i t , except f o r outdoor

The wood here i s damp and v a s t l y

so t h a t they do n o t make much use

construction.

Such are the t r e e s

of most of the P o n t i c r e g i o n .

T15.

Strabo, X I , 2,3.

nv 6' euTcopia v xotvov

xat

Ttuv

xe 'Aataviov xa\ xuiv EuptoTtauov

vop.a6wv

xuiv ex xoG Boarco'pou xr)v \i4ivnv nXeovxiov, xtov uev dv6paTto6a

ayo'vxtov xa t 6epuaxa xa\ el' xt a\\o xQv voua6tx<2v, xtov 6' eaSnxa
N

xa\ olvov xat xaWa, oaa

XTIS

riuepou 5tatxns o t x e t a , dvxtcpop-

xtCoue'viov.

It

(Tanais) was a common market-place

to b o t h A s i a n and

European nomads and to the seamen who s a i l e d from the Bosporos

i n t o the l a k e .

The nomads had s l a v e s and h i d e s f o r s a l e ,

23
and whatever e l s e nomads possess, w h i l e the o t h e r s

offered

c l o t h i n g , wine and the o t h e r items of everyday use.

d. THE SCYTHIANS

Tl6.

Herodotos, IV,

TO 6e u e y t o x o v
ine\$6vxa

ini

1^,2.

ouxw a<pt a v e u p n x a t waxe anoyvycZv

acpeac;, at) SouXouevouc;

UTI o'to'v x e e t v a t * x o t a t
a \ X a <j>epeotxot

x e eeupe$f|vat

aaxea

y^P

urjxe

xetxea

av

e'tnaav

Now

xaxaXaBetv
p

exxtaue'va,

eo'vxes rcavxec; e w a i i i t T t o x o S o x a t , c3vxec; at) a n '

a p d x o u 'aXX' a-rcb xxrjveujv, o l x r i i a a x a xe' aqpt

oux

t e u.nde'va

ot>xot a u a x o t

xe x a \

arcopot

Ceuyewv,

xw?

ixpoauLayetv;

the g r e a t e s t t h i n g they have l e a r n e d i s the means to

prevent anyone who

a t t a c k s them from making

a safe r e t r e a t ,

or from c a t c h i n g up w i t h them when they do n o t wish to be found.

Certainly

to men who

ifications,
ers

but who

have n e i t h e r

e s t a b l i s h e d c i t i e s nor

fort-

by custom are a l l nomads and mounted a r c h -

l i v i n g not by a g r i c u l t u r e but by r a i s i n g

cattle,

and

who

have t h e i r homes on wagons, there i s a sure s t a t e of i n v i n c ibility

T17.
ot

and d i f f i c u l t y of approach.

Strabo, VII,

Ij., 6

uev ouv Nouddec; n o X e u t a x a \ uaXXo'v

e t a t v TJ X n a x p t x o t , rcoXeu-

21*.

ovai 6e urcep %Qv

yewpytZv

ede'Xouat

avx\

xauTTis

ayanQai

xal

xd

dvayxata

TOU

TTJV

e'xetv

cpopouc;

yr\v

Tots

TOUC;

Xau^dvovTes

e l ? Tteptouatav, ' a \ \ ' e t s

auvTeTayuevouc; u e T p t o u g T t v d s OUX
i^iffaepa

yap

eTttTpeipavTes

cpopiov.

ptou*

T&

at} 6c6o'vTajv 6e, a u T o t ^

Tco\euouatv.
Now

the S c y t h i a n nomads are w a r r i o r s r a t h e r

than b a n d i t s ,

but when they go to war, i t i s f o r the sake of t r i b u t e ; f o r

they t u r n over t h e i r l a n d t o whoever wants i t f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l
purposes, and are happy to c o l l e c t
they have assessed.

the moderate t r i b u t e

T h e i r p r i c e s are f a i r

that

because they are

n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n l u x u r y , but o n l y i n t h e i r d a i l y needs :nd

the n e c e s s i t i e s of l i f e .
fee,

But, i f the t e n a n t s do n o t pay the

the S c y t h i a n s go t o war w i t h

them.

T l 8 . H i p p o k r a t e s , de Aere, 18

TI 6e

Exu$eu>v

<\>i\r) xa t
s

atTeuvTat,
auaSpatv
xuxXot,

6e xa\
TauTa

e'vubpos

TO

XeTeuouat

epnutTi

u6iop

xaXeuu.e'vT) rtedtac;
ueTptws.

Noua6es 6e

otxeuatv.

xaXeOvTat,

at 6e auaat

ai 6e e a x u x \ o t *
TeTexvaauevat

6e xa\

aTeyvd

coarcep

etat

xat

vTaO$a

6rt

oux

etatv

au\at 6e

eaTtv

at

TttXotc;

otxTfuata T a

npbq u6top xa\

xai

yap

rcoTaum

TC3V T t e 6 t i o v .

ex

eaTt

up'bc;

u a T a . Tdc; 6e d u d a s e'x.xouat Ceuyea Tae;

uev

uev

\etuaxio6ris
ueyaXot',
ot

Exu&at

xat

o^ o5t-

oixTfuaxa, a\\*
J

e\.dxtaTat

x ^ ^ v a xa\ npos T a
uev

TeTpd-

n e p tTtecpayp-evat

6tTt\a, T a 6e

ev

etat

TptTtXS.
Ttveu'-

6 u o , xa<z 6e Tpt'a

25.

8ouW xepujc; axep.

o'Sv

xauxrjat ubv
6' eY

i i w

axa xa

exouat xepaxa UTIO xou (l^xeos.

ev

xrjatv audSrjatv at yuvatxec. 6tatxe0vxat

oxeOvxac ot av6pes.

e<W

xoaottxov

ou yap

xa\ at Boec x a l ot

auxot

ETtovxat 6e auxotc, xa\ xa upoSue'vouat 6'ev

tTinot.

xpovov, oaov av aTxoxpf) auxotat

xw aux<3

xoTs xxnveatv o' xopxoe;.

oxdxav 6e unxe'xt, ec; exepnv x^prjv e'pxovxat.

-Che r e g i o n c a l l e d the S c y t h i a n w i l d e r n e s s i s a l e v e l
raeadowland devoid of t r e e s but f a i r l y well-watered;
i n f a c t g r e a t r i v e r s t h a t d r a i n the w t e r from these
a

i n t h i s r e g i o n too l i v e

the S c y t h i a n s who

there are
plains,

are c a l l e d ^omads

because they have no permanent d w e l l i n g s , but l i v e i n wagons

the s m a l l e s t of which are four-wheeled,
wheels.

although

These wagons have canvas c o v e r i n g s and

some have s i x
are l a i d

l i k e houses, some two-roomed and o t h e r s three-roomed, and

p e r v i o u s to C a i n , snow and winds.
two,

the c o l d t h a t the beasts do not have horns.

l i v e i n these wagons, the S c y t h i a n men

horses.

I t i s because of
While the women

r i d e along on horseback,

them f o l l o w s the t r a i n of t h e i r

The

im-

Teams of h o r n l e s s o x e n

or sometimes t h r e e p u l l these wagons.

and behind

out

sheep, c a t t l e

and

S c y t h i a n s remain i n one p l a c e only as l o n g as i t

p r o v i d e s them w i t h s u f f i c i e n t fodder f o r the c a t t l e ; when i t no

l o n g e r does so, they move to another

place.

26.

T19. Herodotos, IV, 17-18

ctTto TOO Bopua$evetxeu)v eurcoptou (xoOxo yicp x&v
ueaatxaxo'v eaxt

Ttaarjc;

xf]c; 2xu$tT)s)> dub

xouxou

uapa^aXaaatwv
rcpuixot K a W i n -

itt6at ve'uovxat eovxec;"EXXrjvec; Exu^at, UTip 6e xouxwv 'aXXo e$voc;

ot *AXaCoves

xaXeovxat.

ouxot 6e xat ot KaXXtuutdat xa uev cxXXa

xaxa xauxa xu$nat eTtaaxe'oucH, atxov 6 xa\ auetpouat xa\ atxe'ovxat, xa\ xpou-uua xa\ axopo6a xa\ 9axo\>s xat xeyxpou?.

<5uep

6e 'AXaCo'vcov oixe'ouat xu$at apoxfjpec;, ot oux'eui atxrfat artetpouat xbv atxov 'aXX* eVt tcpnat.
Neupot\

xouxwv 6e xaxtfrcep^e olxeouat

Neupwv 6e x o upbc; Boperjv aveuov e'prpov av^paJTcwv, oaov

N

TjueC? tbuev.
xaOxa Uev uap'a xbv ifnavtv itoxauov eVrt e#vea upb? eanepris x o u
BopuaSeveos*

axap btaBavxt xbv Bopua$evea dub ^aXa'aanc; up'toxov

uev T) ^Xatr), dub 6e xauxrjc; a\/u) tovxt odxeouat xu$at ye^PY ^*

0

xou?

EXXr)vee; ot otxe'ovxe? erct xwVrcavt uoxauS) xaXeouat

c/

ftevetxac;, aqpe'ac; 6e auxouc;-"OXB

tOTtoX^xac;.

Bopua-

ouxot Sv ot yewpyo\

Exu$at veuovxat xb u.ev up'bc; XTJV r)w TCI xpetc; rfue^pas obou, xaxrjxovxec; ent noxaubv xw 06'voua xetxat navxtxa'Ttnc;, xb 6e upbs
Boperjv &veu,ovTCXO'OVdva xbv Bopua^evea rjuepe'cdv evbexa. r)5r) 6e
xaxuuep$e xouxwv rj eprjuo'c; e'axt eVt TIOXXOV .
>

uexa 6e x r j v

epTjuov

Av6potpayot otxeouat, e^voc; e o v t6tov xa\ ou6auwc; Xxu^txo'v. xb

7

6e xouxeov xaxurcep^e eprjuov T)6T) aXr)$ewc; xa\ e'-frvoc;

ou6e v, 6aov rju,etc;
/

Beyond

dv^pujmuv

'tduev.

the market c i t y o f the B o r y s t h e n i t a i , which i s

the midway p o i n t o n the e n t i r e extent of the S c y t h i a n c o a s t ,

the f i r s t

i n h a b i t a n t s are the K a l l i p p i d a i who are S c y t h i a n

27.

Greeks.

Northward of them d w e l l s another people c a l l e d the

Alazones.

Both these men and the K a l l i p p l d a i l i v e i n the

manner of the S c y t h i a n s ; i n p a r t i c u l a r they sow g r a i n f o r t h e i r

own consumption, as w e l l as onions, l e e k s , l e n t i l s ,
let.

Beyond the Alazones l i v e

and m i l -

the l a n d - t i l l i n g S c y t h i a n s who

sow wheat n o t f o r t h e i r own consumption,

beyond these people the N e u r o i l i v e ,

but f o r s a l e .

And

and to the n o r t h o f them

the l a n d i s empty as f a r as we know.

These,

then, are the peoples who populate the shores o f

the Hypanis, which l i e s

to the west of the Borysthenes. Be-

yond the Borysthenes R i v e r near the sea one comes f i r s t

upon

the Woodland, and going i n l a n d from t h i s one meets the next

i n h a b i t a n t s , S c y t h i a n farmers whom the Greeks
Hypanis R i v e r c a l l B o r y s t h e n i t a i

( t o themselves

c o l o n i s t s g i v e the name O l b i o p o l i t a i ) .
e r s occupy

the t e r r i t o r y

wards as f a r as a r i v e r
and e l e v e n d a y s

l i v i n g on the
these Greek

These S c y t h i a n farm-

s t r e t c h i n g three days' t r a v e l e a s t to which i s g i v e n the name P a n t i k a p e s ,

t r a v e l northward

up the Borysthenes.

And

j u s t above these r e g i o n s there i s a l a n d that i s f o r the most

part

empty, and s t i l l f u r t h e r beyond there d w e l l the Man-

e a t e r s , a separate and n o n - S c y t h i a n r a c e .

And beyond these

the l a n d i s t r u l y empty and, as f a r as we know, d e v o i d o f

human l i f e .

28.

T20.

Herodotos, IV,

76,

78-80

Setvtxo'tat be vouaii'otat xat ourot atv&c; xpSa^at cpeuyouat,

xe&v c/xXwv, EXXnvtxotat

UT)TE

Xapat'c; xe xa\ beuxepa auxts

ETtetxe

be xa\ ffxtaxa, 005 6 t e b e a v 'AvdExuXnc;.

xoOxo uev y d p Avaxpo*tc;

s

vf}v TCOXXT)V ^ecoprfaac; na\ aKo6e^duevo? nax* auxriv aocptnv

uoXXriv exoutCexo hq Tv&ea xd Zxudewv, TcXeiov 6t E\\T)and'vxou

<

Txpoataxet iq K u C t x o v
xobq

KuCtxnvous

n o t eupe yap

n d t uytT)c; aTtovoaxrfaT) iq

xaxa xauxd xaxa topa xdvq

<Jq

<SL

ewuxou, &uaetv xe

XTJV

Zxufttxrjv, xaxabuc; ec;

XT)V

drtexxetve.

xuyxdWi

opx^v eitexeXee u a a a v xp $ew xOuTiavov xe e'xwv

xa\ x<3v xiq

Exu&etov xaxacppaa^el?

auxbv xaGxa uoteOvxa ar)\xT)ve xai paatXet EauXtw*

u>q

xaXeo-

navxottov TtXer]), e$ xauxnv br) xaxabu?

not ^xbnaduevos'ayaXuaxa.

aTctHOuevos

XT*|V

(r\ 6* eaxt uev napd xbv ^AxtXXrjtov bpbuov,

7i2aa eoGaa devbp&w

d 'Avdxapats

dvdyovxaq

KuCtxrjvouc; rtoteOvxac; xa\ Tiavvuxtba

be dutxexo iq

uevnv''YXatnv

f) unxp\ xcOv $e<2>v

opxrjv u e y a X o n p e T t e l o c ; xdpxa, euaxo xr| unxp\ d

'Avdxapatg, fiv aQq

axrfaetv.

elbe xov ' A v d x a p a t v

xa\ vuv ffv xt?

Ttoteuvxa

e t ' p n x a t %ep\

6 be xat

auxbs

xaOxa, x o e u a a ? a6xbv

'Avcgcapatc;, ou cpaat

Exu$at y^vioaxetv, btd xouxo oxt e^ebrfunae xe iq

\iiv

xr)v *EXXdoa xat

Cetvtxo'tat e^eat btexpifcraxo.

Ouxos u^v vuv ouxu) b?| enpT)e btd e t v t x d xe vo'uata xat 'EXXrjviYihq

6u.t\tas.

nefoeoq

e'lia^e

TtoXXotat be xdpxa exeat uaxepov IxuXn^

napaTtXTjata x o u x w .

6 'Apta-

'Aptarcet^et ydp xfi Exu^e'cov p a -

atXet y ^ v e x a t uex* d'xXujv ua^bwv ExuXnc; e *Iaxptrjvnc; be Y v a t x d < ;

u

ouxos yCvexai

x a t oubaucus e y X W ^ S * tbv r\ prfxrip a u x n yXwaaav

xe EXXdba x d l ypaupaxa ebtbacle.

4

r)q

uexd b e xp"vw uaxepov Aptaneu^-

pev xeXeux'a boXw unb ZTtapYotTtet^eoc; xoO'Ayaxupawv

paatXe'oc;,

2xu\n<; 6e TTIV x e paatXTitnv TtappaXe x d t xrjv yuvaCxa xou Ttaxpo c;,

y

xt) ovoua nv OTiotn* nv be auxn n Ortotrj aaxrj, e rjg n v Optxo?

29.

' A p t a r t E t ^ E t natc;.

TJPEOXEXO

BaatXsuwv

E x u ^ t x r ) aXXa

6E Exude'wv 6 ExuXnc; 6tatxr) ou6au.G>c;

TIOXXOV

npbc; x a E X X r j v t x a uSXXov x x p a ^ c

uevoc; T)V drab Ttat6Euatoc; xf]c; Eitnat6Euxo, e n o ^ e e x e x o t o O x o *

EUXE

d y a y o t xrjv a x p a x t r j v xrjv

EXU&EWV EC; t b

B o p u a ^ s v E t x s w v d'axu

( o t 6e Bopucr&EVE'txat o u x o t X e y o u a t acpe'ac; auxouc; e T v a t MtX^atbuc;)

ec; xouxouc;

EV

OMWS e X & o i

o Exuftrjc;,

xw upoaaxEtw, auxbc; 6b oxwg

XT)V u v a x p a x t r j v x a x a X t u E a x E
^X$ot E'C; xb xEtxoc, x a t xac; -rcuXac;

E y x X V j a E t E , xrjv axoXrjv dito^eliEvoc; xr)v E x u ^ t x r j v XaBEaxE av E X f

EXWV
OU6EVOC;

Xr)vt6a E a ^ f j x a ,

xauxrjv rVyopaCe

OUXE

bopucpopwv

EKOUE'VWV
EXUSE'WV

6E nuXac, EqpuXaaaov, u r f xtc, a t v

t 6 o t ^ x o v x a xauxrjv xrjv a x o X r f v . x a \ x a X X a EXP&XO 6 t a t x r j EXXt?vt x r i x a \ SEOIOI t p a ETCO^EE x a x a vououc, xodc, 'EXXTJVWV . 6xe 6E

OUXE
J

6''av

aXXou

xac;

6 t a x p t ( p E t e uf]va f)

TIXEOV XOUXOU,

aTcaXXaaoExo

E'vbuc, xrjv Zxu&txrjv

axoXrfv....
'EuEtxE

6e lbz o t xaxwc, yEVE^a^at, e y t v e x o drcb Tipo9a'atoe; x o t f j a b E .

?

7t$u|ir)aE

Atovubxj) B a x x E t w xXa$f)vat* u x X X o v x t

' d y a $ a t xrjv

^EVEIXEWV
xa\

XEXEXTJV EYE'VEXO

9aaua u y t a x o v .

avrfuriv

rjv o t

TIOXUXEXEOC,

xfj ito'Xt otxr)C, uEydXric; x a \

o X t y w x t updxEpov xouxcov

6E o t EC, x ^ P .

stxov.

EV

a c

Bopua-

TCEptBoXrf, xfjc,

xrjv TCpt X e u x o u

XE x a t ypuTCEc; E a x a a a v * c, xauxrjv 6 $Ebc, 'svaxr)(|>e

BEXOC;. x a t r] UEV x a x E x d r j n a a a , EXUXTJC; 6E OU6EV XOOXOU E^vsxa
rjaaov IUEXEXEOE xrjv XEXEXTJV . ZxuQ-at 6E XOU B a x x e u E t v TiE'pt *EXXriat 6vt6tCouaf
ou yap c p a a t otxoc, ? v a t $EOV E U p t a x E t v
Xt&ou

xouxov
'Qc, 6e

aqptyyEc;

baxtc. u a t v a $ a t

UEXOC x a O x a

upoaxriaauEvot
TrjpEU)

xbv

evayEt dv^pwrtouc;....

Er)Xauve

6 ExuXric; EC, rv9-a x a EWUXOC, o t E x u $ a t

abEXcpebv a u x o u

Q-uyaxpbc;, s r c a v t a x E a x o

'Oxxauaadbrjv,

xw Z x u X r j .

yEyovdxa

EX

xf)c;

30.

These S c y t h i a n s s c r u p u l o u s l y a v o i d f a l l i n g i n w i t h f o r e i g n customs, and of a l l n a t i o n s ' customs they shun those o f

the Greeks e s p e c i a l l y ; b o t h Anachari-is and S k y l e s were cases
in point.

When A n a c h a r s i s , a f t e r having seen much o f the

world and having proved

the greatness o f h i s wisdom d u r i n g h i s

t r a v e l s , was r e t u r n i n g to the S c y t h i a n country he s a i l e d

through

the H e l l e s p o n t and landed at K y z i k o s .

There he found

the c i t i z e n s c e l e b r a t i n g v e r y l a v i s h l y a f e s t i v a l i n honour
of the Mother of the Gods, and he, A n a c h a r s i s , vowed to the
goddess t h a t , i f he made a safe a r r i v a l home, he would o f f e r
s a c r i f i c e u s i n g the r i t e he had observed

the K y z i k o i p r a c t i c i n g ,

and he would e s t a b l i s h a f e s t i v a l of worship.

So when he had

a r r i v e d I n S c y t h i a , g o i n g o f f i n t o the r e g i o n c a l l e d the
Woodland, which l i e s near

the Racetrack

of A c h i l l e s and which

happens to be covered w i t h t r e e s of a l l k i n d s , A n a c h a r s i s
c a r r i e d out i n f u l l
b a l s and s t a t u e s .

the r i t e

of the goddess, complete w i t h cym-

But one of the S c y t h i a n s observed

the .act, and r e p o r t e d him to K i n g Saulios^who,

on the scene

him i n

when he a r r i v e d

and w i t h h i s own eyes w i t n e s s e d A n a c h a r s i s

these t h i n g s , k i l l e d him w i t h an arrow.

doing

I f anyone nowadays

i n q u i r e s about A n a c h a r s i s , the S c y t h i a n s say they have never

heard o f him, because he t r a v e l l e d to Greece and took up f o r e i g n customs.

31.

So he f a r e d because of h i s f o r e i g n ways and h i s associ a t i o n w i t h the Greeks.

occurred,
one

But many y e a r s l a t e r

a similar

i n v o l v i n g S k y l e s the son of A r i a p i t h e s . S k y l e s

of s e v e r a l c h i l d r e n born t o A r i a p i t h e s , k i n g of the

i a n s , but he was

case
was
Scyth-

the o f f s p r i n g of an I s t r i a n r a t h e r than a

n a t i v e mother,who took i t upon h e r s e l f to t e a c h him the Greek

language,

b o t h spoken and w r i t t e n .

A f t e r a time, however,

when A r i a p i t h e s had d i e d by t r e a c h e r y at the hands of

Spar-

g a p i t h e s the A g a t h y r s i a n k i n g , S k y l e s i n h e r i t e d b o t h the
and the w i f e of h i s f a t h e r .
n a t i v e town) was

Opoeia,

throne

T h i s woman, whose name ( a f t e r

her

had borne a son, O r i k o s , to A r i a -

p i t h e s ; S k y l e s , however, assumed l e a d e r s h i p of the S c y t h i a n s .

But

s i n c e he was

way

of l i f e ,

a l t o g e t h e r d i s s a t i s f i e d w i t h the S c y t h i a n

and g r e a t l y p r e f e r r e d H e l l e n i c customs because of

the e d u c a t i o n t h a t he had

enjoyed, he used

he would l e a d the S c y t h i a n army to the

to do as f o l l o w s :

c i t y o f Borysthenes
:

(the

i n h a b i t a n t s of t h i s c i t y r e f e r to themselves

as M i l e s i a n s ) and,

l e a v i n g the army to wait on the c i t y ' s o u t s k i r t s , he h i m s e l f

would e n t e r w i t h i n the w a l l s and c l o s e the gates behind
Then, throwing

a s i d e h i s S c y t h i a n costume and p u t t i n g on Greek

c l o t h i n g , he used
unattended

by

him.

to go

about the s t r e e t s d r e s s e d thus,

spearmen or anyone e l s e .

and

Meanwhile someone

32.

used

to guard the gates to prevent any of the S c y t h i a n s

seeing him wearing

all

t h i s mode o f d r e s s .

aspects o f Greek l i f e ,

from

S k y l e s conformed to

even to the e x t e n t of p e r f o r m i n g

s a c r i f i c e a c c o r d i n g t o the Greek r i t e s .

F i n a l l y , when he had

spent a month or more i n t h i s f a s h i o n , he would put on S c y t h ian

c l o t h i n g and d e p a r t .

He d i d t h i s q u i t e f r e q u e n t l y .

even had a house b u i l t i n Borysthenes,

He

and he m a r r i e d a l o c a l

woman.
But sooner

or l a t e r

t h i n g s had t o t u r n out b a d l y f o r him,

and i t happened under the f o l l o w i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s : he wished

to be admitted

to the r i t e s of the BaKchic Dionysos, b u t , as

he was on the p o i n t o f u n d e r t a k i n g
portent occurred.

t h i s , a very

S k y l e s had i n the c i t y o f Borysthenes

g r e a t and expensive

house, which I mentioned a few l i n e s

around which sphinxes

and g r i f f i n s i n white

stone formed

d e c o r a t i o n ; upon t h i s house the god l e t f a l l

But,

significant
a
above,
a

a thunderbolt.

a l t h o u g h the e n t i r e b u i l d i n g was burned down, S k y l e s

nevertheless carried

out the BaKchic r i t e .

The S c y t h i a n s , how-

ever, o b j e c t to the Greek custom of engaging

the ground that i t i s unreasonable
men i n t o a f r e n z y . . . .

to worship

i n t h i s r i t e , on
a god who d r i v e s

33.

So,

when a f t e r t h i s S k y l e s rode back to h i s own

the S c y t h i a n s , e n l i s t i n g the l e a d e r s h i p of h i s own

Oktamasades the grandson of T e r e s , r e b e l l e d

d. THE
T21.

Athenaios,

MUTICHOI
HCU

xag

6'

XII,

eio? uev

brother

against

Skyles.

OLBIOPOLITAI

523

OUH

expt^cpcov, ev6tu>v

xe eV E\\naTtbvxu) noXeic; enxtcrav

<

O V naxt^Huaav tcoXeai

people,

Kauixpa'ts, H C U

cu? 6e i57iT)x^no-av nbovp H C U

EHOOCS,
HCU

xbv

IOS

cpocatv 'jUcpopos,

Etfeetvov

TIO'VX-

ndvxe? urcb xf}v MtXnxov e$eov.

xpucpfj, naxeppun xb xffo itoXeux; dvbpeX-

ov, ^acav 6 'Apiaxoxe'XTis, n a l T i a p o c u ^ a xt? ^YYevvfat) In' auxflv

ucxXcu TCOX'rfaav aXniuot
As

MiArfaioi,.

l o n g as the M i l e s i a n s d i d not y i e l d

they held the S c y t h i a n s

races.

and

s e t t l e d the Euxine

But when they were overcome by p l e s s u r e and

luxury,

away, as A r i s t o t l e r e c o r d s ,

maxim about these people became c u r r e n t : "Once l o n g

M i l e s i a n s were s t o u t - h e a r t e d

Dio

and

At M i l e t o s everyone competed i n the

s t a t e ' s manliness d r a i n e d

T22.

living

i n c o n t r o l , as Ephoros t e l l s us,

founded the c i t i e s on the H e l l e s p o n t

w i t h renowned c i t i e s .

to s o f t

and

ago

the

men."

Chrysostom, XXXVI, 7

TtapeCwaxo be uaxaipav ueyaXnv xwv

ITITUHIUV

not avaupibas etxe

the

31*-.

xat TT)V

a\\r)v axo\i)v Zxu^txrfv, avw$ev be xtov touiov

utxpbv ue\av,

XETIXO'V, coarcep

etateaatv ot Bopua$evetxat.

He wore on h i s b e l t a great
ed i n t r o u s e r s and
his

shoulders

tuaxtov

c a v a l r y sword, and was

dress-

the r e s t of the S c y t h i a n costume, and

he wore a b l a c k cloak of l i g h t

Borysthenitai generally

c l o t h , as

over

the

do.

f . EXTERNAL RELATIONS

T23.. A r c h i l o c h o s , f r a g . 7 9 ( D i e h l )
xuu[aat] Tt\a[ Coji] evo? .
xav

Ea\uu6[ naa]tut yuiivbv evcppove'at xaxa]

pj|KS axpo[x]ouot
\apotev e v $ a nbW

dvatc\T)aet xaxdc

6ou\tov apxov e&tov

ptyet rceTtnyoV auxbv.
May

the mop-haired T h r a c i a n s m e r r i l y s e i z e him,

by the waves and naked at Salmydessos f o r

his

fill

his

body s t i f f e n e d by the c o l d .

T21|.

7itnxoucrf

there he w i l l

astray
have

of numerous t r o u b l e s as he eats the bread of s l a v e s -

Xenophon, Anabasis,

ev$a xwv

sent

eiq

xbv

V I I , 5, 12-11).

IIovxov nXeouaulv vetov Tto\\a\ bxeMouat xa\

xe'vayos ydp

eaxtv

ex-

kiii jrdu.TtoA.u xf)$ $a\dxxr)s xa"t paxes

35.

ot

xaxa x a u x a O I X O O V X E S axT)Xas optadpiEvot xd xa&' auxouc; ex-

n^Ttxovxa exaaxot X^Covxat.

xeuvs 6\ \zyov

7tp\v 6ptaaa$at dp-jtaC-

ovxac; rtoXXouc; u V aXXrjXwv aTto^vpaxEtv.

evxaO-fra nuptoxovxo

uoXXaY U E V xX?vat, noXXd 6e xtptoxta, ttoXXat 6e ptpXot y E y p a u UEvat, xat xaXXa TioXXd oaa E V uXCvot$ xeuxeat vauxXrjpot ayouatv.
Here

(Salmydessos i n n o r t h e r n Thrace) many o f the s h i p s

bound f o r Pontos r u n aground

and are wrecked the r e s u l t o f

shoals t h a t abound i n t h i s p a r t o f the s e a . And the Thraci a n s who i n h a b i t t h i s coast plunder the s h i p s t h a t r u n aground,
each band descending upon those s h i p s w i t h i n i t s own marked
boundaries.

Por a time, a p p a r e n t l y , b e f o r e they e s t a b l i s h e d

these b o u n d a r i e s , they used to a t t a c k and k i l l one another i n

numbers.

Here were d i s c o v e r e d many beds, many boxes and

w r i t t e n books, and many other e f f e c t s o f the s o r t t h a t

ship-

owners c a r r y i n wooden c o f f e r s .
T25. P l i n y , Nat. H i s t . , I V , 13, 93
Non

e s t omittenda multorum

o p i n i o , priusquam d i g r e d i m u r

a Ponto, q u i m a r i a omnia i n t e r i o r a i l l o

c a p i t e n a s c i , non

Gaditano f r e t o , e x i s t i m a v e r e haut improfobili argumento, quoniam

aestus semper e Ponto p r o f l u e n s numquam r e c i p r o c e t .
Before p a s s i n g on from the Pontos, one ought n o t to overl o o k the theory o f many people who b e l i e v e

that a l l the waters

36.

within

the M e d i t e r r a n e a n a r i s e

through the

from t h a t

S t r a i t s of Gades; and

a b i l i t y from the f a c t

t h a t there

their

source, and

not

argument d e r i v e s

i s a current flowing

t i n u o u s l y out of the Pontos, and never any

i n the

prob-

con-

opposite

direction.
T26.

Latyschev, I n s c r i p t i o n e 3 Antlquae Orae S e p t e n t r l o n a l i s

P o n t i E u x i n i Graecae et L a t i n a e , 20 ( O l b i a n p r o xeny-decree, 5 t h c.)

Tuxrjt

ava$f]t.

'OXB touoXtxat
'^bwxav Xatptyevet
Mr)xpo6topou

Me^ri-

Pptavoot auxak xa\ i n yovotc; -rtpoclevtav,

rcoXtxetav, dxeXetav
rcavxcov xpTlridxwv,
(Lv av auxbc;

elaayr\i

raxtoec;,n
ofc; xotva xd

rj eCayrit, r)
beXcpot

uaxpuka, f)

a-

$epa7twv

xat

et'cmXouv xat exrcXouv

xat

e[u]

TioXeuwt xa\

ev

eCpr(vr|t aauXe[\] xa"t

d a r c o v 6 e [ t] .

W i t h the b l e s s i n g of the

gods, the O l b i o p o l i t a i

have

de-

37.

creed proxeny

to C h a i r i g e n e s

and t o h i s d e s c e n d a n t s ;

of Mesembria,

and a l s o

son o f M e t r o d o r o s ,

the r i g h t

of c i t i z e n s h i p ,

o f e x e m p t i o n f r o m a l l t a r i f f s o n w h a t he h i m s e l f
ren or h i s

brothers

and c o - h e i r s o r h i s

i n v i o l a b l y and w i t h o u t

T27. T o d , 195

i n wartime or

or
in

treaty.

( t r e a t y b e t w e e n O l b i a and M i l e t o s , _ca.330

x d 6 e Tidxpta ' O X B t o u o X t x a t c ; x a t Mt\r)a[ t ] | o t c . .

>OXBtr)7t6Xet ux; 'ox) p tOTioX^xnv # u e t v kn\
xa

child-

a g e n t may i m p o r t

e x p o r t u p o n e n t e r i n g and l e a v i n g t h e c i t y
peace,

or h i s

and

B.C.)

x b u MtXrfatov

ev

xuiv auxwu BooJuQv x a \ etc.

i e p d x d a u x d cpotxav x d |J b n u o a i a x a x d x a a u x d x a t 'OXBtorcoXtJ
e t v a t 6e x a \ dxeXetac. MtXrjatotc. x a j f o x a a a x a t -rcpdxepov

xa?*

eav 6e $ e X r ] t J

x t u o u x t & u , i i e x e x e t v , e n t BouXriv

entxajj x a t

riaav

duo-

Ypa<pe tc; uexexexw x a t ^axooJJ evxeXrfc;, x a ^ o x t x a \ o t &XXot -rcoXtxatj

N

etatv

e t v a t 6e x a t r c p o e b p t a y , n a t e t a x n j p u a a e a S a t

dyflvac; x a \

|TiaJpda$at

xa'Cc; x p t a x a a t y ,

e-rcapwvxat* edv 6e x t auuBoJxatov ^ ( t )

xaSaaaa

etc; xouc.

x a \ J eu MtXrfxwt

xfflt MtXnacwt

ev'0X8tat,

t a x e x w 6 t | x r i Y n a \ uuexe'xu) iu, rcevS* r p e p a t c . e-rctjxou b n u o x t x o u

btxaaxnptou*

e t v a t 6e J [ d j x e X e t c ; uavxac. M t X n a i f o u s ,

ev a X X r ^ t }

uoXet

aaxnpujv.

xaxd

etvat,
r|xu>t

uoXtxeubvxat
xau|xa

x a \ dpxetw(u)|

6e x a l '0X8toTcoXtxac,

n\r)v

oaot

uexe'xouatY not
eu,

MtXrfxiot d x e l X e l l c .

x a \ x d d'xXa x a x a xbv a u x b v j xpouov ' 0 X 8 t o u o X t x a t c . eu

UTKxpjxetY

x a ^ o x t x a \ M t X n a t o t c . ev

The f o l l o w i n g p r o v i s i o n s

6txMtX-

'OXBtouoXet.

are customary f o r the O l b i o p o l -

38.

itai

end

rifice

the M i l e s i a n s :

at the same a l t a r s as an O i b i a n

p u b l i c temples on
there

t h a t the M i l e s i a n In O l b i a may

are the

the same terms as the

and

citizens;

enter

and

the

that

same exemptions from t a x a t i o n f o r the M i l e s i a n

as there f o r m e r l y

were, except t h a t , i f he wishes to h o l d

the o f f i c e of a m a g i s t r a t e ,
be r e g i s t e r e d before

he must go before

holding o f f i c e ,

to t a x a t i o n , j u s t as the other
that the M i l e s i a n may

on

the

Council

and must then be

c i t i z e n s are;

and,

the T r i k a d e s ,

to

subject

furthermore,

enjoy a seat of honour at, and

to compete i n , the games, and

the prayers

citizen,

sac-

the r i g h t

the r i g h t to p a r t i c i p a t e i n
j u s t as they do

i n Miletos;

and

that, i f a lawsuit involves a M i l e s i a n i n Olbia, i t s h a l l

come to t r i a l and

receive

the p e o p l e ' s t r i b u n a l .

judgement w i t h i n f i v e days

A l l Milesians

t a x a t i o n , except those who

ensures that O l b i o p o l i t a i are

to O l b i a n s

or

T h i s agreement a l s o

s i m i l a r l y exempt from

that a l l the other

i n Miletos

exempt from

have c i t i z e n s h i p or h o l d a c i v i c

j u d i c i a l m a g i s t r a c y i n another s t a t e .

i n M i l e t o s , and

are to be

before

p r o v i s i o n s are to

taxation
apply

j u s t as they do f o r M i l e s i a n s i n O l b i a .

39.

Ill

L I F E IN A NEW ENVIRONMENT

That the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e on a wedge of l a n d

ting

southward i n t o

Russia i s , i n f a c t ,

the Bug R i v e r near N i k o l a e v

i n Southern

the O l b i a of the a n c i e n t l i t e r a r y t r a d i t -

i o n i s n o t a matter of d i s p u t e .
c i t y o f Borysthenes ( a l s o
dred

jut-

A l t h o u g h S t r a b o ^ p l a c e s the

c a l l e d O l b i a ) a t a p o i n t two hun-

stades up the r i v e r of the same name the modern Dnieper

t h i s I s an e a s i l y e x p l a i n e d anomaly; the Bug and the Dnieper

R i v e r s share

a common e s t u a r y ,

the v a s t Dnieper "liman," which

i s by i t s e l f over two hundred stades

i n length.

Thus the ap-

proach t o O l b i a on the Bug R i v e r i n v o l v e d a voyage of n e a r l y

that d i s t a n c e up t h e . e s t u a r y
of the two r i v e r s '
Herodotos

of the Borysthenes t o the p o i n t

confluence.

unequivocally

i d e n t i f i e s the O l b i o p o l i t a i as

"the Greeks l i v i n g on the Hypanis R i v e r , " and D i o Chrysostom^

e x p l a i n s t h a t , although

1. T5.

2. T19.
3. T l .

the c i t y was named Borysthenes be-

ho.

THE SITE OP OLBIA ( a f t e r Minns, M o n g a i t ) .

I Sixth-century
II. Fifths

fourth-century

III. Hellenistic
X

Archaic

graves.

graves.

masonry.

graves.

in.

cause the i n h a b i t a n t s were impressed by the beauty o f t h a t

river,

the s i t e was n o t on the Borysthenes, but on the Hypanis

R i v e r (the Bug).
tail

He goes on to d e s c r i b e

the l o c a t i o n i n de-

t h a t l e a v e s no doubt about the exact p o s i t i o n , j u s t above

the sharp beak of l a n d t h a t separates

the bank o f the Hypanis o p p o s i t e
provides

the two r i v e r s ,

the promontory.

and on

He a l s o

a measure of t h e d i s t a n c e from the mouth of the e s t u -

ary to the p o i n t where the Hypanis f l o w s past the cape to empty

Into the Borysthenes two hundred s t a d e s .

O i b i a n c o i n s and

I n s c r i p t i o n s found i n g r e a t number on the s i t e near the mouth

of the Hypanis c o n f i r m the a n c i e n t
The

city's

i n f o r m a t i o n g i v e n by Strabo

was a colony

of M i l e t o s i s supported

found on the s i t e .

identity.

and Herodotos

by the e a r l i e s t

that O l b i a
pottery

A l t h o u g h p o t t e r y appears to have been im-

p o r t e d t o O l b i a at an e a r l y date from many p a r t s of Greece

an E r e t r i a n b l a c k - f i g u r e vase and a s i m i l a r vase o f A t t i c manuf a c t u r e , both of the f i r s t

h a l f of the s i x t h century

B.C., are

3
among the e a r l i e s t

most of the p o t t e r y found i n the low-

e s t s t r a t a i s o f E a s t Greek o r i g i n .
recovered

from the s i t e belong

seventh century,
Eusebios
1. T5-

2. T20.

to the f i n a l q u a r t e r of the

very s h o r t l y a f t e r

f o r Olbia's founding.

Chian and Rhodian vases

the date & 1 / 3 ) g i v e n

Small

by

t e r r a c o t t a f i g u r e s rang-

Ing In s t y l e and date from a r c h a i c to H e l l e n i s t i c appear to

be almost e x c l u s i v e l y from A s i a Minor.^

The

same i s t r u e of

Greek j e w e l l e r y found i n O i b i a n tombs; except f o r p i e c e s of

Scythian design,

the j e w e l l e r y i s of I o n i a n o r i g i n i n most

2
cases.

An e s p e c i a l l y v a l u a b l e i n d i c a t i o n of the r e l a t i o n s h i p

of M i l e t o s and O l b i a i s a f o u r t h - c e n t u r y

i n s c r i p t i o n found at

M i l e t o s , o u t l i n i n g the r i g h t s of c i t i z e n s of each c i t y who

up r e s i d e n c e
The

i n the

other.^

r e g i o n of which O l b i a e v e n t u a l l y formed an

c e n t r e was,

as we

take

have seen above, the coast and

important

i t s hinter-

l a n d of the g r e a t n o r t h e r n bulge of the B l a c k Sea.

The

land

upon which O l b i a depended f o r her a g r i c u l t u r a l l i v e l i h o o d

the q u i t e e x o t i c t e r r a i n of the southern U k r a n i a n
d r a i n e d by the mighty Bug
important

and D n i e p e r R i v e r s .

ways t h i s r e g i o n r e p r e s e n t e d ,

Aegean shores

a thousand m i l e s

was

steppes,

In a number of

to s e t t l e r s coming from

to the south,

a very

alien

environment.
O l b i a must, i n f a c t , be regarded
ground to which Greek c i v i l i z a t i o n was
planted.

1.

ever

successfully trans-

I t s v a s t h i n t e r l a n d of i n h o s p i t a b l e w i l d e r n e s s , i t s

Cf. Boardman, "Greek Archaeology on the Shores of the

Sea,"

2.

as the most n o r t h e r l y

Black

A r c h . Reports 1 9 & 3 , PP.31+-5I.

R o s t o v t z e f f , I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a , pp.6^-70.

3. This i n s c r i p t i o n (T27)

i s discussed

i n chapter

V below.

1*3.

foruslhene
'river ,

Olbia ,
Tyras
jiPanVicapaiod

Chersonese

'CMetsos
5/ f\eien(V>r)a

THRACE.

THE BLACK SEA IN ANCIENT TIMES

unfamiliar

t e r r a i n , i t s severe

c l i m a t e and

the p r i v a t i o n that

the somewhat l i m i t e d n a t i v e f l o r a r e p r e s e n t e d

demanded a very

s p e c i a l e f f o r t of a d a p t a t i o n on the p a r t of i t s new
One
of

life

of the f i r s t

e f f e c t s of the r e g i o n upon the q u a l i t y

among the Greek s e t t l e r s there was

e c t i o n and e l i m i n a t i o n .
tlement

a process of

unusual courage and i n i t i a t i v e

composed o n l y of men

B.C.,

who,

to be

i n the s i x t h or even the f i f t h

forbidshrugcentury

contemplated v e n t u r i n g northward.
Even i f the g e n e r a l Impression

an abode of m y t h i c a l monsters was

ulity,

of the n o r t h e r n wastes as

t r e a t e d w i t h some i n c r e d -

the d e t a i l e d enumerations of the r e g i o n ' s n a t u r a l haz-

ards remained to be
a t i o n s was
all.

set-

having

can be deduced from the

d i n g p i c t u r e of the N o r t h Euxine r e g i o n t h a t had

any man

sel-

That the p o p u l a t i o n of the f i r s t

on the Hypanis R i v e r was

ged o f f by

inhabitants.

considered.

The f i r s t

of these

consider-

the g r e a t d i f f i c u l t y of e n t e r i n g the B l a c k Sea

Both P l i n y

and

the modern B l a c k Sea P i l o t

describe

at
the

southward-flowing c u r r e n t through the Bosporos as a. c o n s i d e r able o b s t a c l e to e n t r y i n t o the B l a c k Sea.

r e n t , " says the B l a c k Sea P i l o t ,

1. T2S,
2.

Black Sea P i l o t . P , 2 1 ,

line

"The

s u r f a c e cur-

" i s s i m i l a r i n c h a r a c t e r to

1*5.

t h a t w h i c h w o u l d be
high pressure,

ancient

Sea

ing

Oar-driven

speed g r e a t

four-knot

reme o f

n a r r o w and

of

that

the
the

i n the

times,

Carpenter

sustaining oar-driven

six

To

the

Greek n a v i g a t o r

to O l b i a i n the

sixth

B o s p o r o s must

certainly

undertaking.

While

passage,
how

world

1.

might

Carpenter,

LII
2.

and

century

have l o o m e d

c o n s i d e r i n g the

a prospective

frequent

the

other

colonist

hand, had

the

seems n o t

to

problems of

contacts

have
five

through

a forbiddingly
the

or
Mi-

the

difficult

northward

asked

with

oar-

tri-

a voyage from

passage

to

unrelent-

speeds exceeding

the

Black

a sustained

c o u l d w e l l have

dependable O l b i a ' s

the

E v e n the G r e e k

planning

as

current

northerly

into

achieved

argues,

of

letos

sail

channels."

this

prevailing

Bosporos.

been capable
knots.

of

e n o u g h t o make headway a g a i n s t

current

classical

they

under

irregular

effect

v e s s e l s , on

f o r many c e n t u r i e s b e f o r e

powered

j e t of water,

B o s p o r o s made a v o y a g e u n d e r

impossible.

evolve

i n a study*

s h i p s , p o i n t s out

winds i n the

a great

d i r e c t e d down t h e

Rhys C a r p e n t e r ,
on

p r o d u c e d by

the

himself
Aegean

be.

"Greek P e n e t r a t i o n

of

the B l a c k

Sea,"

A.J.A.

(191+8), pp. 1-10.

T h a t C a r p e n t e r i s n o t g r e a t l y u n d e r e s t i m a t i n g the speed
o f a n c i e n t v e s s e l s i s i n d i c a t e d by C a s s o n ( S h i p s and
S e a m a n s h i p i n the A n c i e n t W o r l d , pp.282-281+), whose
t a b l e s o f p a s s a g e s made by a n c i e n t s h i p s show ave r a g e s p e e d s between t h r e e and s i x k n o t s i n n o r m a l
c o n d i t i o n s o f wind and c u r r e n t .

1*6.

Even a f t e r a s u c c e s s f u l passage of the 3osporos a Greek

s h i p i n the -sixth century was
the n o r t h e r n coast.
B.C.,

not guaranteed

At the b e g i n n i n g of the seventh

century

Greek c o l o n i s t s from the Aegean had A r c h i l o c h o s as a

witness^- t h a t T h r a c i a n p i r a t e s awaited
Pontic coast.
tails

a safe voyage to

Xenophon p r o v i d e s

later

t r a v e l l e r s along t h e i r
and much f u l l e r

about t h i s hazard o f f Salmydessos; the maze of

de-

uncharted

s h o a l s along the c o a s t , he t e l l s us, formed a n a t u r a l net f o r

the capture and d e s t r u c t i o n of northbound s h i p s .

The v e s s e l s

t h a t went aground, l a d e n w i t h goods f o r c o l o n i s t s on the

Sea, were i r r e s i s t i b l y
p l u n d e r e r s of N o r t h

a l l u r i n g t a r g e t s f o r the

professional

Thrace.

I f the prospect of g e t t i n g there seemed poor,

of

s u r v i v i n g on the f r i g i d

a t i o n , Homer's d e s c r i p t i o n

the p r o s p e c t

steppes of the N o r t h e r n Pontos were

made to seem e q u a l l y h o p e l e s s .
3

At the date of O l b i a ' s found-

of the Cimmerian kingdom was

a b l e as a h i n t of what the t r a v e l l e r c o u l d expect

fog,

Black

avail-

to f i n d :

c l o u d s , and a s u n l e s s c h i l l f o r most of the y e a r .

In the

f i f t h c e n t u r y Herodotos put on record^- the t a l e s t h a t were

c u r r e n t about that n o r t h e r n Euxine
1.

T23.

2. T2l*.
3. T 7 .
1*. T6.

c o a s t ; there were f r o z e n

1*7.

harbours that promised w i n t e r - l o n g

isolation for colonists,

and unending summer r a i n s t h a t would cheat

s u n - l o v i n g Greeks

of the few months of outdoor weather the c l i m a t e had

to o f f e r .

These were the s t o r i e s about the n o r t h coast of

Black Sea,

i n s p i t e of which the b o l d e s t of the M i l e s i a n s were

not d e t e r r e d from m i g r a t i n g

to t h a t r e g i o n , because, i n the

words of E l l i s Minns, " "the Euxine coast was

1

ado,

the f i r s t E l Dor-

the f i r s t m y s t e r i o u s l a n d to draw adventurers

broad seas i n search of fame and

environmental r e a l i t y ?

How

treasure."

f o r b i d d i n g was

across

But what was

the world

b i a n s e t t l e r s found on the Hypanis R i v e r and

the

the

that O l -

the steppes of

hinterland?
There i s a c o n s i d e r a b l e body of a n c i e n t evidence

the c o l o n i s t s found i n t h e i r new

reacted.

To

surroundings,

and how

of what
they

the Greek p h y s i c a l c o n s t i t u t i o n , the c l i m a t e of

the r e g i o n seemed n e a r l y as i n t o l e r a b l e as t r a v e l l e r s had

led

the

to expect.

F a s c i n a t e d by the v a r i e t y of t h e i r new

been

ex-

p e r i e n c e s w i t h i c e , snow and f r e e z i n g c o n d i t i o n s g e n e r a l l y , the

Greek i n h a b i t a n t s of a l l the n o r t h e r n Euxine c o l o n i e s

collect-

ed a body of l o r e , a canon of s t o r i e s about the s o r t of t h i n g

they were f a c e d w i t h i n an a l i e n c l i m a t e .

Both Herodotos

and

p
Strabo

r e c o r d r e p o r t s of c a v a l r y e x p e d i t i o n s conducted by

1. Minns, S c y t h i a n s
2. T6,

T7.

and Greeks, p.1+36.

the

1*8.

S c y t h i a n s on the i c e of the f r o z e n seas along the n o r t h e r n

e o a s t s , and Strabo mentions-*-

the customary use of the i c e -

covered s t r a i t s at the mouth of Lake M a i o t i s (the Sea of Azov)

as a winter highway f o r wagons.

Strabo and H i p p o k r a t e s

c r i b e herds of c a t t l e Indigenous

to the r e g i o n , t h e i r

des-

horns

s t u n t e d because of the c o l d , and horses d i s p l a y i n g r e t a r d e d

development f o r the same r e a s o n .
to impress

T y p i c a l of s t o r i e s intended

s t r a n g e r s to the n o r t h e r n Euxine i s the r e p o r t by

S t r a b o ^ (which he c o n s i d e r s s u f f i c i e n t l y noteworthy
telling

twice) about

the f a t e of bronze w a t e r - j a r s l e f t

doors; when t h e i r f l u i d
One

to warrant

contents s o l i d i f y ,

the j a r s

out-

shatter.

of the most important e f f e c t s of the c o l d w i n t e r

ate, from

the c o l o n i s t s ' p o i n t of view, was

the I n a b i l i t y

the r e g i o n to support c e r t a i n k i n d s of v e g e t a t i o n .

climof

Theophrast-

os^- i n h i s essay de P l a n t l b u s , e l a b o r a t e s on t h i s theme, c a t a l o g u i n g the p l a n t - s p e c i e s that w i l l

(or w i l l not) grow i n the

harsh c o n d i t i o n s of the B l a c k Sea's h i g h e s t l a t i t u d e s .

and m y r t l e cannot

s u r v i v e the c o l d , he says.

Laurel

Fruit-trees,

which do e x i s t on the c o a s t , are sometimes r e l u c t a n t to bear

fruit.

S i g n i f i c a n t a l s o i s the l a c k of b u i l d i n g timber of good

q u a l i t y ; the few kinds of t r e e s that grow i n the r e g i o n are

1. T8.
2. T8,
3. T 7 ,
1*.

Til*.

T18.
T8.

1*9.

damp, stunted

and f a r i n f e r i o r to wood produced f u r t h e r

That o l i v e s and

grapes c o u l d not be persuaded to mature i n

the n o r t h Euxine c l i m a t e i s i m p l i e d by Strabo

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to compare these
of the c l i m a t e and

and

ancient

p r o d u c t i v i t y of the P o n t i c coast w i t h mod-

the B r i t i s h M e t e o r o l o g i c a l O f f i c e

s e t t l e r s from M i l e t o s d i d , indeed, f i n d
they were not accustomed.

Statistics
i n d i c a t e that

c o n d i t i o n s to which

At Odessa, on the coast i n the

i n i t y of O l b i a , a January minimum of minus e l e v e n

Fahrenheit

Polybios.

observations

ern c l i m a t o l o g i c a l r e c o r d s f o r the same r e g i o n .

p u b l i s h e d by

south.

vic-

degrees

can be expected; at Izmir on the T u r k i s h coast near

the s i t e of M i l e t o s the r e c o r d s
ures of seventy

degrees

i n d i c a t e t h a t midday temperat-

s u b t r o p i c a l warmth are not r a r e i n

January.
The

v a l l e y of the Bug

R i v e r near i t s mouth i s , as

the

a n c i e n t w r i t e r s noted, b e t t e r s u i t e d to the p r o d u c t i o n of hardy

c e r e a l s than of t r e e s or s u b t r o p i c a l p l a n t s ; the c h i e f i n d u s t r y of the r e g i o n today i s wheat-farming.
of l u x u r i a n t f o r e s t - g r o w t h
winter

temperatures, but

about f i f t e e n i n c h e s .
complaint

The

possibility

i s r u l e d out not o n l y by the

a l s o by the annual r a i n f a l l of

( T h i s does not

c o n f l i c t w i t h the

about annoying r a i n f a l l ; n e a r l y h a l f of the

low
only
ancient

total

f a l l s d u r i n g the summer months, j u s t as Herodotos recorded.3)

1. T15,
T12.
2. Great B r i t a i n , M e t e o r o l o g i c a l O f f i c e , Tables
3. T6.,

of Temperature.

50.

Yet

the i m p l i c a t i o n t h a t f r u i t

and v i n e s were i n t o l e r a n t o f

the v i c i n i t y ' s f r o s t s i s perhaps exaggerated.

described today
Not

as s u p p o r t i n g

"some orchards

The coast i s
and virteyards."

a l l the environmental c o n d i t i o n s on the n o r t h Eux-

ine c o a s t as d e s c r i b e d by the a n c i e n t w r i t e r s were m a t t e r s f o r

complaint;

the ijegion had i t s advantages as w e l l .

There was

much w i l d game to be hunted, i n c l u d i n g c e r t a i n s p e c i e s

with

which the Greeks had not p r e v i o u s l y been f a m i l i a r , as Strabo

records.

The c i t y o f O l b i a was i d e a l l y s i t u a t e d , as b o t h D i o
x

Chrysostom and Herodotos inform u s ,

to r e a p the advantages o f

a n a t u r a l s a l t d e p o s i t at the j u n c t i o n o f the Borysthenes and

Hypanis R i v e r s , and of the r i c h s t u r g e o n - f i s h i n g grounds
the Borysthenes e s t u a r y .

(The commercially

tunny f i s h , however, although

of

more d e s p i c a b l e

they spawned i n the n o r t h e r n wat-

ers of the Black Sea, were l a r g e enough f o r c a t c h i n g only

they had l e f t

after

the v i c i n i t y of O l b i a . )

The r e g i o n surrounding

O l b i a provided

the arable l a n d

5
that M i l e s i a n s e t t l e r s had hoped f o r ,

Herodotos and P o l y b i o s

d e s c r i b e the abundance of wheat and c a t t l e that the country

1. Hooson, The S o v i e t Union, p . l 5 6 .
2. T5.
3 .
T10, T i l .
1*.
T13.
5. T19, T12.

51.

supplied.

The mouth of the Hypanis R i v e r , w i t h i t s s h e l t e r e d

anchorage^", o f f e r e d the n a t u r a l advantage of a p o r t from which

the r e g i o n ' s produce c o u l d be embarked f o r e x p o r t .

And

finally,

2
as DIo

Chrysostom observes,

the s i t e was

not without i t s

a e s t h e t i c charms.
Although evidence f o r the d e t a i l s of everyday
s i x t h or f i f t h century at O l b i a i s not p l e n t i f u l ,

life

i n the

there are

i n d i c a t i o n s of some a d a p t a t i o n s f o r c e d upon the i n h a b i t a n t s by

the demands of the p h y s i c a l environment.

That

the b u s i n e s s of

export and import formed an e s s e n t i a l b a s i s of the O i b i a n e x i s t ence i s i m p l i c i t i n the colony's p o s i t i o n ;

way

of l i f e

to m a i n t a i n a Greek

so f a r beyond the range of the M e d i t e r r a n e a n

clim-

ate must have r e q u i r e d a c o n t i n u i n g supply of many commodities

from the south.

The wheat and f i s h i n which the r e g i o n abound-

ed formed O l b i a s medium of t r a d e .
1

areas immediately

I t seems t h a t e x t e n s i v e

adjacent to the town i t s e l f were used f o r the

3

c u l t i v a t i o n of c e r e a l s ,

and

a l a r g e submerged s t r u c t u r e i n

the Bug R i v e r about f i f t y y a r d s o f f the present s h o r e l i n e of the

O i b i a n "lower

1.

town" appears

to have been a quay f o r d e e p - d r a f t

T l , T5.

2. T l .
3. Cf. Mongait, Archaeology
David

SKirsky,

i n the U ; S . S . R e t r a n s l a t e d

pp.190-195.

by

52.

v e s s e l s . A f e a t u r e of e x c a v a t i o n

a t O l b i a i s the f r e q u e n c y

of the appearance of p o i n t - b a s e d amphorai t h a t were used f o r

the

storage

and s h i p p i n g of f o o d

products.*

A l t h o u g h the presence i n O l b i a o f p o t t e r y from every

of the Greek world, even e a r l y i n the s i x t h century
of much j e w e l l e r y and s m a l l

statuary

part

B.C., and

artwork imported from

I o n i a , as w e l l as the q u i t e e a r l y attempts a t a h i g h l y

civiliz-

ed s t y l e of s u b s t a n t i a l hewn-stone houses i n the town are e v i d >

ence t h a t the c o l o n i s t s of O l b i a
their city

the d e t a i l s o f l i f e

were eager to reproduce i n

at home i n Greece,

nevertheless

c o n d i t i o n s f o r c e d upon them some p r a c t i c a l measures that r e mind one of the p i o n e e r i n g

these n o r t h e r n
on

lands.

aspect

of t h e i r f i r s t

No l i f e - s i z e d

sculpture

encounter w i t h

has been found

the s i t e of O l b i a , and no marble appears to have been used.

L o c a l l y made r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

of f i g u r e s are small

terracottas

2
and r a t h e r

crude c a r v i n g s

i n stone.

As f o r the matter of p e r s o n a l

d r e s s , Herodotos t e l l s u s

that the O l b i o p o l i t a i went about the s t r e e t s of t h e i r

colony i n

t r a d i t i o n a l Greek a t t i r e ; y e t D i o Chrysostom d e s c r i b e s ^ an

1. C f . Mongait, Archaeology i n the U.S.S.R., pp.190-195.

2. C f . Minns, S c y t h i a n s
3. T20.

1*. T22.

and Greeks, p.317.

53.

O i b i a n f r i e n d who,
has adopted

p r o b a b l y because of the n o r t h e r n c l i m a t e ,

the t r o u s e r s and

cloak of the S c y t h i a n n a t i v e s .

small t e r r a c o t t a s t a t u e t t e , p o s s i b l y of O i b i a n manufacture,
i l l u s t r a t e s a Greek c o l o n i s t wearing

precisely

t h i s mode of

dress.^
The

e a r l i e s t houses of the s e t t l e r s , as r e v e a l e d by excav-

a t i o n s at both O l b i a and the primary

of Berezan

settlement on the

at the mouth of the e s t u a r y , are another

to the d i f f i c u l t y of the circumstances.

island

concession

The f i r s t O i b i a n houses

were simply p i t s i n the e a r t h r o o f e d over w i t h s a i l s and some-

times equipped

w i t h adjacent storage p i t s .

houses, dated to the middle

Second-generation-

of the s i x t h century B.C.,

are

one-

or two-roomed mudbrick s t r u c t u r e s on unusual f o u n d a t i o n s of

ashes and c l a y , demanded by the spongy nature of the r i v e r s i d e
building

sites.

Even i n the much l a t e r houses c o n s t r u c t e d at a time when

O i b i a n p r o s p e r i t y made grander b u i l d i n g s and g r e a t e r freedom of
design p o s s i b l e , c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of the l o c a l c l i m a t e seem to
have been as important

as the requirements

of t r a d i t i o n .

though the best preserved example of an O i b i a n house

1.

Al-

belongs

For a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h i s t e r r a c o t t a f i g u r e , see the

appendix.

2. Cf. Minns, S c y t h i a n s and Greeks, pp.l|50-l4.90.

5k.

to a p e r i o d l a t e r

than the pioneer

e r a of the

sixth

at O l b i a ( I t i s a H e l l e n i s t i c house of the t h i r d
still,

the l o c a l f a c t o r s t h a t i n f l u e n c e d

a t i v e of the

century

century

i t s design

are

s p e c i a l a r c h i t e c t u r a l problems t h a t the

s i t e f o r c e d upon b u i l d e r s there

at any

period.

The

B.C.),
indic-

Olbian
positioning

of the house i s a s i g n i f i c a n t f e a t u r e ; the p r o s t a s , which i n

Greece would u s u a l l y open to the

south, f a c e s

toward the

e a s t , because i n O l b i a a house f a c i n g south would be

hot i n summer, w h i l e i f i t f a c e d west i t would be
the

severe w e s t e r l y

aspect
falls

winds of the

of the b u i l d i n g ' s d e s i g n
e x p l a i n the comparatively

steppe.

north-

unbearably

exposed to

Another p u r e l y

i s Its roof.

local

Heavy w i n t e r snow-

steep p i t c h of the r o o f

on

t h i s O l b i a n house; the remains show v e s t i g e s of eaves at

an

angle of more than twenty degrees.

If

the p h y s i c a l environment of O l b i a exerted

an

influence

upon the l i v e s of the Greek c o l o n i s t s , a dominant p a r t of

i n f l u e n c e must have bjelonged
was

one

of those impressive

s c a l e was

beyond the

Borysthenes estuary,

to the r i v e r i t s e l f .

The

Hypanis

south R u s s i a n r i v e r s whose grand

experience of the Greeks at home.

which opened j u s t f o u r m i l e s below

to a b r e a d t h of more than ten m i l e s , was

that must hsoe dominated the

that

l i v e s of the

The
Olbia

a sheltered inland

sea

s e t t l e r s around i t s

55.

shores.

The Borysthenes,

Strabo t e l l s us

, was

navigable f o r

a d i s t a n c e of s i x hundred stades; Dio C h r y s o s t o m

the r i v e r ' s m a g n i f i c e n t beauty,

and Herodotos^

describes

adds t h a t i t s

e x c e p t i o n a l l y pure waters were the source of the s u r r o u n d i n g

fertility

and the r o b u s t crops along the r i v e r b a n k .

he importance

of the r i v e r i n the l i v e s of the Greek c o l -

o n i s t s i s p o i n t e d out by G.M.
the c u l t of the River-God
Hirst

Hirst,^

Borysthenes

who

makes r e f e r e n c e to

at O l b i a .

The

c u l t , Miss

Informs us, i s r e p r e s e n t e d on O i b i a n c o i n s more o f t e n

than any other except that of A p o l l o .

I l l u s t r a t i o n s of some

O i b i a n c o i n s that d e p i c t the River-God

are p r o v i d e d i n the

ap-

pendix below.
The e f f e c t of an a l i e n landscape upon the l i v e s of the
Greek c o l o n i s t s i s u n d e n i a b l e ; we
a n c i e n t authors and
belief.

have b o t h the testimony of the

the evidence of archaeology

to support

this

But the Greeks I n the n o r t h Euxine r e g i o n f a c e d an i n -

f l u e n c e upon t h e i r l i v e s f a r more powerful than t h e i r

physical

surroundings i n the S c y t h i a n n a t i v e s w i t h whom they had

on an everyday

basis.

We must now

to d e a l

c o n s i d e r the nature of those

people and of t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h the s e t t l e r s of O l b i a .

1. T5.
2. T l .
3. T i l .
k. H i r s t ,

"The

C u l t s of O l b i a , " J.H.S. XXII ( 1 9 0 2 ) , pp.2ll5-267.

56.

IV

THE

In

SCYTHIANS

almost every aspect the S c y t h i a n way

a l i e n to the Greeks;

of l i f e was

to the nomadic S c y t h i a n s who

n o r t h c o a s t a l r e g i o n of the B l a c k Sea,

quite

i n h a b i t e d the

the s t a b i l i t y

and r e -

s t r i c t i v e n e s s of Greek urban l i f e were e q u a l l y s t r a n g e . In s p i t e

of

the c u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s , however, the c o n t a c t between S c y t h -

i a n n a t i v e s and Greek c o l o n i s t s was

b o t h peoples, and was

a t most times b e n e f i c i a l to

to the Greeks an e s s e n t i a l f a c t o r i n the

s u c c e s s f u l development of t h e i r Euxine

colonies.

Nowhere

was

t h i s more true than a t O l b i a .

The r e f e r e n c e above to the S c y t h i a n " n a t i v e s " i n the
vicinity

of O l b i a i s perhaps y e t something of an anachronism

i n mid-seventh c e n t u r y , the p e r i o d of O l b i a ' s f i r s t

I t was

settlement.

d u r i n g the seventh century thajs the S c y t h i a n s them-

s e l v e s l a i d c l a i m to the t e r r i t o r y t h a t Greek c o l o n i s t s
them occupying

along the B l a c k Sea's n o r t h e r n s h o r e s .

had moved i n t o the r e g i o n from the e a s t H e r o d o t o s

the m i g r a t i o n i n h i s history''' and had

1. IV,

2.

found
The

Scyths

describes

spent most of the

seventh

58.

century w r e s t i n g

c o n t r o l of the l a n d from i t s p r e v i o u s

the w a r l i k e Cimmerians.

The

p e r i o d immediately p r e c e d i n g

a r r i v a l of the O i b i a n s e t t l e r s was,
l e n t unrest
The

along the n o r t h Euxine

coast.

the c o n t r o l of their, t e r r i t o r y by

Scythian t r i b e s .

I t was

the e v e n t u a l

Cimmerian

the a l s o nomadic

S c y t h i a n monopoly and

r e s u l t i n g absence of i n t e r - t r i b a l s t r i f e over t e r r i t o r y
gave the n o r t h c o a s t of the B l a c k Sea
f o r s u c c e s s f u l c o l o n i z a t i o n by
The

the s t a b i l i t y

the Greeks.

the

that

necessary

Rostovtzeff

says:^

Greek c o l o n i e s on the B l a c k Sea owed t h e i r

very e x i s t e n c e to the f o r m a t i o n
Russian

the

t h e r e f o r e , a time of v i o -

c o n f l i c t ended w i t h the e x p u l s i o n of the

nomads and

tenants,

of s t a b l e kingdoms on

steppes....The Black Sea

c o l o n i e s , exposed

they were to a t t a c k from the n o r t h ,

and prosper
less settled

i f the

surrounding

condition.

could o n l y

country was

as

survive

i n a more or

J u s t as the p r o s p e r i t y of

Greek c o l o n i e s i n A s i a Minor depended on

of the kingdoms of L y d i a and

the

the

the

existence

P e r s i a , of which they were

the maritime o u t l e t s , so O l b i a , Pantlcapae.um and

Cher-

sonesos o n l y throve because a u n i t e d kingdom i n the

Rus-

1 . R o s t o v t z e f f , I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a , p . 1 2 .

59.

s i a n steppes guaranteed them f r e e i n t e r c o u r s e

peoples on

the banks of the g r e a t R u s s i a n r i v e r s .

C o e x i s t e n c e w i t h the S c y t h i a n
a c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t h a way

peoples meant, f o r the Greeks,

of l i f e

of view somewhat u n c i v i l i z e d .
stance,

with

t h a t was

There was

i n d e a l i n g w i t h a people who

uncertainty,

d i d not

c i t i e s , but were e s s e n t i a l l y nomads.

from t h e i r

The

point
for in-

i n h a b i t permanent

e l u s i v e nature:

the Scyths i s a theme upon which Greek w r i t e r s dwelt at

length.
ers,
land,

Herodotos* p o i n t s out

the S c y t h i a n s
a t t a c k i n g and

are i n v i n c i b l e .

great

t h a t , h a v i n g no f i x e d headquart-

are capable of moving s w i f t l y across

the

d i s p e r s i n g i n t o the h i n t e r l a n d where they

Hippokrates

describes

the wagons i n which

nomads make t h e i r homes; a n a t i o n on wheels seemed r a t h e r

trustworthy

of

the

un-

to the Greek c o l o n i s t s .

Although i t Is true t h a t In Herodotos' day

t r i b e s near O l b i a had begun to adopt the

the

stationary,

Scythian
agricult-

i.

ural l i f e
warrior

of t h e i r Greek neighbours,

nomads i n the l a s t h a l f of the

shortly after their expulsion

1. T16.
2. T l 8 .
3. T19.

they must s t i l l

have been

seventh century,

of the Cimmerians.

so

Sophisticated

60.

though
ly

these S c y t h i a n s may

have been i n some ways p a r t i c u l a r -

i n the e x c e l l e n c e of t h e i r a r t s , as we

shall see

presented what must have been a v e r y savage

roughness

of t h e i r d r e s s ,

exterior.

i n t h e i r d i s d a i n f o r the

they
In the

civilized

2
p u r s u i t of a g r i c u l t u r e ,
religious rites
the

and In the c r u e l harshness of t h e i r

(which o c c a s i o n a l l y demanded human s a c r i f i c e ^ ) ,

S c y t h i a n s o f f e r e d cause f o r h e s i t a n c y on the p a r t o f new-

comers to t h e i r

territory.

That the f i r s t M i l e s i a n migrants to the Borysthenes

ary

f e l t uneasy

about t h e i r nomadic neighbours can be

the

c a u t i o u s nature of t h e i r f i r s t

settlement.

estu-

seen i n

As a p r e l u d e to

e n t e r i n g the Hypanis R i v e r and e s t a b l i s h i n g the c i t y of O l b i a

itself,
in

the c o l o n i s t s stopped i n i t i a l l y

the mouth of the e s t u a r y .

P i t - d w e l l i n g s and s l i g h t l y more

e l a b o r a t e single-roomed mudbrick
island,

houses have been found on the

as w e l l as p o t t e r y of the l a t e

i t E a s t Greek

Rhodian,

at Berezan, an i s l a n d

seventh c e n t u r y , a l l of

Chian and Klazomenian

wsre.

The o r i g i n a l motive f o r the choice of Berezan as a s i t e f o r

the

colony was

c l e a r l y not n a v i g a t i o n a l convenience; the i s l a n d ,

which f a c e s the open sea and i s beyond the p r o t e c t i o n of the

e s t u a r y , has a r e a s o n a b l e anchorage, but no

1. T9.
2. T16.
3. Herodotos, IV,

72.

true harbour.

61.

Apart from

the i s l a n d ' s

s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n i n r e l a t i o n t o the

sturgeon-fishing industry, i t f a i l e d

to p r o v i d e access t o the

n a t u r a l ( c h i e f l y a g r i c u l t u r a l ) r e s o u r c e s of the mainland.
C l e a r l y a major c o n s i d e r a t i o n was the s e p a r a t i o n of the i s l a n d
from mainland

neighbours

whom the f i r s t

E v e n t u a l l y , however, the Greeks,

c o l o n i s t s d i d not t r u s t .

i f a s u c c e s s f u l colony

such as O l b i a was ever to become a r e a l i t y , had t o e s t a b l i s h a

b a s i s of c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h the S c y t h i a n p e o p l e s .
ence i n both the l i t e r a r y

There i s e v i d -

and the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l r e c o r d s t h a t

t r a d e was the means by which t h i s c o o p e r a t i o n was e f f e c t e d .

It

can be seen i n the S c y t h i a n s ' own a r t i s t i c endeavours t h a t they

prized

the l u x u r i e s of artwork

and f i n e c r a f t s m a n s h i p ; the

c o l o n i s t s at O l b i a were a source o f these Items and other comm o d i t i e s that the n o r t h e r n steppes
oil.

lacked

c h i e f l y wine and

To a c q u i r e these l u x u r i e s the S c y t h i a n s had to have out-

l e t s f o r the products of t h e i r own s o c i e t y , h i d e s , m e t a l s , wheat

and s l a v e s , " the export of which t h e i r u n f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h s h i p s
1

and the sea g r e a t l y

That

hindered.

the S c y t h i a n s welcomed a f r i e n d l y

exchange of goods

w i t h the Greek c o l o n i s t s at O l b i a a t an e a r l y stage o f the

1. T l 5 ( a d e s c r i p t i o n of the exchange of goods between Greeks

and S c y t h i a n s at T a n a i s , b u t e q u a l l y d e s c r i p t i v e of the
trade at nearby O l b i a ) .

62.

colony's development i s e v i d e n t i n the E a s t Greek p o t t e r y

j e w e l l e r y t h a t appears i n S c y t h i a n graves near O l b i a .
of the e a r l i e s t Greek vases r e c o v e r e d
a S c y t h i a n tomb of the l a t e
Bug

R i v e r , two

seventh

and

One

i n South R u s s i a i s from

century, near Nemirov on

hundred m i l e s upstream from O l b i a .

the

Nearer O l -

b i a , i n s i x t h - c e n t u r y S c y t h i a n tombs on the Borysthenes e s t u p

ary, there are Greek bronze m i r r o r s w i t h f i g u r e d supports,

and

n o r t h of O l b i a remains of a r c h a i c Greek bronzes i n c l u d i n g a

l a r g e bronze c r a t e r .

At a l a t e r

stage, i n an e a r l y f i f t h -

cent-

ury tomb on the e s t u a r y between O l b i a and Berezan, the occupant of the grave,
wine j a r s ,

a S c y t h i a n w a r r i o r , i s p r o v i d e d w i t h two

an A t h e n i a n

cup,

a Greek bronze d i p p e r

and

Chian

strain-

er i n c i s e d w i t h a Greek d e s i g n .
By
by
ial

the date

items

at which t h i s w a r r i o r was

b u r i e d , accompanied

a c q u i r e d at nearby O l b i a , a f i r m p a t t e r n of commerc-

i n t e r c o u r s e had been e s t a b l i s h e d between the c o l o n i s t s

and

3
t h e i r S c y t h i a n neighbours.
S c y t h i a n s who

raise

Herodotos

t e l l s of

crops not f o r t h e i r own

p u r e l y f o r s a l e to the c o l o n i s t s at O l b i a .
1. Boardman, The
2. i b i d . ,

Greeks Overseas,

land-tilling

consumption, but
Rostovtzeff^"

com-

p.22.

p.272.

3. T19.
I*. R o s t o v t z e f f , I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a ,

p.12.

63.

ments that "Scythians

and

and Greeks c o n s t i t u t e d an economic u n i t ,

t h e i r muttial i n f l u e n c e was

or i n t h e i r
The

n e c e s s a r i l y the dominant f a c t -

lives."

c o o p e r a t i o n between S c y t h i a n s

seen not o n l y i n t h e i r m u t u a l l y
ments, but i n the e v e n t u a l

and Greeks at O l b i a i s

beneficial trading

p a r t i c i p a t i o n of at l e a s t

i a n s i n the urban l i f e of O l b i a .

In f a c t

arrangesome S c y t h -

the p r e c i s e p o s i t i o n

of the Greek c o l o n i s t s seems to have been t h a t of tenants

t e r r i t o r y l e a s e d from the S c y t h i a n t r i b a l kings,, who
the r i g h t to some s o r t of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n the
of the colony.
used by

Strabo

ful

retained

administration

t e l l s us t h a t the a g r i c u l t u r a l

the c o l o n i s t s i n a l l the Greek c i t i e s on the

Euxine coast are l e a s e d to them by

on

lands

north

the S c y t h i a n s , whose peace-

c o o p e r a t i o n depends upon a r e g u l a r payment of r e n t .

Some of the S c y t h i a n s

among the graves i n the

apparently r e s i d e d w i t h i n O l b i a ;

cemeteries

immediately o u t s i d e the

w a l l s are a number of o b v i o u s l y S c y t h i a n b u r i a l s , w i t h
bodies

laid

i n their

city's

the

tombs i n the f o e t a l p o s i t i o n (a Scytohian

custom) and b u r i e d w i t h S c y t h i a n weapons.

Prom the

size

and

1. Although there i s no evidence f o r the c o n s t i t u t i o n a l s t r u c t ure of the colony i n the e a r l y p e r i o d , much l a t e r i n s c r i p t i o n s and c o i n s i s s u e d at O l b i a i n the f o u r t h and
t h i r d c e n t u r i e s I n d i c a t e the e x i s t e n c e of a m a g i s t r a t e
(perhaps a f i g u r e h e a d ) , the "King Archon," whose r e p r e s e n t a t i o n on the c o i n s i s o f t e n as a l o n g - h a i r e d , bearded
S c y t h i a n type. One such K i n g Archon, d e p i c t e d on a f i f t h century c o i n of O l b i a (Minns, S c y t h i a n s and Greeks, p . i j . 8 7 ) ,
has the probably S c y t h i a n name f r M i r ' A K O .
2. T17.

61*.

s t y l e of these graves i t appears that the occupants were not

important

c i t i z e n s , nor prominent i n t h e i r own

iety.

a r u l e , i t seems, S c y t h i a n r e s i d e n t s i n O l b i a d i d not

As

occupy p o s i t i o n s of any
observes
the

considerable

authority.

t h a t , "of the names p r e s e r v e d

soc-

A . J . Graham

on i n s c r i p t i o n s from

s i x t h to the f o u r t h c e n t u r i e s , o n l y f o u r are non-Greek,

among the names of the m a g i s t r a t e s ,

none."

c l u d i n g , of course,

evidence.

But

the numismatic

i n h i s s t o r y of S k y l e s , one

Here Graham i s ex-

of the S c y t h i a n

kings.

at l e a s t u n o f f i c i a l i n f l u e n c e of a S c y t h i a n k i n g i n the

Greek colony

can be r e a d between the l i n e s of t h i s s t o r y , which

occupies

chapters

IV.

d e r i v e s c o n s i d e r a b l e i n s i g h t i n t o the

One

seventy-eight

to e i g h t y , i n c l u s i v e , of Book

i o n s h i p between the Greek c o l o n i s t s and

the tenants

and

marching up

to the gates

back.
while

strategic

relat-

the S c y t h i a n k i n g s

t h e i r l a n d l o r d s w h e n one r e a d s of

Skyles

of O l b i a w i t h the S c y t h i a n army at h i s

I t i s l i t t l e wonder t h a t he f e l t q u i t e at h i s ease
p l a y i n g the game of O i b i a n c i t i z e n s h i p , knowing t h a t h i s

army attended

him

at the gates

of the

city.

1. Graham, Colony and Mother C i t y i n A n c i e n t Greece, p.101*.

2.

and

the house i n O l b i a of a wealthy S c y t h i a n i s d e s c r i b e d

by Herodotos
The

Scythian

T20.

65.

The

O l b i a n house of S k y l e s , as d e s c r i b e d by Herodotos, i s

a measure of h i s i n f l u e n c e and prominence I n the Greek

I t i s a "great and expensive house" and,
d e c o r a t i o n , one

we

with i t s ostentatious

of the showplaces of the c i t y .

i n g to note, too, t h a t S k y l e s ' w i f e was

colony.

It i s interest-

an O l b i a n woman; here

have the most c e l e b r a t e d s t o r y of i n t e r m a r r i a g e between a

S c y t h i a n and
The

a Greek

colonist.*

s t o r y of S k y l e s , of course, r e p r e s e n t s

the p o t e n t i a l

i n f l u e n c e of a S c y t h i a n k i n g at O l b i a , r a t h e r than the normal

r e l a t i o n s h i p of the kings and

the O l b i a n c o l o n i s t s .

purpose i n r e l a t i n g t h i s s t o r y , as i n the s t o r y of
that precedes i t , i s to acknowledge two
the g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t i o n

that "these

f a l l i n g i n w i t h f o r e i g n customs, and
they

shun those

notable

Scythians

i a n s were not averse

Anacharsis

exceptions

scrupulously

of a l l n a t i o n s '

of the Greeks e s p e c i a l l y . "

seen i n the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l evidence

Herodotos'

Yet,

to
avoid

customs

as we

mentioned above, the

have
Scyth-

to a c c e p t i n g the m a t e r i a l b e n e f i t s of

the'

Greek c u l t u r e ; i t appears to have been Greek r e l i g i o n , s p e c i f i c a l l y , from which they p r e f e r r e d to remain a l o o f .

1.

I n t e r m a r r i a g e at O l b i a and i t e f f e c t s w i l l be f u r t h e r d i s cussed i n Chapter VI below.

2. IV,

76.

66.

The r e l i g i o n of the S c y t h i a n s was

two

dominant f a c t o r s :

powerfully

the p h y s i c a l environment, i n i n t i m a t e

t a c t w i t h which these nomads l i v e d , and

t h a t they

attached

governed by
con-

the immense importance

to the l i f e beyond the grave.

T h e i r homage

was

p a i d , Herodotos t e l l s u s , l to gods r e p r e s e n t i n g motherhood

and

the e a r t h T a b i t i and A p i a .

R i v e r God,

Borysthenes.

land i t s e l f ;

and

was

were not

the
the

a normal

religion.

important

i t s aftermath

rites^

ancestor

p l a c e of t h e i r worship was

temples, as Herodotos observes,

p a r t of t h e i r
The

The

T h e i r own

p l a c e h e l d i n the S c y t h i a n r i t u a l by
can be

seen i n the l a v i s h l y extravagant

i n v o l v i n g embalming of the body, s e l f - m u t i l a t i o n

a t i v e s and f o l l o w e r s , the Inhumation of t r e a s u r e , and,

d r a m a t i c a l l y , human s a c r i f i c e .

burial

by

rel-

most

A r c h a e o l o g i c a l c o r r o b o r a t i o n of

t h i s Herodotean i n f o r m a t i o n i s found i n the m a g n i f i c e n t

of the noble Scyths,

death

tumuli

the o n l y s i g n i f i c a n t monumental remains of

their culture.
All

these

upon i n s t i n c t s
extent,

IV,
2. IV,
3. IV,

1.

aspects

of the S c y t h i a n r e l i g i o n were founded

s u f f i c i e n t l y powerful

to w i t h s t a n d ,

the i n f i l t r a t i o n of i n c o m p a t i b l e

59.
5.
71.

ideas.

to a l a r g e

Thus, i n the

67.

s i x t h century when the S c y t h i a n p h i l o s o p h e r A n a c h a r s i s , i r e t u r n i n g to S c y t h i a a f t e r c o n s o r t i n g w i t h the Greeks a t Athens, was

observed

practising

a Greek r e l i g i o u s r i t e ,

slew him w i t h an arrow.

h i s own b r o t h e r

I n the s t o r y o f S k y l e s , t o o , the S c y t h -

i a n k i n g ' s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h the m i s t r u s t e d Greek r i t e

nysos r e s u l t s i n h i s e x p u l s i o n from
Of perhaps g r e a t e s t importance
t r i b u t e s o f the S c y t h i a n people

of D i o -

the ranks o f h i s own people.

i n a catalogue o f the a t -

i s the e x c e l l e n c e o f t h e i r a r t ,

p a r t i c u l a r l y l n the f i e l d o f wrought and c a s t metal-work.

The

c o l o n i s t s at O l b i a , e n c o u n t e r i n g the q u i t e non-Greek s t y l e s of
S c y t h i c a r t f o r the f i r s t

time i n t h e i r e a r l y trade w i t h the

c o a s t a l n a t i v e s , were immediately

exposed to the most

powerful

s i n g l e i n f l u e n c e t h e i r new environment would ever b r i n g to bear

upon them.
Although

the S c y t h i c s t y l e i s so d i s t i n c t i v e

e a s i l y be d e s c r i b e d v e r b a l l y ,

t h a t i t can

the i l l u s t r a t i o n s i n the appendix

to t h i s study w i l l a s s i s t the r e a d e r i n g r a s p i n g the q u a l i t y of

some o f the work.
the human f i g u r e ,

While Greek a r t i s t s experimented

widely

with

and w i t h the p o r t r a y a l of human a c t i v i t y ,

scenes i n c l u d i n g the human f i g u r e were e s s e n t i a l l y f o r e i g n to

the S c y t h i c a r t i s t .

The b a s i c themes f o r S c y t h i a n works o f a r t

i n bone, wood or metal

are f l o r a l

and animal

shapes d e p i c t e d

68.

i n the form of s w i r l i n g

semi-abstract

designs.

A s t r i k i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the S c y t h i a n a n i m a l - s t y l e i s
the use

of s h a r p l y c o n t r a s t e d s l a n t i n g planes

distinct

t h a t meet

j u n c t u r e s to c r e a t e b o l d , c u r v i n g l i n e s of

The most e x c i t i n g aspect

S c y t h i a n a r t i s t , of the
i o n , while

along

design.

of t h i s work i s the d i s c o v e r y , by

s e c r e t of c a p t u r i n g the essence of mot-

d e p i c t i n g an animal s u b j e c t at r e s t ; i t i s a matter

of s t r i k i n g the body through and

p a t t e r n s of sinuous
This l i v e l y

through w i t h t i g h t l y

coiled

line.

s t y l e was

a p p l i e d by i t s S c y t h i a n i n v e n t o r s

a wide v a r i e t y of p r a c t i c a l c r a f t s .
o r a t i o n of the weapons and

the p e r s o n a l

an e n t i r e S c y t h i a n i n d u s t r y

j e w e l l e r y found i n Scyth'

and

i t i s the b a s i s of

the p r o d u c t i o n

of worked metal

p l a q u e s ( o f t e n gold) t h a t became an e s s e n t i a l p a r t of the

i n g , armour and r i d i n g equipment of the Scyths.
forms most o f t e n r e p r e s e n t e d

on

l e r y are the stag, the l i o n and

and

cloth-

Among the

these plaques and

i n the

jewel-

the g r i f f i n .

latter

had

a l s o to

the

s i g n i f i c a n c e to the S c y t h i a n s ,

Egyptians

to

I t c h a r a c t e r i z e s the dec-

i a n tombs of the e a r l y s i x t h c e n t u r y ,

special

the

The

as I t had

the S y r i a n s ; i t i s a m o t i f

t h a t appears everywhere

1. See Minns, "The A r t of the N o r t h e r n Nomads," Proceedings of

the B r i t i s h Academy(191*2) , pp.lj.7-8l; R i c e , The S c y t h i a n s ,
passim.

69.

i n S c y t h i c a r t , . I n c l u d i n g , as Herodotos noted,
of

Skyles

the

decoration

house at O l b i a .

In c o n t r a s t w i t h the m a g n i f i c e n c e
a r t s , the p o t t e r y of the Scyths
u t i l i t a r i a n i n design.

he

S c y t h i a n o r i g i n are simple

of t h e i r metal-working

i s uninteresting; i t i s purely

bowls, j a r s and d r i n k i n g v e s s e l s of
i n d e c o r a t i o n , and n o r m a l l y

grey

or

d u l l black i n colour.
From the d i s c u s s i o n above, one
the S c y t h i a n world

some f e e l i n g f o r

i n t o which the c o l o n i s t s at O l b i a t r a n s p l a n t -

ed t h e i r Greek s o c i e t y .
f r i g h t e n i n g world;

can gather

In some aspects i t was

a harsh

and

the b e s t of the n a t i v e s were a p p a r e n t l y

c i v i l i z e d nomads, and

the worst were r e p u t e d

to be

cannibals.

Other aspects of the S c y t h i a n people were more a p p e a l i n g ;

were w i l l i n g to c o e x i s t w i t h the Greeks, and
of

endeavour each of the two r a c e s found

be of s e r v i c e .
ful,

though benevolent,

the O l b i a n way

i n certain

t h a t . the other

I f the r e l a t i o n s h i p tended to be
k i n g s and

of l i f e was

shall

see i n a l a t e r

they

fields
could

t h a t of power-

t h e i r r e n t - p a y i n g guests,

capable

chapter,

still

of a r o u s i n g a c a u t i o u s r e -

spect i n the minds of the b e s t of the S c y t h i a n s .

as we

un-

And

in return,

the Greeks p a i d the

to

at l e a s t a l i m i t e d e x t e n t , the compliment of

1.

T19.

Scythians,

imitation.

70.

V.

CONNEXION WITH THE

The

OUTSIDE WORLD

power of the u n f a m i l i a r p h y s i c a l environment of

Hypanis R i v e r and of the a l i e n and

half-civilized

Scythian

people to shape the development of O l b i a ' s c u l t u r e was

ent,

i n p a r t , on the e x c l u s i v e n e s s

Oibian colonists.
surroundings,

other

c e n t r e s of Greek
It

and what was

depend-

of t h e i r i n f l u e n c e upon the

To what extent was

these

the

the colony i s o l a t e d i n

the nature

of her

contact

life?

i s c l e a r t h a t i n the e a r l i e s t p e r i o d of O l b i a ' s

ence her connexion w i t h the o u t s i d e world was

tenuous.

existAs

have seen In Chapter I I I , t r a v e l northward i n t o the Black

was

a d i f f i c u l t undertaking

n a v i g a t i o n on the r o u t e , and
threatened

every

n o r t h e r n Thrace.
M i l e t o s , was

we
Sea

because of the n a t u r a l hazards to

because of p i r a c y , which

s h i p that ventured
The

with

along

still

the Euxine coast

d i s t a n c e of O l b i a from the mother

almost a thousand m i l e s by

city,

sea, a c o n s i d e r a b l e

age f o r o a r - d r i v e n ships t h a t were capable

of

voy-

of an average speed,

a g a i n s t the p r e v a i l i n g n o r t h e r l y winds, of perhaps three or

71.

f o u r knots.

A n c i e n t r e f e r e n c e s to these v a r i o u s d i f f i c u l t i e s

2
are found

i n A r c h i l o c h o s , Xenophon and P l i n y ,

as we have not-

ed above.
The n e a r e s t c e n t r e s of Greek c i v i l i z a t i o n were, of

course,

the o t h e r Greek c o l o n i e s s i t u a t e d on the shores of the B l a c k

Sea; i t was
keeping

to these c i t i e s

for

sail,

at a l l times w i t h i n s i g h t of the coast and w i t h i n mod-

e r a t e range of the r e l a t i v e
In

that O l b i a n s c o u l d most e a s i l y

the f i r s t

s e c u r i t y of t h e i r own

decades of i t s s e t t l e m e n t O l b i a was

t h e r e were few

c l o s e neighbours.

O l b i a d u r i n g the f i r s t

Although

territory.
truly

isolated,

the f o u n d i n g of

of three waves of c o l o n i z a t i o n i n t o the

B l a c k Sea

was

the western

r o u g h l y contemporaneous w i t h t h a t of I s t r o s

shore of the Euxine,

and Sinope

on the south c o a s t ,

these s e t t l e m e n t s were q u i t e remote from O l b i a .

to

I s t r o s i n v o l v e d a c o a s t a l voyage of over two

the journey to Sinope

on

The

journey

hundred m i l e s ;

a d i r e c t , open-sea c r o s s i n g

was

three hundred and f i f t y m i l e s .

A second wave of c o l o n i z a t i o n , In the f i r s t
s i x t h century B.C.,

added two

important

s e t t l e m e n t s to the

1. Carpenter, OJJ. c i t . , pp.1-10.

2. T23,

T21+,

T2.

3. Roebuck, I o n i a n Trade

h a l f of the

and C o l o n i z a t i o n , p. 121*.

72.

north c o a s t P a n t l k a p a i o n ,

two

hundred m i l e s e a s t of O l b i a ,

and T y r a s , l e s s than a hundred m i l e s to the west.

In the

h a l f of the s i x t h century numerous other c o l o n i e s sprang

second
up

along the n o r t h c o a s t , i n c l u d i n g Chersonesos, which, l o c a t e d on

a s h e l t e r i n g harbour near the southern
i n s u l a , formed an important
c r o s s i n g to Sinope and

halfway

t i p of the Crimean pen-

stop-over

on both the l o n g

the eastward c o a s t a l voyage to

Pantikap-

aion.
The most important

reason f o r m a i n t a i n i n g r e l a t i o n s

other Greek c i t i e s on the B l a c k Sea was

first

what had prompted

A n a t u r a l exchange of

between the c i t i e s of the n o r t h coast and

( e s p e c i a l l y the important

most s u b - t r o p i c a l c l i m a t e was

While

timber

as Theophrastos t e l l s

r a r e on the n o r t h coast of the B l a c k Sea,

us,

Sinope w i t h i t s a l -

provided with l u x u r i a n t f o r e s t -

growth, the n e a r e s t e x p o r t a b l e timber

Tib,.

south

colony of Sinope) arose because of

good q u a l i t y f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n was,

superb harbour of Sinope,

commodities

those of the

the g e o g r a p h i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s of the two r e g i o n s .

1.

the

c o n t a c t between the c o l o n i s t s and t h e i r S c y t h i a n n e i g h -

b o u r s the need f o r t r a d e .

of

with

supply to O l b i a .

the only harbour on the e n t i r e

The
south

73.

coast, made t h a t c i t y a market f o r the southward-moving trade

of

the B l a c k Sea, f o r the g r a i n , h i d e s , s l a v e s and r e f i n e d

t h a t were O l b i a ' s e x p o r t a b l e p r o d u c t s .

salt

I n i t s key p o s i t i o n

Sinope was the n a t u r a l meeting p l a c e f o r the t r a d i n g e n t e r p r i s e s

of

the n o r t h and e a s t c o a s t s o f the B l a c k Sea; S t r a b o

confirms

that t h i s was the case.

Although O l b i a was the most remote B l a c k Sea colony

from

t h i s centre o f commerce, her t r a d i n g v e s s e l s found t h e i r way

e a s i l y i n t o the busy harbour

of Sinope.

Seamen n a v i g a t i n g

south from O l b i a by way o f the s t o p p i n g - p l a c e at Chersonesos

c o u l d , on days o f c l e a r e s t v i s i b i l i t y ,
headland

a t Sinope w h i l e the h i l l s of the Crimea were s t i l l

ible astern.
direct

j u s t c a t c h s i g h t of the

The passage from Ghersbnesos to Sinope

vis-

i s the o n l y

c r o s s i n g of the B l a c k Sea t h a t can be made without l o s 2

ing

s i g h t of l a n d .
Strong t r a d i n g connexions

ing

between O l b i a and the neighbour-

c o l o n i e s are r e f l e c t e d i n numerous i n s c r i p t i o n s g r a n t i n g

proxeny to c i t i z e n s of these s t a t e s .

The e a r l i e s t decree, a

1.

XII,

2.

L e a f , "The Commerce of Sinope," J.H.S., XXXVI

3,

11.
(1916),

pp.1-15.

Ik.

fifth-century inscription,
and

extends the r i g h t of c i t i z e n s h i p

s p e c i a l t r a d i n g p r i v i l e g e s to a f a m i l y of Mesembrla, a

colony o f Megara on the western shore o f the B l a c k Sea.

be

I t can

seen from the r e g u l a r t r a d i n g r e l a t i o n s e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h i s

t r e a t y between O l b i a and c o l o n i s t s at Mesembria t h a t , by the

fifth

century a t l e a s t , l o n g c o a s t a l voyages were a normal and

frequent undertaking
bria,

i n the B l a c k Sea.

The passage to Mesem-

a southward journey of n e a r l y f o u r hundred m i l e s along the

western shore of the sea, would i n v o l v e stops at s e v e r a l major c e n t r e s , i n c l u d i n g T y r a s , I s t r o s , Tomis, K a l l a t i s and Odessos.
Although

s i m i l a r voyages were a l s o made to the e a s t e r n

c i t i e s of the n o r t h c o a s t , the t e d i o u s r o u t e

around the great

p r o t r u d i n g headland of the Crimea (whose c o a s t a l c i t i e s were

not e s t a b l i s h e d u n t i l the l a t e wave of c o l o n i z a t i o n near the
end

o f the s i x t h century)

c r e a t e d a g e o g r a p h i c a l h i a t u s between

the two d i s t i n c t groups of c o l o n i e s on the n o r t h c o a s t .

Olbia,

the most prominent s e t t l e m e n t of the western group, found her

most n a t u r a l c o n t a c t s i n the nearby c i t i e s t o the west Tyras
and

Istros.

the c i t i e s

P a n t i k a p a i o n , which l a t e r assumed l e a d e r s h i p o f
c l u s t e r e d around the Cimmerian . Bosporos (the mod-

e r n Kerch S t r a i t ) to form the Regnum Bosporanum, n a t u r a l l y

1.

T26 .

75.

looked

to these

easily

a c c e s s i b l e c e n t r e s on the e a s t e r n s i d e

of the Crimean b a r r i e r .
A f t e r the end o f the s i x t h century,
O l b i a , making use

however, s h i p s from

of the s h e l t e r p r o v i d e d

at Chersonesos

and

Theodosia, could pass the dangerous promontory of the Crimea i n

order

to r e a c h the important

goria.

c i t i e s of P a n t i k a p a i o n

Phana-

D i s c u s s i n g the s i t e s of the l a t e r c o l o n i e s on the

Sea's n o r t h c o a s t , Roebuck observes*

Chersonesos probably
ine

and

that "the

s e l e c t i o n of

i n d i c a t e s the k n i t t i n g together

c o l o n i e s i n the l a t t e r p a r t of the

Black

of the Eux-

century, f o r i t was

u s e f u l p o r t of c a l l on c r o s s i n g s . . . from O l b i a to the towns

i n the Cimmerian Bosporos."
here,
was

By

the end

of the p e r i o d under

study

c o n t a c t between c i t i e s of the e a s t e r n and western groups

frequent.

Both Herodotos and

Strabo

(who,

of course,

c r i b e s the r e g i o n at a l a t e r date) d i s c u s s the v i c i n i t i e s

the Borysthenes and

desof

the Cimmerian Bosporos as p a r t s of a s i n g l e

neighbourhood.
But O l b i a ' s i n t e r c o u r s e was
w i t h i n the B l a c k Sea.

c l e a r l y not only w i t h

Numerous f i n d s of p o t t e r y and

1. Roebuck, I o n i a n Trade and C o l o n i z a t i o n , p,12lj..

2. T6,

T8.

cities

other manu-

76.

factured

goods that had t h e i r o r i g i n s i n a s u r p r i s i n g v a r i e t y

of Greek c i t i e s a t t e s t to the c o n t i n u i n g
s i d e world upon O l b i a at q u i t e

an e a r l y date.

the p l e n t i f u l E a s t Greek p o t t e r y
on

i n f l u e n c e of the outI n a d d i t i o n to

t h a t one might expect t o f i n d

the s i t e o f a M i l e s i a n colony, O l b i a has y i e l d e d A t t i c , K o r -

i n t h i a n and even E r e t r i a n vases of the e a r l i e r h a l f of the s i x t h

century B.C.
site

Among the most e x o t i c wares r e c o v e r e d from the

are a s i x t h - c e n t u r y

goblet

from N a u k r a t i s and a f i f t h -

cent-

ury b l a c k - f i g u r e h y d r i a of shape and t e c h n i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

t h a t suggest E t r u s c a n
and

origin.

Graves at O l b i a o f b o t h Greeks

S c y t h i a n s c o n t a i n many l u x u r y

items imported from

cities

i n Greece, i n c l u d i n g j e w e l l e r y , o i l f l a s k s and s t r i g i l s .
though no l i f e - s i z e d

statuary

Al-

has been unearthed at O l b i a ,

small

t e r r a c o t t a s and bronzes are found, imported from I o n i a , and

a fourth-century

i n s c r i p t i o n , apparently

base of a work of s c u l p t u r e ,
That O l b i a ' s

contains

a fragment from the

the name o f P r a x i t e l e s .

connexion w i t h the Greek c i t i e s from which such

imports a r r i v e d was a commercial connexion i s suggested by the

great mimber of p o i n t - b a s e d amphorai found on the s i t e , of a
type used f o r the storage and s h i p p i n g

of f o o d .

1. Latyshev, I n s c r i p t i o n e s Orae S e p t e n t r i o n a l i s P o n t i Euxi n i , I , p. 11*5.

J

77.

There i s evidence f o r the e x i s t e n c e of t r a n s p o r t f o r

passengers

between the Euxine

n i n g of the s i x t h c e n t u r y .

and Greece as e a r l y as the b e g i n -

The

journey of the S c y t h i a n p h i l -

osopher A n a c h a r s i s to the c i t i e s of Greece i n Solon's day

ably as a passenger

on a Greek s h i p t r a v e l l i n g south and r e -

t u r n i n g to O l b i a , s i n c e the S c y t h i a n s themselves
i s r e p o r t e d by Herodotos.^
dotos h i m s e l f i n the f i f t h
e x t e n s i v e l y i n the n o r t h e r n
If

were landsmen)

I t i s s i g n i f i c a n t a l s o t h a t Herocentury found

i t p o s s i b l e to t r a v e l

Euxine.

the remoteness of i t s p o s i t i o n and the hazards

g a t i o n f o r c e d upon O l b i a a degree of i s o l a t i o n i n the

p e r i o d of s e t t l e m e n t , t h a t i s o l a t i o n was
in

(prob-

the l a t t e r h a l f of the f i f t h

century.

of n a v i earliest

no l o n g e r a r e a l i t y
The voyage of P e r I k i e s

2
into

the B l a c k Sea

Athens the important

may

have been an attempt

to secure f o r

g r a i n - p r o d u c i n g c e n t r e s of the r e g i o n by

r e p l a c i n g w i t h Athenian t i e s the c o l o n i s t s ' o l d e r l o c a l

with Scythian kings.

I n the y e a r s f o l l o w i n g P e r i k l e s '

the Euxine, many of the c o l o n i e s appeared

P o n t i c s t a t e s ; i n t h i s p a n e l , c a l l e d " C i t i e s of the

1.

T20.

3. A9,

tour of

on an A t h e n i a n

of

2. See Chapter

ties

list

Euxine,"

VII f o r a d i s c u s s i o n of the date of t h i s voyage.

IV, 162, i n M e r i t t , Wade-Gery and McGregor, The

T r i b u t e L i s t s , I I , p.109.

Athenian

78.

most o f O l b i a ' s n e a r e s t

neighbours can be i d e n t i f i e d , i n -

c l u d i n g T y r a s immediately to the west and K a r k i n i t i s and Tamyrake immediately east o f O l b i a .

A l t h o u g h the name of O l b i a

cannot be i d e n t i f i e d w i t h c e r t a i n t y on the l i s t ,
t h a t the colony was i n c l u d e d .

There i s an assessment of one

t a l e n t entered f o r a state 0 [ - ,

as O l b i a .

S i n c e other P o n t i c

to Greece

notably

i t i s likely

, which could be r e s t o r e d

c i t i e s that had g r a i n f o r export

P a n t i k a p a i o n and other c o l o n i e s on the Cim

merian Bosporos w e r e l i s t e d

as p o t e n t i a l t r i b u t a r i e s t o

Athens, I t i s probable t h a t O l b i a , a l s o competing i n the g r a i n exporting

market, was among the c i t i e s that appeared on the

list.
In:any case near the end o f the f i f t h
longer

century O l b i a no

o c c u p i e d a p o s i t i o n of i s o l a t i o n from the Greek world.

The

possible

t r i b u t a r y r e l a t i o n s h i p of the c o l o n i e s

and

the l a r g e - s c a l e export of produce from the B l a c k Sea made

the Euxine a f o c a l p o i n t o f Greek maritime

to Athens

traffic.

While attempting to assess the e f f e c t o f O l b i a ' s

remote

n o r t h e r n l o c a t i o n on the l i v e s of the c o l o n i s t s one must cons i d e r the connexion of O l b i a to the mother c i t y , M i l e t o s . A l though the r e l a t i o n s h i p o f colony to mother c i t y i n a n c i e n t

79.

Greece d i d not u s u a l l y i n v o l v e the p o l i t i c a l dependence t h a t

bound a n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y

B r i t i s h colony,

f o r Instance,

mother country, commercial l i n k s were l i k e l y

the

case of O l b i a there

much of the

colony's

to e x i s t .

i s an i n d i c a t i o n i n the

E a s t Greek p o t t e r y found on the s i t e ,

as we

to

the

In

predominantly

have seen, t h a t

commercial i n t e r c o u r s e was

with Miletos.

I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to observe t h a t , a c c o r d i n g

to H e r o d o t o s ,

the i n h a b i t a n t s of O l b i a r e f e r r e d to themselves as M i l e s i a n s .
Yet,

a l t h o u g h t h i s f a c t i s evidence of the c o l o n i s t s ' c o n t i n u i n g

i n t e r e s t i n the mother c i t y , i t does not

imply the

political

2
dependence of O l b i a upon M i l e t o s .
are numerous i n s t a n c e s
i n g c o l o n i s t s by
he
not

cites

As Graham

that i l l u s t r a t e

The

the e t h n i c a d j e c t i v e of t h e i r p l a c e s

as examples the name of rTo94yo/3<*s SVpioc , a

1.

p r e c i s e n a t u r e of the

k.

designate
of

origin;

citizen

Thucydides'

c o l o n i s t s ' connexion w i t h M i l i n s c r i p t i o n ^ - from M i l e t o s .

importance of t h i s d e c r e e , which was

I n s c r i b e d on

stone

T20.

2. Graham, Colony and Mother C i t y i n A n c i e n t

3.

and

there

to c o l o n i s t s from Zankle as o< ^A.McSrjs-

etos i s o u t l i n e d i n a f o u r t h - c e n t u r y
The

the p r a c t i c e of

of Samos but of K r o t o n i n Magna G r a e c i a ,

reference

p o i n t s out,

VI,

T27.

5,

1.

Greece, p.100.

80.

about 330 B.C., i s i n c r e a s e d f o r the p r e s e n t study by the f a c t

that i t appears

to be a restatement

l i s h e d at a much e a r l i e r d a t e .

o f terms t h a t were e s t a b -

The evidence f o r t h i s w i l l be

c o n s i d e r e d a f t e r we have examined the c o n t e n t s of the decree.

The document, although I t i s worded i n such a way as to
d e a l p r i m a r i l y w i t h the r i g h t s o f a M i l e s i a n i n the colony o f
O l b i a , i s a t r e a t y between equal s t a t e s ; i t s terms apply e q u a l l y
to M i l e s i a n s at O l b i a and O l b i a n s at M i l e t o s .
the mother c i t y i s exempt from

A c i t i z e n of

t a x a t i o n in- the colony.

He may

h o l d O l b i a n c i t i z e n s h i p and be e l i g i b l e f o r m a g i s t r a c i e s i n
O l b i a on the c o n d i t i o n t h a t he be entered i n the r o l l s f o r taxation.

I f a M i l e s i a n at O l b i a becomes i n v o l v e d i n a l e g a l

act-

i o n , h i s case, T i k e t h a t o f a c i t i z e n , w i l l be heard b e f o r e the

SqponKov

SiKAcnvfp(ov

of the colony.

The same p r i v i l e g e s and

o b l i g a t i o n s b e l o n g a u t o m a t i c a l l y to an O l b i a n who r e t u r n s to r e s i d e at M i l e t o s .

I n every case the terms o f t h i s agreement ap-

p l y o n l y to c i t i z e n s of e i t h e r c i t y who do not h o l d
or p u b l i c o f f i c e l n any t h i r d s t a t e .

The decree

therefore i n -

v o l v e s two s t a t e s t h a t , b e i n g equal and independent,

l e s s recognize a s p e c i a l t i e of k i n s h i p .
t h a t movement o f i n d i v i d u a l s from one c i t y
a frequent

occurrence.

citizenship

neverthe-

I t can be i n f e r r e d
to the o t h e r was

81.

The

first

i n d i c a t i o n that the decree i s a restatement of

an o l d r e l a t i o n s h i p r a t h e r

than the establishment

of a new

Is the b a l d , u n e l a b o r a t e d preamble to the document a

clause n o t i n g
for

t h a t the p r o v i s i o n s of the t r e a t y are

the O l b i o p o l i t a i and

curs i n the body of the

the M i l e s i a n s .

Further

t r e a t y where, I n s e r t e d

r e l a t i n g to exemption from t a x a t i o n , the phrase

occurs.

one

single

customary

evidence

among the
M9^OA

octerms

K*1 npmpw n<rdv

That the o b l i g a t i o n of t a x a t i o n f o r a c i t i z e n or^mag-

i s t r a t e i s described

as an e x c e p t i o n

to the former terms i s

another i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h i s decree i s an adjustment to an

older

agreement.
Graham suggests* that the o c c a s i o n
of r e l a t i o n s w i t h O l b i a was
c o n t r o l by Alexander i n 332;
had

of the

re-establishment

the f r e e i n g of M i l e t o s from

Persian

p o s s i b l y the o r i g i n a l agreement

been i n abeyance s i n c e an e a r l i e r period'when M i l e t o s

f r e e of e x t e r n a l c o n t r o l s .

The

l a t e s t date at which the

was
first

t r e a t y w i t h O l b i a might have been l i k e l y i s the m i d - f i f t h centu r y , when M i l e t o s was

eracy.

The

an autonomous member of the D e l i a n

e a r l i e s t date might be

before

the f i r s t

1. 0.

c i t . , p.102.

the e a r l y s i x t h

i n v a s i o n of I o n i a by

the P e r s i a n s .

Confed-

century,
At whatever

82.

date an agreement of t h i s s o r t f i r s t
such t r a d i t i o n a l

e x i s t e d , the e x i s t e n c e of

c o n d i t i o n s of mutual p r i v i l e g e i s evidence of

a c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p between O l b i a and M i l e t o s from

earliest

times.
We

have seen now

t h a t a f t e r the f i r s t decades of the

colony's e x i s t e n c e , when O l b i a was more or l e s s alone on the

n o r t h c o a s t , i n t e r c o l o n i a l t r a v e l w i t h i n the B l a c k Sea became
frequent.

Trade w i t h the c i t i e s of Greece and the exchange of

raw m a t e r i a l s from the Euxine f o r l u x u r y p r o d u c t s from

south were a normal p r o c e d u r e .
O l b i a maintained f a i r l y

And w i t h M i l e t o s e s p e c i a l l y

close contact.

Thus, i f i s o l a t i o n

a f a c t o r i n the shaping of the O i b i a n way

of

the

of l i f e , the

t h a t i s o l a t i o n were, to an i n c r e a s i n g degree

as time

was

effects
passed,

m i t i g a t e d by communication w i t h the w o r l d beyond the c o l o n y ' s

own

immediate s u r r o u n d i n g s .

83.

VI

THE.

0 LB IAN WAY OF L I F E

In i t s remote p o s i t i o n above the : B l a c k Sea, O l b i a was,

as we have seen,

the most n o r t h e r l y centre at which a s i z e a b l e

Greek c i t y ever developed.

I n e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e i r way o f l i f e

the c o l o n i s t s f a c e d n o t only the problems of an a l i e n c l i m a t e

and landscape,

but the c u l t u r a l i n f l u e n c e o f a n e i g h b o u r i n g

r a c e t h a t was s t r i k i n g l y d i f f e r e n t from the Greeks I n many ways.

While there i s ample evidence
the very b e g i n n i n g

t h a t these c o l o n i s t s s t r o v e from

to make the new s o c i e t y at O l b i a a copy o f

the Greek s o c i e t y of t h e i r m o t h e r - c i t y ,

there are a l s o i n d i c -

a t i o n s t h a t aspects o f t h e i r s t y l e o f l i f e were p e c u l i a r , i f
not t o O l b i a alone, at l e a s t to t h e s e t t l e m e n t s o f the n o r t h
Euxine.
The m a t e r i a l t r a p p i n g s o f normal Greek urban l i f e
been found

i n abundance on the s i t e o f O l b i a .

have

Even i f l i f e -

s i z e d s c u l p t u r e and monumental b u i l d i n g s are absent,

there are

numerous smaller works o f a r t and manufactured items

from

M i l e t o s and other p a r t s o f Greece.

I n a d d i t i o n to the imported

wares, there appears to have been l o c a l manufacture of p o t t e r y

in

t r a d i t i o n a l Ionian fashions at O l b i a .

Pottery

both

81*.

rough and d e c o r a t i v e ware t h a t

can be i d e n t i f i e d by i t s

chemical c o n s t i t u e n t s as l o c a l l y made^ r e t a i n s the s t y l e s of

the a r c h a i c p e r i o d i n I o n i a , even when i t i s found i n the l e v e l s
of l a t e r d a t e .

In t h i s we

have an i n d i c a t i o n of a t y p i c a l

col-

o n i a l phenomenon, the adherence to-the mother c u l t u r e w i t h some

n e g l e c t of c u r r e n t

fashion.

In c e r t a i n other r e s p e c t s
ched, i n t h e i r own

the c o l o n i s t s appear to have mat-

c i t y , developments that were"simultaneously

o c c u r r i n g i n the Greek c i t i e s around the

One

such f e a t u r e of O l b i a s growth was

1

on a r e g u l a r , r i g h t - a n g l e d g r i d . The

shores of the Aegean.

the l a y i n g out of s t r e e t s

e a r l i e s t i n d i c a t i o n of

t h i s type of s t r e e t - p l a n n i n g , which appears on the upper p a r t

of the s i t e n o r t h of the

agora, d a t e s from a p e r i o d

ly

of the c i t y by S c y t h i a n s ,

a f t e r the d e v a s t a t i o n

the r e t r e a t of D a r e i o s .
dated the establishment
imately

500

B.C.,

The

g r i d - p l a n at M i l e t o s .

following

R u s s i a n a r c h a e o l o g i s t Parmakovsky

of the g r i d p l a n at O l b i a

apparently

immediate-

earlier

I t might be

than the f i r s t

at approxof

the

supposed, i n f a c t , that

the

advent of s t r e e t - p l a n n i n g i n M i l e t o s was

use

an i n n o v a t i o n

1. See Minns, " T h i r t y Y e a r s of Work at O l b i a , " J.H.S.,

LXV (191*5), pp. 109-112.
2. Mongait, Archaeology i n the U.S.S.R., p.190.

first

85.

observed a t and copied

The
but

l a y o u t of s t r e e t s i n O l b i a r e f l e c t s not o n l y

also considerable

city,

from the c o l o n i e s on the B l a c k Sea.

prosperity.

The b a s i c p a t t e r n o f the

as i t appears to have been f o r m a l i z e d

f i f t h century,

planning,

at the end o f the

i s a main thoroughfare t e n metres wide,

ed f o r two-way v e h i c u l a r and p e d e s t r i a n

traffic,

intend-

and secondary

s t r e e t s about three metres wide, i n t e r s e c t i n g the c e n t r a l thorof a r e at r i g h t a n g l e s .

street included

The b u i l d i n g s that l i n e d

some l a r g e p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g s ,

the c e n t r a l

auxiliary struct-

u r e s such as storehouses, and workshops connected w i t h m e t a l working i n d u s t r i e s , about which more w i l l be s a i d below.
ent

e x c a v a t i o n s by R u s s i a n a r c h a e o l o g i s t s

Rec-

have uncovered the

t r a c e s o f a l a r g e stoa t h a t formed the n o r t h e r n

end of the O l -

b i a n agora at an e a r l y date.
Evidence o f the c o n t i n u i n g

uneasiness of the c o l o n i s t s i n

the Scythian-dominated r e g i o n of the Hypanis i s seen i n the

massive d e f e n s i v e

walls

t h a t surround the s i t e .

i f i e d gate on the northern

as p o l y g o n a l

A large

edge o f the s i t e , d e s c r i b e d

masonry of the a r c h a i c p e r i o d ,

and l o o k o u t

fort-

by Minns-^
towers

1. There i s , however, evidence o f g r i d s t r e e t - p l a n n i n g a l s o

at Smyrna i n E a s t Greece before the b e g i n n i n g of the
f i f t h century.
2. L e v i , O l ' v i i a : Temenos i Agora, p.5.
3. Minns, S c y t h i a n s

and Greeks,p. 1+52.

86.

at b o t h ends of the western s i d e have been excavated,

ing
at

the s i z e and n a t u r e of the s i x t h - c e n t u r y d e f e n s i v e

Olbia.

indicatwall

Although the c i t y had shrunk i n s i z e by H e l l e n i s t i c

times, D i o Chrysostom i n the f i r s t

of the e x i s t e n c e

of the a n c i e n t

century

o f our e r a was aware

c i r c u i t w a l l and of d e f e n s i v e

towers t h a t , i n h i s own day, were no l o n g e r

, An important aspect

of colonial l i f e

i n use.

at O l b i a , i n s p i t e

of the o c c a s i o n a l u n c e r t a i n t y of r e l a t i o n s w i t h
made g r e a t d e f e n s i v e

the Scyths t h a t

works n e c e s s a r y , was the commercial de-

pendence of the O l b i o p o l i t a i upon t h e i r S c y t h i a n

neighbours.

A s i g n i f i c a n t r e s u l t of t h i s commercial i n t e r c o u r s e was the e s t ablishment near O l b i a o f a number o f s m a l l mixed communities

on the Borysthenes e s t u a r y

i n which (as t h e graves o f the i n -

h a b i t a n t s demonstrate) Greek and S c y t h i a n peoples and customs

intermingled.

I n the h i n t e r l a n d immediately n o r t h o f O l b i a ,

as Herodotos t e l l s u s , the i n h a b i t a n t s were the K a l l i p p i d a i ,

or " S c y t h i a n Greeks."
In many of these small communities, as w e l l as I n O l b i a

1. The p l a n of O l b i a (see Chapter I I I ) shows the f u l l c i r c u i t

of t h i s c i t y - w a l l .
I t s e a s t e r n s i d e , t r a c e s of which now
l i e beneath the Bug R i v e r , i n d i c a t e s t h a t the s i t e has
been reduced by e r o s i o n s i n c e a n c i e n t times.

2. T2.
3. T19.

87.

itself,

the b a s i s o f the r e l a t i o n s h i p was the S c y t h i a n w i l l i n g -

ness to pay f o r the products o f Greek workmanship.

The v i g o u r

of O i b i a n i n d u s t r y came t o depend n o t o n l y on s a l e t o the S c y t h i a n s o f wares imported from Greece, but a l s o on items manuf a c t u r e d a t O l b i a i n a new G r a e c o - S c y t h i c s t y l e e s p e c i a l l y f o r
the S c y t h i a n market.
to appear

The p r o d u c t s of t h i s new i n d u s t r y b e g i n

as e a r l y as the l a t t e r h a l f of the s i x t h century B.C.

Among the items found b o t h at O l b i a

manufactured

and i n S c y t h i a n tombs,

by Greek craftsmen f o r S c y t h i a n buyers, are s i x t h -

century g o l d e a r r i n g s , e a r l y f i f t h - c e n t u r y

c r u c i f o r m metal

plaques of the k i n d o r i g i n a l l y developed by the S c y t h i a n s thems e l v e s , an unusual bone b u c k l e , hand-mirrors w i t h s t y l i z e d

anim-

a l d e c o r a t i o n i n the S c y t h i a n f a s h i o n

( b u t ' - w i t h handles,

a f e a t u r e t h a t S c y t h i a n craftsmen never

added to t h e i r m i r r o r s ) ,

and a c a s t bronze q u i v e r - d e c o r a t i o n w i t h S c y t h i a n e m b e l l i s h ment.

The O i b i a n o r i g i n of many o f these manufactured

found i n S c y t h i a n tombs i s beyond doubt.

mentioned

1.

goods

M i r r o r s o f the type

above were d i s c o v e r e d i n the remains

of an e x t e n s i v e

L i s t s of these f i n d s appear i n Minns, " T h i r t y Years o f Work

at O l b i a , " J.H.S., LXV(19i|5) , pp.109-112, and R i c e ,
The S c y t h i a n s , p. 11*0.
I l l u s t r a t i o n s o f products by
Greek craftsmen a t O l b i a manufactured i n the S c y t h i c
s t y l e are p r o v i d e d i n the Appendix to t h i s study.

88.

m e t a l workshop unearthed

at O l b i a i n 1.91+8

ficant find

a mould d i s c o v e r e d by Parmakovsky,

at O l b i a was

An even more s i g n i -

used f o r c a s t i n g bronze f i t t i n g s l i k e the one found on the Scyttv

ian quiver.
T h i s was

the i n d u s t r y that made i n t e r c o u r s e between Greeks

and S c y t h i a n s l u c r a t i v e f o r the s e t t l e r s i n the v i l l a g e s

Olbia*s fringes.

Of

on

the commerce i n these towns, as evidenced

by the a r t i f a c t s that have come to l i g h t , Boardman s a y s :

These a p p a r e n t l y mixed communities,

and the r e -

markable monuments of Greek work f o r the S c y t h i a n s , are

more eloquent testimony to the r e l a t i o n s between the
two peoples

the c o l o n i s t s and the n a t i v e s than the

f i n d s of o b j e c t s imported from other p a r t s of the Greek

world.

They show t h a t the w e a l t h of the S c y t h i a n s and

of the B l a c k Sea t r a d e a t t r a c t e d some of the f i n e s t

i a n a r t i s t s to the n o r t h e r n c o l o n i e s , where they
ed t h e i r n a t u r a l s t y l e to the t a s t e s and
Scythians.

1. Boardman,

The Greeks Overseas,

p.275.

Ion-

adapt-

s t y l e s of the

8 9 .

We have a l r e a d y seen t h a t from e a r l i e s t

at

O l b i a attempted,

through trade and d i p l o m a t i c

w i t h the Greek world

of

times the s e t t l e r s

and through

connexions

the import of p o t t e r y , worka

a r t , l u x u r y foods and other commodities" " t h a t were

1

from

t h e i r new s u r r o u n d i n g s , to m a i n t a i n i n t h e i r o u t p o s t a

Greek way of l i f e .

But t h e i r i n t i m a c y w i t h the S c y t h i a n s an

e s s e n t i a l p a r t of O l b i a n l i f e w a s
life

absent

o f a normal Greek c i t y .

a f a c t o r n o t p r e s e n t i n the

I n the new s t y l e o f a r t t h a t evr

o l v e d as a r e s u l t of the combined Greek and S c y t h i a n i n d u s t r y

d e s c r i b e d i n the f o r e g o i n g paragraphs

we have the most t a n g i b l e

evidence o f the S c y t h i a n i n f l u e n c e upon the Greeks at O l b i a .

R o s t o v t z e f f says' - about a r t c o l l e c t e d i n the Hermitage Museum
1

at K e r c h from e x c a v a t i o n s on the n o r t h e r n shores and h i n t e r l a n d s

of

the B l a c k Sea:
The

s c h o l a r above a l l c a r r i e d away q u i t e n o v e l

Impressions.
in

He r e a l i z e d

the presence

appeared

t h a t i n these rooms he was

Of a new w o r l d , i n which Greek a r t

i n an a l t e r e d ,

sometimes almost

unrecogniz-

able form, and i n which s i d e by s i d e vrith t h i s a r t ,

another

a r t was r e v e a l e d , new and s t r a n g e .

1. I t can be argued from Xenophon's catalogue of the contents of

a wrecked s h i p i n the B l a c k Sea [T2l+') t h a t w r i t t e n books
from Greece and the i d e a s c o n t a i n e d i n them were i n demand i n the Euxine c o l o n i e s .
2. I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a , p.3.

90.

In a previous

chapter we examined the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c e l -

ements df the S c y t h i c s t y l e ; now we may d i s c u s s some

specific

p i e c e s of n o r t h Euxine Greek a r t t h a t i l l u s t r a t e the new

style

to which R o s t o v t z e f f r e f e r s .

proto-

types

S i n c e most o f the S c y t h i a n

are examples of metalwork, the products

manship are a l s o c h i e f l y metal..

of O i b i a n

C e r t a i n images, ever

crafts-

pres-

ent i n the a r t of the nomads, appear commonly i n the a r t of

Olbia.

The sphinx

and the g r i f f i n , which adorned the house o f

S k y l e s , a landmark o f f i f t h - c e n t u r y O l b i a , r e c u r f r e q u e n t l y on
j e w e l l e r y i n a s t y l e t h a t suggests i m i t a t i o n of S c y t h i c models.
An example o f the sphinx m o t i f on a Greek g o l d diadem i s i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g u r e 2 i n the Appendix.
of a s p e c t , e s p e c i a l l y i n the s t y l i z e d

A general

similarity

curves >of the c r e a t u r e s '

wings, can be seen i n the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n on t h i s Greek diadem

and

the animal on a p u r e l y S c y t h i a n plaque shown i n F i g u r e 3.

A small t e r r a c o t t a statue

Euxine coast p r o b a b l y

( F i g u r e 1) from the n o r t h

of Oibian manufacture

portrays a

human f i g u r e that l o o k s h a l f S c y t h i a n and h a l f Greek. A l though the costume d e p i c t e d i s almost p u r e l y S c y t h i a n ,

ue

the s t a t -

i s c e r t a i n l y Greek; b o t h the t e r r a c o t t a medium and the

human-figure theme are u n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f the S c y t h i a n

artist.

91.

If

the s t a t u e i s a p o r t r a i t of a Greek c o l o n i s t , as

suggested

by D i o Chrysostom s d e s c r i p t i o n * of an O l b i a n i n S c y t h i c c o s t 1

ume,

then the i n f l u e n c e of S c y t h i a n s t y l e i s seen not o n l y i n

the s t a t u e i t s e l f ,
in

but I n the g e n e r a l aspect of p e r s o n a l d r e s s

the colony.
The f i n e s t i l l u s t r a t i o n s of the G r a e c o - S c y t h i c s t y l e

are

two famous embossed g o l d plaques from S c y t h i a n tombs, the V e t t e r s f e l d f i s h and

the K u l Oba

stag.

Although

these b e a u t i f u l

p i e c e s were b o t h d i s c o v e r e d at s i t e s d i s t a n t from O l b i a ,

they

are the work of Greek craftsmen from the n o r t h e r n Euxine,

are t y p i c a l of the metalwork that was
n i n g of the f i f t h
Oba

b e i n g done at the b e g i n -

century i n the f a c t o r i e s of O l b i a .

s t a g should be compared w i t h a s i m i l a r

S c y t h i c d e s i g n and workmanship.
( F i g u r e 1+)

Kul

animal of p u r e l y

g o l d s t a g from

The

the Kuban

t o r t u o u s curves of the

a n t l e r s and the sweeping l i n e s of the body t h a t

c h a r a c t e r i z e S c y t h i a n work are c l e a r l y
In

The

i s t y p i c a l of the S c y t h i a n s t y l e i n the e l e g a n t simp- -

l i c i t y of i t s a b s t r a c t d e s i g n .
exaggerated

The

and

c o n t r a s t , the K u l Oba

seen and n o t h i n g

else.

s t a g i s a departure from .the b a s i c

s t y l e i n t h a t i t s open spaces have been f i l l e d w i t h designs t h a t

are not complementary to the o v e r a l l theme of the d e s i g n , but

1.

T22.

92.

extraneous to i t .

In the p u r e l y S c y t h i a n d e s i g n ,

every

line

i s p a r t of the animal's body; i n the Greek d e s i g n , l i o n s , rams

and

the u b i q u i t o u s

griffin

cover

the animal's body and

hreak

i t s unity.
The

Vettersfeld f i s h

example of the simple

the

(Figure 5)

i s an even more extreme

l i n e of a S c y t h i c d e s i g n

a d d i t i o n of i r r e l e v a n t

symbols.

complicated

I f t h i s plaque i s not

work of a Greek i m i t a t i n g and e l a b o r a t i n g the S c y t h i c

it

i s a S c y t h i a n craftsman's i m i t a t i o n of the new

ic

s t y l e of the Greek c o l o n i e s on the B l a c k Sea.

Greeks," Minns d e c l a r e s , " s p o i l t

by
the

style,

Graeco-

Scyth-

"The

the S c y t h i c s t y l e i n the West."

In O l b i a as e a r l y as the s i x t h century,

therefore,

the

i n f l u e n c e of the S c y t h i a n s , w i t h whom the Greek c o l o n i s t s had

e s t a b l i s h e d a p a t t e r n of i n t i m a t e c o n t a c t ,
a
man

c o u l d be

seen i n

s t y l e of a r t t h a t combined the m o t i f s of the S c y t h i a n

crafts-

w i t h elements t h a t were a l i e n to the p u r e l y S c y t h i a n work.

While much of t h i s work from O l b i a i s h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d i n

technique

and b e a u t i f u l In e f f e c t ,

and u n a t t r a c t i v e .

One

some of i t i s r a t h e r

of a p a i r of l i o n s , r o u g h l y

crude

carved

1. Minns, S c y t h i a n s and Greeks, p . 7 5 .

Minns suggests 1|75
as the date of the K u l Oba stag and 5 2 5 B.C. f o r the
Vettersfeld fish.

B.C.

93.

from

stone and covered w i t h i n s c r i b e d symbols, i s shown i n

F i g u r e 6.

These o b j e c t s , found

at O l b i a , may be the work of

Greek craftsmen or may have been imported

i n t o the colony

from

Scythia.
But i n the p r a c t i c a l and a p p l i e d a r t s at O l b i a t h e r e were
f a s h i o n s d i c t a t e d not by S c y t h i a n models but by the demands
of

life

i n the c o l o n y .

Of s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i s the domestic

woodwork o f O l b i a , because from no other s i t e i n the Greek

w o r l d have so many a r t i c l e s of wooden c o n s t r u c t i o n been r e c o v ered i n t a c t .

Domestic a p p l i a n c e s made of wood i n simple,

f u n c t i o n a l designs were a f e a t u r e of l i f e
of

the unornate

Typical

O l b i a n s t y l e i s a chest (one o f many found on

the s i t e ) i l l u s t r a t e d
suggests

at Olbia.

i n F i g u r e 7 o f the Appendix.

t h a t I t was used f o r storage o f c l o t h i n g .

Minns

The manu-

f a c t u r e of c o i n s , which seems t o have begun b e f o r e $00 B.C.

in

the c o l o n y , i s another p r a c t i c a l o p e r a t i o n i n which the

2

O l b i a n technique i s somewhat unusual;

not

the c o i n s of O l b i a were

stamped, as l n most other Greek c i t i e s , b u t c a s t .

Coins found on the s i t e p r o v i d e the most e x p l i c i t

1. Minns, S c y t h i a n s and Greeks,

clues

p.322.

2. Coins minted a t O l b i a have been found on the Berezan s i t e ,

which appears to have been abandoned s h o r t l y a f t e r $00 B.C.

91*.

to the r e l i g i o u s observance of the O l b i o p o l i t a i .

The most

f r e q u e n t l y r e p r e s e n t e d d e i t y on the c o i n s of O l b i a i s A p o l l o ,
who

appears, as Miss H i r s t

d e i t y of the new
Hos.

observes, to have been the

colony j u s t as he was

city-

the c h i e f d e i t y of MiLe-

" I t seems r e a s o n a b l e to b e l i e v e , " says Miss H i r s t ,

"that

the e a r l i e s t c o l o n i s t s brought w i t h them from M i l e t o s

t h i s c u l t , of s p e c i a l a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s f o r those who
to found a c i t y i n a new

were going

land."

Demeter i s another f r e q u e n t s u b j e c t of p o r t r a i t s on O i b i a n
coins.

But more f r e q u e n t l y than any o t h e r d e i t y except A p o l l o ,

a s t r i c t l y local deity,

the r i v e r

god Borysthenes, appears

on

c o i n s of the colony, r e p r e s e n t e d as a l o n g - h a i r e d , bearded

Scythian king.

The r e v e r s e of a l l these c o i n s of Borysthenes

d e p i c t s the b a t t l e - a x e and sheathed bow

rior.

(The c o i n s are i l l u s t r a t e d

M i s s H i r s t observes t h a t t h i s

of the S c y t h i a n war-

i n F i g u r e 8 of the Appendix.)

c u l t , an obvious r e a c t i o n to the

overpowering i n f l u e n c e ,of the r i v e r on the s e t t l e r s '

was

the o n l y element

i n the r i t u a l of the O l b i o p o l i t a i t h a t

added to the p u r e l y H e l l e n i c

1. H i r s t ,

lives,

cults.

"The C u l t s of O l b i a , " J.H.S.,XXII(1902),

p.255.

was

95.

The

p o r t r a y a l on a l a r g e number of O l b i a n c o i n s of a f i s h

the d o l p h i n or, more l i k e l y ,

of

the sturgeon

i s an

indication

the importance

i n the l i v e s of the c o l o n i s t s of the

fishing

i n d u s t r y , another

aspect of the i n f l u e n c e of the R i v e r

Borys-

thenes upon the colony.

Of the c o n s t i t u t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e of the colony i n the
earliest

c e n t u r i e s of i t s e x i s t e n c e , n o t h i n g Can be

certainty.

said with

I n s c r i p t i o n s t h a t d e s c r i b e the f u n c t i o n i n g of

government at O l b i a do not pre-date

the f o u r t h century, by

which time decrees b e g i n w i t h a f o r m u l a acknowledging a

and I K K V ^ O - * ' * .

as the l e g i s l a t i v e b o d i e s , as i n A t h e n i a n democracy.

By the f o u r t h c e n t u r y , e x e c u t i v e power was

archons,
fice

i n a d d i t i o n to whom, two
a financial

a d v i s e r and

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e , as we

i n the hands of f i v e

other m a g i s t r a t e s h e l d o f the K i n g Archon, presumably the

have seen above, of the S c y t h i a n k i n g

whose t e r r i t o r y the O l b i o p o l i t a i o c c u p i e d w i t h t h e i r
The
to

/3ou\rf

colony.

c o n s t i t u t i o n r e p r e s e n t e d i n these decrees b e l o n g s , of
a p e r i o d beyond the one under study here, and

ablishment

the

est-

of f r e q u e n t c o n t a c t w i t h the A t h e n i a n empire i n the

second h a l f of the f i f t h
In

after

course,

century.

the government of the colony d u r i n g the f i r s t

cent-

ury, or more, of i t s e x i s t e n c e , the p o s i t i o n of the S c y t h i a n

96.

k i n g ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e may

have been much stronger than h i s r o l e

as a f i g u r e h e a d i n the f o u r t h c e n t u r y .
cumstances of t h i s p e r i o d , R o s t o v t z e f f

Guessing
1

at the

expresses

the

cir-

belief

t h a t , i n a context where o n l y d y n a s t i c k i n g s were r e c o g n i z e d

as true r u l e r s ,

the Greek c o l o n i s t s must have been v e r y

even d u r i n g the f i f t h

century, to move at a l l i n the

of

democracy.

have been n e c e s s a r y

in

t h e i r colony the H e l l e n i z e d S c y t h i a n s who

k i n g s , and who

I t may

direction

to accept as t y r a n t s
represented

l a t e r became the l e s s powerful K i n g

Tyranny at O l b i a d i d not, one may

slow,

surmise,

the

Archons.

pass q u i c k l y as a

temporary phase, but e x i s t e d as the s e t t l e d form of government

for

centuries.
But,

as we

s h a l l see i n the next c h a p t e r , i t was

during

these e a r l y c e n t u r i e s t h a t O l b i a enjoyed her g r e a t e s t p r o s p e r ity.

The most c h a r a c t e r i s t i c aspect of l i f e i n O l b i a i n the

s i x t h and f i f t h

c e n t u r i e s was

i t s dependence upon t r a d e

not

o n l y the t r a d e w i t h S c y t h i a n neighbours mentioned above, but

a l s o the export of l o c a l products

( e s p e c i a l l y food)

to the Greek

c i t i e s of the Aegean.
In

1.

summary, l i f e

at O l b i a i n the f i r s t

two

centuries after

R o s t o v t z e f f , I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a , p . 7 1 .

97.

its

f o u n d a t i o n was, to the best of the c o l o n i s t s '

Greek way of l i f e ,

like

ability,

the e x i s t e n c e they had known at home.

Greek a r t , Greek i n d u s t r y , Greek r e l i g i o n and domestic

were p r e s e r v e d w i t h the g r e a t e s t p o s s i b l e f i d e l i t y .
spite

of t h e i r d e t e r m i n a t i o n to l i v e

Olbiopolitai

the l i f e

coast.

power o f t h e i r

life

But i n

o f H e l l e n e s , the

d i d make concessions i n t h e i r d a i l y

a r t , r e l i g i o n and p o l i t i c a l
on the Euxine

life

Scythian

to the

neighbours

93

VII

THE

From l i t e r a r y

HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

sources alone the h i s t o r y of O l b i a d u r i n g

the c e n t u r i e s under c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n t h i s

study i s extremely

s l i g h t ; i f they are to r e v e a l a n y t h i n g at a l l of the

earliest

events i n the colony, they must r e c e i v e heavy support

archaeology.

Since much of the h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l has been

r e f e r r e d t o i n the p r e c e d i n g c h a p t e r s , t h i s f i n a l
be,

from

chapter

i n e f f e c t , a summary i n c h r o n o l o g i c a l order of the

t h a t e x i s t s f o r the events of O l b i a ' s e a r l y

will

evidence

history.

The f o u n d i n g of c i t i e s on the P r o p o n t i s and e s p e c i a l l y of

B y z a n t i o n , dated by the chronology of Eusebios
ological

c o r r o b o r a t i o n ) as mid-seventh

as an i n d i c a t i o n of the f i r s t
through the Bosporos.

of

century, may

surge of commercial

be

taken

traffic

I t i s i n the second h a l f of the

century, a decade or two

the f i r s t

( w i t h archae-

seventh

a f t e r the f o u n d i n g of B y z a n t i o n , t h a t

wave of Greek c o l o n i z a t i o n b e g i n s to occupy

the e a r l i e s t major s e t t l e m e n t s on the B l a c k Sea

the.sites
Sinope

on the south coast, I s t r o s on the west, and O l b i a on the n o r t h ern

coast.

99.

After
tested

by

pottery

evidence,
Bug

a brief

the

initial
and

and

B.C.

the

'The

first

the

year

earliest

of

of Eusebios'
of

the

site

Equally

graphical

the

poem o f

the

the

t o the

pseudo-Skymnos

The

original

Cyrus

literary

of

the

Olympiad,
the

site a l -

extent

of

decade o f

the

of

the Median Empire, which,

sixth

geofound-

as

s h o r t l y before
the

indic-

i n the

to O l b i a s date

i n the m i d d l e o f

the

foundation

i s the r e f e r e n c e

i n H e r o d o t o s , Book I , p e r s i s t e d u n t i l
o f L y d i a by

the

from

last

at-

w e s t bank o f

thirty-fourth

during

Berezan,

than

places

date only

inexact

contemporaneous w i t h

invasion

of

confluence

pottery recovered

seventh century.

as

island

the

Eusebios

occupation

ation

from

Borysthenes.

lows v e r i f i c a t i o n
ating

the

c o l o n i s t s f o u n d e d O l b i a on

o f O l b i a i n the
6144/3

on

domestic remains r a t h e r

(Hypanis) R i v e r , f o u r m i l e s

Hypanis

see

stop

we

the

century.

c o l o n i s t s were M i l e s i a n s , as H e r o d o t o s i n -

p
forms us,
stated
the

the

c o n n e x i o n b e t w e e n O l b i a and

i n the f o u r t h - c e n t u r y

two
The

1.

Lines

2.

T20.

3.

Ta?.

Miletos

treaty^ regarding

is

clearly

citizenship

in

cities.
symbolism

806-9

of

the

ear

o f wheat

and

the

fish

(Muller, Geographic! Graeci Minores,

(either

I,

p.196.)

100.

d o l p h i n or sturgeon)

on the e a r l i e s t

c o i n s minted

at O l b i a i s

probably a good i n d i c a t i o n of the c h i e f i n d u s t r i e s of the

onists i n their f i r s t

decades of l i f e on

col-

the Hypanis R i v e r .

But

the c l o s e c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h t h e i r S c y t h i a n neighbours

was

to open new

that

commercial avenues f o r the O l b i o p o l i t a i began

very e a r l y i n O l b i a s h i s t o r y .
1

The p h i l o s o p h e r A n a c h a r s i s ,

whom Herodotos d e s c r i b e s * as a thoroughly H e l l e n i z e d S c y t h i a n ,

was

contemporary w i t h Solon, as L u c i a n t e l l s us i n the d i a -

logue Av<x\ctpcrts.
J

The next f a c t , c h r o n o l o g i c a l l y , t h a t can be a s c e r t a i n e d

i n the colony's h i s t o r y i s e s t a b l i s h e d e n t i r e l y by
i c a l evidence.

During

archaeolog-

the s i x t h century O l b i a expanded to

fill

a s i t e l a r g e r than t h a t o c c u p i e d by the c i t y at any

subsequent

period.

around the

A t r e n c h t h a t formed the d e f e n s i v e c i r c u i t

colony e s t a b l i s h e d by the e a r l i e s t

s e t t l e r s was

filled

and

over, a p p a r e n t l y at the b e g i n n i n g of the s i x t h c e n t u r y .

built

Proper

c i t y - w a l l s surrounding the e n t i r e p e n i n s u l a upon which O l b i a

was

l o c a t e d were i n place l a t e r In the same c e n t u r y .

The

g r e a t s i z e of O l b i a i n the s i x t h century and i t s s h r i n k i n g ext e n t i n l a t e r c e n t u r i e s are suggested by the l o c a t i o n of the

1.

T20.

101.

colonists'

tombs.

As i n d i c a t e d on the s i t e - p l a n i n Chapter

I I I , s i x t h - c e n t u r y tombs l a y beyond the f a r t h e s t

northern

boundary of the s i t e , w h i l e f i f t h - . a r i d f o u r t h - c e n t u r y
are c l o s e r t o the c e n t r e , and H e l l e n i s t i c graves
still.

are c l o s e r

Once again we may r e c a l l D i o Chrysostom s o b s e r v a t i o n s

1

on the s h r i n k i n g of the c i t y as seen i n the broad

its

graves

extent o f

a n c i e n t remains.
The

p r o s p e r i t y o f O l b i a i n the s i x t h century i s a c e r t a i n

i n d i c a t i o n of s u c c e s s f u l r e l a t i o n s between the c o l o n i s t s and

t h e i r neighbours

d u r i n g the p e r i o d .

E x c a v a t i o n shows, hoxvever,

t h a t at some time near the end o f the c e n t u r y t h i s

came to an end and was r e p l a c e d by a b r i e f outbreak
conflict.
500

The c i t y was d e v a s t a t e d

and r e b u i l t

stability
of v i o l e n t

shortly

before

B.C., p o s s i b l y a t the time of the r i s i n g o f the Scyths

a g a i n s t the i n v a d i n g D a r e i o s

and h i s a l l i e s i n t h i s

campaign,

the I o n i a n Greeks.
good reason

Herodotos t e l l s us

that the S c y t h i a n s had

to be vexed w i t h the Greeks because o f the I o n i a n

t r e a c h e r y i n p l a y i n g the S c y t h i a n s and P e r s i a n s a g a i n s t each

other.
The

g r i d - p l a n of the colony as i t was r e b u i l t

1. T2.
2. IV, 136-11*0.

a f t e r the

102.

d e s t r u c t i o n was d i s t u r b e d by no f u r t h e r d i s r u p t i o n i n the century

that f o l l o w e d .

That

the former

c l o s e r e l a t i o n s between

Greeks and S c y t h i a n s at O l b i a resumed s h o r t l y a f t e r

s t r u c t i o n o f the c i t y
Although

i s seen i n H e r o d o t o s

the r e c o n -

story of Skyles.

Herodotos i n t r o d u c e s the t a l e o f Skyles w i t h only a

vague c h r o n o l o g i c a l r e f e r e n c e

( S k y l e s ' s o j o u r n at Borysthenes

was "many y e a r s l a t e r " than the episode of A n a c h a r s i s ) , a

c l o s e r e a d i n g of t h e n a r r a t i v e permits one t o c o n s t r u c t a genealogy connecting A n a c h a r s i s w i t h S k y l e s i n such a way as to
p l a c e the l a t t e r

i n the f i r s t

h a l f o f the f i f t h

centirry.

Ana-

c h a r s i s ! nephew I d a n t h y r s o s , who i s shown to have been the

2

adversary o f D a r e i o s d u r i n g the l a t t e r ' s i n v a s i o n o f S c y t h i a ,

must have f l o u r i s h e d

about

Herodotos i d e n t i f i e s ^
t h e r e f o r e about
Thus, from
of

JL4.9O

B.C. H i s son A r i a p i t h e s , whom

as the f a t h e r o f S k y l e s , f l o u r i s h e d

B.C., and Skyles h i m s e l f perhaps about

the time o f A n a c h a r s i s

I4.7O.

t o t h a t o f Skyles a p e r i o d

a century or m o r e the f o r t u n e s of O l b i a were c l o s e l y

tied

to the c o l o n i s t s ' r e l a t i o n s w i t h k i n g s o f a s i n g l e S c y t h i a n
family.^
The p o s i t i o n of the O l b i o p o l i t a i i n t h i s p e r i o d ,
1. T 2 0 .
2. IV, 1 2 6 .

3. IV, 78.
1;.. T h i s f a m i l y ' s descent, as i t i s
r e p r e s e n t e d by Herodotos, may
by o u t l i n e d as seen here:

Saulios
I
Idanthyrsos
. I
Ariapithes
Skyles

Anacharsis

(ca555.7

(ca 5l)
( c a I4.9O)
(
^.70-60)
c a

10}..

from

the e a r l y s i x t h to m i d - f i f t h century, i s t h a t of

tribut-

ary s u b j e c t s of the n e i g h b o u r i n g S c y t h i a n k i n g s .
W i t h i n t h i s framework of G r e e k / S c y t h i a n r e l a t i o n s ,
a p p a r e n t l y went forward u n e v e n t f u l l y at O l b i a u n t i l

affairs

the Athen-

i a n n a v a l e x p e d i t i o n around the c o a s t s of the B l a c k Sea under

the command of P e r i k l e s i n the second

h a l f of the century

n e a r l y the end of the p e r i o d under study here.

seen i n Chapter

As we

V, the consequences i n O l b i a of t h i s

m i s s i o n i n t o the B l a c k Sea are unknown.

at

have
Athenian

I t i s c e r t a i n , however,

t h a t , sometime a f t e r - t h i s e x p e d i t i o n , c o l o n i e s adjacent to O l b i a on the n o r t h e r n coast appeared

i n a Euxine p a n e l of a s s e s -

sed members of the A t h e n i a n empire (an A t h e n i a n m i s s i o n ,

appar-

e n t l y f o r the purpose of c o l l e c t i n g t r i b u t e ,

the

B l a c k Sea i n I4.2I+ B . C . ) .

O l b i a may

sailed into

have been i n c l u d e d on

this

list.
The

date of the e x p e d i t i o n t h a t brought

t h i s Athenian i n -

f l u e n c e to bear upon the c o l o n i e s of the B l a c k Sea i s a matter

of u n c e r t a i n t y .

A l t h o u g h the r e p o r t of the m i s s i o n , i n P l u t -

arch, P e r i c l e s , 20,

c o n t a i n s no d e f i n i t e

chronological indicat-

i o n s , the content and c o n t e x t of the passage p r o v i d e c l u e s to

1.

Thucydides,

IV,

1-2.

101*.

the d a t e .
Athenian

Because t h i s e x p e d i t i o n i s d e s c r i b e d as a show o f
s t r e n g t h on the Euxine

coast o f A s i a Minor,

Meritt,

Wade Gery and McGregor* view i t as a b r e a c h of the terms of

the Peace o f K a l l i a s , u n l e s s i n f a c t i t o c c u r r e d b e f o r e
terms were drawn u p p r o b a b l y

as e a r l y

Another view, h e l d by B e l o c h ,

as

those

l*$0.

Rostovtzeff,3

Ehrenberg^-

and o t h e r s , p l a c e s the m i s s i o n a t a much l a t e r date, about 1 * 3 5 ,

a f t e r t h e p e r i o d o f scrupulous observance
peace.

of the terms o f the

F o r our purpose we may accept a date w i t h i n these

its

lim-

t h a t i s , between 1*50 and 1*35.

At whatever date the m i s s i o n of P e r i K l e s to the B l a c k Sea

o c c u r r e d , i t s s i g n i f i c a n c e i s t h a t i t brought
of the Euxine
world

the n o r t h

i n t o a more p r e s s i n g contact w i t h the o u t s i d e

than had been e x p e r i e n c e d b e f o r e .

i o d the second

C e r t a i n l y by t h i s p e r -

h a l f o f the f i f t h century

O l b i a was no l o n g -

er e i t h e r an I s o l a t e d o u t p o s t , nor i n any sense

munity.

shore

a p i o n e e r com-

A f t e r two c e n t u r i e s of growth and development, the

colony was an e s t a b l i s h e d centre of urban c i v i l i z a t i o n ,

and I t s

c h a r a c t e r as a c i t y had been permanently moulded.

1.

M e r i t t , Wade Gerv and McGregor, The A t h e n i a n T r i b u t e L i s t s ,

I I I , p.116.

2.

Beloch, A t t l s c h e P o l l t l k .

3.

R o s t o v t z e f f . I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a , p . 6 ? .

1*.

Ehrenberg,

p.325.

From Solon to S o c r a t e s ,

p.1*1*1*.

10$.

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108.

R i c e , Tamara T a l b o t , The

Scythians

(London,

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R o s t o v t z e f f , M.,
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Tod, Marcus N.,
(Oxford,

I r a n i a n s and Greeks i n South R u s s i a

(Oxford,

A S e l e c t i o n of Greek H i s t o r i c a l I n s c r i p t i o n s ,
i^B)

Waldhaver, 0., "A B l a c k - F i g u r e d H y d r i a of the Polygnotan Peri o d , " J o u r n a l of H e l l e n i c S t u d i e s , XLIII (1923), pp.

170-17FI

II

109.

APPENDIX

I l l u s t r a t i o n s of
NORTH

EUXINE ART

11U.

FIGURE 1
COSTUME OF THE NORTH EUXINE COAST.
C R E E K TERRA COTTA FOUND IN THE C R I M E A
(AFTER MfNNS)

I l l

ABOVE, THET GOLD STAG FROM THE KUBAN;

BELOW, THE KUL OBA STAG-, (AFTER

BOARDMAN, p|. 23)

FIGURE

113.

FIGURE

GOLD FISH FROM VETTERSFELD

(AFTER, BOARDMAN)

111*.

(AFTER

MINNS/

H5.

FIGURE 8
BRONZE: COINS OF OLBIA
(AFTER HIRST)

FrGURE 9
BONE BUCKLE FROM OLBIA
( A F T E R MOHGAir)

116.