Greek Cities on the Western Coast of the Black Sea: Orgame, Histria, Tomis, and Kallatis (7Th to 1St Century BCE) Smaranda Andrews Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2010 Greek cities on the western coast of the Black Sea: Orgame, Histria, Tomis, and Kallatis (7th to 1st century BCE) Smaranda Andrews Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Andrews, Smaranda, "Greek cities on the western coast of the Black Sea: Orgame, Histria, Tomis, and Kallatis (7th to 1st century BCE)" (2010). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 11712. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/11712 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Greek cities on the western coast of the Black Sea: Orgame, Histria, Tomis, and Kallatis (7th to 1st century BCE) by Smaranda Andrews A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Agricultural History and Rural Studies Program of Study Committee: David B. Hollander, Major Professor Pamela Riney-Kehrberg Michael Bailey Jeffrey Houghtby Madeleine Henry Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2010 Copyright © Smaranda Andrews, 2010. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS MAPS ......................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................1 1.2 General Considerations Regarding Greek Colonization.............................3 1.3 The Climate of Dobrogea .........................................................................12 1.4 The Black Sea Region as an Economic Resource...................................14 CHAPTER 2: SCHOLARSHIP CONCERNING GREEK COLONIZATION................18 2.1 Western Scholarship ................................................................................18 2.2 Romanian Scholarship .............................................................................27 CHAPTER 3: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR DOBROGEA (6TH CENTURY BCE–1ST CENTURY CE) ....................................................................36 3.1 Darius’ Campaign Against the Scythians ................................................36 3.2 Macedonia and the Greek Cities in Dobrogea from Philip II to Lysimachus ..............................................................................................40 3.3 The Bosphoran Kingdom and Rome ........................................................50 CHAPTER 4: HISTRIA (ISTROS) .............................................................................54 4.1 Introduction...............................................................................................54 4.2 Settlements in the Chora of Histria...........................................................63 4.3 Economic and Politic Organization of the Chora of Histria.......................76 4.4 Histria and the Grain Trade from the Black Sea.......................................82 4.5 Conclusion................................................................................................91 CHAPTER 5: ORGAME/ARGAMUM ........................................................................93 5.1 Introduction...............................................................................................93 5.2 The Territory of Orgame and Its Economic Potential .............................106 5.3 Necropolis and Territory: The Oikist of Orgame.....................................111 5.4 Conclusion..............................................................................................114 CHAPTER 6: TOMIS...............................................................................................115 6.1 Introduction.............................................................................................115 6.2 Political Events with Consequences for Tomis and Its Territory ............122 6.3 The Territory of Tomis ............................................................................127 6.4 The Non-Greek Population in the Territory of Tomis..............................136 6.5 Conclusion..............................................................................................138 CHAPTER 7: KALLATIS .........................................................................................141 7.1 Introduction.............................................................................................141 iii 7.2 The Territory of Kallatis ..........................................................................144 7.3 Albesti, A Fortified Settlement in the Territory of Kalatis ........................151 7.4 Political and Economic Events with Consequences for Kallatis and Its Territory ......................................................................................154 7.5 The Scythians in the Territory of Kallatis................................................158 7.6 Conclusion..............................................................................................161 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ..................................................................................163 BIBLIOGRAPHY .....................................................................................................175 MAP S Black Sea Region iv v Dobrogea vi Territory of Orgame vii Territory of Histria viii Territory of Tomis ix Territory of Kallatis 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction In the twentieth century scholarly interest in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the area around the Black Sea was more often than not geopolitical. Dramatic reshapings of the political map, wars, revolutions and nationalist conflicts were the ingredients that books and articles were made of. With the collapse of the communist regimes the interest of the West in the region grew even more, expanding not only to modern and contemporary events but also to ancient and medieval historical periods. This interest was sparked as a reaction to the immense amount of nationalistic literature produced in Eastern Europe by the middle of the 20th century. Until quite recently, there has been a lack of books and articles on the early history of Eastern Europe. This neglect was particularly noticeable in the fields of Prehistory, Greek and Roman history. The area was always considered somewhat peripheral, the backwater of civilization and few scholars thought of it as a worthy area of inquiry. This study examines a very small area in Eastern Europe: Dobrogea, the territory between the Danube and the Black Sea. This territory was by no means unconnected with the rest of the region, on the contrary, it seems that it served as a bridge between the Balkans and the Caucasus Mountains. It was part of what Roger 2 Batty truthfully calls the “Pontic-Danubian realm.”1 This region did indeed have its own identity until the communist regimes built unnatural boundaries. What is so interesting about the area is that the people who inhabited it since ancient times followed extremely different ways of life, from the sedentary to highly mobile, giving the region a special kind of dynamism. The Pontic-Danubian region stretches from the Balkan peninsula, through the Pontic steppes until the Caucasian Mountains. Dobrogea, the region this study is concerned with, is in the heart of this territory. By the nature of its geographical position, between the Black Sea and the Danube, Dobrogea acted as a link between the imperial authorities of the Mediterranean and the migrant people of the Pontic steppes. This link sometimes took the form of trade and sometimes of open conflict. In the dynamics of this region, the Greek settlements, which sprouted along the shores of the Black Sea starting with the 7th century BCE, have a special place. From the very first years of their settlement in this region, the Greeks remained a constant presence even when the odds stood against them. The Greeks in Dobrogea stood at a vital crossroad: the migrant, restless communities of people from the steppes clashed time and again with the various imperial powers of the Balkans and the Mediterranean. The Greeks settled in Dobrogea showed remark- able persistence despite all the disturbances caused by the constant changes in the region’s demography and the impact of foreign powers. The endurance of these 1 Roger Batty, Rome and the Nomads. The Pontic-Danubian Realm in Antiquity, Oxford University Press (2007): 1. 3 Greeks settlements is probably the most important theme of this study. Political and military events that took place in Dobrogea or influenced its history are part of this narrative, but I have concentrated more on the economic aspect of the life of the Greek colonies on the western shore of the Black Sea. 1.2 General Considerations Regarding Greek Colonization Greek colonization is one of the most important phenomena in understanding Greek history, especially once the Greeks set up settlements away from their home land, in new environments, stretching from North Africa in the south, the Iberian peninsula in the west and the Black Sea shores in the north east. By establishing these settlements