A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF GREEKS ON THE BLACK SEA
Most scholars believe that the Greeks first sailed from the familiar Aegean Sea into the forbidding Black Sea region in the eighth century B.C. The Milesians, Greeks from the city of Miletos, founded the earliest settlements, beginning at the southern end and eventually rounding the Black Sea with their colonies. The Greeks established these colonies in order to develop agriculture and trade with the region’s indigenous people. Among them were the Scythians, a fearsome, nomadic tribe with origins in central Asia. The melding of Greek and Scythian cultures eventually created a striking artistic style found only in the Black Sea region.
The Colony of Borysthenes Late Seventh Century B.C. The earliest known Greek settlement in the northern Black Sea region, Borysthenes, was founded at the end of the seventh century B.C. The colony was situated on the small island of Berezan, a site chosen more for its defensibility than for good anchorage. More than 120 years of archaeological investigation of Borysthenes has revealed a great deal of information on aspects of life there. Artifacts were discovered at Boysthenes that come from throughout the Mediterranean, suggesting that the colony was a trading center. Products exported from Borysthenes included fish, wine, and olive oil. Borysthenes was also a site for metalwork and bronze casting. The earliest pottery found there dates to the late seventh century B.C.; from then on the town was well supplied with East Greek vases from various sites, including Miletos and Clazomenae in Ionia (present-day western Turkey), as well
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as with vessels from Athens. By the end of the fifth century B.C., Borysthenes was absorbed into the political sphere of its neighbor, Olbia.
The Colony of Olbia Mid-Sixth Century B.C. In the second quarter of the sixth century B.C., the Milesians founded the settlement of Olbia. It was the northernmost of the early colonies on the Black Sea, one of the largest, and the wealthiest. The city quickly became the center of trade, farming, and crafts in the region. Olbia apparently enjoyed good relations with the Scythians. Elaborate structures were built at the site, and the historian Herodotus (Greek, about 484–about 425 B.C.) describes a house decorated with marble sphinxes and griffins that was constructed by the Scythian prince Skyles (ruled about 450 B.C.). Local works of art show the influence of Scythian style and design, and Olbia was probably an important production center for Greco-Scythian art. The remains of various workshops have been discovered, including those for ceramics, terracotta, metalwork, bone carving, and textiles. In the fifth century B.C., a defensive rampart was built around Olbia, an agora (marketplace) was laid out, and a sanctuary was established, with temples dedicated to the Greek deities Apollo, Zeus, and Athena. Outside the city walls, many small settlements were farmed by the agricultural tribes of the surrounding steppes as well as by the Greeks.
The Colony of Chersonesos Early Fifth Century B.C. Located in a fertile plain not far from a large harbor, the colony of Chersonesos lay at the southwestern end of the Crimea, on the edge of the present-day city of Sevastopol. Chersonesos was founded in 422/21 B.C. by people from the Greek settlement of Herakleia Pontica (on the southern coast of the Black Sea) jointly with inhabitants of the Greek island of Delos. The city’s period of greatest power was during the fourth and third centuries B.C. Chersonesos was less influenced by indigenous civilizations than the other Greek colonies in the northern Black Sea region. A penchant for Greek taste is apparent in the choice of imported works of art in addition to locally made objects. High quality marble statues were
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brought in from Greece and used as models by local craftsmen; the remains of workshops contain clay molds for producing sculptures in both metal and terracotta. Painting was also important, and a number of tombstones made from limestone quarried in the area were decorated with pigment. The preference for Greek styles persisted into the Roman period when Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23–79) observed that Chersonesos had preserved Greek customs better than any of the other cities in the region.
The Bosporan Kingdom Early Fifth Century B.C. Established in the early fifth century B.C., the Bosporan Kingdom began as a league of Greek colonies seeking protection from the Scythians and other nomadic tribes. The kingdom was situated on both sides of the narrow passage (bosporos in Greek) that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. The capital of the Bosporan Kingdom was Pantikapaion (present-day Kerch), located on the eastern end of the large peninsula in the Ukraine now called the Crimea. As the Bosporan territory expanded, so did trade relations, both with the peoples of the northeastern steppes and with Greece. A distinct Bosporan culture emerged, blending Greek taste and craftsmanship with nomadic traditions. The Bosporans’ most important political and economic partner was Athens. Treaties governed commerce and ensured military support between the two powers. After Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War with Sparta (431–404 B.C.), the Bosporan cities became ever more vital as suppliers of grain and raw materials to the Athenians. By the fourth century A.D., royal dynasties continued to rule in Pantikapaion but were allied with the Romans, who deployed garrisons throughout the Bosporan cities. The Bosporan Kingdom, however, was never incorporated into the Roman Empire.
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