Siraces
The Siraces (, , also ''Siraceni'' and ''Seraci'' ) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Achardeus at the Black Sea north of the Caucasus Mountains, Siracena is mentioned by Tacitus as one of their settlements. They were said to be relatively small nation but with great morale. (bad link as of 20feb16, probably Brzezinski's book.) They were neighbours to the later enemy tribe of Aorsi. They migrated from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea region. By the late 4th century, they had occupied lands between the Caucasus mountains and the Don, becoming masters of the Kuban region. They were the first Sarmatian tribe to have contact with the Hellenic groups on the coast of the Black Sea. In 310–309 BC, their king Aripharnes took part in the Bosporan Civil War and lost at the battle of the River Thatis (a tributary of the Kuban river). In the 1st century BC during the rule of Pharnaces II of Pontus, King of Siraces Abeacus organized ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of The River Thatis
The Battle of the River Thatis was part of a succession dispute in the Bosporan Kingdom that was fought out during 310/309 BC. After the death of Paerisades I, his eldest son Satyros II became king. His brother Eumelus of Bosporus, Eumelus disputed Satyros II's right to the throne and gathered an army with his allies, the Siraces tribe. With his Scythians, Scythian allies Satyrus met Eumelus in battle at the River Thatis, where Eumelus and the Siraces were defeated. Satyrus led his cavalry in a charge towards the centre of the line where Aripharnes, the king of the Siraces, was with his own cavalry and put them to flight. When he heard his mercenaries had fled from the fight with the right wing which was led by Eumelus, he attacked the enemy's right wing and broke their army. The defeat was not decisive: Eumelus and his allies escaped to the capital city of the Siraces, which was situated along the River Thatis. During the siege of that city Satyrus incurred many casualties an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sarmatian
The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4th century CE. The earliest known reference to the Sarmatians occurs in the Avesta, where they appear as ''Sairima-'', which in later Iranian sources becomes ''*Sarm'' and Salm (Shahnameh), ''Salm''. Originating in the central parts of the Eurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians formed part of the wider Scythian cultures. They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BCE, coming to dominate the closely related Scythians by 200 BCE. At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BCE, these tribes ranged from the Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black Sea, Black and Caspian Sea, Caspian seas and the Caucasus to the south. In the first century CE, the Sarmatians beg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aorsi
The Aorsi, known in Greek sources as the Aorsoi (Ἄορσοι), were an ancient Iranian people of the Sarmatian group, who played a major role in the events of the Pontic Steppe from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. They are often regarded as connected to the contemporaneous Eurasian steppe state of '' Yancai'' (or ''Yentsai'') mentioned in ancient Chinese records. The Alans, first mentioned by Middle Eastern and European scholars in the 1st century AD, are regarded as successors of the Aorsi. Name The ethnonym ''Aorsi'' is generally linked to the Avestan ''auruša-'' and the Ossetic ''ūrs'' or ''ors'', meaning 'white'. The names '' Arsīyah'' and ''Arsā'', mentioned by Al-Masudi and Al-Garnati in the 10–12th century AD, may also be related. History The Aorsi and an associated tribe, the Siraces, are believed to have migrated during the late 5th century BC from Central Asia to areas north and west of the Caspian Sea. The territory of the Aorsi is believed to h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aripharnes
Aripharnes (fl. 310–309 BC) or Arypharnasha the Thataean was king of the Sarmatian tribe of Siraces and took part in the First Bosporan Civil War of 310-309 between king Satyros II and his brother Eumelos, a pretender to the throne. Succession At first, all three claimants to the throne, Satyros, Prytanis, and Eumelos sought Aripharnes to back them to the throne. Aripharnes then ordered each of the lads to hurl a javelin into their father's corpse. Satyros and Prytanis did so, but Eumelos refused. There, Aripharnes proclaimed Eumelos "King of the Cimmerians". Military history Aripharnes and Eumelos fought Satyrus at the Battle of River Thatis, but they were defeated by the numerically inferior Satyric army. Afterward, he retreated with Eumelos to his settlement Siracena. The settlement was besieged by Satyros and after a lengthy siege, he was mortally wounded. Meniscus, the mercenary captain in charge of Satyros's mercenaries, broke off the siege and took the body of S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Siracena
Siracena () is the alleged capital settlement or village of the tribe of Siraces, a powerful, hellenized Sarmatian tribe on the steppe. It was ruled by the kings of the Siraces, most notably Aripharnes, who engaged in the Bosporan Civil War of 309 BC. The exact location of this settlement is unknown, but it is described as being on the Thatis River (a tributary to the Kuban). Fourth century BC The city was besieged by Bosporan and Scythian forces during the Bosporan succession war because Aripharnes had sided with Eumelos, the pretender to the Bosporan throne. It was besieged particularly by Satyrus II, ''then'' the ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom, and his mercenary captain Meniscus who fought with great valor during the Siege of Siracena. The settlement withstood the siege all of its duration. Layout The city was situated on the Thatis river and was encircled by it. It was surrounded by cliffs and thick forest and was only accessible through two artificial entry ways. One sid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zorsines
Zorsines was a 1st-century King (''rex Siracorum'') of the Siraces mentioned in Tacitus' ''Annals'' of the Roman Empire (XII.15-19) around 50 AD, a people he reports as residing somewhere between the Caucasus Mountains and the Don river. He had a fortification at Uspe. He fought in the Bosporus under Mithridates III, the former king of the Bosporan Kingdom, against the Dandaridae. His ally Mithridates later turned against and fought the Romans in 47 / 48 AD who had put him on the throne earlier in 41. Mithridates eluded the Romans and managed to recover his kingdom. The Aorsi under Prince Eunones, sent by Gaius Julius Aquila and Cotys was sent after Mithridates and his lands, later clashed with Zorsines, besieging Uspe in 49 AD (The town offered 10,000 slaves for their capitulation but the assault continued as the Romans declined). Zorsines finally decided to leave Mithridates to rule his paternal lands, after giving hostages to the Romans and thus making peace. He acknowled ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bosporan Civil War
The Bosporan Civil War was a war of succession that happened in the Bosporan Kingdom somewhere between 311 and 308 BCE and lasted for about a year. The casus belli was the death of archon Paerisades I, whose sons disputed the succession. These sons were Satyros II, who claimed the kingdom by virtue of being the eldest, Eumelos, who was another claimant to the throne, and Prytanis, who engaged in battle later on in support of Satyros. Sources and dating The most important source on the conflict is provided by the ''Bibliotheca historica'', book 20 chapters 22 to 24, written more than 150 years after the fact by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (c. 90–30 BCE). It is not known exactly when the events narrated by Diodorus happened. The war has been variously dated as having occurred during 309–308 BCE (one year long), within the year 309 BCE, during 311–310 BCE or during 310–309 BCE. In part, the difficulty in determining the period stems from the uncertainty abo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactivity (chemistry), reactive chemical elements, being the second-lowest in the reactivity series. It is solid under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state (metallurgy), native state), as gold nugget, nuggets or grains, in rock (geology), rocks, vein (geology), veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bosphorus
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe, boundaries between Asia and Europe. It also divides Turkey by separating Anatolia, Asia Minor from East Thrace, Thrace. It is the world's narrowest strait used for international waterway, international navigation. Most of the shores of the Bosporus Strait, except for the area to the north, are heavily settled, with the city of Istanbul's metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 17 million inhabitants extending inland from both banks. The Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles Strait at the opposite end of the Sea of Marmara are together known as the Turkish Straits. Sections of the shore of the Bosporus in Istanbul have been reinforced with concrete or rubble and those sections of the strait prone t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mithridates Of Armenia
Mithridates of Armenia () was a Pharnavazid prince of the Kingdom of Iberia who served as a King of Armenia under the protection of the Roman Empire. Mithridates was installed by Roman emperor Tiberius, who invaded Armenia in AD 35. When the Parthian prince Orodes, son of Artabanus II of Parthia, attempted to dispossess Mithridates of his newly acquired kingdom, Mithridates led a large Armenian and Iberian army and defeated the Parthians in a pitched battle. Around AD 37, the new emperor Caligula had Mithridates arrested, but Claudius restored him to the Armenian throne in AD 42. Subsequently, Mithridates' relations with his brother Pharasmanes I deteriorated to the point where the Iberian king instructed his son, Rhadamistus, to invade Armenia. Betrayed by his Roman commanders, Mithridates surrendered in the Siege of Garni. Roman historian Cassius Dio reports a likely apocryphal confrontation of Mithridates and Claudius in Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |