Pantikapaion ( , from Scythian 'fish-path'; ) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city on the eastern shore of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city lay on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus, and was founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC, on a hill later named Mount Mithridat. Its ruins now lie in the modern city of Kerch.

Early existence

During the first centuries of the city's existence, imported Greek articles predominated:

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

(see Kerch Style), terracottas, and metal objects, probably from workshops in

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

, and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Local production, imitated from the models, was carried on at the same time. Athens manufactured a special type of bowl for the city, known as Kerch ware. Local potters imitated the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

bowls known as the Gnathia style as well as relief wares— Megarian bowls. The city minted silver coins from the 5th century BC and gold and bronze coins from the 4th century BC.Sear, David R. (1978). ''Greek Coins and Their Values ''. Volume I: Europe (pp. 168-169). Seaby Ltd., London. At its greatest extent it occupied . The Hermitage and Kerch Museums contain material from the site, which is still being excavated. Pan compilation

Fifth to first centuries BC

In the 5th–4th centuries BC, the city became the residence first of the Archaeanactids and then of the Spartocids, dynasties of

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

kings of

Bosporus 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 bo ...

, and was hence itself sometimes called Bosporus. Its economic decline in the 4th–3rd centuries BC was the result of the

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 4t ...

conquest of the steppes and the growing competition of Egyptian grain.

Mithridates

Scythians shooting with bows Kertch antique Panticapeum Ukrainia 4th century BCE

The last of the Spartocids, Paerisades V, apparently left his realm to Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus. This transition was arranged by one of Mithridates's generals,

Diophantus Diophantus of Alexandria () (; ) was a Greek mathematician who was the author of the '' Arithmetica'' in thirteen books, ten of which are still extant, made up of arithmetical problems that are solved through algebraic equations. Although Jose ...

, who earlier had been sent to Taurica to help local Greek cities against Palacus of the Scythian kingdom in Crimea. The mission did not go smoothly: Paerisades was murdered by

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

led by Saumacus, and Diophantus escaped to return later with reinforcements to suppress the revolt (c. 110 BC). Half of a century later, Mithridates took his life in Pantikapaion, when, after his defeat in a war against

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, his son and heir Pharnaces and citizens of Pantikapaion turned against him.

References

External links

Perseus Digital LibraryIconicarchive Photo GalleryDecree honoring Diophantos
general of the Pontic king Mithridates VI

{{Authority control Bosporan Kingdom Milesian colonies in Crimea Kerch Peninsula Kerch Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC Archaeological sites in Ukraine Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Crimea Tourist attractions in Crimea

Early existence

Fifth to first centuries BC

Mithridates

References

Further reading

External links