The Scythian kingdom on the lower Danube (; ) was a kingdom created by the

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 ...

during the 3rd century BCE in the western

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

Geography

The territory of the Scythian kingdom on the lower Danube stretched from Tyras or even Pontic Olbia in the north to Odessus in the south.

History

Background

The Scythians were an ancient Iranian nomadic people who originated in Central Asia in the 9th century BCE, from where they migrated into Western Asia in the 7th century BCE before settling in the Pontic steppe in the 6th century BCE. During the height of this Pontic Scythian kingdom, in the 4th century BCE, Crimea and the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

region started being called "Little Scythia" (; ). In the 3rd century BCE, the expansion in the northern Pontic region of the

Sarmatians 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 ...

, who were another nomadic Iranian people related to the Scythians, as well as of the

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, ...

, the Germanic and , and of the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

, the Scythian kingdom disappeared from the Pontic Steppe and the Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as the dominant power of the Pontic steppe, due to which the appelation of "Scythia" for the region became replaced by that of "" (European Sarmatia). The Scythians fled to the in

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 ...

, where they were able to securely establish themselves against the Sarmatian invasion despite tensions with the Greeks, and to the in Dobrugea, as well as to nearby regions, where they became limited in enclaves. By then, these Scythians were no longer nomadic: they had become sedentary farmers and were Hellenised, and the only places where the Scythians could still be found by the 2nd century BCE were in the of Crimea and Dobrugea, as well as in the lower reaches of the Dnipro river.

Kingdom

The of the lower Danube existed until the 1st century BCE, and its territory stretched from or even in the north to in the south, and coins are known of several of their kings, namely Kanitos, Tanusakos, Kharaspos, Ailios, Sariakos, and Akrosakos. The relative chronology of these rulers has been debated for the better part of two centuries, but has recently (as of 2023) been established through close attention to all the available evidence and scholarship by numismatists Stolyarik and Kleeberg. Like the Crimean , the Scythian kingdom in the lower Danube region was destroyed by the Pontic king Mithradatēs VI Eupatōr, although its population continued to exist. In 62 BCE the lower Danube Scythians fought a battle against the Roman general at .

Aftermath

By 50 to 150 CE, most of the Scythians had been assimilated by the Sarmatians.

Kings of Danubian Scythians

* Kanitos, reigned * Tanusakos, reigned * Kharaspos, reigned * Ailios, reigned * Sariakos, reigned * Akrosakos, reigned

References

Sources

* * {{refend Classical antiquity Scythians History of Dobruja