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[German version] (‘Black Gulf’) Now the Gulf of Saros between the Thracian Chersonesus [1] and the mouth of the River Hebrus (Str. 7, fr. 52). From the south it could be controlled from Alopeconnesus, and from the north from Aenus. von…

[German version] (Πευκῖνοι; Peukînoi). Important tribe of the Bastarnae (Str. 7,3,17; Plin. HN 4,100: Peucini Bastarnae; occasionally even used to refer to the Bastarnae as a whole, cf. Tac. Germ. 46; name probably a foreign expression derived from Peuce) in the north east of Dacia (Daci), east of the Troglodytae in the Danube delta (Ptol. 3,10,9). They shared characteristics with the Goti (Iord. Get. 91 for AD 248), and took part in the raid on the Aegean in AD 269, which Claudius [III 2] halted at Naissus. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography L. Schmidt, Geschichte der…

[German version] [1] Unidentifiable river east of the Maiotis Unidentifiable river east of the Maiotis, three days' march from Tanais [2] (Tac. Ann. 12,16,2). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) [German version] [2] see Sondergötter see Sondergötter …

[German version] (Καδούσιοι; Kadoúsioi, Lat. Cadusii). Iranian group of nomadic tribes in the mount…

[German version] (Μάκρωνες; Mákrōnes). Mountain people, already mentioned by Hecat. FGrH 1 F 206, who belonged to the 19th tax district under Darius [1] (Hdt. 3,94; 7,78; mentioned here between the Tibareni an…

[German version] (Ῥωξολανοί/ Rhōxolanoí, Lat. Roxolani). Sarmatic tribe or group of tribes (Sarmatae; Str. 2,5,7, cf. 7,2,4; 7,3,17 in connection with Hipparchus [6], Eratosthenes [2]) that lived in the period approximately up to the time of Christ in the steppes between Tanais (Don) and Borysthenes (Dniepr) north of the Maeotis (Plin. HN 4,80; Ptol. 3,5,19; 24 f.). In the battle against Diophantus [3], general of Mithridates [6] VI, the R. fought under their king Tasius on the side of Palacus, king of the Scythians (113 BC?; Syll.3 709). In the 1st cent. AD, the R. settled on th…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Thraci, Thracia | (Ἄβριττος; Ábrittos). Roman fortress and civilian settlement, 2 km east of the modern Razgrad, Bulgaria; pre-Roman Thracian settlement, probably the administrative centre of the strategia Rysiké under the last of the Thracian kings (IGBulg 743). From 45 BC part of  Moesia inferior; from no later than AD 78 encampment of auxilia (CIL XVI 22); in the 2nd cent. AD garrison of the cohors II Lucensium (CIL III 13727); strongly fortified in the 4th cent. AD. Inscriptions confirm a civilian settleme…

[German version] (Ἀσταί; Astaí). Thracian tribe in south-east Thrace, between Apollonia [2] and  Salmydessus in the Strandža mountains, with the royal capital of  Bizye. Politically independent after the decline of Odrysian rule at the end of the 4th cent. BC, the A. increasingly gained in importance following the withdrawal of the Celts in 278 BC (Ps.-Scymn. 729; Pol. 13,10,10). They had good relations with the Greek colonies (IGBulg 312). The A. fought alongside the Maduateni, the  Caeni, and the…

(Σπάρτοκος/ Spártokos). Name of a king from the Bosporanian dynasty of the Spartocids (Regnum Bosporanum). Contrary to earlier opinion he was of Iranian origin and not Thracian. [German version] [1] S. I. (438/7-433/2 BC; in Diod. Sic.12,31: written as Spartacus). Founder of the Spartocids dynasty. He removed the Archaeanactidae from power, probably through a coup and without changing the state’s structure as an hereditary tyranny. The culture remained purely Greek, which is in contradiction with the assumption that S. was the…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Pontos Euxeinos | Scythae | Wine | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Colonization | Patricius | Patricius | Rome (Παντικάπαιον; Pantikápaion). Milesian colony on the European side of the Bosporus [2], founded in the 7th/6th cent. BC, modern Kerč (Ps.-Scyl. 68; Scymn. 836). With its strategic and commercially commanding position and its fertile hinterland P. soon took on a leading role under the Greek poleis on the Bosporus (Str. 7,4,4; Plin. HN 4,87). Thus in about 480 BC the Regnum Bosporanum …

[German version] City on the west coast of the Black Sea. Several prehistoric and ancient settlements have been recorded in modern B. (the oldest from the Chalcolithic period up until the Late Bronze Age). There was a Thracian settlement in Zlatkite kladenci; from the 6th cent. BC into the 2nd cent. BC possibly an empórion of  Apollonia [2]. There were three necropolises; on the height of Siloto there was a Thracian fortress and 6 km away from this were copper mines (today Vărli brjag) owned by Thracian princes. A Thracian settlement, Tyrsis, was l…

[German version] (Μαιῶτις; Maiôtis, Latin lacus or palus Maeotis). The Asov Sea north-east of the Krim with an area of c. 38,000 km2, with an outlet to the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos in the south through the Cimmerian Bosporus [2], in the north-east confluence of the Tanais in the M. The M. is exceptionally shallow (average depth 9 m) so that it easily freezes over. In spring, south-west winds drive the water of the Pontos Euxeinos into the M. Many rivers flow into the M., which has an abundance of fish (Str. 7,4,6).…

[German version] (Αἰγισσος; Aígissos). Thracian fortress (1st cent. BC, Ov. Pont. 1,8,13), modern Tulĉa (Romania) in the Danube delta. Necropolis from the 6th to 1st cents. BC. Under  Rhoemetalces at the time of Augustus controlled by Rome (Cass. Dio 54,20,1-3). In about 12 BC destroyed by northern tribes, but rebuilt; from the 2nd cent. BC onwards, growing in military and civilian importance.   Statio between Noviodunum and Salsovia (It. Ant. 226,2). Fortified under Justinian (Procop. Aed. 4,7,20). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography G. Simion, Les Gètes de …

[German version] Killer of Paerisades [6] V, who surrendered the Regnum Bosporanum to Mithridates [6] VI. According to the decree honouring Diophantus [2] (IOSPE 12 no. 352, 34-35), S. had begun a rebellion with the Scythae, which gripped the European part of the empire. He was captured by Diophantus and handed over to Mithridates. This rebellion was evidently directed against the new political leadership. The view that S. was a slave is based on a wrong translation. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography A. Gavrilov, Skify Savmaka - vosstanie ili vtorženie?, i…

(Τάναϊς/ Tánaïs). [German version] [1] River A 1970 km long river forming the border between the Scythae and the Sarmatae (Hdt. 4,21; according to Plin. HN 6,20 called Silis by the Scythae) and flowing into the Maeotis, modern Don. Sarmatian tribes lived around its lower reaches from the 4th cent. BC onwards; some 15 ancient settlements are known from archaeology there. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) [German version] [2] City This item can be found on the following maps: Pontos Euxeinos | Scythae | Commerce | Colonization | Patricius | Patricius | Rome City founded in the 3rd …

[German version] (Ἰύρκαι/ Iýrkai, Hdt. 4,22; Tyrcae, Plin. HN 6,19; Mela, 1,116). Tribe of hunters east of Thyssagetae, east of Tanais, probably in the Ural region, in the plains of Kama, Vjatka, Belaja and Volga. The precise localization and ethnic identification are debatable and cannot be determined on the basis of the sources. Russian research links the I. with the Ananino culture (8th-3rd cents. BC), of which burial mounds and fortified settlements are known and whose trading reached as far as the Caucasus. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography J. Harmatta, Quel…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Macedonia, Macedones (Μύρκινος; Mýrkinos). Edonian settlement (Edones), later Greek polis, east of the lower Strymon; both its ancient and its modern name is M. (Str. 7a,1,33). In 513 BC, Darius [1] gave M. to Histiaeus [1] who expanded and fortified the town. After the collapse of the Ionian Revolt,   Aristagoras [3] led more colonists to M.; after his death (497 BC), the Edonians regained M.  (Hdt. 5,11; 124ff.; Thuc. 4,102,2). In 423 BC, after …

[German version] (Ζυγάκτης; Zygáktēs). Coastal river to the east of Philippi (App. B Civ. 4,105; 4,128); not identified. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)

[German version] Ti. Julius E., king of the  Regnum Bosporanum, from AD 154/5 to c. 174, follower of  Rhoemetalces. Coins to 170. Roman vassal, financially supported by the Romans (Lucian, Alex. 57). As the first king of the Bosporus he had a Sarmatic sign as his emblem. Most of the inscriptions come from  Panticapaeum where his residence was located (IOSPE 2, 422, 438 et al.). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography V. F. Gaidukevič, Das Bosporanische Reich, 1971, 348 n. 42; 351.

[German version] (Κρόβυζοι). Large Getic subtribe ( Getae) living between the Athrys (modern Jantra), the lower Oescus (modern Iskar) and the  Pontus Euxinus (Hecat. FGrH 1 F 170; Arr. Anab. 1,1; 1,3; Ptol. 3,10,4). In their land (Κροβυζική) the rivers Athrys, Noes and Artanes (modern Vit?, Hdt. 4,49) flowed. After the collapse of the kingdom of the  Odrysae, it seems to have expanded to the south to the northern slope of the  Haemus (Str. 7,5,12). Phylarchus (FGrH 81 F 20) reports of Isanthes, a …