The Bosporan Kingdom, an ancient Greco-Scythian state

The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία τοῦ Κιμμερικοῦ Βοσπόρου, Latin: Regnum Bospori), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centred in the present-day Strait of Kerch.

It was the first truly 'Hellenistic' state, in the sense that a mixed population adopted the Greek language and civilisation under aristocratic consolidated leadership.

Under the Spartocid dynasty, the aristocracy of the kingdom adopted a double nature of presenting themselves as archons to Greek subjects and as kings to barbarians, which some historians consider unique in ancient history.

The Bosporan Kingdom became the longest-surviving Roman client kingdom. The 1st and 2nd centuries AD saw a new golden age of the Bosporan state.

It was briefly incorporated as part of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior from AD 63 to 68 under Emperor Nero before being restored as a Roman client kingdom. At the end of the 2nd century AD, King Sauromates II inflicted a critical defeat on the Scythians and included all the Crimean Peninsula territories in his state's structure.

The prosperity of the Bosporan Kingdom was based on the export of wheat, fish and enslaved people. As a result, the Kingdom became the economic centre of the Black Sea and is often dubbed the ancient Jewel of the Black Sea.

The profit of the trade supported a class whose conspicuous wealth is still visible from newly discovered archaeological finds, excavated, often illegally, from numerous burial barrows known as kurgans.

The once-thriving cities of the Bosporus left extensive architectural and sculptural remains, while the kurgans continue to yield spectacular Greco-Sarmatian objects, the best examples of which are now preserved in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

These include goldwork, vases imported from Athens, coarse terracottas, textile fragments, and specimens of carpentry and marquetry.

The article first appeared on Travel and Smile. 

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