Pontic Olbia
- For other cities called Olbia, see Olbia (disambiguation)
Ὀλβία Ποντική ( 4th century AD | |
| Periods | Archaic Greek to Roman Imperial |
|---|---|
| Cultures | Greek, Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1901–1915, 1924–1926 |
| Archaeologists | Boris Farmakovsky |
| Condition | Ruined |
Pontic Olbia (
The Hellenic city was founded in the 7th century BC by
Layout
.svg)
The site of the Greek colony covers the area of fifty hectares and its fortifications form an isosceles triangle about a mile long and half a mile wide.[2] The region was also the site of several villages (modern Victorovka and Dneprovskoe) which may have been settled by Greeks.[2]
As for the town itself, the lower town (now largely submerged by the Bug river) was occupied chiefly by the dockyards and the houses of artisans. The upper town was a main residential quarter, composed of square blocks and centered on the agora. The town was ringed by a defensive stone wall with towers.[3] The upper town was also the site of the first settlement on the site in the archaic period.[2] There is evidence that the town itself was laid out over a grid plan from the 6th century – one of the first after the town of Smyrna.[2]
By the later period of settlement, the city also included an acropolis and, from the 6th century BCE, a religious sanctuary.[2] In the early 5th century, a temple to Apollo Delphinios was also built on the site.[2]
History
Archaic and Classical periods
The Greek colony was highly important commercially and endured for a millennium. The first evidence of Greek settlement at the site comes from Berezan Island where pottery has been found dating from the late 7th century.[4] The name in Greek means "happy" or "rich". It is possible that it had been the site of an earlier native settlement and may even have been a peninsula rather than an island in antiquity.[4] It is now thought that the town of Berezan survived until the 5th century BCE when it was possibly absorbed into the growing Olbian settlement on the mainland.[4]
During the 5th century BCE, the colony was visited by Herodotus, who provides our best description of the city and its inhabitants from antiquity.[5]
It produced distinctive cast bronze money during the 5th century BCE in both the form of circular tokens with
Hellenistic and Roman periods
After the town adopted a democratic constitution in the 4th century BCE, its relations with
, a catastrophe which brought Olbia's economic prominence to an abrupt end.Having lost two-thirds of its settled area, Olbia was restored by the Romans, albeit on a small scale and probably with a largely barbarian population.
The settlement, incorporated into the Roman province of Lower
Excavation
The site of Olbia, designated an archaeological reservation, is situated near the village of Parutino in the district of
Notable finds from the town include an archaic Greek house in a good state of preservation from the area of the later acropolis and a private letter (written on a lead tablet) dating to around 500 BCE, complaining about an attempt to claim a slave.[4]
See also
Notes
- ^ A board of food commissioners was set up to distribute cereals among the population.
References
- ISBN 0-415-97334-1. Page 510.
- ^ ISBN 9780500250693.
- ^ Wasowicz, Aleksandra. Olbia Pontique et son territoire : l'aménagement de l'espace Paris: Belles-lettres, 1975. OCLC 3035787
- ^ ISBN 9780500250693.
- ^ Herodotus, Histories, 4.19
- ^ "Olbia". Odessa Numismatic Museum.
- ISBN 0198148542. Cf. p.146
- ISBN 0 900652 46 2
- ^ Serhii Plokhy (2015) "The Gates of Europe : A History of Ukraine" New York : Basic Books
Further reading
- Braund, David; Kryzhitskiy, S. D., eds. (2007). Classical Olbia and the Scythian World: From the Sixth Century BC to the Second Century AD. Proceedings of the British Academy. Vol. 142. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-726404-1.
- Karjaka, Alexander V. (2008). "The Defense Wall in the Northern Part of the Lower City of Olbia Pontike". In Bilde, Pia Guldager; Petersen, Jane Hjarl (eds.). Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence. Black Sea Studies. Vol. 8. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. pp. 163–180. ISBN 978-87-7934-419-8.
- Karjaka, Alexander V. (2008). "The Demarcation System of the Agricultural Environment of Olbia Pontike". In Bilde, Pia Guldager; Petersen, Jane Hjarl (eds.). Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence. Black Sea Studies. Vol. 8. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. pp. 181–192. ISBN 978-87-7934-419-8.
- Kozlovskaya, Valeriya (2008). "The Harbour of Olbia". Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. 14 (1–2): 25–65. .
- Krapivina, Valentina; Diatroptov, Pavel (2005). "An Inscription of Mithradates VI Eupator's Governor from Olbia". Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. 11 (3–4): 167–180. .
- Krapivina, Valentyna V. (2010). "Ceramics from Sinope in Olbia Pontica". Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. 16 (1–2): 467–477. .
- Osborne, Robin (2008). "Reciprocal Strategies: Imperialism, Barbarism and Trade in Archaic and Classical Olbia". In Bilde, Pia Guldager; Petersen, Jane Hjarl (eds.). Meetings of Cultures in the Black Sea Region: Between Conflict and Coexistence. Black Sea Studies. Vol. 8. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. pp. 333–346. ISBN 978-87-7934-419-8.
External links
- Ancient Coinage of Sarmatia, Olbia
- Greek inscriptions of Olbia in English translation
- ISBN 5-12-000104-1.
- ISBN 966-96181-0-X.
- Site of the Polish Archaeological Mission "Olbia"
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Lists | |
|---|---|
| National | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
