Abstract
Ancient writers remain completely silent about the Phanagoria under the Spartokid dynasty’s reign on the Bosporus (the 4th to 2nd centuries BC). At the turn of the new era, Strabo calls Phanagoria the “capital of the Asian Bosporans” and one of the three emporia through which the turnover of goods from Kuban region passed (Strab. XI. 2: 2, 10). In this article, the author argues that these characteristics of the ancient geographer are fully applicable to the previous centuries of the history of the city, at least from the moment when it became part of the Bosporus state.
The author of the article attempted to defi ne the status of Phanagoria in the power of the Spartokids and to reconstruct some nodal moments of its history during the specifi ed period of time. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to analyze synchronous sources directly or indirectly refl ecting the position of Phanagoria in the 4th –2nd centuries BC. These are relatively few epigraphic documents, numismatic materials and a large array of data obtained during archaeological excavations of the city. Only their comprehensive study, along with taking into account the wide historical context (within the Bosporan state as a whole), made it possible to specifi cally characterize Phanagoria as the most important center in the “Asian” possessions of the Spartokids. The article shows that it apparently housed central authorities (administrative, tax and military), dynast proxies, designed to control, among other things, foreign trade activities (customs), the loyalty of citizens in the “Asian” part of the state and the military-political situation in the region as a whole.
The history of the coinage of Phanagoria (on behalf of the citizens of the polis), as well as the history of urban fortifi cation, clearly highlights the evolution of the relationship between the polis and the power of the Spartokids. To understand the status of Phanagoria for three centuries, an analysis of the situation during the reign of Mithridates VI Eupator, who replaced the last representative of the Spartokid dynasty in 110/9 BC, plays a signifi cant role.
Keywords
Bosporan state, Spartokids, tyranny, polis, Phanagoria, Asian Bosporus, administrative and trade center.
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