Iranians and Greeks in South Russia - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

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Sea. Chersonesus was only a stepping-stone : the little town produced
nothing, the fishing was poor, and the neighbouring Taurians had
nothing to sell. But it was a convenient stepping-stone on the direct
route, along the Crimean coast, to the straits of Kerch and to the
Sea of Azov with its wondrous store of fish. A day or two's sailing
along the inhospitable coast of southern Crimea, infested with pirates :
then, after these anxious hours, the port of Theodosia, another
Milesian foundation, as Ernst von Stern has shown : next, the fine
port of Nymphaeum, where the fishing was already plentiful : and so
to Panticapaeum, an ancient centre of commerce and of civilization,
one of the capitals of the former Cimmerian kingdom, and an excel-
lent port, especially for sailing-vessels. To reach the opposite coast,
probably already studded with Greek stations, there was only a
strait to cross. Thus the two groups of Black Sea colonies were
already established : the numerous eastern group, closely connected
with the Caucasus and the southern ports of the Black Sea : and the
western, connected less closely with these than with the Greek colonies
on the western littoral of the Black Sea. The Milesians soon found
means to join the two groups. By skirting the north coast of the
Black Sea and the west coast of the Crimea, it was possible to reach
the port of Kerkinitis, from which Chersonesus could easily be made.
But the voyage was long and perilous, and ships preferred to cross
direct from the northern coast of Asia Minor to the southern coast
of the Crimea.
It can easily be seen that the ascendancy in the western group
belonged to Olbia. The estuary of Olbia was a calm and spacious
lake : ships coming from the Dnieper and the Bug could sail there
at their ease. Moreover, big ships could find all they required at
Olbia. The Dnieper and the Bug abounded in fish : and the agri-
cultural population of the lower and middle basins was glad to sell its
goods to Greek merchants. Finally, the Dnieper and the Bug were
always great trade routes joining north with south and bringing
southward the produce of the north : furs and slaves, perhaps also
amber. The relations of Olbia with north and east are proved by
finds in the Kama region. The so-called Ananyino civilization,
which belongs to the early iron age (sixth to fifth century b. c), is full
of Olbian infliiences.
The peaceful development of the country was facilitated by the
foundation and consohdation of the great Scythian empire. We have
seen that from the sixth century onwards, prosperity prevailed among
the Scythians and their subject tribes. In Olbia also, the tributary of
the Scythian kings, who, as we know from Herodotus, maintained