Olbia - The HappyRecently I came across Dion of Prusa and
his Oratio 36, the Borysthenean, which I highly appreciate. This is the cause to post an article about this Greek city in
Sarmatia at the Northern coast of the Black Sea, from the edge of the ancient civilisation, so to say.
1st coin:
Sarmatien,
Olbia, 5th-4thcentury BC
AE, 1.01g,
max. 21.2mm
Leaping
dolphin with dorsal fin and protrusing eye.
ref.
SNG BM 367; SGCV 1684
var.
VF
One of the earliest coins of
Olbia. Initially probably used as
votive gifts for Apollon Delphinios.
2nd coin:
Thrace,
Olbia, c.300-260 BC
AE 21, 12.40g
obv.: Bearded and horned
head of the river-god
Borysthenes, l.
rev. OLBIO
Battle
Axe (
sceptre?) and bow-case
in l.
field LE
ref.
SNG BM Blacksea 496;
SNG Copenhagen 85
var. (
monogram); Karyshkovsky
cf.41
VF, well centred, brown
patinaBorysthenes was the ancient name of the river Dnjepr and the city of
Olbia too. Together with the river Bug the Dnjepr opens in the Black Sea through the same Liman. In the 4th century the river was called Latin Danapris which is the origin of
his recent name (Ucrainian Dnipro). Later the Dnjepr became one of the most important rivers of the Vikings or Varangians, who founded the city of Kiev at
his banks.
The orator and philosopher Dion of Prusa draws in
his 'Borysthenean Oration' a fascinating image of the city of
Olbia and and a human society, which is influenced by Stoic and Platonic ideas
3rd coin:
Thrace,
Olbia,
Koson, c.40-29 BC.
AV -
Stater, 8.39g, 20.4mm
obv. The
Roman consul L.Junius
Brutus,
togate, advancing l., accompanied by two
lictores carrying their
fasces over the r. shoulder.
in l.
field BA
in ex KOSWN
rev. Eagle with opened wings stg. on
sceptre l., holding
wreath in r. talon
ref.
Iliescu 1;
RPC I, 1701;
BMC Thrace p.208, 2;
BMCRR II p.474, 48
FDCThe
obv. is inspired from the famous
denarius Crawford 433/1 of M.J.Brutus 54 V
BC, the
rev. copies the
denarius Crawford 398/1 of Q.Pomponius Rufus 73 BC.
I can't go into details of this
type which was known already to Erasmus of Rotterdam. Only this: The
rev. with the
eagle recurs on coins of
Olbia, leading to the opinion that this coin was struck in
Olbia too. Look at the next coin of
Alexander Severus!
4th coin:
Sarmatia,
Olbia,
Severus Alexander, AD 222-235
AE 23, 7.24g
obv. AVT KM
AVR CEOV ALEZAN - DROC (AV of
AVR and V A
ligate)
Laureate
head r.
rev. OL[BIOPOL]ITWN
Eagle with opened wings stg. facing on
thunderbolt,
head with
wreath in beak turned l., I
between feet, r. beside
head Delta
ref.
SNG Copenhagen 114;
SNG Stancomb 949-950;
Zograph pl. 34, 19
rare, VF+, excentric
Pedigree:
London Coin
Auction, Lot 259
A similar coin at M&M
auction 15, 12 Oct. 2004. There the I between feet called
altar in error. The
rev. is very similar to the
rev. of the famous
Koson stater, which is an argument that the
stater was struck in
Olbia too.
The Greek cities at the Northern coast of the Black Sea were founded in the course of the especially Milesian colonisation which began in the middle of the 7th century BC and enlarged in the 6th century BC. The Milesian colony
Olbia, called 'the Happy', was one of the most important centres of the region and played an important role in the
history of the northern
Pontos. It was located in the present Ucraine, at the right bank of the Hypanis (river Bug) and at the mouth of the
Borysthenes (Dnjepr, Ukrainic Dnipro) which together open into the Dnipro-Bug-Liman, a kind of lagoon. It was a prosperous trading town and the most important grain city of the 5th century BC (therefore 'the Happy'). It was at the same time the basis of the river navigation into the heart of the country and important for the mutual influences of
Greeks and Barbarians. Initially a settlement on the peninsula Berezan (named after the river
Borysthenes) was founded, then
Olbia on the mainland 40km northwardly situated. In the first time Berezan was the harbour of
Olbia, like Piraeus was the harbour of
Athens, and the emporion (trade centre) of
Olbia. In the 5th century BC
Olbia built an own harbour.
Olbia's main gods were Apollon Ietros, about whom we know not much, and Apollon Delphinios.
His cult was provided by the council of the Molpoi, whose leader not only was the high priest but the urban eponym too. Already in the first half of the 6th century BC a local coinage was introduced in the shape of
cast arrowheads, and then from c.550 BD the famous Olbian coins in shape of small
cast Bronze dolphins, which in the first time probably served as
votive gifts for Apollon Delphinios.
Olbia expanded quickly, especially by agrarian settlements in the hinterland, the chora of
Olbia, and along the waterfront of the liman.
The golden age of
Olbia surely was the 5th - 3rd century BC. At the beginning of the century the realm of the Scyths was consolidated and has successfully repelled the campaign of the Persian
king Dareios. Subsequently the Scyths conquered the
agriculture tribes of the forest steppe region and reached in 496 BC even to the Thracian Chersones. This has a strong impact on
Olbia which fought back against the Scyths. The chora shrinked and
Olbia circumvalleted the city with walls which Herodotos
still has seen. In 480 Scyths and Thracians
signed a
peace treaty and the situation calmed down.
Olbia betook itself under the protectorate of the Royal Scyths, probably against tribute payment.
Olbia itself was reigned by a tyrant and coins were struck with
symbols of the city. This was nevertheless a periode of commercial boom. The number of inhabitants was increasing, the commercial activities were growing. Apollon Delphinios got a big temple. Inscribed plates with the name of
Dionysos prove that
Olbia was one of the earliest centres of the Orphics and that
Dionysos played a prominent role in this cult.
In 4th century BC profound revolutions occurred:
Olbia apparently succeeded in emancipating from the Scythian protectorate and to free from the tyrannis. The cult of
Zeus Eleutherios was introduced from whom several vowing inscriptions were found. At this time the chora was
restored again. The new sovereignty was evidenced among others by the large expansion of the walls. An important event was the unsuccessful siege of
Olbia by Zopyrion, governor of
Alexander the Great. To achieve this the Olbiopolites
had released their slaves, granted their civil right to strangers and cancelled debts. So they could overcome the enemy. This
success led to Olbia's last and greatest prosperity. The tremendous economic boom caused the inflow of Barbarians to the city. On the
agora a big stoa was built, in the southern city the ensemble of the gymnasion, and the impressive water system was expanded further.
In the middle of the 3rd century this flowering came to an end. The settlements of the chora were destroyed by nomadizing barbarians and the relations to the peaceful agrarian tribes were interrupted. The public finances were disordered and a shortness of food occurred. The city fight against it with public purchases of grain (sitony) and distribution of gratuitous bread (sitometry). The demonetization and the introduction of
cheap copper coins seem to have aggravated the situation. In the middle of the 2nd century BC the situation stabilized a
bit which can be seen by the issue of silver coins. Probably this was due to
king Pharnakes of
Pontos who gave
military help to the poleis at the Black Sea coast. But after the middle of the century
Olbia again was pressed hard by local
barbaric tribes, so that it has to contact the Mixhellenes - probably hellenized Scyths living in the neighbourhood - for
help. Again
Olbia lost its independence. Now the protector was Skiluros, the ruler of the Crimean Scyths. He used the Olbian fleet not only for
his own export but to fight the pirates too to the benefit of
Olbia. After the death of Skiluros
his son was defeated by Mithridates
Eupator and
Olbia was incorporated in the Pontic Empire. Because Mithridates was occupied by
his war against the
Romans he left
Olbia to its
fate. In 55 BC
Olbia was captured by the Getians under
king Burebista and burned down. However it
still existed scaled-down because the Scyths need it as trade center.
Now
Olbia was a small settlement. On the destroyed
area cattle was held. In this bad situation
Olbia searched for shelter by the
Romans. It sent a delegation to
Moesia. Under
Tiberius rich Olbiopolites started with consecrations of buildings to the emperor. Beginning with
Claudius (41-54 AD) a coinage existed again.
Nero finally relocated an auxiliary troop to
Olbia. New city walls were erected and in the chora fortified villages were built. But the city again obtained a
barbaric protectorate, now by the Sarmatian Aorsi (Alanorsi) whose
king Pharzoios issued
gold coins until the time of
Domitian. Under
Trajan the monetary system was changed to the
Roman system. Under
Hadrian Olbia became
civitas foederata, and the emperor charged the Bosporan
king Kotys II with the protection of
Olbia. Under
Antoninus Pius a campaign took place of the
Roman army in
Moesia against the Tauroscyths who constantly has threatened
Olbia. The
Roman soldiers, between them many Thracians, brought the worship of the Thracian rider-god to
Olbia.
For the last time
Olbia boomed under the Severans. Under
Severus Olbia was incorporated in the province
Moesia inferior. The trade, especially with the other Black Sea cities and
Miletos, flourished. In AD 198 thermae were built and new temples, among others for
Serapis and
Isis. The old cult of Apollon Delphinos vanished and was replaced by the cult of Apollon Prostates, the guardian of the city.
His own priests
had the
Zeus Olbios and a remarkable boom in the 2nd-3rd century AD gained the
Achilleus cult. The connection between
Achilleus and the Scyths is
still discussed. May be that it is one of the founder myths by which the
Greeks raised a claim to the land which they wanted to colonize.
After the death of
Severus Alexander in AD 235 the coinage came to an end and the final decay of
Olbia began. So the shared silver coin is one of the last coins of
Olbia. Until the time of
Diocletian the
Romans had a garrison in the city helping to withstand the first
Gothic Invasion. But the second
Gothic Invasion AD 269/70 sealed the downfall of
Olbia. Even the life on Berezan and in the villages of the Olbian chora went out. That was the end of
Olbia, the Happy, after almost thousand years at the edge of the ancient world.
Because
Olbia never was overbuilt it belongs to the best explored ancient locations of the Black Sea coast. Until now each excavation season brings new spectacular discoveries, especially of epigraphic kind. Noteworthy are the submarine rersearches of the last time (look at 'transgression oft the northern Black Sea coast'!). But what could only be shortly interrupted by two world wars and the Russian Revolution is today threatened by the financial emergency of the Ukraine. But worst are the criminal diggers who are looting
Olbia in greatest
style and well organized. In 2000/2001 1800qm of the polis alone and 10000 of the nekropolis. A tragedy not only affecting
Olbia but the entire
classical studies (Balbina Bäbler).
I have added a map of the Black Sea Region so that you can get an idea of the location of
Olbia.
Sources:
- Balbina Bäbler, Der Schauplatz
des Borysthenitikos; das antike
Olbia, in Dion von Prusa,
Menschliche Gemeinschaft und göttliche Ordnung: Die Borysthenes-Rede, 2003 WBG
Darmstadt
-
Wikipedia Best regards
