The Cimmerian Problem Re-Examined: the Evidence of the Classical Sources (original) (raw)

The Cimmerian Problem Re-Examined: the Evidence of the Classical Sources Of all the nomadic peoples who were present in the Caspian steppes and in Western Asia in the 1st millenium BC none has probably caused historians and archaeologists so much trouble than the Cimmerians. The history of the Cimmerians is still being discussed and reconstructed in different ways . The whole problem contains lots of misunderstandings mainly due to the fact that the most important source groups, i. e. literary and archaeological evidences, have been examined on the basis of some aprioric assumptions not all of which are immidiately obvious. In the following paper an attempt will be made to discuss the problem of the Cimmerian presence in Southeastern Europe and related aspects as seen in the light of classical testimonies. One of these questions, the problem of an alleged migration of the Cimmerians from the North Pontic steppes into Central and Western Europe, requires consideration. The thesis about western movements of the Cimmerians has had wide repercussions in historical, archaeological and philological studies as well . The well documented history of the Cimmerians in Western Asia is not the topic of this paper but it provides important fixing points for a reconstruction of the whole development of that people. In exploring the classical testimonies related to the Cimmerians, it is hoped that a greater insight into the complex history of the earliest known ethnic entities of Southeastern Europe may be achieved. The history of the Cimmerians in Europe can be discussed mainly from the point of view of classical sources, for the basic evidence for the study of this people are testimonies of the Greek and Roman authors . On the other hand, valuable evidence for the Cimmerians in Western Asia is provided by Oriental, mainly Assyrian, records . The written evidence can be to some extent supplemented by archaeological data from the Ponto-Caspian steppes, the Caucasus area and Western Asia . However, the presently available archaeological materials do not allow any convincing hypothesis about the character of genuine Cimmerian culture. It is due to the fact that archaeological interpretations depend on historical premises and the latter, basing on fragmentary and contradictory testimonies, still do not enable us to give definitive answers to certain important questions about Cimmerian history.