Borysthenes (original) (raw)
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What did Ancient Greeks mean by the ‘Cimmerian Bosporus’?
The word ‘Bosporus’ in ‘Cimmerian Bosporus’ is usually perceived as the name for a unified state. However, this word was also used by ancient authors as a hydronym, for the strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov/Lake Maeotis and for denoting a specific territorial unit, as well as an alternate name for Panticapaeum. The use of Bosporus in written sources from the Archaic period to late antiquity followed a certain chronological sequence, which generally coincides with the periods of formation and transformation of the Bosporan state.
Towards the Etymology of the Names of the Dnieper Rapids in Constantine Porphyrogenitus:Βράσμα Νεροῦ
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The names of seven Dnieper rapids in Constantine’s Porphyrogenitus De administrando imperio (‘On the Governance of the Empire’) are given both in ‘Slavonic’ and in ‘Rhosic’, i.e. Old Scandinavian, and in addition Constantine explains the meanings of some of these names in Greek. The present paper focuses on the name for the sixth rapid, Βeρούτςη/Λeάντι, and the aim of the author is to show that ‘Rhosic’ Λeάντι corresponds well to Constantine’s Greek translation of this name as ‘the Boiling of the Water’. The etymology to be proposed in this article has its precursor in a suggestion by Bohdan Struminski but refines on his hypothesis.
2009
In a short break from his preparations for the invasion of Scythia, Darius stops off where the Bosporus was bridged and sails to the Dark Rocks, apparently retracing the steps of the Argonauts. ‘There,' Herodotus reports, ‘he sat on the headland and viewed the Pontus, a wonderful sight’ (4. 85. 1). In this paper, we aim to bring that wonderful sight to life using the latest digital technology, and to set out some of the ways in which the world that Herodotus describes can now be represented. At the same time, however, we will be concerned to show the potential of digital technologies for opening up new lines of enquiry, in particular the investigation of the ‘deep’ topological structures that underpin the Histories. After all, the Persian king is not the only figure to take an interest in the Pontus as a geographical concept: the historian too shows an interest in the Black Sea by extensively mapping the region and its place in the world, both before and after this episode (4. 37-45; 4. 99- 101). The way that Herodotus articulates this space himself, which frames, and to a certain extent pre-empts, Darius’ invasion of Scythia, will be the concern of this paper.
2016
Barker, Elton; Bouzarovski, Stefan; Isaksen, Leif and Pelling, Chris (2013). Extracting, investigating and representing geographical concepts in Herodotus: the case of the Black Sea. In: The Bosporus: Gateway between the Ancient West and East (1st Millennium BC–5th Century AD) (Tsetskhladze, Gocha R.; Atasoy, Sümer; Avram, Alexandru; Donmez, Sevket and Hargrave, James eds.), BAR International Series, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 7–17.
Athens and Boiotia Interstate Relations in the Archaic and Classical Periods
Athens and Boiotia Interstate Relations in the Archaic and Classical Periods, 2024
Athens and Boiotia Were Athenians and Boiotians natural enemies in the Archaic and Classical periods? The scholarly consensus is yes. Roy van Wijk, however, re-evaluates this commonly held assumption and shows that, far from perpetually hostile, their relationship was distinctive and complex. Moving between diplomatic normative behaviour, commemorative practice and the lived experience in the borderlands, he offers a close analysis of literary sources, combined with recent archaeological and epigraphic material, to reveal an aspect to neighbourly relations that has hitherto escaped attention. He argues that case studies such as the Mazi plain and Oropos show that territorial disputes were not a mainstay in diplomatic interactions and that commemorative practices in Panhellenic and local sanctuaries do not reflect an innate desire to castigate the neighbour. The book breaks new ground by reconstructing a more positive and polyvalent appreciation of neighbourly relations based on the local lived experience. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core. is SNFS Postdoc Mobility Fellow at the University of Münster. He co-edited Empires of the Sea: Maritime Power Networks in World History (2019) and currently works on river valleys across mainland Greece.
No Land for Historians: Boeotia and a Tale of Forgotten Histories (PGWiP. London, 3/06/2016)
Despite a growing interest in the material sources for the history of Boeotia and Thebes, and the publication of new epigraphic texts, which contribute to their political and religious background, we still miss a systematic history of the cultural background of Boeotia, apart from the fundamental studies on its pivotal poets, i.e. Hesiod and Pindar (Corinna being a hardly graspable voice to understand). Still, new historiographical trends such as the intentional history and three thought-provoking studies on the local Boeotian myths published in this century (Κühr 2006, Larson 2007 and Berman 2015) have detected how much we still have to learn on the local reception and description of Boeotian history and myths, especially during the short period of the Theban hegemony. In this paper, I would like to focus my attention on the first writers of Boeotian histories and to offer a few examples of the richness and variety that these fragments reveal. Starting from Hellanicus, who displays a version of the founding myth of Cadmus (F 51a Fowler) in deep contrast with the storyline followed by the Athenian sources, I will then concentrate on four texts by Armenidas (BNJ 378) and Aristophanes (BNJ 379), who can be dated to the middle and to the second half of the fourth century. These few case studies may suggest how short-sighted are the current definitions of local versus great historiography, a debated issue which can be better understood only through an analysis of the single cases. Boeotia represents a particularly stimulating one, since the overall bad representation that this region had in the classical sources -starting nonetheless from the local Pindar in the sixth Olympic (152)- might be challenged by a structured reading of its local historians. http://www.sas.ac.uk/support-research/public-events/2016/ics-postgraduate-work-progress-seminar-10