Scythians
Later History of the Third Scythian Kingdom of Scythian Neapolis.(courtesy of Wikipedia and various other places)
The enmity of the Third Scythian Kingdom, centred on Scythian Neapolis, towards the Greek settlements of the northern Black Sea steadily increased. The Scythian king apparently regarded the Greek colonies as unnecessary intermediaries in the wheat trade with mainland Greece. Besides, the settling cattlemen were attracted by the Greek agricultural belt in Southern Crimea. The later Scythia was both culturally and socio-economically far less advanced than its Greek neighbors such as Olvia or Chersonesos.
The continuity of the royal line is less clear in the Lesser Scythias of Crimea and Thrace than it had been previously. In the second century BC, Olvia became a Scythian dependency. That event was marked in the city by minting of coins bearing the name of the Scythian king Skilurus. He was a son of a king and a father of a king, but the relation of his dynasty with the former dynasty is not known. Either Skilurus or his son and successor Palakus were buried in the mausoleum of Scythian Neapol that was used from ca. 100 B.C. to ca. 100 AD. However, the last burials are so poor that they do not seem to be royal, indicating a change in the dynasty or royal burials in another place.
Later, at the end of the second century BC, Olvia was freed from the Scythian domination, but became a subject to Mithradates the Great. By the end of the first century BC, Olbia, rebuilt after its sack by the Getae, became a dependency of the Dacian barbarian kings, who minted their own coins in the city. Later from the second century AD Olbia belonged to the Roman Empire. Scythia was the first state north of the Black Sea to collapse with the invasion of the Goths in the 2nd century AD (see Oium).
Skilurus or Scylurus was the best known king of Scythia in the 2nd century BC. He was the son of a king and the father of a king, but the relation of his dynasty to the previous one is disputed. His realm included the lower reaches of the Borysthenes and Hypanis, as well as the northern part of Crimea, where his capital, Scythian Neapolis, was situated.Main KingsSkilurus
Skilurus ruled over the Tauri and controlled the ancient trade emporium of Pontic Olbia, where he minted coins. In order to gain advantage against Chersonesos, he allied himself with the Sarmatian tribe of Rhoxolani. In response, Chersonesos forged an alliance with Mithridates VI of Pontus. Skilurus died during a war against Mithridates, a decisive conflict for supremacy in the Pontic steppe. Soon after his death, the Scythians were defeated by Mithridates (ca. 108 BC). Either Skilurus or his son and successor Palacus were buried in a mausoleum at Scythian Neapolis; it was used from ca. 100 BC to ca. 100 AD.
Plutarch, in Sayings of Kings and Commanders, reports the following anecdote: "Scilurus on his death-bed, being about to leave eighty sons surviving, offered a bundle of darts to each of them, and bade them break them. When all refused, drawing out one by one, he easily broke them; thus teaching them that, if they held together, they would continue strong, but if they fell out and were divided, they would become weak."[1]
Palacus or Palakus was the king of a Scythian realm whose capital was based at Scythian Neapolis on the Crimea in the late 2nd century BC.Palakus
He succeeded his father, Skilurus, and resumed his war against Mithridates the Great, attempting to capture the wealthy western Crimean city-state of Chersonesos but was defeated by Mithridates' Pontic forces under his general Diophantos. Enlisting the assistance of the Rhoxolani under their king, Tasius, Palacus launched a renewed assault on western Crimea, only to be defeated again in pitched battle by Diophantos. Soon after these events which can be dated to c.110–107 BC, most of the cities of Crimea accepted Mithridates as overlord.
Palacus was the last Scythian king attested in classical sources. His mausoleum has been tentatively identified in Scythian Neapolis.
Units Disctinctive from SarmatiansScythian NoblesScythian Mounted NoblesRegular Scythian Spear armed cavalryScythian Dismounted Archer
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by tone
, etc.). So, in a timely manner, along came the Scythians, swooping downfrom the steppes, grabbed Urartu like a vulture and tore it apart. The Scythians settled down in the area +Media where they essentially vassalized the Medes. The Scythians probably mixed in with the native Urartian Armenians and thus became fair themselves before they were driven out. Remember, this is all speculation, Antiochus is the expert (I assume).
seriously it would....
