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THE INVASION OF THE BORANS INTO THE BOSPORUS IN THE 3RD CENTURY A.D.
Corresponding Author(s) : Sergey Vladimirovich Yartsev
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 7 No. 6 (2019): November
Abstract
Purpose of the study: The article is devoted to the complex topic of the invasion of the barbarians, known as the Borans, into the territory of the Bosporan Kingdom in the 3rd century A.D. However, the circumstances of the appearance of these barbarians in the North-Eastern Black Sea Region continue to arise numerous disputes. The main goal of the research is the ethnic identification of the Borans and determination of the exact route of their movement to the Bosporus, which does not contradict other types of sources.
Methodology: The leading method of research is the method of source analysis. It consisted not only in the selection but also in a thorough study of all the features of the source that are important for deciphering information about the past and identifying historical facts, which are important for the study. When working with found ancient coins, the method of numismatic research was used; it included determining the place and time of issue, as well as the weight and size of a coin.
Main Findings: The main results of the study consist of the identification of the Borans with ethnically mixed insurgent detachments of the Latrones type, which were active in the middle of the 3rd century A.D., including the sea and the border areas of the Roman Empire. A new route was also developed for the movement of the Borans to the Bosporus from the Lower Danube to Tanais at the mouth of the Don aboard small vessels, i.e. exclusively by water.
Applications of this study: The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that it can be used to write summarizing works on the history of the states and peoples of the Northern Black Sea Region of the first centuries A.D., textbooks, as well as for developing special courses for students of higher education institutions on the subject "History of Ancient Rome", in order to study the experience of interaction between the ancient civilization and the barbarian world.
Novelty/Originality: The novelty of the research is determined by the fact that for the first time an explanation is given of the organization of unusual sea crusades of the barbarians against the Roman Empire on the ships of the Bosporan fleet in the second half of the 3rd century A.D. The fact is that at that time the Latrones were the only barbaric force on the Lower Danube that was actively operating, including on ships. It was precisely in such a barbaric environment that the idea of the sea plunder of the Greco-Roman world could have arisen.
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- Aibabin, A.I. (1999). EtnicheskayaistoriyarannevizantiiskogoKryma [Ethnic History of the Early Byzantine Crimea]. Simferopol: Dar, 350.
- Anisimov, A.N. (1989). O prodvizheniiplemengotskogosoyuza v Severo-VostochnoePrichernomore v seredine III v. n.e. (ponumizmaticheskimdannym) [On the Promotion of the Gothic Union Tribes in the North-East Black Sea Region in the Middle of the 3rd Century A.D. (According to Numismatic Data)]. In SkifiyaiBospor [Scythia and
- Bosporus], 128-130. Novocherkassk: Publishing House of the Novocherkassk Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks.
- Beidin, G.V. (2012). RimskieprovintsialnyemonetynaterritoriiUkrainy v arealechernyakhovskoikultury [Roman Provincial Coins in the Territory of Ukraine in the Area of the Chernyakhov Culture]. In Drevnosti: 2012 [Antiquities: 2012], 11, 147-159). Kharkov: OOO NTMT.
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- Budanova, V.P. (2001). Goty v epokhuVelikogopereseleniyanarodov [Goths in the Great Migration Period]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteiya, 320.
- Desyatchikov, Yu.M.,&Dolgorukov, V.S. (1984). Patrei [Patrei]. In AntichnyegosudarstvaSevernogoPrichernomorya [Antique States of the Northern Black Sea Region], 86. Moscow: Nauka.
- Dmitrev, A.D. (1956). Narodnyedvizheniya v vostochnorimskikhprovintsiyakh v period Dunaiskikhvoin III v. (236-278 gg.) [Populations' Movements in the Eastern Roman Provinces during the Danube Wars of the 3rd Century (236-278)]. Vizantiiskiivremennik, VIII, 97-126.
- Frolova, N.A. (1980). IstoriyapravleniyaRiskuporida V (242-276 gg.) ponumizmaticheskimdannym [The History of the Reign of Rhescuporis V (242-276) According to Numismatic Data]. Sovetskayaarkheologiya, 3, 58-76.
- Frolova, N.A. (1997). MonetnoedeloBospora (seredina I v. do n.e. – seredina IV v. n.e.). Ch. 2. MonetnoedeloBospora 211-341/342 gg. [The Coin Business of the Bosporus (Mid-1st Century B.C. – Mid-4th Century B.C.). Part 2. The Coin Business of the Bosporus 211-341/342]. Moscow: Editorial URSS, 536.
- Gaidukevich, V.F. (1949). Bosporskoetsarstvo [The Bosporan Kingdom]. Moscow; Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR], 624.
- Golenko, K.V. (1972). Tamanskiikladmonet 1970 g. [Taman Treasure of Coins 1970]. Klio, 54, 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1524/klio.1972.54.54.239 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1524/klio.1972.54.54.239
- Golenko, K.V. (1978). TretiiPatreiskiiklad (1970 g.) inekotoryezamechaniya o bosporskoimonetnoichekanke III v. n.e. [The Third Patrei Treasure (1970) and Some Comments on the Bosporus Coinage of the 3rd Century A.D.]. Numizmatikaiepigrafika, XII, 10-40.
- Kazanskii, M.M. (2015). GotskoevtorzhenienaBosporKimmeriiskiiiklimat v III v. [Gothic Invasion of the Cimmerian Bosporus and Climate in the 3rd Century]. Bosporskiechteniya, XVI, 180-188.
- Korovina, A.K. (2002). Germonassa: AntichnyigorodnaTamanskompoluostrove [Hermonassa: Antique City on the Taman Peninsula]. Moscow: Publishing House of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, 146.
- Kruglikova, I.T. (1965). Bospor III-IV vv. v svetenovykharkheologicheskikhissledovanii [Bosporus in the 3rd-4th Centuries in the Light of New Archaeological Research]. KratkiesoobshcheniyaInstitutaarkheologii, 103, 3-10.
- Kuzmin, A.G. (2005). Ob etnicheskoiprirodevaryagov (k postanovkeproblemy) [On the Ethnic Nature of the Varangians (to the Statement of the Problem)]. In S.A. Gedeonov, VaryagiiRus [Varangians and Russia], 587-631. Moscow: Russkaya panorama.
- Myusse, L. (2006). VarvarskienashestviyanaEvropu: germanskiinatisk [Barbarian Invasions of Europe: German Onslaught]. St. Petersburg: Evraziya, 416.
- Oblomskii, A.M. (2002). DneprovskoelesostepnoeLevoberezhe v pozdnerimskoeigunnskoevremya (seredina III – pervayapolovina V v. n.e.) [Dnieper Forest-Steppe Left Bank Area in the Late Roman and Hunnic Time (Mid-3rd – First Half of the 5th Century A.D.)]. Moscow: Nauka, 256.
- Pioro, I.S. (1990). KrymskayaGotiya (OcherkietnicheskoiistoriinaseleniyaKryma v pozdnerimskii period iranneesrednevekove) [Crimean Gothia (Essays on the Ethnic History of the Crimean Population in the Late Roman Period and the Early Middle Ages)]. Kiev: Lybid, 197.
- Remennikov, A.M. (1954). BorbaplemenSevernogoPrichernomorya s Rimom v III v. n.e. [The Struggle of the Tribes of the Northern Black Sea Region with Rome in the 3rd Century A.D.]. Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 149.
- Schukin, M.B. (2005). Gotskii put (goty, Rim ichernyakhovskayakultura) [Gothic Way (the Goths, Rome and the Chernyakhov Culture)]. Saint Petersburg: Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University, 576.
- Tikhanova, M.A. (1953). Doros-Feodoro v istoriisrednevekovogoKryma [Doros-Theodoro in the History of Medieval Crimea]. Materialyiissledovaniyapoarkheologii SSSR, 34, 319-333.
- Udaltsov, A.D. (1946). PlemenaEvropeiskoiSarmatii II v. n.e. [Tribes of European Sarmatia in the 2nd Century A.D]. Sovetskayaetnografiya, 2, 41-50.
- Vasilev, A.A. (2005). O vremenipoyavleniyagermanskikhdruzhinnaBospore [On the Time of the Appearance of German Squads on the Bosporus]. In Bosporskiifenomen [The Bosporus Phenomenon], 343-349. Saint Petersburg: Hermitage.
- Veimarn, E.V. (1971). Odne z vazhlivykhpitanrannoserednovichnoÑ—istoriiKrimu [One of the Important Questions of the Early Medieval History of the Crimea]. In SerednivikinaUkrainÑ— [The Middle Ages in Ukraine], 1, 61-65). Kiev: Naukovadumka.
- Vysotskaya, T.N. (1972). Pozdnieskify v Yugo-ZapadnomKrymu [Late Scythians in the South-Western Crimea]. Kiev: Naukovadumka, 192.
- Yartsev, S.V., Zubarev, V.G., Butovskii, A.Yu. (2015). Greko-varvarskiiKrym v period pozdneiantichnosti (III–IV vv. n.e.: otmorskikhpokhodov do bitvypriAdrianopole) [Greco-Barbaric Crimea in the Late Antiquity Period (3rd-4th century A.D.: From Sea Crusades to the Battle of Adrianople)]. Tula: State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University, 544.
- Zubarev, V.G. (2002). NekotoryevoprosypozdneantichnoiistoriiEvropeiskogoBosporaporezultatamrasko pokgorodishcha u s. Belinskoe [Some Questions of the Late Antique History of European Bosporus as a Result of Excavations of the Settlement near the Belinskoye Village]. DrevnostiBospora, 5, 120-132.
References
Abramzon, M.G., &Frolova, N.A. (2007-2008). Korpusbosporskikhkladovantichnykhmonet. T. I (1834-2005 gg.) [The Corpus of the Bosporan Hoards of Ancient Coins. Vol. I (1834-2005)]. Simferopol; Kerch: ADEF-Ukraina, 872.
Aibabin, A.I. (1999). EtnicheskayaistoriyarannevizantiiskogoKryma [Ethnic History of the Early Byzantine Crimea]. Simferopol: Dar, 350.
Anisimov, A.N. (1989). O prodvizheniiplemengotskogosoyuza v Severo-VostochnoePrichernomore v seredine III v. n.e. (ponumizmaticheskimdannym) [On the Promotion of the Gothic Union Tribes in the North-East Black Sea Region in the Middle of the 3rd Century A.D. (According to Numismatic Data)]. In SkifiyaiBospor [Scythia and
Bosporus], 128-130. Novocherkassk: Publishing House of the Novocherkassk Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks.
Beidin, G.V. (2012). RimskieprovintsialnyemonetynaterritoriiUkrainy v arealechernyakhovskoikultury [Roman Provincial Coins in the Territory of Ukraine in the Area of the Chernyakhov Culture]. In Drevnosti: 2012 [Antiquities: 2012], 11, 147-159). Kharkov: OOO NTMT.
Beidin, G.V. (2015). GotynaBospore: nakhodkimonettsaryaFarsanza v arealechernyakhovskoikultury [Goths on the Bosporus: Finds of Coins of King Pharsanzes in the Area of the Chernyakhov Culture]. In Drevnosti: 2014-2015 [Antiquities: 2014-2015], 13, 138-149. Kharkov: OOO NTMT.
Budanova, V.P. (2001). Goty v epokhuVelikogopereseleniyanarodov [Goths in the Great Migration Period]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteiya, 320.
Desyatchikov, Yu.M.,&Dolgorukov, V.S. (1984). Patrei [Patrei]. In AntichnyegosudarstvaSevernogoPrichernomorya [Antique States of the Northern Black Sea Region], 86. Moscow: Nauka.
Dmitrev, A.D. (1956). Narodnyedvizheniya v vostochnorimskikhprovintsiyakh v period Dunaiskikhvoin III v. (236-278 gg.) [Populations' Movements in the Eastern Roman Provinces during the Danube Wars of the 3rd Century (236-278)]. Vizantiiskiivremennik, VIII, 97-126.
Frolova, N.A. (1980). IstoriyapravleniyaRiskuporida V (242-276 gg.) ponumizmaticheskimdannym [The History of the Reign of Rhescuporis V (242-276) According to Numismatic Data]. Sovetskayaarkheologiya, 3, 58-76.
Frolova, N.A. (1997). MonetnoedeloBospora (seredina I v. do n.e. – seredina IV v. n.e.). Ch. 2. MonetnoedeloBospora 211-341/342 gg. [The Coin Business of the Bosporus (Mid-1st Century B.C. – Mid-4th Century B.C.). Part 2. The Coin Business of the Bosporus 211-341/342]. Moscow: Editorial URSS, 536.
Gaidukevich, V.F. (1949). Bosporskoetsarstvo [The Bosporan Kingdom]. Moscow; Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR], 624.
Golenko, K.V. (1972). Tamanskiikladmonet 1970 g. [Taman Treasure of Coins 1970]. Klio, 54, 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1524/klio.1972.54.54.239 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1524/klio.1972.54.54.239
Golenko, K.V. (1978). TretiiPatreiskiiklad (1970 g.) inekotoryezamechaniya o bosporskoimonetnoichekanke III v. n.e. [The Third Patrei Treasure (1970) and Some Comments on the Bosporus Coinage of the 3rd Century A.D.]. Numizmatikaiepigrafika, XII, 10-40.
Kazanskii, M.M. (2015). GotskoevtorzhenienaBosporKimmeriiskiiiklimat v III v. [Gothic Invasion of the Cimmerian Bosporus and Climate in the 3rd Century]. Bosporskiechteniya, XVI, 180-188.
Korovina, A.K. (2002). Germonassa: AntichnyigorodnaTamanskompoluostrove [Hermonassa: Antique City on the Taman Peninsula]. Moscow: Publishing House of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, 146.
Kruglikova, I.T. (1965). Bospor III-IV vv. v svetenovykharkheologicheskikhissledovanii [Bosporus in the 3rd-4th Centuries in the Light of New Archaeological Research]. KratkiesoobshcheniyaInstitutaarkheologii, 103, 3-10.
Kuzmin, A.G. (2005). Ob etnicheskoiprirodevaryagov (k postanovkeproblemy) [On the Ethnic Nature of the Varangians (to the Statement of the Problem)]. In S.A. Gedeonov, VaryagiiRus [Varangians and Russia], 587-631. Moscow: Russkaya panorama.
Myusse, L. (2006). VarvarskienashestviyanaEvropu: germanskiinatisk [Barbarian Invasions of Europe: German Onslaught]. St. Petersburg: Evraziya, 416.
Oblomskii, A.M. (2002). DneprovskoelesostepnoeLevoberezhe v pozdnerimskoeigunnskoevremya (seredina III – pervayapolovina V v. n.e.) [Dnieper Forest-Steppe Left Bank Area in the Late Roman and Hunnic Time (Mid-3rd – First Half of the 5th Century A.D.)]. Moscow: Nauka, 256.
Pioro, I.S. (1990). KrymskayaGotiya (OcherkietnicheskoiistoriinaseleniyaKryma v pozdnerimskii period iranneesrednevekove) [Crimean Gothia (Essays on the Ethnic History of the Crimean Population in the Late Roman Period and the Early Middle Ages)]. Kiev: Lybid, 197.
Remennikov, A.M. (1954). BorbaplemenSevernogoPrichernomorya s Rimom v III v. n.e. [The Struggle of the Tribes of the Northern Black Sea Region with Rome in the 3rd Century A.D.]. Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 149.
Schukin, M.B. (2005). Gotskii put (goty, Rim ichernyakhovskayakultura) [Gothic Way (the Goths, Rome and the Chernyakhov Culture)]. Saint Petersburg: Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University, 576.
Tikhanova, M.A. (1953). Doros-Feodoro v istoriisrednevekovogoKryma [Doros-Theodoro in the History of Medieval Crimea]. Materialyiissledovaniyapoarkheologii SSSR, 34, 319-333.
Udaltsov, A.D. (1946). PlemenaEvropeiskoiSarmatii II v. n.e. [Tribes of European Sarmatia in the 2nd Century A.D]. Sovetskayaetnografiya, 2, 41-50.
Vasilev, A.A. (2005). O vremenipoyavleniyagermanskikhdruzhinnaBospore [On the Time of the Appearance of German Squads on the Bosporus]. In Bosporskiifenomen [The Bosporus Phenomenon], 343-349. Saint Petersburg: Hermitage.
Veimarn, E.V. (1971). Odne z vazhlivykhpitanrannoserednovichnoÑ—istoriiKrimu [One of the Important Questions of the Early Medieval History of the Crimea]. In SerednivikinaUkrainÑ— [The Middle Ages in Ukraine], 1, 61-65). Kiev: Naukovadumka.
Vysotskaya, T.N. (1972). Pozdnieskify v Yugo-ZapadnomKrymu [Late Scythians in the South-Western Crimea]. Kiev: Naukovadumka, 192.
Yartsev, S.V., Zubarev, V.G., Butovskii, A.Yu. (2015). Greko-varvarskiiKrym v period pozdneiantichnosti (III–IV vv. n.e.: otmorskikhpokhodov do bitvypriAdrianopole) [Greco-Barbaric Crimea in the Late Antiquity Period (3rd-4th century A.D.: From Sea Crusades to the Battle of Adrianople)]. Tula: State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University, 544.
Zubarev, V.G. (2002). NekotoryevoprosypozdneantichnoiistoriiEvropeiskogoBosporaporezultatamrasko pokgorodishcha u s. Belinskoe [Some Questions of the Late Antique History of European Bosporus as a Result of Excavations of the Settlement near the Belinskoye Village]. DrevnostiBospora, 5, 120-132.