The Greek word for “happy” is Olbia. In 647–646 BC, immigrants from Miletus established the most significant Greek colony in Lower Bug, in the delta of the Hypanis (Bug) and Borysthenes (Dnipro). Its name evolved over the years, from Sabia to Borysthenes to Olbia. The city of Pontic Olbia was around 120 acres in size during its peak in the third century BC. The ruins of its namesake city may be found on the right bank of the Bug estuary, not far from the settlement of Parutyne in the Ochakiv district of the Mykolaiv region.
The city of Pontic Olbia was around 120 acres in size during its peak in the third century BC.
The Layout of the Pontic Olbia
The area may have had a minor Scythian village before the Greek colonization. Archaeological artifacts such as Scythian-style animal-shaped jewelry, bronze mirrors, and molded ceramics all attest to this.
Under the Greeks, Olbia had a rectilinear plan, walls and towers for defense, and a skyline covered with tiled stone structures used for government, commerce, and industry (including mosaic courtyards in certain cases). The squares and principal roadways, paved with stone slabs, were ornamented with sculptures of gods and heroes, stone-carved portraits of prominent residents, and marble slabs containing decrees of the city-state administration. The agora, Olbia’s major public square, was located in the city’s hilly heart.
It had a seven-room public house for religious ceremonies and commercial gatherings, with painted plaster walls, a gigantic altar, and artificial stone reservoirs as part of a massive hydraulic complex. Various public facilities, including a theater and a hippodrome, as well as a gymnasium (a school for young people), surrounded the agora.
North of the agora was a temenos (holy place) with temples, sanctuaries, altars, and altars; homes were made of stone and raw brick, with the wealthiest being embellished with columns, frescoes, and mosaics. The city’s pipelines for delivering water were vast. Around the city was a necropolis, or cemetery. To the north and south of Olbia, there were hundreds of communities and unfortified villages of Greek immigrants and the native populace.
In reality, there were actually two levels of terraces that connected the city. The estuary and a harbor could be seen from the lower terrace. The agora was located on the rooftop plaza.
Pontic Olbia in 600–500 BC
When the first era (about 600–500 BC) began, Olbia was only a little village. In the second half of the sixth century BC, in addition to dugouts and half-dugouts, the city featured a holy sanctuary and a major square (temenos and agora). The development of these features, as well as the commencement of the manufacturing of its own molten bronze currency in the shape of dolphins, testified to the state creation of Olbia.
During this time, a number of outlying communities sprang up around the city (about 70 have been uncovered so far). A large percentage of the population moved to Olbia from outlying areas towards the beginning of the fifth century BC. Changes in the quantity and quality of buildings, as well as the proliferation of mud-brick homes, attest to the polis’ growing significance.
The North Gate, which marks the beginning of the Main Longitudinal Street, the agora, temenos, hydraulic system, Eastern and Western shopping arcades, gymnasium, dicastery (court of justice), defensive wall of the Roman citadel, temples, workshops, burial grounds, and residences have all been identified as important discoveries by archaeologists in Pontic Olbia.
The remnants of the Pontic Olbia buildings are mostly made up of small stones, shards of masonry, and layered bases that served as foundations for the ground walls of buildings. The bases were created by digging pits and filling them with layers of earthy-ash and loess-clay soil, which resulted in a 2 to 12 inches thick layer. The main altar, which is a reference to Olbian construction expertise, and the drainage systems are the only two outliers. Since even their layered foundations are severely ruined (such as the temples of Zeus, Apollo Delphinium, etc.), certain structures in the reserve are shown according to schematic drawings in a restored condition.
Nonetheless, researchers have definitively determined the purpose of various discoveries: The gymnasium features some unusual bathing facilities, such as three stone tanks for heating water that were brought in via a ceramic conduit. A great number of shards with names carved on them were discovered on the site of the old dicastery (court), only the layered foundation of which has remained. Ostracon was the name given to the fragments used as evidence in legal proceedings and as ballots. The term “ostracize” has its origins in this context. Voting tokens made of bronze (psephoi) were also discovered there.
The Olbia Polis citizens had several beautiful mansions. People were housed in different areas connected by confined corridors. Dugouts and half-dugouts dating back to the sixth century BC were discovered. These are typically 65-160 square feet chambers with adobe walls that are 8-100 inches below ground level. Each dugout housed a family of three to five people. Later structures, notably affluent residences, were built from raw materials, over stone bases, and topped with tiles or adobe. Apparently for sewage disposal, several of them included water tanks and drainage systems.
Governmental Structure
Slavery was legal in Pontic Olbia at the time of the Greeks. Slaves controlled all branches of government, including the legislature (assembly and council) and the executive branch (colleges of archons, strategists, agoranomos, etc.). The settlements and villages of Olbia’s agricultural sector were populated by Greeks and people from indigenous tribes who practiced agriculture, cattle raising, fishing, and winemaking.
The city’s residents and the Scythians, Sarmatians, and other tribes who lived across much of what is now Ukraine benefited from the city’s flourishing metalworking, pottery, woodworking, stonemasonry, bone carving, spinning, weaving, etc. industries. Slaves were the most valuable commodity that Olbia obtained in return for its craftsmanship.
It was from the states of the Greek metropolis that Olbian merchants exported a great deal of wine, olive oil, fine crockery, textiles, jewelry, works of art, and the like. Olbia minted its own currency—mostly copper and silver, and occasionally gold—to facilitate local and international commerce. The populace of Olbia maintained relations with Athens, Corinth, Rhodes, Pergamom, Alexandria, and Asia Minor (Turkey).
Pontic Olbia in 500-300 BC
It was at the cost of the Scythians that the Pontic Olbia’s population was repopulated when the Scythian protectorate was established in the 440s. At this time, the palace of the Scythian king Scyles was built in the city.
Herodotus, a Greek historian, traveled to the city in the fifth century BC and wrote about the intermarrying of Greeks and Scythians. Scythian King Skylus even married a Greek lady from his area who could speak the language well.
Olbia and Miletus signed an agreement for dual citizenship (i.e., isopoliteia) in the fifth century BC. They were part of the Athens-based Delian League.
Olbia had robust commercial contacts with mainland Greece, Greek towns in Asia Minor, and northern Egypt during the sixth and fourth centuries BC. Terracotta items, painted vases, and jewelry from the cities of Rhodes, Samos, Chios, Corinth, and Clazomenae are proof of this. The ancient Greek city of Naucratis in northern Egypt produced some of the rarest alabaster vases ever discovered, and they were unearthed at Olbia.
Ceramics with black-figure vase paintings and sculptures were transported from Athens since there were no deposits of natural stone near Olbia. The city of Miletus was renowned for its colorful terracotta cornices. In the nineteenth century, this portion of the archaeological accomplishments was moved to the Imperial Hermitage in Russia.
Rulers
- Pausanias (c. 490–480 BC)
- Timnus (c. 480–470 BC)
- Aric (c. 470–460 BC)
- Eminak (c. 460–440 BC)
- Kallinikos of Euxenus (4th century BC), establishment of democracy, member of the Delian League.
Coins from Olbia
As early as the sixth century BC, Olbia issued its own coins.
Olbia Polis was a city-state in ancient Greece that cast its coins in special molds in the forms of arrows, dolphins, and fish instead of minting them. And instead of expensive silver, they utilized copper. The obverse of Olbian coins often features Athena’s head in a helmet or Medusa-Gorgon. The other side had an eagle and a dolphin design. The contemporary stone ceiling above the entrance of the National Historic and Archaeological Reserve “Olbia” in Ukraine has a reverse-stamped version of this coin as Olbia’s logo.
Coins were in high demand, but the native currency, known as a “fish,” was also in use. The bronze “fish” were really small, token coins. There are also examples of “fish” coins that include the names of the local Olbian leaders whose tenure coincided with the minting of the currency.
The first Olbian Borysthenes (a Greek God of the Dnipro River) coins were struck in 331 BC under the supervision of coinage magistrate Callinicus Euxinus.
The Hellenistic City of Olbia
In 331 BC, Alexander the Great‘s commander Zopyrion led a siege against the city of Olbia, but it held out. In the same year, with help from Scythian allies, the siege was broken. Euergetes Kallinikus Euxinus, who is referenced in an Olbian ordinance praising him, may have contributed to the city’s defense.
Beads, terracotta figurines, and figured jars from the Hellenistic era attest to the close relations that the region maintained with Northern Egypt at the time. Among the most intriguing artifacts are marble heads (perhaps of the deity Asclepius, a Greek god of medicine, and his daughter Hygeia). The Hermitage Museum houses all of these ancient artifacts in Russia.
Pontic Olbia in 1st–2nd Centuries BC
Hostile Tribes
Conflicts between military forces and barbarian tribes flared up around the end of the third century BC. Scythian monarchs invaded the city, and their portraits appear on Olbian coinage from the time. In Olbia, another marble edict commemorating the rich merchant Protogenes was discovered.
The Russian National Library has a stone in their collection with an inscription that says, “He gave money for the construction of new fortress walls around the city to somehow protect Olbia from the barbarian invasion.”
A Take Over
The Pontic Olbia underwent a serious economic and social catastrophe in the 1st–2nd centuries BC. During that period, Olbia was often targeted by hostile tribes. Scythia, a state, governed the area for a while until Pontic King Mithridates VI Eupator took the city.
The city was destroyed in 48 BC by the Goths, headed by King Burebista.
The End of the Pontic Olbia
The Pontic Olbia was only partially reconstructed in its original location in the first century AD. The revival of manufacturing, commerce, and agriculture resumed, but they never again attained their former glory. Olbia relied on two Scythian monarchs during this time. The Scythian social stratum flourished, and its affluent members became active in governance.
In the late eighties and early nineties, the Greek philosopher and orator Dio Chrysostom came to the city. The ongoing warfare with nomads and the inflow of barbarians into the city are blamed by him in his notes for the city’s downfall.
During the second century AD, Rome had control over the area. Ababa, a member of the powerful Eurybiades family led a revitalization of the city during this period. He was an archon (ruler) of Olbia.
In 251, a Roman garrison established itself in a newly constructed fortress in the city’s hilly region, high above a gorge. The Goths destroyed Pontic Olbia in the fourth century.
Hun raids around the turn of the fourth century wiped down Olbia for good.
Pontic Olbia in Modern Times
Predatory archaeological digs have been carried out in the area of Pontic Olbia since the beginning of the 19th century. Olbian’s suburbs were used to house ex-Soviet inmates, making it an easy target for predatory excavations by local hooligans during the Soviet period.
It was easy to acquire archaeological artifacts, old pottery, and coins from local folks for a minimal fee. The ancient Greek city was partially demolished to provide building materials. Therefore, Olbia does not have a comprehensive picture of local architecture, like in Chersonesus near Sevastopol, another ancient Greek colony.
There has been a lack of protection for the site for decades. But since 1971, the Olbia Expedition by the Ukrainian Institute of the Academy of Sciences has been undertaking systematic study.
References
- Expedition Magazine | Olbia Pontica and the ‘Olbian Muse’ (penn.museum)
- The Southern Temenosin Pontic Olbia (Preliminary Results of the Investigation) | Request PDF (researchgate.net)
- Graffiti from the Southern Temenos in Pontic Olbia in: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia Volume 21 Issue 2 (2015) (brill.com)