Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast.

Episode 53, the Bosporing Kingdom, Greeks of the Crimea The Black Sea is an often neglected area when it comes to the broader framework of the ancient world,

and at the same time it can provide us with unusual case studies that prove to be extremely interesting.

The Bosporan kingdom,

sent along the modern Strait of Kirch, was a curious mixture of cultures and peoples.

During the Hellenistic period, it was largely settled by Greek colonists, ruled by a dynasty

of Thracians known as the Sparta kids, and was closely tied to the nomadic step tribes like

the Schithians and Sarmations. In some ways, the

Bosporians can be considered among the first examples of a Hellenistic society, largely isolated

from the fairs of the successor kingdoms until their independence came to an end in the first century

BC. In this episode, we will talk about the history of the Bosporus and the Sparta kids, their

relations with the wider Greek and the Sparta kids, their relations

with the wider Greek and Hellenistic world, and end our miniseries on Asia Minor and the Black

Sea. The Black Sea region was something of a wild west, a frontier land inhabited with

dangers both real and imagined. Sailing the Yuxain Pontus could be quite treacherous, and while it translates

to the friendly sea, this was more of an ironic name bequeathed upon the Black Sea after it had

been tamed by Greek settlers. Exploration was originally limited to heroes of legend, such as the

strongman, Heracles, or the unfaithful Jason and his Argonauts, who had to deal with

monsters and wild women like the Amazons or the Witch Medea. Besides the realm of myth,

there were actual barbarian tribes living along or near the coastline that performed human

sacrifice and turned skulls into drinking cups. Yet by the 6th century, a large number of expeditions organized by Ionian Greeks

planted colonies, apoichi, around the Black Sea, and its northernmost part would be where the

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