Panticapeum or Bosporus
Panticapeum or Bosporus

On the double name of the capital of the Bosporus

Author(s): Evgeny Alexandrovich Molev
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Bosporan Kingdom; Pontus; Panticapaeum; Archaeanaktids; Spartokids; policy
Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the history of the issue of the double name of the capital of the Bosporan state – “Panticapaeum” and “Bosporus”. The author briefly describes the research of his predecessors and gives his assessment of the origin and understanding of both terms. The special importance of the main source in this issue – Diodorus Siculus is noted. Archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of this or that version are considered separately. In the process of the study, the author identifies the names of the capital of Bosporus, given in the works of ancient authors, monuments of epigraphy and numismatics, and gives them a brief description, which allows clarifying the time of appearance and duration of the existence of both terms. In conclusion, the author gives an explanation of the reasons for such an unusual phenomenon for the ancient world, when the name of the policy and the city diverge.

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