1. Topographical location

The ancient city of Theodosia is located at the centre of the south Crimean coastline, where a wide arched bay is formed, under the modern city of Feodosiya on the Karadin hill. No extensive research of the settlement of ancient Theodosia has been carried mainly for two reasons: a) the lack of detailed information in written sources, and b) the limited archaeological evidence. This situation is attributed to the unusual history of this city.

2. The name of the ancient city: origins and problems

Since the Christian times and until the Middle Ages, the city of Theodosia had been abandoned and its name passed into oblivion, only to be revived around the mid-13^th century, when the Genoese built there their most important colony in the Black Sea, Kaffa. The first Genoese settlement developed on the hill of Karadin and it was soon fortified with a defensive wall. The hill quickly became the most densely populated area of Caffa and emerged as the political, financial and cultural centre of the wider region. When the Ottomans captured the city (1475), they preserved this place as the centre of the same region. In 1783, when Crimea was annexed to the Russian Empire, compact strata concealing the remains of the ancient city of Theodosia had already been formed in the area of Caffa. This situation changed in the late 19^th century when works begun for the construction of a new port for the city and the earth begun revealing the ancient and medieval treasures it had silently preserved for many centuries.¹

The name of the ancient city is clearly Greek and this has never been doubted. There is a large debate, however, with respect to the derivation of the city’s name, which had already begun in ancient times. Thus, according to a reference found in the Ulpianus’ scholia on Demosthenes’ Against Leptines (20.33), it appears that the name derived from that “of the sister or spouse of [Leucon I, king of the Kingdom of Bosporus²] although there is disagreement on this”.³ Ancient authors used two different versions of the name of the settlement: Theodosia and Theudosie.⁴ This phenomenon is also observed in the early inscriptions of the Kingdom of Bosporus.⁵ The anonymous author of the Periplous of the Black Sea⁶ informs us that “Theudosia is today called Ardabda in Alan (the local Taurian dialect), and means ‘heptatheos’ (=of seven gods)”. Certain numismatists interpreted the epithet ‘heptatheos’ as ‘gift of the gods’ (the meaning of Theodosia) and correlated it with the colonising activities of the Greeks in that region. More specifically it was held that Greek colonists, upon their arrival in the area where they later founded Theodosia, discovered a pre-existing local population whose name was translated in Greek and used to name their new settlement.⁷

3. Foundation of the city

From the reports of ancient writers we know that the settlement of Theodosia was founded by Milesian colonists at some point in the 6^th cent. BC. The precise date of its foundation is not clear today. The dates that are usually mentioned are 570 BC,⁸ the mid-6^th cent. BC⁹ or, more generally, the second half of the 6^th cent. BC.¹⁰ This is due to the scarce archaeological evidence available to scholars. As in the case of other Greek settlements on the Black Sea coastline, the following tragic event would have occurred in Theodosia; as the sea level begun to rise, a section of the ancient Greek colony was gradually submerged (see below).

As a result, the archaeological finds that are dated to the 6^th cent. BC are very few.¹¹ The small number of earlier finds that have been unearthed in the site of the settlement date to the second half of the 6^th cent. BC, while most belong to the late 6^th and the early 5^th cent. BC.¹² It is beyond doubt, however, that the city of Theodosia was founded in the last stage of ancient Greek colonization, which took place between the 8^th and the 6^th cent. BC. It is interesting that it was founded in a place very remote from all the other cities of the Cimmerian Bosporus. Its colonizers obviously did not manage to secure another, closer to the other Greek cities, site for their settlement, probably because all other suitable spots had already been taken up by the earlier colonizing activities of the Ionians, the Milesians in particular, in the wider region of the Cimmerian Bosporus and of Crimea in general.

4. Theodosia in the 5th cent. BC.

For the years of Theodosia’s independence, during the 5^th cent. BC, we have very few references in ancient authors. The only available evidence is a piece of information preserved by the anonymous author of the Periplous.¹³According to it, some exiles from the state of Bosporus had sought refuge in the city. It is believed that this took place in the 5^th cent. BC and that the exiles originated from Panticapaeum. More specifically, it is believed that a group of citizens, who were opposed to the new dynasty of the Spartocids, was exiled and arrived in the hospitable city of Theodosia. According to the available evidence, the new royal dynasty of Panticapaeum rose to power in Bosporus in 438 BC.¹⁴ Perhaps these are the same exiles mentioned by Isocrates in his Trapeziticus.¹⁵ Throughout the 5^th cent. BC Theodosia was the only city, apart from Nymphaeum, that could commercially rival the kingdom of Bosporus in eastern Crimea and maintained direct trading relations with the city of Athens. Consequently, military conflict between these two states was only a matter of time (see below).

5. Excavational activities and finds

During the works for the construction of the harbour of Theodosia in the 19^th century, engineer A.L. Berthier de Lagarde managed to collect a large number of finds which were later exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Theodosia and the Archaeological Museum of Odessa. During the dredging works, the same engineer discovered approximately 4,000 wooden poles belonging to the medieval or ancient dock. Later L.P. Kolly, with the help of divers, discovered 15 ancient Greek amphorae between these poles, which led him to the obvious conclusion that the dock would have been constructed in ancient times. This conclusion is well-founded, for, according to certain modern scientists, the coastline of the Crimean Peninsula was quite different in ancient times. It is estimated that in the 5^th and 6^th cent. BC, when the sea level in the Pontus was much lower, the coast in the bay of Theodosia would have been located at a distance of approximately 100 m. from the modern coast. When later the water of the Black Sea rose, many parts of the ancient city submerged, including its harbour.

Systematic excavations were commenced by archaeologist Ι.Β. Zeest¹⁶ after the end of WWII, between 1949 and 1951, and later by B.G. Peters¹⁷ between 1975 and 1977. These excavations were conducted on the Karadin hill, within the medieval castle, and resulted in the unearthing of remains from ancient Greek strata, some at a depth of no less than 5m. A thick fire stratum was discovered, dating to the early 4^th cent. BC, which according to Zeest’s opinion, should be associated with the war between Theodosia and the Kingdom of Bosporus (see below). The Greek strata contained remains of 5^th, 4^th and 3^rd cent. BC buildings, as well as material from the Early Christian period.

It is noteworthy that during these excavations the remains of a 1^st cent. BC metalworking workshop came to light, with rich archaeological finds. Following these excavational successes, archaeologists Zeest and Peters argued that this spot was the site of the ancient city of Theodosia. Between 1977 and 1994 the Archaeological Museum of Theodosia continued excavations in the area of the ancient necropolis, where once more the Greek origin of the population was proved, confirming the earlier ascertainment of Μ. Ι. Rostovtsev that the necropolis of Theodosia had a clearly Greek character.¹⁸

6. Theodosia in the 4th cent. BC.

The 4^th cent. BC brought extensive upheavals in a large part of central and eastern Crimea. We have already mentioned that the city of Theodosia was an aggressive rival of the dynasties of the Kingdom of Bosporus in the field of local Black Sea and international trade during the previous century. The situation had reached a critical point, and a solution had to be given to this intense problem the Spartocids were faced with. When in 438 BC Satyrus I, the founder of this dynasty, came to power in Panticapaeum, he decided to strike a powerful blow at the competition. The only way out of this problem was a military conflict between the two rivals, with the aim of annexing Theodosia into the Spartocid state. Thus the first decades of the 4^th cent. BC are dominated by a fierce conflict between Theodosia and Panticapaeum. According to the surviving ancient sources, the Spartocid king and founder of the dynasty, Satyrus Ι, died during the siege¹⁹ of Theodosia in c.389/388 BC.²⁰ Taking this into consideration, the outbreak of the war should be roughly dated between 390 and 380 BC.²¹

The precise date of the war is impossible to ascertain. The only thing certain is that Satyrus’ successor, Leucon I, managed to fulfill his father’s ambitions, and annexed Theodosia into the Kingdom of Bosporus. There are several hypotheses and theories on the date the war ended. Usually it is dated to the early 350s BC, without this being certain.²² In the ancient sources the city of Heraclea Pontica is presented as a helper and ally of Theodosia in its protracted struggle to maintain its independence, without, however, providing any clues as to the reasons why this city was interested in the outcome of this war. Another city that aided Theodosia was the Tauric Chersonesus. Heraclea Pontica, though, was the city that offered the most substantial aid in the city’s war against Bosporus, probably for the following two reasons: a) Heraclea was worried that, should Theodosia come under the control of the Bosporus dynasts, sooner or later the entire peninsula would follow, and b) Bosporus and Heraclea had a long-standing feud over control of the Sindice region, Taurica and Olvia. It is thought that the war between the two states (Bosporus and Heraclea) ultimately revolved around the control of the rich and fertile agricultural lands of Theodosia’s hinterland and its harbour.²³

In fact, the agricultural lands of Theodosia could have provided a very serious reason for the outbreak of such a large scale and long war. Heraclea, having already founded two large colonies in the Black Sea (one to the west, Callatis,²⁴ and one in Crimea, the Taurian Chersonesus)²⁵ had been for long (i.e. before the war between Theodosia and Panticapaeum broke out in the early 4^th cent. BC) contemplating seriously to expand its dominion into the Black Sea. For this reason it is very likely that it coveted the independent commercial power of Theodosia. Unfortunately for Heraclea, the rulers of Bosporus managed to start the war first.

After the end of the war and the final annexation of Theodosia into the Kingdom of Cimmerian Bosporus in the mid-4^th cent. BC, the Spartocid dynasts gained control of the chora of the city. Recent archaeological research in the hinterland of Theodosia proved that it was very extensive and it was systematically exploited: apart from the immediate hinterland, which covered an area of 300-400 hectares directly outside the city’s walls, there was a plain to the northeast which also belong to Theodosia’s dominion.²⁶ This plain contained 16 unfortified settlements dating to the 5^th cent. BC, inhabited by mixed populations. During the 4^th cent. BC, large Scythian populations begin to arrive and settle in this area, with the number of settlements reaching 60 and the hinterland experiencing its greater expansion.²⁷ These settlements, together with the immediate hinterland, guaranteed the city’s independence. Ancient authors place great emphasis on the agricultural lands of Theodosia.²⁸

7. The city’s coinage

Because of its financial robustness, which as mentioned it was due to its chora and harbour, Theodosia minted silver coins (c. 430 BC), while in the early 4^th cent. BC new bronze coinage testifies to the city’s continued financial vigour. This new coinage, however, did not circulate for long, for with the annexation of the city into the Kingdom of Bosporus, minting activities in Theodosia came to an abrupt stop.²⁹