- Chersonesus Taurica, also known as the Bosporan Kingdom, was the name for the Crimean peninsular and its capital city shared the same name. It consisted of the Crimean Peninsular and included the Eastern Crimea on the other side of the Kerch Strait.
- The Ruins of the city are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are located 3 miles (5km) west of Sevastopol. The nearby Roman fortress and naval base of Charax controlled the Black Sea.
Roman Sites
- Chersonesus Taurica (Ruins)
- The site holds the remains of Greek, Roman and Byzantine buildings
- Walls and Towers
- Amphitheatre
- Greek Temple
- ‘1935 Basilica’
- Tombstones
- The site holds the remains of Greek, Roman and Byzantine buildings
Museums
- National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesus
- Located at Davnya Street, 1, Sevastopol.
- The museum has 5,000 artefacts on display out of a collection of 200,000.
History (8 BCE-341 CE)
- Roman Client Kingdom
- Between 8 BCE – 341 CE Rome made Chersonesus Taurica (the Crimea) a Roman Client Kingdom.
- In 14 BCE, King Aspurgus was officially accepted by Augustus and named by the Roman Senate as a Roman Client King and given the Roman name ‘Tiberius Julius’.
- After his death in 38 CE his Dynastic Heirs continued reigning using the name ‘Tiberius Julius’ until 341 CE.
- Roman Province (63-68 CE)
- Between 63-68 CE, it was briefly made into a Roman Province, by Nero.
- In 69 CE Galba returned it to become a Roman Client Kingdom.
- After 341 CE the Record is lost of what happened to this Kingdom.
- Legio XI Claudia
- This Legion was based in nearby Moesia Inferior.
- They sent detachments to maintain the Roman Fortress, Naval base and Roman City called Charax.
- Charax
- The Ruins of this Roman Fortress were found nearby between Yalta and Alupka.
- Grain Fleet
- There may also have been a Black Sea Grain Fleet based either in the Sea of Azov or at Chersonesus Taurica.
Geography
- Sea of Azov
- The Sea of Azov is an inland Sea connected to the the Black Sea by a 2.5 mile (4km) Strait known as the Kerch Strait.
- It is bordered by Russia to the east, Ukraine to the west and the Crimea to the southwest. The River Don empties into the Sea of Azov.
- The Kerch Strait
- The Kerch Strait is the body of water connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. It is 22 miles (35km) long and 2 miles (3km) wide. The Romans called it the Cimmerianus Bosporus. The Strait can ice over in winter and become blocked.
- Sarmatia The Ukraine
- The Ukraine was known as Sarmatia or Scythia to the Romans.
- Pinsk Marshes
- Up the nearby river Dnieper, and along the northern border of the Ukraine, runs the Pripyat River, a tributary of the Dnieper.
- The Pinsk Marshes, an enormous region of wetlands, run along the Pripyat River. They stretch from Brest in Belarus to Kiev in Ukraine, where the Pripyat River joins the river Dnieper.
- The Marshes were mentioned by the 6th century CE historian, Procopius (500-560 CE), in the ‘Wars of Justinian’.
- They are noted for being virtually impassable to armies from the Byzantine era up to WWI and WWII.
Silk Road
- The Bosporan Kingdom was one of the Routes on the Silk Road.
- In the Ancient World, trade passed out of China, through Afghanistan, down the River Oxus into both the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea.
- The Volga discharges into the Caspian Sea. There is a short overland connection where the River Don passes close to the Volga.
- The Don then flows through the Sea of Azov and into the Black Sea, past the Crimean Peninsular and its Port.
National Preserve of Chersonesus Taurica, Sebastopol