The Export of Slaves from Colchis

Abstract

Polybius in a familiar passage, lists goods moving past Byzantium between the Mediterranean. world and the Black Sea region; among these goods, slaves are accorded a prominent place:…as regards necessities it is an unidsputed fact that the most plentiful supplies and best qualities of of cattle and slaves reach us from the countries lying round the Pontus, while among luxuries the same countries furnish us with an abundance of honey, wax and preserved fish; from the surplus of our countries they take olive-oil and every kind of wine. As for grain, there is give and-take – with them sometimes supplying us when we require it and sometimes importing it from us

The Silver Phiale Mesomphalos From the Kuban (Northern Caucasus)

“…HI'EMONOCEIMITOM@ACI - This phiale provides a direct indication that there had been a temple to Apollo in Phasis, a city situated in Colchis founded by the Milesians in the middle of the sixth century BC as part of the Greek colonization of the eastern part of the Black Sea region (Tsetskhladze 1992b; 1994). Inscriptions featuring dedications and graffiti to Apollo occur often (Johnston 1989, 131-4;1989. In this inscription the combination of the words Apollo and Hegemon is unusual.…”

“…In myths and rituals the animal and the deity, or the servants of the deity, seem almost to share an identity. The deer is no exception (Bevan 1986, 100;1987;1989). It was a natural victim of Artemis, the goddess of hunting, who as early as Homer was characterised by her delight in the pursuit of boars and swift deer (Odyssey 6, 102-104).…”

“…1979,214-5). Nor can we rule out pirate raids by tribes such as the Heniochoi, Achaioi or Zygoi who lived in the north-eastern part of Colchis and grew prosperous thanks to piracy and the sale of plunder in the Bosporan Kingdom (Braund and Tsetskhladze 1989 , 115-9). The cup from Phasis may well have made its way to the Sarmatians in the Kuban via Bosporan markets.…”

Making Sense of Nonsense Inscriptions Associated with Amazons and Scythians on Athenian Vases

“…22. On sources of slaves in Athens, see Braund and Tsetskhladze 1989;Tsetskhladze 2008;Braund 2011. 23.…”

Brill's Companion to Herodotus

“…The extent of the raids by which the Scythians could supply their wants and satisfy a taste for portable luxuries is 33 Formally this sentence is ambiguous, as it could refer to slave-girls serving the Scythians; but a reference to girls sold into service in Greece better suits his argument. 34 See further Rostovzeff (1922) 212, Finley (1962, Braund and Tsetskhladze (1989). 3S See further Sinor (1990) 1-18.…”