Phanagoria and Abdera from the Archaic to the Roman period
Balla, Aikaterini
Around the middle of the 6th century B.C. Teos, an Ionian polis, founded, as a result of the Persian attack and the destruction of Teos itself in 547 B.C., almost simultaneously, two colonies: Phanagoria on the Taman peninsula in the Black Sea (ca. 542 B.C.) and Abdera on the Thracian shores (ca. 545 B.C.). While both colonies have been studied under the scope of various research areas (architecture, religion, coinage etc.) and, moreover, in reference to their metropolis-notably Abdera, whereas Phanagoria mainly in terms of chronological and foundation issues- there has been no attempt to date to study exclusively the similarities and controversies between the two Teian colonies themselves. The current study aims at the comparative examination of the cities in regards to several aspects of their development following their foundation, in order to explore whether any kind of connection existed between them, the nature and the degree of their relationship with their mother city and the factors that determined the eventual formation and shaping of their cultural identity. The methodology of the current study was based on a comparative analysis of the available archaeological material of both cities, supplemented by the ancient literary and epigraphic sources. The results of the study determine whether the two colonies shared common traits, following patterns of the metropolis. In addition, the present study highlights the relations between the colonies and the indigenous populations and identify, as far as the evidence allows, the extent of the influence of the indigenous culture on the formation and development of the Teian colonies.
