Some Notes to the Name(s) of Chersonesus Taurica
Some Notes to the Name(s) of Chersonesus Taurica
Author(s): Alexander Vasiljevič PodossinovSubject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Social history, Ancient World
Published by: Muzeul de Istorie Națională și Arheologie Constanța
Keywords: renaming of ancient cities; Chersonesus Taurika; ancient names; Pliny the Elder; Strabo; ancient sources;
Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the possible names of Tauric Chersonesus that Pliny the Elder mentions in his “Natural History” (IV, 85: Heraclea Cherronesus, libertate a Romanis donatum; Megarice vocabatur antea). In this phrase, some historians see the presence of three independent names of the city – Heraclea, Cherronesus and Megarice. The article proves that Heraclea and Megarice appear in Pliny’s text not as separate names but as definitions aimed to show the connection between Chersonesus and its metropolises and to distinguish it from the other cities with this name. The same definition of the origin of the city seems to be the mention of a certain, otherwise unknown, Heraclea together with the name of the city of Callatis in the Western Black Sea region that is mentioned by Pliny (IV, 44: Thracia ... urbes habet, Histropolin Milesiorum, Tomos, Callatim, quae antea Cerbatis vocabatur, Heracleam ...).
Journal: Pontica
- Issue Year: 2022
- Issue No: 55 SppVIII
- Page Range: 135-142
- Page Count: 8
- Language: English
