Grain and Mercenaries. A Reappraisal of the Relationship between Arkadia and Bosporos in the Time of Leukon I
Grain and Mercenaries. A Reappraisal of the Relationship between Arkadia and Bosporos in the Time of Leukon I

Summary/Abstract: Four inscriptions dating from the 4th century BC, found in Pantikapaion, Phanagoria, and Olbia, represent a small corpus attesting to the existence of contacts between Arkadia and the Greek cities on the North Pontic coast. The one found in Pantikapaion in 1829 – a fragmentary honorary decree of the Arkadians for Leukon I – was amply discussed in modern literature, whereas the others were only briefly examined in relation to it. Two main conflicting interpretations were advanced: either one or more bands of Arkadian mercenaries served Leukon I and honored him by erecting the inscription from Pantikapaion, or the Arkadian League that functioned in the 360s BC developed political and commercial ties with the Bosporan Kingdom and Olbia, probably centred on obtaining better conditions for the grain trade, which might explain the enactment of the honorary decree. A few additional epigraphic and historical remarks included in the pre-sent paper support the mercenary hypothesis. However, the wider perspective on the recruitment of foreign troops in the 4th century BC shows that the military ties between Bosporos and Arkadia could have been doubled by commercial ones, too.

• Details
• Contents