Early Cross-Culture Settlement on the Northern Black Sea Coast Scyles was a Scythian prince who led a double life. He was a prince of the Scythian nomads who controlled a large area surrounding the Greek colonies on the northern Black Sea coast. But like all great Greek plays, his story is a tragedy. Scyles was fascinated by the city of Olbia and the high culture of the Greeks. So he created a second life for himself within the walls of Olbia; he kept a Geek wife and built a palace to live in.. He dressed in Greek robes and participated in the Greek religious festivals. However this was his secret for he never told nor shared this part of himself with his nomad tribesmen. His was a world of duality. One day during the celebrations of Dionysus, some of Scyles’ tribesmen came to peer over the city walls and saw their prince parading down the avenue leading the Greek procession in their festivities. It is easy to estimate what happened. Scyles was found out and forced to flee, he sought asylum in Thrace but was handed back for execution to his usurping brother. Treason of nation has always been a capital crime. The story of Scyles is an important because it gives us a glimpse into the world of the Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast. Although they were founded and cultivated by the Greeks, it was ultimately the peoples of the region, mainly the Scyths whose future the cities hands lay in. Archaeologically we can see a unique blend of the two civilizations working together and in opposition to control the power and economy of this regionThe city of Olbia was one of the most influential of the Black Sea colonies, and although not the largest it was one of the oldest and had a critical geographical position that gave it its prestige. Archaeologically, Olbia provides an opportunity to examine a classic Greek colony as well as a glimpse at the interaction of two cultures developing alongside each other. OlbiaThe existin...
