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| Ukraine is @ the centre of 'The New Cold War' |
Ukraine has been a major flashpoint in terms of world conflict since the beginning of the country’s civil war in early 2014. From this point until now, Ukraine has been a major news story. As perhaps the centre of the ‘new Cold War’ it is necessary for news consumers (& learned people) to understand at least some contextual history of Ukraine. For Ukraine has not always existed, and as a national idea has a much shorter ‘history’ than, say, a unified China.
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| Flag of the Hellenistic Bosporan Kingdom |
So what was occupying the modern territory of Ukraine before ‘Ukraine’? It turns out that the area has a rich & exciting history behind it. Many languages have been spoken, many spiritualities practiced, & many cultures developing have been a part of the Ukrainian (pre)history. An obvious place to start, controlling for personal interest & jumping to the ‘Classical Age,’ we find that Ukraine was a major centre on the periphery of Hellenistic culture. The powerful, culturally Greek Bosporan kingdom is first-and-foremost among these Greek-Ukrainian polities. The Bosporan kingdom occupied what is now known as the Crimean peninsula (today claimed by both Ukraine & the Russian Federation), & was ruled by a succession of semi-legendary rulers of high repute. Apparently this older empire specialized in the trading of slaves, that is, live human beings captures from outside the Hellenic world. Bosporous maintained very close ties to the Athenian City-State, & could provide the esteemed city with slaves for labour, funneled from Central Europe, Asia, or perhaps even the Caucasus. In a sense, Bosporous functioned to fuel the ‘underside’ of the Athenian order, though it was not viewed that way at the time, of course.
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| Helenus, King of Bosporous, Son of Priam & Hecuba, Brother of Prophetess Cassandra |
Along with the spoken Greek language, the Polytheistic faith practiced in Achaea was also present here in Bosporous. The story of Bospouran leader Helenus betrays the close ties between Greece & Bosporous at this time. Helenus, who became one of the early kings of Crimea, was the brother of the Trojan Prophetess Cassandra. In accounts of the fall of Troy, he is also known as Scamandrios. Helenus somehow survived & became quite successful, ruling over a vast realm as King of Bosporous. Of the members of the Trojan diaspora, Helenus was a fortunate inhabitant of a rather unfortunate city. Even when he lived in Troy, prior to its fall, he was renowned for his ability to see into the future. Unlike the disbelief & ignorance that befell Cassandra, Helenus was believed by the leadership of Troy. Despite this, it was Cassandra who was given the ability as an Apollonian boon first. Cassandra then taught this power to her brother, he seemed to have more success in converting it into practical use (Cassandra was never listened to).
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| A Medieval rendering of the ancient city of Troy |
Not only was Helenus a member of Troy’s royal family (He was a Prince), but he also participated in the war. The future king of the Bosporous participated in a Trojan raid against the Greek camp “on the west plains” of Troy. These forced were led by the brother of Helenus, Hector, who was also a prince. Unlike Hector, Helenus survived and thrived after the war. In the midst of this, Helenus prophesied the founding of Rome. This is ironic, as it was the empire that sprang up from Rome that ended up subjugating, then puppeteering the Bospouran kingdom much later.
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| Bosporan money depicts one of Helenus' successors |
Independent kings of Bosporous followed Helenus: Priam II, Helenus II, Priam III, Archaeanax, Satyrus, Satyrus II. A queen, Dynamis, led the kingdom into its terminal period as a Roman client state. Rome was changing as a polity itself, making the transition from Republic to Empire, and was subjugating several neighbouring nations that had previously existed on the periphery of the Greek world (which was now in total Roman control). In the years since Helenus, Greece had deteriorated as a nexus of political power (if not cultural power), and the new leaders of Crimea submitted to Rome. Dynamis was installed by the Romans after a bizarre & quite complicated succession struggle by her relatives. The figured she would serve as a reliable client Queen, grateful to be given power over her squabbling male rival relatives. They were correct in this assumption.
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| Early-Modern depiction of the Hunnic invasions |
In the 200’s, the balance of power in eastern begin to shift dramatically. The disruption did not derive from any of the recognized centres of power in the Roman world, but from the very sorts of migrating tribes that would later cripple & supplant it. After the year 200, tribes that had previously occupied the steppe began to move into peripheral ‘civilized ‘ nations, such as Bosporous. This was devastating to the Roman satellites, and Crimea & Bospouran Anatolia were raided & plundered of wealth by Goths & others at this time. The kingdom of Helenus & Dynamis was beginning to be swept into the sea by uncouth, barbaric, Asians. The economically important practice of shipping slaves (oftentimes the same peoples that were now invading Bosporous) was disrupted & ultimately destroyed by these doings. This removed the lynchpin of Bospouran prosperity. Rome apparently did not send any aid to its subservient, & was overrun by the latest group of roaming barbarians (The Huns) in the century after. After the Huns destroyed what was in-essence the only successor-state to Ancient Troy, they quickly moved for Rome itself.
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| Areas under the Hunnic Hordes (@ their greatest extent) |
Wave after wave of ‘barbarians’ trampled over the territory of what is now Ukraine in the coming centuries, as fleeting as fast-moving clouds. These groups rarely left much permanent material that can be analyzed today. As a result, the cultural history of the Ukraine @ this time is difficult for even professional historians to piece together. The Huns so effectively wiped out not only the Hellenistic culture present, but also smashed the other roaming groups that came before them. The Goths reported that the Huns were led by a chief named Balamber, who defeated them in battle. The Hunnic horde first attacked the southern Goths, who had become situated in what was the heartland of the Roman Empire. Balamber’s forces entered the Italian peninsula, defeated the Ostrogoths, & moved onto the Visigoths, who they also promptly defeated. Remaining Goths retreated into the Roman Empire (itself retreating Eastward). The Hunnic hordes followed into the Eastern Roman Empire. The Huns (led by Uldin) ransack Thrace & then, for unknown reasons, begin to retreat toward their previous lands. The Romans, under Eutropius, scored a few mostly symbolic victories against the retreating hordes.
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| European rendering of 'barbarian' leader Attila |
The roaming hordes had left the lands of the Roman Empire completely, just three years after first entering them. To avert future encroachment by the hordes, the Romans came to a compromise with the Hunnic tribes. In the resulting treaty, Rome agrees to unhand any refugees of Hunnic lands & send them back (to almost-certain death). After ‘eliminating the threats to their power,’ the brother-chiefs of the Hunnic tribes, Attila & Bleda, decided to break the treaty by invading a market-town named Castra Constantias. in 440, Castra Constantias stood on the banks of the Danube, & also included one of the forts that marked the frontier of the Roman Realm. “In the following campaign,” Hunnic “armies came alarmingly came alarmingly close to Constantinople” (Now the capital of the Roman Empire)...
For more on the 2nd Cold War
For more on King Satyrus II of Bosporos
For more on the Treaty of Margus, broken by the Hunnic Hordes when they invaded Castra Constantias
