Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/519

 HELLENIC ART AT BOSPORUS. 487 pendence ; and to call in, as auxiliary oi' master, the forinldablG Mithridates Eupator of Poiitus ; from whom a new dynasty of liosporanic kings began — subject however after no long inter- val, to the dominion and interference of Rome. These Mithridatic princes lie beyond our period ; but the cities of Bosporus under the Spartokid princes, in the fourth century B. c, deserve to be ranked among the conspicuous features of the living Hellenic world. They were not indeed purely Hellenic, but presented a considerable admixture of Scythian or Oriental manners ; analogous to the mixture of the Hellenic and Libyan elements at Kyrene with its Battiad princes. Among the facts attesting the wealth and power of these Spar- tokid princes, and of the Bosporanic community, we may number the imposing groups of mighty sepulchral tumuli near Kertch (Pantikaposum) ; some of which have been recently examined, while the greater part still remain unopened. These spacious chambers of stone — enclosed in vast hillocks (Kurgans), cyclo- pian works piled up Avith prodigious labor and cost — have been found to contain not only a profusion of ornaments of the precious metals (gold, silver, and electron, or a mixture of four parts of gold to one of silver), but also numerous vases, implements, and works of art, illustrating the life and ideas of the Bosporanic population. " The contents of the tumuli already opened are so multifarious, that from the sepulchres of Pantikapasum alone, we might become acquainted with everything which served the Greeks either for necessary use, or for the decoration of domestic life."! Statues, reliefs and frescoes on the walls, have been found, on varied subjects both of war and peace, and often of very fine execution ; besides these, numerous carvings in wood, and vessels of bronze or terra cotta ; with necklaces, armlets, bracelets, rings, drinking cups, etc. of precious metal — several with colored beads attached.^ The costumes, equipment, and 1 Neumann, Die Ilellenen im Skythenlande, p. 503. ^ An account of the recent discoveries near Kertch or Pantikapseum, will be found in Dubois de Montpereux, Voyajje dans le Caucase, vol. v. p. 1^.5 i-eqq. ; and in Neumann, Die Hellenen im Skythenlande, pp. 483-533. The Ust-mentioned work is peculiarly copious and instructive; relating what has been done since Dubois's travels, and containing abundant information de- rived from the recent memoirs of the St. Petersburg Literary Societies.