DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2022.10.38953

Abstract: The object of the study is the history of the ancient civilization of the Northern Black Sea region, as part of the Roman world during the early dominant period. The subject of the study is the history of the Bosporan Kingdom in the last years of the reign of King Fofors in 303/304–309/310, in the context of relations with the Roman Empire during the new system of government – tetrarchy. The author examines in detail such an aspect of the topic as the internal political struggle in the Roman Empire of that time and its impact on the events that took place on the Bosporus. Particular attention is paid to the political struggle of two opposing factions for supreme power in the Bosporan Kingdom at the specified time. The main conclusions of the study are related to the factors of the strengthening of the influence of the Roman Empire on the northern periphery of the ancient world in the last years of the Bosporan king Fofors. It is obvious that during this period, virtually any conflict in the internal life of the empire, to one degree or another, exerted its influence on the course of the history of the Bosporan state. Thus, the fall of the power of Fofors on the Bosporus became possible only after the Bosporan king lost Roman support, first Diocletian, and then Galerius. In 309/310, Fofors was replaced by a new tsar, Radamsad, who may have been a protege of Maximin II Daza, who was actively preparing a plot to seize supreme power in the empire just during these years. The main contribution of the author to the study of the topic is the first revealed pattern of the history of Bosporus during the reign of Fofors. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in historiography, this tense moment of Bosporan history is viewed through the prism of the internal political struggle in the Roman Empire during the tetrarchy (293-313).

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2022.5.39053

Abstract: The research object is the domain of Hellenic religious worldview in the Northern Black Sea region during the Antiquity era. The research focuses on the revival of the Aphrodite cult in the Bosporus and Chersonese in the first centuries A.D. and the strengthening of the chthonic element in these beliefs. The authors consider in detail such aspects of the topic as the mythological origin, the presence of various epicleses of the Greco-barbarian Aphrodite, her connection with other female deities, as well as the features of the chthonic functions originally inherent in this goddess of love and family life. The article pays particular attention to Aphrodite's involvement in funerary rites and the deity's patronage of dead souls. The main research conclusions stem from the identified multifactorial reasons for the popularity of the Aphrodite cult in the Northern Black Sea region in the Roman period. The most important of these are the distribution of the deity's cult among the Romans and the possibility of Aphrodite's divine protection covering a wide enough range of the local population, including sailors, as well as the peculiarities of the reaction of local Hellenes to the Roman cultural expansion. The authors' special contribution to the study of the subject is to link the radical changes in the veneration of Aphrodite in the Northern Black Sea region with the democratization of the apotheosis of the dead in the first centuries A.D. The novelty of the research lies in conducting the first comprehensive study in historiography on this topic, which has revealed one of the main reasons for the return of popularity, as well as the archaization of the Aphrodite cult in the Northern Black Sea region during the Roman period. According to the authors, it was an increased need for the deification of deceased relatives, in order to ensure the peace of their souls and achieve immortality. It was Aphrodite, the oldest and supreme Hellenic deity as Mistress of the afterworld, who could most effectively breathe divine powers into the deceased as well as ensure that he/she would be born in a new capacity.