Rural settlement and elite representation: Social change in the Bosporan kingdom in the fourth century B.C.

The Bosporan kingdom was a northern Black Sea state that formed on the margins of the ancient Greek world; during the fourth century BC it expanded under a dynasty of hegemonic rulers to incorporate both Greek and native populations within its borders. This dissertation examines the physical and social impacts of this territorial expansion. On the surface, it appears that the incorporation of the new territory---largely the preserve of indigenous populations---was accompanied by a rapid and marked filling in of the landscape with settlements and farmsteads that were culturally Greek in construction and conception. Through a holistic examination of disparate sets of survey data, I read the new rural settlements, road networks, and systems of land use as important components of the formulation of state authority, and situate them in a landscape imbued with its past cultural traditions. In the process, I locate the indigenous populations as active participants in this new 'Bosporan' environment and draw broader conclusions about the possibilities for social transformation in the kingdom at this time. This latter claim is made in light of the notable changes in elite interaction and representation that occurred in the kingdom during this same period. The largely archaeological picture of the rural landscape is partnered with a study of contemporaneous transformation in the elite realm and its negotiation of political authority. Through an examination of numismatic, epigraphic, literary and funerary evidence, I demonstrate that during this period modes of elite self-presentation began to include a culturally varied toolbox to express status and power. This validation of both Greek and steppe traditions in the construction of elite identity both mirrored and informed the transformation of the Bosporan rural landscape. In conclusion, I make broader claims about the potential for identity construction in this new 'Bosporan' environment, and argue that the newly 'filled-in' rural landscape reflected, and even contributed to, a more inclusive conception of membership in Bosporan society.Ph.D.Ancient historyArchaeologySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124301/2/3137931.pd