MILESIANS IN THE BLACK SEA REGION (ACCORDING TO ONE NOTE OF ARISTOTLE)

Abstract

Ionian stage of the Greek colonization of the Black Sea is not well represented on the archaeological sites. The reason for this relative “silence” is that the first settlements were not large. Miletus earned the name of the founder of 90 cities, although they were relatively small. The small number of the colonists was not enough and the cities were not able to create their own economic base. This resulted in the escape of the Milesians from the Black Sea region. Aristotle’s information is very helpful concerning this issue. He attested that the Milesians had come to the Black Sea region and later escaped from there. This information suits the 1st half of the 5th c. B.C. The Milesian colonies should have declined after Miletus had been taken by the Persians, since the former lost their original purpose and could not gain a new one – to have their own economic base. Therefore, the Milesians seemed to have escaped from the Black Sea during this period.