CHERSONESE
Encyclopedia Britannica
11th Edition, vol VI, p. 86
Ellis Hovell Minns
Chersonese (Chersonesus, or Cherronesus)(Gr. Dry, and island), a word
equivalent to "peninsula." In ancient geography the Chersonesus
Thracica, Chersonesus Taurica or Scythica, and Chersonesus Cimbrica correspond
to the peninsulas of the Dardanelles, the Crimea and Jutland; and the Golden
Chersonese is usually identified with the peninsula of Malacca. The Tauric
Chersonese was further distinguished as the Great, in contrast to the
Heracleotic or Little Chersonese at its S.W. corner, where Sevastopol now
stands.
The Tauric Chersonese (from 2nd century A.D. called Cherson) was a Dorian
colony of Heraclea in Bithynia, founded in the 5th century B.C. in the Crimea
about 2 m. S. of the modern Sevastopol. After defending itself against the
kingdom of Bosporus (q.v.) and the native Scythians and Tauri, and even
extending its power over the west coast of the peninsula, it was compelled to
call in the aid of Mithradates VI. and his general Diophantus, c. 110 B. C.,
and submitted to the Pontic dynasty. On regaining a nominal independence, it
became more or less under the Roman suzerainty. In the latter part of the 1st
century A. D., and again in the succeeding century, it received a Roman
garrison and suffered much interference in its internal affairs. In the time of
Constantine, in return for assistance against the Bosporans and the native
tribes, it regained its autonomy and received special privileges. It must,
however, have been subject to the Byzantine authorities, as inscriptions
testify to restorations of its walls by Byzantine officials. Under Theophilus
the central government sent out a governor to take the place of the elected
magistrate. Even so it seems to have preserved a measure of self-government and
may be said to have been the last of the Greek city states. Its ruin was
brought about by the commercial rivalry of the Genoese, who forbade the Greeks
to trade there and diverted its commerce to Caffa and Sudak. Previous to this
it had been the main emporium of Byzantine commerce upon the N. coast of the
Euxine. Through it went the communications of the empire with the Petchenegs
and other native tribes, and more especially with the Russians. The commerce of
Cherson is guaranteed in the early treaties between the Greeks and Russians,
and it was in Cherson, according to Ps Nestor's chronicle, that Vladimir was
baptized in 988 after he had captured the city. The constitution of the city
was at first democratic under Damiorgi, a senate and a general assembly.
Latterly it appears to have become aristocratic, and most of the power was
concentrated in the hands of the first archon or Proteuon, who in time was
superseded by the strategus sent out from Byzantium. Its most interesting
political document is the form of oath sworn to by all the citizens in the 3rd
century B.C.
The remains of the city occupy a space about two-thirds of a mile long by half
a mile broad. They are enclosed by a Byzantine wall. Foundations and
considerable remains of a Greek wall going back to the 4th century B.C. have
been found beneath this in the eastern or original part of the site. Many
Byzantine churches, both cruciform and basilican, have been excavated. The
latter survived here into the 13th century when they had long been extinct in
other Greek- speaking lands. The churches were adorned with frescoes, wall and
floor mosaics, and well preserved, and marble carvings similar to work found at
Ravenna. The fact that the site had not been inhabited since the 14th century
makes it important for our knowledge of Byzantine life. The city was used by
the Romans as a place of banishment: St. Clement of Rome was exiled hither and
first preached to Gospel; another exile was Justinian II., who is said to have
destroyed the city in revenge. We have a considerable series of coins from the
3rd century B.C. to about A.D., 200, and also some of the Byzantine date.
See B. Koehne, Beitrage zur Geschichte von Cherronesus in Taurien
(St. Petersburg, 1848); art. "Chersonesos" (20" by C. G. Brandis
in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopeadie, vol iii. 221; A. A. Bobrinskoy,
Chersonesus Taurica (St Petersburg, 1905), Russian); V. V.
Latyshev,Inscrr. Orae Septentr. Ponti Euxini, vols.i. a nd iv. Reports
of excavations appear in the Compte rendu of the Imperial Archeological
commission of St Petersburg from 1888 and in its Bulletin. See E. H. Minns,
Scythians and Greeks (Cambridge, 1907). (E. H. M.)
For further description and illustrations made during visits in 1992, 93 and
97, please see Crimea.
