Greek Crimea

The Tauric Chersonese was the name by which the Crimea was known to the Greeks and Romans.

Etymology of the name

The Greeks named the region after its inhabitants, the Tauri: Ταυρική Χερσόνησος (Taurikē Khersonesos) or Χερσόνησος Ταυρική (Khersonesos Taurikē), "Tauric peninsula". Chersonesus Taurica is the Latin version of the Greek name (Chersonese literally means "peninsula"). This Latin variant of the name should not be confused with the city of Chersonesus.

As the Tauri inhabited only mountainous regions of southern Crimea at first the name was used only for this southern part, but later it was extended to the whole peninsula.

Legends about the Tauri

The Scythian treasure of Kul-Oba, in eastern Crimea.

According to Greek legends, the Tauri were the people among whom Iphigeneia was sent after the goddess Artemis rescued her from the human sacrifice her father was about to perform: she became a priestess at the goddess's temple in the land of the Tauri, where she was forced by the king Thoas to sacrifice any foreigners who came ashore. See the plot of Iphigeneia in Tauris for more details.

Chronology

The Tauric Chersonese was inhabited by a variety of peoples. The inland regions were inhabited by Scythians and the mountainous south coast by the Tauri, an offshoot of the Cimmerians.

Greek settlers had a number of colonies along the coast of the peninsula, notably the city of Chersonesus near modern Sevastopol.

In the 2nd century BC the eastern part of the Tauric Chersonese became part of the Bosporan Kingdom, before being incorporated into the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC.

Taurica was a Vassal State of the Romans for nearly five centuries, and the southern shores remained under byzantine control until the XIII century.

The land of the Tauric Chersonese and its rumored customs of killing Greeks are also described by Herodotus in his histories, Book IV, 99-100 and 103.

Roman presence

See Charax, Crimea.

During the first, second, and third centuries AD, Taurica was host to Roman legions and colonists in Charax. Charax was founded under Vespasian with the intention of protecting Chersonesus and other Bosporean trade centres from the Scythians. The Roman colony was protected by a vexillation of the Legio I Italica; it also hosted a detachment of the Legio XI Claudia at the end of the 2nd century. The camp was abandoned by the Romans in the mid-3rd century.

Modern name

The peninsula later became generally known by the name used for it by the Crimean Tatars. The word "Crimea" comes from the Crimean Tatar name Qırım, via Greek Krimeia (Κριμαία).

Russian governorate

After the annexation of Crimea in 1783 the newly-installed Russian authorities made an attempt to revive the ancient name, and the former lands of the Crimean Khanate were organized into the Taurida Governorate. But this name was used only in the official documents and "Crimea" remained a common name for the country.

Following the 1917 October Revolution, the Taurida Governorate was briefly reformed as the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic ([Советская Социалистическая Республика Тавриды - Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika Tavridy] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) in early 1918 before being overrun by the World War I Central Powers. After the reassertion of Soviet control in 1921, the governorate was divided between the peninsular Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic under the Russian SFSR and the mainland portions which were incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR.

See Taurida Governorate for more details.

Modern use of the name

Since 1921 the name Taurida has had no official status in Crimea and is used almost only in historical context. However, some institutions of the republic still use it, e.g. Taurida National University (the main university in Crimea).

References