Empire of Darius I and the North Pontic Scythians, ending “in the inclusion of the
Black Sea in the Achemenid Empire” (Iosipescu et al. 2015: 14). Then followed the
Macedonian domination imposed by Alexander the Great’s campaign and Mithridates, the 6th emperor (about 120–63 B.C), the king of Pontus imposed the west
Pontic cities protection, a period presented in the works of Strabon, Polybius and
Eutropius. The great king Burebista, founder of a powerful state north and south of
the Danube, became interested in the maritime fac ¸ade.
The Roman Empire entered the geopolitic Pontic game in 72 B.C, when under
Nero (56–68), the Roman domination is extended and a fleet is created and installed
at Noviodunum under the name Classic Flavia Moesia (Iosipescu et al. 2015: 43).
We owe to Rome the establishment of the institution of the maritime city council
located at Tomis.
The maritime trading is illustrated on the western coast of the Black Sea by the
different types of Greek amphora found at Tomis in large quantities, to which we
could add the coins issued by Mithridates VI. On these coins, on the emblem of
Tomis, there were divinities connected to navigation and trading. In the pantheon of
Tomis a special attention was given to the cult of the Dioscuri, considered protectors of navigation and of the city.
The study of coins, pounds and funeral tombs revealed the different types of
ships on the west Pontic coast of the Black Sea: ponto; lapidaria naves; tesseraria;
scapha; vegeia; placida; musculus; natis. On a funeral stone erected in the memory
of an important ship-owner from Tomis, we see an oneraria ship. In the Roman
period in Tomis, there was an important sailors’ college, called naukleros.
Directly connected to the maritime activity in the port of Tomis beginning in the
third century A.D., there was the complex construction called by the archeologists
after its discovery “The Roman edifice with mosaic”, where 120 intact amphora,
8 anchors and many other materials used for ship repairs and maintenance were
found.
The Byzantine emperors, such as Constantine (306–337), Julian (361–363) and
Valens (364–378) were preoccupied by the maritime trading on the west coast of
the Black Sea. About Valens, the Greek historian Zosimas, in his Historia Nova,
relates us that the former ordered the building of trading ships to the mouth of the
Danube for supplying the army in the war with the Goths.
The western region of the Black Sea witnessed in its further evolution the decay
of the Danuabian limes, the Byzantines being forced to close the provinces of
Scythia, Moesia Secunda, Haeminontus and Thracia, the eastern Balkan Peninsula
entering under the domination of the Avars and Slavs. The apparition of the
paleo-Bulgarians in the region under the rule of Asparuch led to the creation of
the Bulgarian state, acknowledged at Constantinople. Along the Black Sea coast, a
new theme was built, Thracia. The maritime waterways controlled by the Byzantines are demonstrated by the discovery at Yassi Ada, a small island in the Aegean
Sea, of a ship, whose loading formed of anchors, earthen lamps, pigments and nails,
etc. prove its presence in the port of Tomis. The main ships used by the Byzantines
were the dromon, pamfila and acacia. The Vikings or Varegians, as they were
called by the Greeks, show interest in the maritime waterways on the west coast of
34 On Romanian Assertiveness in Navigation on the Black Sea. . .
585
Black Sea in the Achemenid Empire” (Iosipescu et al. 2015: 14). Then followed the
Macedonian domination imposed by Alexander the Great’s campaign and Mithridates, the 6th emperor (about 120–63 B.C), the king of Pontus imposed the west
Pontic cities protection, a period presented in the works of Strabon, Polybius and
Eutropius. The great king Burebista, founder of a powerful state north and south of
the Danube, became interested in the maritime fac ¸ade.
The Roman Empire entered the geopolitic Pontic game in 72 B.C, when under
Nero (56–68), the Roman domination is extended and a fleet is created and installed
at Noviodunum under the name Classic Flavia Moesia (Iosipescu et al. 2015: 43).
We owe to Rome the establishment of the institution of the maritime city council
located at Tomis.
The maritime trading is illustrated on the western coast of the Black Sea by the
different types of Greek amphora found at Tomis in large quantities, to which we
could add the coins issued by Mithridates VI. On these coins, on the emblem of
Tomis, there were divinities connected to navigation and trading. In the pantheon of
Tomis a special attention was given to the cult of the Dioscuri, considered protectors of navigation and of the city.
The study of coins, pounds and funeral tombs revealed the different types of
ships on the west Pontic coast of the Black Sea: ponto; lapidaria naves; tesseraria;
scapha; vegeia; placida; musculus; natis. On a funeral stone erected in the memory
of an important ship-owner from Tomis, we see an oneraria ship. In the Roman
period in Tomis, there was an important sailors’ college, called naukleros.
Directly connected to the maritime activity in the port of Tomis beginning in the
third century A.D., there was the complex construction called by the archeologists
after its discovery “The Roman edifice with mosaic”, where 120 intact amphora,
8 anchors and many other materials used for ship repairs and maintenance were
found.
The Byzantine emperors, such as Constantine (306–337), Julian (361–363) and
Valens (364–378) were preoccupied by the maritime trading on the west coast of
the Black Sea. About Valens, the Greek historian Zosimas, in his Historia Nova,
relates us that the former ordered the building of trading ships to the mouth of the
Danube for supplying the army in the war with the Goths.
The western region of the Black Sea witnessed in its further evolution the decay
of the Danuabian limes, the Byzantines being forced to close the provinces of
Scythia, Moesia Secunda, Haeminontus and Thracia, the eastern Balkan Peninsula
entering under the domination of the Avars and Slavs. The apparition of the
paleo-Bulgarians in the region under the rule of Asparuch led to the creation of
the Bulgarian state, acknowledged at Constantinople. Along the Black Sea coast, a
new theme was built, Thracia. The maritime waterways controlled by the Byzantines are demonstrated by the discovery at Yassi Ada, a small island in the Aegean
Sea, of a ship, whose loading formed of anchors, earthen lamps, pigments and nails,
etc. prove its presence in the port of Tomis. The main ships used by the Byzantines
were the dromon, pamfila and acacia. The Vikings or Varegians, as they were
called by the Greeks, show interest in the maritime waterways on the west coast of
34 On Romanian Assertiveness in Navigation on the Black Sea. . .
585