Scythia or Scythica was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people.
Etymology
The names Scythia and Scythica are themselves Latinisations of the Ancient Greek names Skuthia (Σκυθία) and Skuthikē (Σκυθική), which were themselves derived from the ancient Greek names for the Scythians, Skuthēs (Σκύθης) and Skuthoi (Σκύθοι), derived from the Scythian endonym *Skuδa.
Geography
Scythia proper
The territory of the Scythian kingdom of the Pontic steppe extended from the Don river in the east to the Danube river in the west, and covered the territory of the treeless steppe immediately north of the Black Sea's coastline, which was inhabited by nomadic pastoralists, as well as the fertile black-earth forest-steppe area to the north of the treeless steppe, which was inhabited by an agricultural population. The northern border of this Scythian kingdom were the deciduous woodlands, while several rivers, including Don and Dnipro, flowed southwards across this region and emptied into the Black Sea.
Between the 9th and 5th centuries BCE, the climate in the steppes was cool and dry, which was a catalyst for the emergence of equestrian nomadic pastoralism in the northern Pontic region. The climate became warmer and wetter during the 5th century BCE, which allowed the steppe nomads to move into the steppes proper.
In these favourable climatic conditions, grass grew abundantly on the treeless steppe and permitted the nomadic Scythians to rear large herds of cattle and horses. The country which the Greeks named Hylaea (Ancient Greek: Ὑλαία, romanized: Hulaía, lit. 'the Woodland'), consisting of the region of the lower Dnipro river along the territory of what is modern-day Kherson and the valleys further north along the river, was covered with forests. Conditions in the southern lands near the shores of the Black Sea were propitious for agriculture.
Before the arrival of the Scythians, this region of the Pontic Steppe was dominated by the Agathyrsi, who were nomadic Iranic people related to the Scythians. The Scythian migration pushed the Agathyrsi westwards, away from the steppes and from their original home around Lake Maeotis, and into the Carpathian region.
Beginning in the late 4th century BCE, another related nomadic Iranic people, the Sarmatians, moved from the east into the Pontic steppe, where they replaced the Scythians as the dominant power of the Pontic steppe. Due to the Sarmatian invasion "Sarmatia Europea" (European Sarmatia) replaced "Scythia" as the name for the region.
Greater Scythia
During the Hellenistic period, the use of "Scythia" by Greek and Latin speakers was extended to also cover the southern Russian steppe in general, as well as the entire treeless steppe bounded by the Danubian plains in the west and the Chinese marches in the east.
In contemporary modern scholarship, "Scythian" generally refers to the nomadic Iranic people who dominated the Pontic steppe from the 7th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE, and the name "Scythia" is used to describe this region of the Pontic steppe inhabited by the Scythians.
Lesser Scythia
Following the Sarmatian invasion, the Scythians fled to two regions which both became known as Lesser Scythia or Little Scythia (Ancient Greek: Μικρά Σκυθία, romanized: Mikrá Skuthía; Latin: Scythia Minor) to the Graeco-Roman world. These corresponded to:
- Crimea until Taurida, as well as the lower Dnipro and the lower Buh rivers,
- and modern-day Dobruja.
The two Lesser Scythias lasted through the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE and the 1st century CE. The Lesser Scythia in Dobruja ceased to exist in the early 1st century BCE, while the settlements of the Lesser Scythia in Crimea were destroyed in the 3rd century CE as a result of the invasion of the Goths, and the Scythians there were finally absorbed by the various peoples who moved into the region during the Migration Period.