History of Scythian

By the 2nd century AD, archaeological evidence shows that the Scythians had been largely assimilated by the Sarmatians and Alans.

In the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD, the Greek physician Galen writes that Scythians, Sarmatians, Illyrians, Germanic peoples, and other northern peoples have reddish hair.

The fourth-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the Alans, a people closely related to the Scythians, were tall, blond, and light-eyed.

The Scythians first appeared in the historical record in the 8th century BC.

Early Scythian – from the mid-8th or the late 7th century BC to about 500 BC.

Herodotus provides the first detailed description of the Scythians. He classifies the Cimmerians as a distinct autochthonous tribe, expelled by the Scythians from the northern Black Sea coast. Herodotus also states that they consisted of the Auchatae, Catiaroi, Traspians, and Paralatae or "Royal Scythians".

The Classical Scythian period saw major changes in Scythian material culture, both with regards to weapons and art style. This was largely through Greek influence. Other elements had probably been brought from the east.

Madius was a Scythian king after his father Bartatua.

Bartatua was a Scythian king. Bartatua died in ca. 645 BCE.

Bartatua was succeeded by his son Madius ca. 645 BC, after which they launched a great raid on Palestine and Egypt. Madius subsequently subjugated the Median Empire. During this time, Herodotus notes that the Scythians raided and exacted tribute from "the whole of Asia".

In the 620s, Cyaxares, leader of the Medes, treacherously killed a large number of Scythian chieftains at a feast. The Scythians were subsequently driven back to the steppe.

The Battle of Nineveh is conventionally dated between 613 and 611 BC, with 612 BC being the most supported date. Rebelling against the Assyrians, an allied army which combined the forces of Medes and the Babylonians, besieged Nineveh and sacked 750 hectares of what was, at that time, one of the greatest cities in the world.

In 612 BC, the Medes and Scythians participated in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire at the Battle of Nineveh.

From the 7th to 3rd Century BC, the Scythian people of the Pontic Steppes produced and adopted a wide arrangement of clothing.

Scythians lived in confederated tribes, a political form of voluntary association that regulated pastures and organized a common defense against encroaching neighbors for the pastoral tribes of mostly equestrian herdsmen.

In the 6th century BC, the Greeks had begun establishing settlements along the coasts and rivers of the Pontic steppe, coming in contact with the Scythians.

By the late 6th century BC, Achaemenid king Darius the Great had built Persia into becoming the most powerful empire in the world, stretching from Egypt to India.

Classical Scythian or Mid-Scythian – from about 500 BC to about 300 BC.

Oricos (c. 500 BC) was a Scythian king, the son of King Ariapeithes (or Ariapifa), the consanguinity brother of King Scylas.

In 496 BC, the Scythians launched a great expedition into Thrace, reaching as far as Chersonesos.

Octamasadas was a Scythian king, the son of King Ariapeithes, who lived around 446 BC. He came to power after he was deposed and replaced his half-brother Scylas.

The Scythian state reached its greatest extent in the 4th century BC during the reign of Ateas. Isocrates believed that Scythians, and also Thracians and Persians, were "The ablest to power, and are the peoples with the greatest might".

Since the 5th century BC, Scythian art has changed considerably. This was probably a result of Greek and Persian influence, and possibly also internal developments caused by the arrival of new nomadic people from the east.

Scyles was a Scythian king who lived in the 5th century BC. He is mentioned in the history of Herodotus as having been an admirer of Greek culture and traditions, which led to his falling out of favor with his people and being executed by his brother.

Ariapeithes was a king of the Scythians in the early 5th century BCE and the father of Scyles.

By the mid-4th century BC, the Sarmatians, a related Iranian people living to the east of the Scythians, began expanding into the Scythian territory.

Scythian defense line 339 BC reconstruction in Polgár, Hungary.

Ateas was described in Greek and Roman sources as the most powerful king of Scythia, who lost his life and empire in the conflict with Philip II of Macedon in 339 BC.

In 331 BC, his general Zopyrion invaded Scythian territory with a force of 30,000 men but was routed and killed by the Scythians near Olbia.

In 310–309 BC, as noted by Diodorus Siculus, the Scythians, in alliance with the Bosporan Kingdom, defeated the Siraces in a great battle at the river Thatis.

The Siege of Siracena was a Bosporan siege led by Satyrus II and Meniscus on the fortified capital city of the Siraces, Siracena.

The 4th century BC was flowered by Scythian culture.

By the late 3rd century BC, original Scythian art disappears through ongoing Hellenization. The creation of anthropomorphic gravestones continued.

The "Armor of the Golden Man", is a reconstructed suit of Scythian armor dating to the 3rd-4th Century BC.

Recent excavations at Ak-Kaya/Vishennoe imply that this site was the political center of the Scythians in the 3rd century BC and the early part of the 2nd century BC. It was a well-protected fortress constructed in accordance with Greek principles.

The last period in the Scythian archaeological culture is the Late Scythian culture, which existed in the Crimea and the Lower Dnieper from the 3rd century BC.

Late Scythian – from about 200 BC to the mid-3rd century CE, in the Crimea and the Lower Dnieper, by which time the population was settled.

Scythian Neapolis was largely constructed in accordance with Greek principles. Its royal palace was destroyed by Diophantus, a general of the Pontic king Mithridates VI, at the end of the 2nd century BC, and was not rebuilt. The city nevertheless continued to exist as a major urban center.

In the 2nd century BC, the Scythian kings Skilurus and Palakus sought to extend their control over the Greek cities north of the Black Sea.

The most important site of the Late Crimean culture is Scythian Neaoplis, which was located in Crimea and served as the capital of the Late Scythian kingdom from the early 2nd century BC to the beginning of the 3rd century AD.

Skilurus was a renowned Scythian king reigning during the 2nd century BC.