MAIASP. 2023. No. 15

A.A. Vnukov (Tula, Russia), S.V. Yartsev (Tula, Russia), T.V. Brynza (Astana, Kazakhstan)

ON THE QUESTION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE ‘ROYAL’ HUNS AND THE AKATZIRS IN THE NORTHERN BLACK SEA REGION IN THE EARLY 5^th cENTURY

DOI: 10.53737/4959.2023.89.28.020

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Pages: 607—614

The main goal of the study was to clarify the circumstances of the organization by the Constantinople’s ruling elite of an assassination attempt against the Huns’ leader Charaton. Judging by both written sources and archaeological record, it is strengthening of the ‘royal’ Huns’ forces in Barbaricum and their frequent raids on imperial territories, which could only have been the main and only reason for such an enterprise. However, according to the Greco-Latin tradition, there were no significant military clashes between the Huns and the Constantinopolitan army between 408 and 412. Consequently, there must have been another reason why the situation became so strained. Based on the analysis of archaeological materials from Eastern Crimea, the conclusion is that the Bosporan Kingdom could most likely have been the apple of discord at that time, which from the end of the 4^th century was under the protection of the Huns—Akatzirs, the eastern branch of the nomads who strengthened in the Northern Black Sea area after the fall of the kingdom of Ermanaric. It seems likely that it was in the early 5^th century that the Akatzirs were able to defend their independence in alliance with Constantinople under the leadership of Douptounos and hold back the onslaught of the ‘royal’ Huns in the Northern Black Sea region, thus delaying the devastation of the Bosporus.

Key words: Northern Black Sea region, Bosporan Kingdom, Eastern Roman Empire, ‘royal’ Huns, Akatzirs, barbarian world, military conflicts.

Received August 11, 2023.

Accepted for publication August 31, 2023.

About the authors:

Vnukov Artem Andreevich (Tula, Russia). Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

E-mail: schuschunova.elena@yandex.ru

Yartsev Sergey Vladimirovich (Tula, Russia). Dr. habil. (History), Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

E-mail: s-yartsev@yandex.ru

Brynza Tatiana Vasilyevna (Astana, Kazakhstan). L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

E-mail: tanechka83-83@mail.ru