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1991: 119). Other literary evidence also confirms that
pelamys was one of the main fish sources caught and
salted in the Black Sea (see note 2).
As the modern data sirows, hamsi (Engraulis Encra-
sichohrs fulaeotius) hatches in lake Maeotis during the
summer. The young fish are caught in the narrow straits
of the Cimmerian Bosphorus during their migration to
the south. and tire old ones in the course of their return.
According to statistical data of 1937-1938, most of this
type of lnmsi in the Black Sea are caught in lake
Maeotis. and especially in the narrow Kerch Straits.
during their migration (Slastenenko 1956: 99). Most of
the fish caught in the Kerch strait in antiquitv rvere
possibly ftarnsl. In the south. hcunsi migrate from the
northwestern Anatoiian Black Sea coasts of Turkey as
far as the city of Trapezus. where tirey are mature enough
fbr catching and salting. On the other hand, like
pelamlls. one group oI EngrauLis encrasichohts Porttictts,
which mainly hatch on the western coasts of the Black
Sea and in the territorial rvaters ofBalaklava, Sevastopol
and Odessa, migrates as l-ar as the waters of the
Propontis. In antiquity one would expect these to have
been crught in the Goiden Horn as well, although
possibiy in smalier quantities compared to the ones
caught in the Black Sea. A comparatively small group of
hamsi migrates to the Sea of Nlarmara. Herc. hantsi
spend the winter in deep rvater near the Nlarmaran
islands. Gemlik ba,v and in the territorial rvaters of the
gulf's of izmit and Bandrrma. ancl they are abundantlv
caught. although not as much as the amount ol Engrauiis
Encrasicholus Maeoticus 1Üner 1900: Kutavgil 1978:
32). The other group of this tvpe of /zrzns4 migrrting
along the north Anatolian Black Sea coasts of Turkev to
the east. supplements the stocks of hunsi caught mlinlv
in the territoriai waters of Trapezus.
Tirus, like pelanws. ftcrn.il must liave been cru-ght
abundantly in the Black Sea. especially at lake Maeotis"
the Cimn-rerian Bosphorus and the territorial rvaters of
Trapezus in the eastern Anatolian Black Sea. and
contributed to the economies of the cities of these regions
as a resuil of its export. Although Pol1"bius does not set
()irf ro lrive snecitltr nlaces around the Black Sea tiom
where salted fish. possibly inciLrding saltecl /rrrinsl ancl
poLatntLt at large. was exp{)rtecl to Atliens. other rncrent
sources help us in this fcspect. In a familiaL passage.
Strabo states that Gleeks not only imported their supplies
of grain fiom Crimca in carliel times. but aiso. 'thcir
supplies of sait-fish fl'orn tlie lake' (Strabo 7.-1.6). The
sources citccl nbovc shorv that thc Cimmerian Bosphorus
ancl ]ake Maeotis r'vere rich in saltecl fish. Since Strabo
also particularlv rretrlions thlt thc Bospolan King,
Leucon [. sent a lalqe nrt.tount ol'grain to r\thcns tl'om the
city of Theoclosia. it is probablc that saltccl flsh was
The Black Sea: Past. Present artd Future
62
already being exported from the Bosporan Kingdom by
the first half of the fourth century BC to Athens. This is
confirmed by a specific piece of evidence. In the speech
Against Lacritus Demosthenes, sometime before 338
BC, said that the ship, in which the defendant, Lacritus,
was carrying goods fiom the Cimmerian Bosphorus, was
wrecked on its way back somewhere between Panticapaeum
and Theodosia. One of the items on board this
ship wrs salted [ish iroprXo5,t (35.3i). There is no
reason to doubt these sections of the text, as the plaintiff
himself only objects to the claim by Lacritus that there
was also Coan wine on board. Thus the exportation of
salted fish caught in the territorial waters of the Bosporan
Kingdom to Athens was common in the fourth century
BC. Salted lnrnsi may have constituted a considerable
amount of the exported fish.
Nevertheless. despite the abundance of the lnmsi
catch in the Black Sea as given bv the modern statistics,
and its use for making salsarnenta and gartrm rn
antiquity, as indicated by the archaeological evidence,
and the f-act that it is praised both economicallv and
sociaily by the people of the Black Sea in mociern times,
in contrast with pelanrys, not a single Greek or Roman
author specifically praises the significance of salsamenta
made from hamsi.3
This ma-.1 contradict the account of Polybius
mentioned above. that all the salted tish exported fiom
the Pontus was a luxury. However. the actual word
used to ciassif .v the export of salted fish fiom the Black
Sea is periousia. This word might be translated as
'superfluities' rather than 'luxuries'; it does not appear
to have l completelv satisfactory counterpart in
English. It could mean 'something whicir is over and
above necessarv expenses, surplus. irbundance. plentv'.
The main objective of Polybius in the text was
obviousl-v to make a contrasl between the necessities
and non-necessities. The salted flsh included in these
non-necessities was not necessariiy a luxury tbod item
(Braund 199.-i: 169. n. 2).
'' There migitt possibly be r sinele l{oman source rnentioning its
gurunt Plinv (3 1.9,i) statcs that an ailex had nlso lregun to be
rracie sepalltelv l'rorn a tiny lis]r (tl'tc upuu in Latin tr upltvcitt
Greek). othcrrvise ol'no use. ancl tlint the peopie of the Forum
JLrlii catl lrr2rrs (rvoll) the tish ti'om which thcv make gclrll
(sce also Alciplrron 1.31). Isidtuc (.Et.r'rrroLogiuc 1].6.-t0.
20.i.10) also meutions srrail fisli itt ,guntnr production. Allex
ltccame a luxlrlv. lnd its varir.lus tyltt:s clrnre to bc innunrcrabie:
,gururn Ior instancc rvas bicnclcrl to ths colouf o1' olcl honev
i.vine. and to l lilstc so plersant that it coulr-l bc tlrunk. As statccl
rrbovc. Acliart I De Nutttrtt ,,\rrintulirun 3. lil) statcs that some call
irarr.ll 'r,voll-rnoutlrs'. This might cxplain the nalne luprrs
rnentionetl hv PIinv. llthough l)linv secnrs to bc rvrong to rctcr
to thc ultutt us u purticularly tinr' fish.