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Scythia (; Ancient Greek: Σκυθική) was a region of Central Eurasia in classical antiquity, occupied by the Eastern Iranian Scythians,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Scythians )〕 encompassing parts of Eastern Europe east of the Vistula River and Central Asia, with the eastern edges of the region vaguely defined by the Greeks. The Ancient Greeks gave the name Scythia (or Great Scythia) to all the lands north-east of Europe and the northern coast of the Black Sea.〔("Scythia", ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (1854), William Smith, LLD, Ed. )〕 The Scythians – the Greeks' name for this initially nomadic people – inhabited Scythia from at least the 11th century BC to the 2nd century AD. Its location and extent varied over time but usually extended farther to the west than is indicated on the map opposite.〔Giovanni Boccaccio’s ''Famous Women'' translated by Virginia Brown 2001, p. 25; Cambridge and London, Harvard University Press; ISBN 0-674-01130-9 ''".....extending from the Black Sea in a northerly direction towards Ocean."'' In Boccaccio's time the Baltic Sea was known also as Oceanus Sarmaticus.〕 Scythia was a loose state that originated as early as 8th century BC. Little is known of them and their rulers. The most detailed western description is by Herodotus, though it is uncertain he ever went to Scythia. He says the Scythians' own name for themselves was "Scoloti".〔Σκώλοτοι (Scōloti, Herodotus 4.6)〕 The Scythians became increasingly settled and wealthy on their western frontier with Greco-Roman civilization. ==Geography== The region known to classical authors as Scythia included: * The Pontic-Caspian steppe: Ukraine, southern Russia, and western Kazakhstan (inhabited by Scythians from at least the 8th century BC) * The Kazakh steppe: northern Kazakhstan and the adjacent portions of Russia * ''Sarmatia'', corresponding to eastern Poland, Ukraine, southwestern Russia, and the northeastern Balkans,〔Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898) (Oceanus Sarmaticus )〕 ranging from the Vistula River in the west to the mouth of the Danube, and eastward to the Volga * ''Saka tigrakhauda'', corresponding to parts of Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, southeastern Kazakhstan, and the Tarim Basin * ''Sistan'' or ''Sakastan'', corresponding to southern Afghanistan, eastern Iran, and southwestern Pakistan, extending from the Sistan Basin to the Indus River * ''Parama Kamboja'', corresponding to northern Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan * ''Alania'', corresponding to the northern Caucasus region * ''Scythia Minor'', corresponding to the lower Danube river area west of the Black Sea, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Scythia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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