Scythian comb from Solokha, early 4th century BCIn the north and north-west, Scythian expansionism manifested itself through the destruction of the
fortified settlements of the forest steppe and the subjugation of its population.[19]
In the south, the Scythians tried to impose their rule over the Greek colonies on the northern shores of
the Black Sea: the Greek settlement of Kremnoi [uk] at Taganrog on the lower reaches of the Don
river river, which was the only Greek colony in that area, had already been destroyed by the Scythians
between 550 and 525 BC, and, owing to the Scythians' necessity to continue commerce with the Greeks,
was replaced by a Scythian settlement at Yelizavetovskaya [ru] which became the principal trade station
between the Greeks and the Scythians in this region.[19]
Although the relations between the Scythians and the Greek cities of the northern Pontic region had
until then been largely peaceful and the cities previously had no defensive walls and possessed
unfortified rural settlements in the area, new hostile relations developed between these two parties,
and during the 490s BC fortifications were built in many Pontic Greek cities, whose khōrai were
abandoned or destroyed, while burials of men killed by Scythian-type arrowheads appeared in
their nekropoleis .[19] Between 450 and 400 BC, Kerkinitis was paying tribute to the Scythians.[19] The
Scythians were eventually able to successfully impose their rule over the Greek colonies in the north-
western Pontic shores and in western Crimea, including Niconium, Tyras, Pontic Olbia, and
Kerkinitis,[60][19][90] and the close relations between Pontic Olbia and the Scythian political centre ended
at this time.[143]
The hold of the Scythians over the western part of the Pontic region thus became firmer during the 5th
century BC, with the Scythian king Scyles having a residence in the Greek city of Pontic Olbia which he
would visit each year, while the city itself experienced a significant influx of Scythian inhabitants during
this period, and the presence of coins of Scyles issued at Niconium in the Dnister valley attesting of his
control over this latter city. This, in turn, allowed the Scythians to participate in indirect relations with
the city of Athens in Greece proper, which had established contacts in Crimea.[60][19] The destruction of
the Greek cities' khōrai and rural settlements however also meant that they lost their grain-producing
hinterlands, with the result being that the Scythians instituted an economic policy under their control
whereby the sedentary peoples of the forest steppe to their north became the primary producers of