Olbia (ŏlˈbēə) [key], Ionic Greek colony of Miletus, founded at
the beginning of the 6th cent. B.C. It is on the right bank of
the Buh River between Mykolayiv and Ochakov, S central Ukraine.
The leading Milesian colony and later a republic, its economy
centered around handicrafts and trade. Its prosperity resulted
especially from the exportation of wheat. The period of its
flowering was from the 6th cent. B.C. to the 3d cent. B.C. In
the 2d cent. B.C., Olbia was incorporated into the Scythian
state of the Crimea. About the middle of the 1st cent. B.C.,
Olbia was invaded by the Getae and others. By the end of the 6th
cent. life in Olbia came to a standstill. Excavations have
unearthed towers and city gates from the Hellenic period and
parts of a fortified wall and a temple of Apollo from the Roman
period. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright
© 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on
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