Gelonians
The Gelonians or Geloni were Scythians of likely mixed origin living in the Pontic steppe, whose presence was recorded by Graeco-Roman authors.
Location
The Gelonians lived alongside the Budini in the valley of the Vorskla river.History
Origins
The Geloni likely had a mixed origin, including either true Scythians or early Iranian groups. This is proposed due to the association with Scythian culture, and because their names appear alongside the Agathyrsi in the second legend in the Scythian genealogical myth.Like the Agathyrsi, the Gelonians lived outside of Scythia and were independent of the Scythian kingdom.
According to Herodotus, the Geloni were originally Greeks who settled among the Budini, and over time their language evolved into a mixture of Greek and Scythian. Their temples were built in the Greek style, and they worshipped Greek gods among others. In contrast, the Budini spoke a different language and had a different way of life. Herodotus also notes that the Greeks mistakenly referred to the Budini as Geloni, but this was incorrect.
Pavel Jozef Šafárik wrote that they "might be Greeks among the Slavs and Fins. Such Μιξέλληνες were common enough in the towns upon the Euxine." Schafarik believed that the Budini belonged to the Slavic family.
Gelonus
During the 6th century BC, the city of Gelonus was built in the country of the Budini, where the Gelonians set up an important industrial, commercial, and political centre. The Gelonians and Budini both lived in Gelonus, although each population lived in separate sections of the city: the Gelonians lived in the eastern earthwork, were was located the city's industrial, commercial, and political centre; the poorer native Budini lived in the western earthwork.The Persian invasion
When the Persian Achaemenid king Darius I attacked the Scythians in 513 BC, the Scythian king Idanthyrsus summoned the kings of the peoples surrounding his kingdom to a meeting to decide how to deal with the Persian invasion. The kings of the Budini, Gelonians and Sarmatians accepted to help the Scythians against the Persian attack, while the kings of the Agathyrsi, Androphagi, Melanchlaeni, Neuri, and Tauri refused to support the Scythians.During the campaign, Darius captured the city of Gelonus and set it on fire.
Society and culture
Appearance
According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Geloni were different in appearance from the Budini who lived alongside them.Lifestyle
The sedentary Gelonians were wealthier than the nomadic Budini, and they were engaged in agriculture.The Gelonians lived in the city of Gelonus, which was built entirely of wood, This city was protected by a defensive system of three earthworks surrounded by ramparts. The present-day site of Bilsk has been identified with Gelonus.
Language
The Gelonians were described by Herodotus of Halicarnassus as speaking a different language from the Budini.Religion
Herodotus of Halicarnassus mentioned that, every three years, the Gelonians performed a Bacchic-type festival which he interpreted as a festival to the Greek god Dionysos.Herodotus also claimed that the Gelonians built sanctuaries to their gods, although this has not been archaeologically verified yet. This was in contrast to the Scythians proper, who did not built shrines to their gods.