Tyras
Τύρας
Tyras (Τύρας, Ptol. 3.10.16), a town of European Sarmatia, situated at the mouth of the river just described. (Hdt. 4.51; Mela, 2.1.) It was originally a Milesian colony (Scymn. Fr. 55; Anon. Peripl. P. Eux. p. 9); although Ammianus Marcellinus (22.8.41), apparently from the similarity of the name, which he writes Tyros,
ascribes its foundation to the Phoenicians from Tyre. Pliny (4.12. s. 26; cf. Steph. B. sub voce p. 671) identifies it with an older town named Ophiusa (gelidis pollens Ophiusa venenis,
V. Fl. 6.84). Ptolemy, however (l.c.), makes them two different towns; and places Ophiusa somewhat more N., and towards the interior. Scylax knows only Ophiusa, whilst the later writers, on the other hand, knew only Tyras. (Cf. Neumann, Die Hellenen im skythenlande, p. 357, seq.) It probably lay on the site of the present Ackermann. (Clarke,> Travels, ii. p. 124; Kohl, Reisen in Südrussland, 1.167.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.