The Aspurgiani (Greek: Ἀσπουργιανοί or Ἀσπουγγιτανοί) were an ancient people, a tribe of the Maeotae dwelling along east side of the Cimmerian Bosporus along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. They seem to be identical with the "Asturicani" of Ptolemy (v. 9. § 7). Maeotae or Mæotæ or Maeotici (Greek: ) were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis (to which they lended their name) in antiquity. ... The Cimmerian Bosphorus of Antiquity, shown on a map printed in London, ca 1770 The Cimmerian Bosporus (Bosporus Cimmerius) was the ancient name for the Strait of Kerch that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. ... A medieval artists rendition of Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ...

The Aspurgiani inhabited the region called Sindica, between Phanagoria and Gorgippia, among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, and Dosci, among others. (Strab. xi. 2. 11). They were among the Maeotic tribes whom Polemon I, king of Pontus and the Bosporus, in the reign of Augustus, attempted to subdue; but they took him prisoner and put him to death. (Strab. xi. p. 495, xii. p. 556; Steph. B. s. v.; see Ritter's speculations on the name, in connection with the origin of the name of Asia, Vorhalle, pp. 296, foil.). Ancient terracotta vessels unearthed at the Sindian necropolis near Phanagoria. ... Phanagoria was an ancient Greek colony on the Taman peninsula between the Black Sea and the Azov, roughly on the site of modern Tmutarakan. ... Anapa (Russian: ) is a seaport town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. ... Ancient terracotta vessels unearthed at the Sindian necropolis near Phanagoria. ... Traditional rural Pontic house A man in traditional clothes from Trabzon, illustration Pontus is the name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by... The Bosporan Kingdom, which was located on the Crimea peninsula, existed in the time of the Roman Empire. ... For other uses, see Augustus (disambiguation). ... Stephanus Byzantinus (Stephanus of Byzantium), the author of a geographical dictionary entitled Εθνικα (Ethnica), of which, apart from some fragments, we possess only the meagre epitome of one Hermolaus. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).
• Strabo's book 11 on-line