TRADE ROUTES AND MILITARY-POLITICAL FACTORS IN THE 2ND CENTURY BC TO THE 2ND CENTURY AD(THE KUBAN REGION AND THE INTERFLUVE OF THE VOLGA AND THE URAL)
The article addresses one of the important aspects of the problem of studying the influence of military-political factors on Greco-Barbarian trade: their influence on the character- istics and intensity of trade routes. A comparative analysis was carried out on the materials of the regions belonging respectively to the near and far barbarian periphery of the Classical World - the Kuban region and the interfluve of the Volga and the Ural. The mechanisms for the influence of military-political factors on trade routes leading to the tribes of the Kuban region and the in- terfluve of the Volga and the Ural and passing through their territories in the Sarmatian period are examined trough case histories. With differences in the set of specific politico-military factors in the Kuban region and the interfluve of the Volga and the Ural, there is a great deal of similarity in the general mechanisms of influence of different types of factors on the characteristics and intensity of trade routes, to and through these regions. The main types of these factors include military operations, piracy, general changes in the military-political situation and migrations. The similarity in the mechanisms is due to the commonality of the main routes for the movement of сommodities to the near and far barbaric periphery for the first phase (trade between ancient states) and the common elements in the structure of trade routes, including emporia as main trading hubs. Major differences, however, in the impact of military-political factors on the trade routes in the near and far peripheries were the creation of a more secure trading environment in the Emporia territory of the near periphery and the need to control caravan routes and escort caravans in the territory of far periphery.