Bosporan wars of expansion | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Sindoi Maeotians Ixomatae Dandarioi Psessoi | Spartocids Panticapaeum Scythians Arcadian Mercenaries [1] | Athens Nymphaeum Kimmerikon [2] | Heraclea Pontica Theodosia Chersonesus | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Tirgatao Oktamasades | Spartokos I † Satyros I † Selekuos † Leukon I Gorgippos I Hekataios Metrodos † Sopaios | Gylon of Cerameis | Clearchus Tynnichus Memnon |
The Bosporan Kingdom waged a series of wars of expansion in the Cimmerian Bosporus and the surrounding territories from around 438 BC until about 355 BC. Bosporan expansion began after Spartokos I, the first Spartocid (and after whom the dynasty is named) took power and during his seven-year reign, established an aggressive expansionist foreign policy that was followed by his successors.
It is possible that Spartokos I was a Thracian mercenary who usurped the Archaeanactids, a Greek dynasty of Bosporan rulers who had ruled for 40 years. [3] Although disputed, some sources say that Spartokos may have been related to the Odrysian royal dynasty as some members included the names of "Sparatokos" [4] and may have sought influence in other parts of the Black Sea. Spartokos I only reigned for 7 years, leaving his son, Satyrus I to carry on his expansionist policies. Satyrus became involved with the neighbouring Sindike Kingdom, and was interested in bringing Nymphaeum under his kingdom's control as well.
Gylon, the maternal grandfather of Demosthenes, was an Athenian official in charge of the Athenian garrison at Nymphaeum, which was a city that was possibly part of the Delian League. Satyros bribed Gylon so that he surrendered the city of Nymphaeum to Satyros. [5] This resulted in Gylon being exiled, as he was regarded as a traitor by the Athenians. Gylon had received "The Gardens" from Satyros as part of their deal. [6] [7] Around this time, Phanagoria lost its independence. [8]
Gylon married a Scythian noble woman. [9] Their daughter, Kleoboule, would go on to become the mother of Demosthenes. [10] Kimmerikon also seems to have fallen into Bosporan influence shortly during or after the taking of Nymphaeum. [11]
Satyros delved into Sindian affairs, offering his daughter to marry Hekataios, the king of the Sindians. Satyros told him to kill his existing wife, Tirgatao, but instead, Hekataios sent her to a tower and imprisoned her there. Tirgatao managed to escape to her home tribe, the Ixomatae, and married her father's successor and rallied many tribes to her aid and ravaged the lands of Satyros. [12] Satyros sued for peace, offering one of his sons, Metrodoros, as a hostage. [13] Tirgatao agreed and ended her war against Satyros, only to be subject to an assassination attempt organized by Satyros. Upon learning of this, Tirgatao killed her hostage, Metrodoros, [14] and began another war against Satyros. [15]
At the same time as he was trying to gain influence with the Sindoi, Satyros had laid siege to Theodosia, a city that was a commercial rival to Panticapaeum due its ice-free ports and a possible ally of Heraclea Pontica. Satyros lost his life at Theodosia while laying siege to the city in 389 BC. He was succeeded by his sons, Leukon and Gorgippos.
Upon the death of their father, Leukon and Gorgippos ascended to the Bosporan throne with Gorgippos suing for peace with Tirgatao, who demanded a great tribute from them [16] in exchange for peace. After that, Gorgippos and Leukon focussed on their on-going war with Theodosia and Heraclea Pontica and further expansion to the west and south of Panticapaeum.
Leukon laid siege to Theodosia around 365 BC, hoping to annex it to his dominions. During the siege, Tynnichus, a Heracleote commander, had been sent from Heraclea Pontica with a small force including a merchant ship and a trireme, successfully defeated the Bosporans as he managed to destroy their siege weapons during the night and thus succeeded in relieving Theodosia from the siege. [17]
After his father's defeat at Theodosia, as well as his own, Leukon's subjects were not pleased with their king. Leukon suspected that there would be an attempt to remove him from the throne, and rallied the merchants to his aid and borrowed whatever money he could from them. He argued that if his throne was lost, the merchants would not be able to get their money. [18] The merchants then armed themselves and some acted as his bodyguards while others protected the palace. [19] With the help of the merchants, he killed the conspirators. He repaid the merchants as soon as he could. [20]
After putting down a conspiracy against his throne, in around 360 BC, some time after his unsuccessful first attempt at subjugating the city of Theodosia, Leukon laid siege to Theodosia once more when the Heracleotes had recently left, possibly due to Clearchus of Heraclea making himself tyrant of Heraclea and a change of power from an oligarchy to a tyranny. Leukon attacked the city at night and succeeded in defeating and annexing the city, finally putting an end to the war that took his father's life. [21]
Leukon had later provoked the wrath of Heraclea Pontica with his victory at Theodosia, making them wage an all out war against Leukon. They succeeded in defeating the Bosporan fleet, and soon landed on Bosporan territory. Leukon quickly went out to meet them, preparing to protect his kingdom. Leukon was concerned that some of his men might flee the battle, [22] so he placed his Scythian allies to the rear with specific orders to strike down any men who sought to flee. [23] With this tactic, he was able to defeat the Heraclean army. [24]
The Sindike Kingdom was in the midst of a civil war, as Oktamasades, the son of Hekataios, had taken the throne for himself. Oktamasades had attacked the city of Labrys. Leukon, aiming to annex it into the Bosporan Kingdom, waged war against Oktamasades and quickly defeated him in the Battle of Labrytai, ultimately driving him out into Scythia. [25] Before the battle, Leukon is reported that he “made a vow to erect a victory monument, but not to the local Apollo of Labrys, but to the supreme deity and patron of all the Bosporans", [26] Apollo the Healer. Leukon succeeded in convincing Hekakatios to renounce his kingship, or perhaps he died while Leukon was fighting Okatamsades. Leukon immediately became ruler of the land. [27]
Gorgippos renamed the capital "Sindia" to Gorgippia and Gorgippos established himself as the dynast of the Spartocids on the Asiatic side of the Bosporan Kingdom. [28]
During the last years of Leukon's reign, Memnon of Rhodes was hired by the city of Heraclea Pontica to wage war on Leukon. He sent ambassadors and envoys to Leukon as if he were wanting an alliance, [29] but in reality, he sent them there to look at Leukon's army. Upon learning about Leukon's forces, Memnon waged war on Leukon and landed on Bosporan soil. [30] He led his army to a field where he was met by a Bosporan army. Memnon retreated to a nearby hill and hid some of his troops, to make it look like that there was discord in his army. [31] Memnon also sent a "deserter" to the Bosporan camp, [32] to tell them that there was a mutiny in the army. When the Bosporans heard of this, they marched to Memnon's army but were quickly defeated, [33] as Memnon's army was not facing any mutiny. [34]
Later on Leukon may have conquered several other tribes, such as that of the Dandarioi, Toretai, and the Psessoi. These tribes were a part of his dominions as they were mentioned as parts of his lands in his title. [35] His son Paerisades I expanded the kingdom even further; at some point during his reign taking Tanais, but the exact date of Tanais being conquered is not known. Through his marriage to his paternal cousin, Komosarye, a daughter of Gorgippos, Paerisades achieved the title "King of the Sindians". Paerisades was also regarded as "divine" by his people, a position none of his predecessors held.
Satyros, Leukon, and Gorgippos had established a dynasty that would rule the Bosporan Kingdom for three centuries, and would enjoy relative peace until 310 BC, when Paerisades I died. Paerisades's sons began the Bosporan Civil War in which the kingdom was divided. [36] The victor of this war, Eumelos, would later increase the power of the kingdom to the point of being able to rival the powerful state created by Lysimachus, [37] one of Alexander's generals. [38]
The Spartocids or Spartocidae was the name of a Hellenized Thracian dynasty that ruled the Hellenistic Kingdom of Bosporus between the years 438–108 BC. They had usurped the former dynasty, the Archaeanactids, who were tyrants of Panticapaeum from 480 to 438 BC. The throne of the Bosporan Kingdom was usurped by Spartokos I in 438 BC, after whom the dynasty is named.
Satyrus I was the Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom from 432 BC to 389 BC. During his rule he built upon the expansive foreign policy of his father, Spartocus I. He conquered Nymphaion, became involved in the political developments of the neighbouring Sindike kingdom and laid siege to the city of Theodosia, which was a serious commercial rival because of its ice-free port and proximity to the grain fields of eastern Crimea.
Leucon I of Bosporus also known as Leuco, was a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom who ruled from 389 to 349 BC. He was arguably the greatest ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Gorgippus was a son of Satyrus I and was a Spartocid joint ruler with his brother Leucon of the Bosporan Kingdom. He situated himself on the Asiatic side of the kingdom, in Gorgippia where he ruled until, presumably, his death in 349 BCE.
The Bosporan Civil War was a war of succession that happened in the Bosporan Kingdom somewhere between 311 and 308 BCE and lasted for about a year. The casus belli was the death of archon Paerisades I, whose sons disputed the succession. These sons were Satyros II, who claimed the kingdom by virtue of being the eldest, Eumelos, who was another claimant to the throne, and Prytanis, who engaged in battle later on in support of Satyros.
The siege of Theodosia in 389 BC was the first of three sieges carried out against the city of Theodosia by the rulers of the Bosporan Kingdom, who attempted time and time again to annex the city to their dominions during the long Bosporan-Heracleote War. The first of these sieges was carried out by Satyros I, the father of Leukon I.
The siege of Theodosia was a siege carried out by Leukon I sometime after his accession to the Bosporan throne in around 365 BC. Satyrus I, the father of Leukon, had previously laid siege on Theodosia but died during it. The exact numbers of the forces in the siege aren't known.
The siege of Theodosia in c. 360 BC was the third and final siege by the Bosporan Kingdom under Leukon I against the city of Theodosia, a probable colony of Heraclea Pontica, who had aided the city in two previous sieges.
Paerisades I also known as Birisades, Pairisades, and Parysades was a Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 342 to 310/9 BC.
Hecataeus was the King of the Ancient Sintis (Sindis) throughout the reigns of both Satyrus I and Leucon I of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Paerisades IV Philometor seems to have been a Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom from c. 150 to 125 BC.
Paerisades II or Parysades was king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 284 to 245 BC. He may have been a son of either Spartokos III, or Satyros II.
Camasarye II Philoctenus or Comosarye was a daughter of Spartocus V and a Spartocid queen of the Bosporan Kingdom from 180-160/150 BC. She was the wife of her cousin Paerisades III and a granddaughter of Leucon II. She co-ruled with Paerisades III.
The Battle of Labrytae was a battle around 380 BC that occurred nearly directly after Octamasades usurped the Sindian throne from his father Hecataeus and attacked and took the city of Labrytae, presumably a city under Bosporan rule. Leukon, the ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom, had made war upon Oktamasades on behalf of Hekataios, who was a vassal of the Bosporans prior to his removal from the throne.
Sopaios or Sopaeus or Sinopeus was a powerful Bosporan minister to Satyros I, the father of queen Theodosia, and father-in-law to Leukon I.
The Bosporan–Heracleote War was a long and enduring conflict between the states of Heraclea Pontica and the Bosporan Kingdom. It lasted decades, but ended after the Bosporans finally conquered the city-state of Theodosia in around 360 BCE.
The Bosporan–Sindian War was a war between the Sindike Kingdom and its allied tribes against the Bosporan Kingdom in the 4th century BC. The war took place amidst the wars of expansion and took the life of the brother of Leukon and Gorgippos, Metrodoros.
Spartocus I was the founder and first ruler of the Spartocid dynasty in the Bosporan Kingdom. He usurped the former rulers of the Bosporus, the Archaeanactids, after being a mercenary under their command sometime in 438 BC.
Octamasades was briefly a king of the Scythian/North-Caucasian tribe of the Sintis and a son of Hecataeus and Tirgatao. He usurped the throne from his father some time in 383 BC after his failed war against Octamasades' mother, Tirgatao.
It seems likely to connect that Spartokos was connected by birth to the Odrysian dynasty.
It seems likely to connect that Spartokos was connected by birth to the Odrysian dynasty.
here was a certain Gylon of Cerameis. This man betrayed Nymphaeum in the Pontus to the enemy, for the place at that time belonged to our city."
here was a certain Gylon of Cerameis... He came to Bosporus and there received as a present from the tyrants of the land a place called "the Gardens."
he had also been in complete control of Kepoi, which he bestowed as a gift on Gylon, grandfather of Demosthenes
Phanagoria had also lost its independence
It seems likely to connect that Spartokos was connected by birth to the Odrysian dynasty.
The confederates first invaded the country of Hecataeus, and afterwards ravaged the dominions of Satyrus
accompanied by Metrodorus the son of Satyrus, who was offered as a hostage
Tirgatao ordered the hostage to be executed
and laid waste the territories of Satyrus with fire and sword
Gorgippus to succeed him in the throne. He renounced his father's proceedings, and sued for peace, which she granted on payment of a tribute, and put an end to the war.
Tynnichus, who raised the siege of the city, through his armament compromised only of 1 Trireme and 1 transport ship
He told them, that there really was a conspiracy formed against him, and that he depended on them to be his guards, because if his government did not survive, the money that they had lent him would be lost
The merchants therefore armed themselves, and some attended him as his bodyguards, while some were posted to defend the palace
By the assistance of these men, and his particular friends, he caught and killed all who had been involved in the conspiracy; and when his government was thus secured, he repaid the money.
Leucon observed that his troops did not show courage against the enemy; they were reluctant to fight, and easily routed
but altered the arrangement of it; he posted his hoplites in the first line, and in their rear the Scythians, who had express orders, that if the hoplites gave way, they should strike them down with their javelins.
he severity of these orders made his army more resolute, and put an end to the ravages of the enemy.
He king of the Sindoi was Hekataios, who had either died or renounced power, while Leukon was fighting Oktamasades.
and was officially named after the Spartocid Gorgippus after its integration into the Bosporus Kingdom.
In order to acquaint himself with Leucon's forces, and the population of the country, he dispatched Archibiades of Byzantium on a trireme, as his ambassador to Leucon, as if to arrange an alliance with him.
When the inhabitants of course crowded to the theatres to hear him, the ambassador was able, from the number of men he saw there, to form some estimate of the population of the respective places.
retreated to a greater distance from them; and drew up only a part of his army, to make the enemy believe that some disaster had occurred in his camp.
And to support such a suspicion, he at the same time dispatched a deserter over to them
They therefore decided to leave their position, and offered him battle
thereby creating a powerful Hellenistic kingdom which could confront the powerful State of Lysimachus, the famous general of Alexander the Great
since the merchants carried abroad the news of his nobility, he received that highest reward of well-doing — praise