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The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus, was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, the present-day Strait of Kerch. It was the first truly 'Hellenistic' state in the sense that a mixed population adopted the Greek language and civilization, under aristocratic consolidated leadership. Under the Spartocid Monarchs the aristocracy of the kingdom adopted a double nature of presenting as archons to Greek subjects and kings to barbarians which some historians consider unique in ancient history.The Bosporan Kingdom became the longest surviving Roman client kingdom. The 1st and 2nd centuries AD saw a period of a new golden age of the Bosporan state. It was briefly incorporated as part of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior from 63 to 68 AD, under Emperor Nero, before being restored as a Roman client kingdom. At the end of the 2nd century AD, King Sauromates II inflicted a critical defeat on the Scythians and included all the territories of the Crimea in the structure of his state.
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, a Greek dynasty of the Bosporan Kingdom who were tyrants of Panticapaeum from 480 - 438 BC. The throne of the Bosporan kingdom was usurped by Spartokos I in 438 BC, from whom the dynasty is named after.
Greek city-states first established colonies along the Black Sea coast of Crimea in the 7th or 6th century BC. Several colonies were established in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, then known as the Cimmerian Bosporus. The density of colonies around the Cimmerian Bosporus was unusual for Greek colonization and reflected the importance of the area. The majority of these colonies were established by Ionians from the city of Miletus in Asia Minor. By the mid-1st century BC the Bosporan Kingdom became a client state of the late Roman Republic, ushering in the era of Roman Crimea during the Roman Empire.
Asander, named Philocaesar Philoromaios was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom. He was of Greek and possibly of Persian ancestry. Not much is known of his family and early life. He started his career as a general under Pharnaces II, the king of the Bosporus. According to some scholars, Asander took as his first wife a woman called Glykareia, known from one surviving Greek inscription, "Glykareia, wife of Asander".
Satyros I also known as Satyrus 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, Spartokos 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.
Leukon I of Bosporus also known as Leucon, and Leuco, was a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom who ruled from 389 to 349 BC. He is arguably the greatest ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Leukon II of Bosporus, also known as Leuco, seems to have been the second son of Paerisades II and a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom in 240 BC due to his surviving coinage.
Gorgippos I or Gorgippus was a son of Satyros I and was a Spartocid joint ruler with his brother Leukon of the Bosporan Kingdom. He situated himself on the Asiatic side of the kingdom, in Gorgippia where he presumably ruled until his death in 349 BC.
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 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 took power and during his seven-year reign, established an aggressive expansionist foreign policy that was followed by his successors.
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.
Paerisades III was a son of Leukon II and Alkathoe, he also succeeded his brother Spartokos V as Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 180 to 150 BC.
Hygiainon or Hygiaenon was an Archon of the Bosporan Kingdom after his predecessor, Leukon II, was slain by his wife Alkathoe in c. 220 BC. Although he was not part of the Spartocids, he seems to have been a supporter of Kamasarye, then heiress and queen of the Bosporan Kingdom. He is said to have been an eminent member of the aristocracy, and backed the unmarried Kamasarye, who would later marry her cousin Paerisades III.
Kamasarye II Philoktenos or Comosarye was a daughter of Spartokos V and a Spartocid queen of the Bosporan Kingdom from 180-150 BC. She was the wife of her cousin Paerisades III and a granddaughter of Leukon II.
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 Hellenistic 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.
Spartokos 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.
References
- ↑ Trofimova, Anna A. (2007). Greeks on the Black Sea: ancient art from the Hermitage. Los Angeles, USA: Getty Publications. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9780892368839.
- ↑ WORMWELL, D. E. W. (1946). "STUDIES IN GREEK TYRANNY—II. Leucon of Bosporus". Hermathena (68): 11–12. JSTOR 23037564.
- ↑ WORMWELL, D. E. W. (1946). "STUDIES IN GREEK TYRANNY—II. Leucon of Bosporus". Hermathena (68): 11–12. JSTOR 23037564.
The din they made, taking care that at least two were playing, resembled the approach of a relieving army, and the besiegers fled.
- ↑ Trofimova, Anna A. (2007). Greeks on the Black Sea: ancient art from the Hermitage. Los Angeles, USA: Getty Publications. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9780892368839.