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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, centered in 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 dynasty, the aristocracy of the kingdom adopted a double nature of presenting themselves as archons to Greek subjects and as 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 Crimean Peninsula in the structure of his state.
Polemon I Pythodoros was the Roman Client King of Cilicia, Pontus, Colchis and the Bosporan Kingdom. Polemon was the son and heir of Zenon and possibly Tryphaena. Zenon and Polemon adorned Laodicea with many dedicated offerings.
Antonia Tryphaena also known as Tryphaena of Thrace or Tryphaena was a Pontian Princess and a Roman Client Queen of Thrace. She co-ruled with her son Rhoemetalces II.
Gepaepyris was a Thracian princess, and a Roman Client Queen of the Bosporan Kingdom, the longest known surviving Roman Client Kingdom. She ruled in AD 37/38–39.
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".
Tiberius Julius Aspurgus Philoromaios was a prince and Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Tiberius Julius Mithridates Philogermanicus Philopatris, also known as Mithridates III of the Bosporus, was a Roman client king of the Bosporus.
Tiberius Julius Cotys I Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, also known as Cotys I of the Bosporus, was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Rhescuporis I, often alternatively enumerated as Rhescuporis II, was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Dynamis, nicknamed Philoromaios, was a Roman client queen of the Bosporan Kingdom during the Late Roman Republic and part of the reign of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. Dynamis is an ancient Greek name which means the “powerful one”. She was a monarch of Iranian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. She was the daughter of King Pharnaces II of Pontus and his Sarmatian wife. She had an older brother called Darius and a younger brother called Arsaces. Her paternal grandparents had been the monarchs of the Kingdom of Pontus, Mithridates VI of Pontus and his first wife Laodice, who was also his sister. Dynamis married three times. Her husbands were Asander, a certain Scribonius and Polemon I of Pontus. According to Rostovtzeff, she also had a fourth husband, Aspurgos.
Sauromates I was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Tiberius Julius Sauromates II Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, also known as Sauromates II (Greek: Τιβέριος Ἰούλιος Σαυρομάτης Β΄ Φιλοκαῖσαρ Φιλορωμαῖος Eὐσεβής, Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, the epithets meaning "friend of Caesar, friend of Rome, pious one," was a Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom. His coins are known from the period 172–210, probably accounting for his entire reign.
Cotys III was the Sapaean Roman client king of eastern Thrace from 12 to 18 AD.
The Crimean Peninsula was under partial control of the Roman Empire during the period of 47 BC to c. 340 AD. The territory under Roman control mostly coincided with the Bosporan Kingdom . Rome lost its influence in Taurica in the mid third century AD, when substantial parts of the peninsula fell to the Goths, but at least nominally the kingdom survived until the 340s AD. The Eastern Roman Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire that survived the loss of the western part of the empire, later regained Crimea under Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire controlled portions of the peninsula well into the Late Middle Ages.
Eunice was the queen of the Bosporan Kingdom by marriage to King Cotys I. She appears to have been regent during the minority of her son Rhescuporis I in 68–69.
The Roman–Bosporan War was a lengthy war of succession that took place in the Cimmerian Bosporus, probably from 45 to 49. It was fought between the Roman client-king Tiberius Julius Cotys I and his allies King Eunones of the Aorsi and the Roman commander Gaius Julius Aquila against the former king Tiberius Julius Mithridates and his ally King Zorsines of the Siraces.
The Mithridatic dynasty, also known as the Pontic dynasty, was a hereditary dynasty of Persian origin, founded by Mithridates I Ktistes in 281 BC. The origins of the dynasty were located in the highest circles of the ruling Persian nobility in Cius. Mithridates III of Cius fled to Paphlagonia after the murder of his father and his predecessor Mithridates II of Cius, eventually proclaiming the Kingdom of Pontus, and adopting the epithet of "Ktistes". The dynasty reached its greatest extent under the rule of Mithridates VI, who is considered the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.
Scribonius was a man of unknown origin, possibly Roman or Hellenistic. He claimed to be a descendant of Mithridates VI of Pontus, the earlier king of Pontus who had also ruled the Bosporus. Through this, he claimed the throne of the Bosporan Kingdom in 17 BC. The real king of the Bosporus, Asander starved himself because of this. He somehow convinced the wife of Asander, Dynamis to marry him. When Augustus learned of what Scribonius had done he sent Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to remove Scribonius. Agrippa then sent Polemon I of Pontus to remove Scribonius and take the throne himself. Scribonius was murdered by the Bosporans, leaving Dynamis as sole ruler of the country. When Polemon took the throne, he married Dynamis to legitimise his claim.
The Bosporan era, also called the Bithynian era, Pontic era or Bithyno-Pontic era, was a calendar era used from 149 BC at the latest until at least AD 497 in Asia Minor and the Black Sea region. It originated in the Bithynian Kingdom and was also used in the Pontic Kingdom and, for the longest time, in the Bosporan Kingdom. The calendar era begins with the assumption of the royal title by Zipoetes I of Bithynia in October 297 BC, which marks the start of its year one. The Bosporan year began at the autumnal equinox.