Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus Βασίλειον τοῦ Κιμμερικοῦ Βοσπόρου | |||||||||||||||
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| c. 438 BC[1] – c. AD 527 | |||||||||||||||
 Map showing the early growth of the Bosporan Kingdom, before its annexation byMithridates VI of Pontus. | |||||||||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Panticapaeum | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||
| Religion | Local variant ofHellenistic polytheism[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||
• 438–433 BC | Spartokos I | ||||||||||||||
• AD 314–341 | Rhescuporis VI | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||||||
• Established | c. 438 BC[1] | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. AD 527 | ||||||||||||||
| Currency |
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| Today part of | |||||||||||||||
TheBosporan Kingdom, also known as theKingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Ancient Greek:Βασιλεία τοῦ Κιμμερικοῦ Βοσπόρου,romanized: Basileía tou Kimmerikou Bospórou;Latin:Regnum Bospori), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in easternCrimea and theTaman Peninsula on the shores of theCimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-dayStrait of Kerch. It was the first truly 'Hellenistic' state, in the sense that a mixed population adopted the Greek language and civilization, underaristocratic consolidated leadership.[3] Under theSpartocid dynasty, the aristocracy of the kingdom adopted a double nature of presenting themselves asarchons to Greek subjects and as kings to barbarians, which some historians consider unique in ancient history.[4] The Bosporan Kingdom becamethe longest surviving Romanclient 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 theRoman province ofMoesia Inferior from AD 63 to 68 under EmperorNero, before being restored as a Roman client kingdom. At the end of the 2nd century AD, KingSauromates II inflicted a critical defeat on theScythians and included all the territories of the Crimean Peninsula in the structure of his state.
The prosperity of the Bosporan Kingdom was based on the export of wheat, fish andslaves. As a result, the Kingdom became the economic center of the Black Sea and is often dubbed the ancient Jewel of the Black Sea.[5] The profit of the trade supported a class whose conspicuous wealth is still visible from newly discovered archaeological finds, excavated, often illegally, from numerous burial barrows known askurgans. The once-thriving cities of the Bosporus left extensive architectural and sculptural remains, while the kurgans continue to yield spectacular Greco-Sarmatian objects, the best examples of which are now preserved in theHermitage Museum inSt. Petersburg. These include gold work, vases imported fromAthens, coarseterracottas, textile fragments, and specimens ofcarpentry andmarquetry.
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The whole area was dotted with Greek cities: in the west,Panticapaeum (Kerch)—the most significant city in the region,Nymphaeum andMyrmekion; on the eastPhanagoria (the second city of the region),Kepoi,Hermonassa,Portus Sindicus and Gorgippia.[6]
TheseGreek colonies were originally settled byMilesians in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Phanagoria (c. 540 BC) was a colony ofTeos, and the foundation of Nymphaeum may have had a connection withAthens; at least it appears to have been a member of theDelian League in the 5th century.[6]
The Bosporan Kingdom was located between theCrimean andTaman peninsulas centered around theKerch Strait, known in antiquity as the Cimmerian Bosporus, from which the kingdom's name is derived. To south sat theBlack Sea, a crossroads connectingSoutheast Europe to the west, the Eurasiansteppes to the north, theCaucasus andCentral Asia to the east,Asia Minor andMesopotamia to the south, andGreece to the southwest. To the north is theSea of Azov, sometimes considered part of the Black Sea,[7] with shallow waters and abundant rivers flowing toward it.
Most of the kingdom fell in thePontic-Caspian Steppe, atemperate grassland ideal fornomadic pastoralism.[8] The south-eastern Crimean coastline is flanked by theCrimean mountains, with the highest peak beingRoman-Kosh at 1,545 meters (5,069 ft.). Towards the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea, while to the east, they slowly develop into asteppe landscape. The southwestern coast of the Taman peninsula is bound by theGreater Caucasus half of theCaucasus Mountains.
Greek colonization in the Black sea region dates back into theGreek Dark Ages, from which there is ample evidence of cultural and economic exchange as well as hostility between Greek and local populations, such as theThracians,Dacians, and laterScythians.
Scythian expansion and unification in the fifth century BC led to many of these settlements being wiped out or turned into Scythian protectorates, as was the case in the city ofOlbia. It has been suggested that this pressure allowed theArcheanactid dynasty to create the first Bosporan state, lasting from 480-438 BC, at which point it was overthrown by theSpartocid Dynasty, beginning a period of economic expansion.
The Black Sea Greeks before this period had dealt largely in goods like animals, slaves, furs, and fish, with grain playing a minor role. Stemming from conditions caused by thePeloponnesian War, the city ofAthens had acquired a large demand for grain, and the strain on their empire meant they could do little about Spartocids attacking the city ofNymphaeum, on which they relied on for Black Sea trade. The Spartocids were willing to trade their grain with Athens in exchange for mainland goods and silver, which presumably furthered Athenian decline.[9]
The Bosporan kingdom under theSpartocid kings was heavily influenced by the mixing of localScythian andGreeks at all levels of society, particularly in the nobility. In an internal conflict betweenSatyrus II and his brotherEumelus, the royal Bosporan army was said to contain no more than two thousand Greeks, and an equal number of Thracians fighting as mercenaries. The vast majority of the army was Scythian, with ten thousand cavalry and more than twenty thousand infantry reported. Eumelus, allied with theSirace kingAripharnes, brought twenty thousand Scythian cavalry and even more infantry.[10]
The northern Black Sea underwent what some historians refer to as a "long Hellenistic Age" due to the institutions typically associated with the era occurring independently from the greater Greek world. Their relatively isolated position, and constant contact/conflict with barbarians along their borders, allowed monarchs with traditions rooted in the region to establish independent kingdoms from those of the successor states.[3]
According to Greek historianDiodorus Siculus (xii. 31) the region was governed between 480 and 438 BC by a line of kings called theArchaeanactidae, probably a ruling family, usurped by atyrant called Spartocus (438–431 BC). While Spartocus was traditionally considered to be aThracian[11] due to the family name, more recent historians have posited he was likely of Greco-Scythian descent, as was typical of the region.[4]
Spartocus founded a dynasty which seems to have endured until c. 110 BC, known as theSpartocids. The Spartocids left many inscriptions, indicating that the earliest members of the house ruled under the titles ofarchons of the Greek cities and kings of various minor native tribes, notably theSindi (from central Crimea) and other branches of theMaeotae. Surviving material (texts, inscriptions and coins) do not supply enough information to reconstruct a complete chronology of kings of the region.[6]
Satyrus (431–387 BC), successor to Spartocus, established his rule over the whole region, addingNymphaeum to his kingdom and besiegingTheodosia, which was wealthy because, unlike other cities in the region, it had a port which was free of ice throughout the year, allowing it to trade grain with the rest of the Greek world, even in winter. Satyrus' sonLeucon (387–347 BC) eventually took the city. He was succeeded jointly by his two sons, Spartocus II, and Paerisades; Spartocus died in 342 BC, allowing Paerisades to reign alone until 310 BC.[6] After Paerisades' death, awar of succession between his sons Satyrus and Eumelus was fought. Satyrus defeated his younger brother Eumelus at theBattle of the River Thatis in 310 BC but was then killed in battle, giving Eumelus the throne.[12]
Eumelus' successor was Spartocus III (303–283 BC) and after him Paerisades II. Succeeding princes repeated the family names, so it is impossible to assign them a definite order. The last of them, however, Paerisades V, unable to make headway against increasingly violent attacks from nomadic tribes in the area, called in the help ofDiophantus, general of KingMithridates VI of Pontus, leaving him his kingdom. Paerisades was killed by aScythian named Saumacus who led a rebellion against him.[6]
The Spartocids were well known as a line of enlightened and wise princes; although Greek opinion could not deny that they were, strictly speaking,tyrants, they are always described as dynasts. They maintained close relations withAthens, their best customer for the Bosporan grain exports: Leucon I of Bosporus created privileges for Athenian ships at Bosporan ports. The Attic orators make numerous references to this. In return the Athenians granted Leucon Athenian citizenship and made decrees in honour of him and his sons.[6]
After his defeat by Roman GeneralPompey in 66 BC, KingMithridates VI of Pontus fled with a small army fromColchis (modern Georgia) over the Caucasus Mountains toCrimea and made plans to raise yet another army to take on the Romans. His eldest living son,Machares, regent of Cimmerian Bosporus, was unwilling to aid his father, so Mithridates had Machares killed, acquiring the throne for himself. Mithridates then ordered the conscriptions and preparations for war. In 63 BC,Pharnaces, the youngest son of Mithridates, led a rebellion against his father, joined by Roman exiles in the core of Mithridates's Pontic army. Mithridates VI withdrew to the citadel inPanticapaeum, where he committed suicide. Pompey buried Mithridates VI in a rock-cut tomb in eitherSinope orAmasia,[13] the capital of theKingdom of Pontus.
After the death of Mithridates VI (63 BC), Pharnaces II (63–47 BC) supplicated to Pompey, and then tried to regain his dominion during JuliusCaesar's Civil War, but was defeated byCaesar atZela and was later killed by his former governor and son-in-lawAsander.[6]
Before the death of Pharnaces II, Asander had married Pharnaces II's daughterDynamis. Asander and Dynamis were the ruling monarchs until Caesar commanded a paternal uncle of Dynamis,Mithridates II to declare war on the Bosporan Kingdom and claimed the kingship for himself. Asander and Dynamis were defeated by Caesar's ally and went into political exile. However, after Caesar's death in 44 BC, the Bosporan Kingdom was restored to Asander and Dynamis by Caesar's great nephew and heirOctavian. Asander ruled as an archon and later as king until his death in 17 BC. After the death of Asander, Dynamis was compelled to marry a Romanusurper calledScribonius, but the Romans underAgrippa intervened and establishedPolemon I of Pontus (16–8 BC) in his place. Polemon married Dynamis in 16 BC and she died in 14 BC. Polemon ruled as king until his death in 8 BC. After the death of Polemon,Aspurgus, the son of Dynamis and Asander, succeeded Polemon.
The Bosporan Kingdom of Aspurgus was aclient state of theRoman Empire, protected by Roman garrisons. Aspurgus (8 BC – AD 38) founded a dynasty of kings which endured with a couple of interruptions until AD 341. Aspurgus adopted the Roman name "Tiberius Julius" when he receivedRoman citizenship and enjoyed the patronage of the first twoRoman Emperors,Augustus andTiberius. All of the following kings adopted these two Roman names followed by a third name, ofThracian (Kotys, Rhescuporis or Rhoemetalces) or local origin (such as Sauromates, Eupator, Ininthimeus, Pharsanzes, Synges, Terianes, Theothorses or Rhadamsades).
The Roman client kings of the dynasty had descended from KingMithridates VI of Pontus and his first wife,his sister Laodice, through Aspurgus. The kings adopted a new calendar (the "Pontic era") introduced by Mithridates VI, starting with 297 BC to date their coins. Bosporan kings struck coinage throughout its period as a client state, which included goldstaters bearing portraits of both the Roman emperor and Bosporan king. Like Roman coinage, Bosporan coinage became increasingly debased during the 3rd century. The coinage makes their lineages fairly clear to historians, though scarcely any events from their reigns are recorded.
The Bosporan Kingdom covered the eastern half of Crimea and theTaman peninsula, and extended along the east coast of theMaeotian marshes toTanais at the mouth of theDon in the north-east, a great market for trade with the interior. Throughout the period there was perpetual war with the native tribes ofScythians andSarmatians, and in this the Bosporan Kingdom was supported by its Roman suzerains, who lent the assistance of garrisons and fleets.
In AD 62 for reasons unknown, Roman emperorNero deposed the Bosporan kingCotys I.[14] It is possible that Nero wanted to minimize the power of local client rulers and wanted the Bosporans to be subsumed into the Roman empire. The Bosporan Kingdom was incorporated as part of the Roman province ofMoesia Inferior from 63 to 68. In 68, the new Roman emperorGalba restored the Bosporan Kingdom toRhescuporis I, the son of Cotys I.
Following theJewish diaspora,Judaism emerged in the region, and Jewish communities developed in some of the cities of the region (especiallyTanais). The Jewish or Thracian influence on the region may have inspired the foundation of a cult to the "Most High God", a distinct regional cult which emerged in the 1st century AD,[2] which professed monotheism without being distinctively Jewish or Christian.[15]
The balance of power among the local tribes was severely disturbed bywestward migration in the 3rd–4th centuries. In the 250s AD, theGoths and Borani were able to seize Bosporan shipping and even raid the shores ofAnatolia.[16]
There are no known coins from the Bosporan Kingdom after the last ones minted byRhescuporis VI in 341, which makes constructing a chronology very difficult. Though the kingdom is traditionally believed to have been destroyed at the end of his reign by the Goths and theHuns,[17] there is no concrete evidence for this.[18] There is an inscription by a Bosporan ruler namedDouptounos fromc. 483, nearly a century and a half after Rhescuporis VI, which makes it unlikely that the kingdom and its line of kings came to an end in the mid-4th century. Additionally, archaeological data from the time indicate a period with a growing economy rather than societal collapse.[18]
Because of evidence of their increasing prominence in the Crimea, it is possible that Rhescuporis was overthrown by aSarmatian orAlan tribal leader, who established his own dynasty on the Bosporan throne. It is known that theGoths later held power in the Crimea, fromc. 380 onwards, since a 404 letter toJohn Chrysostom,archbishop of Constantinople, refers to the local ruler as arex Gothiorum ("king of the Goths"). The Gothic Bosporan realm likely became a vassal of theHunnic Empire, regaining its independence after the empire's collapse in the 450s and 460s. The Byzantine historianProcopius describes the Goths of Crimea fighting against and then allying with theUtigurs, indicating that Gothic control of the region lasted for some time after the departure of the Huns.[18] Despite the waves of barbarian domination, the late Bosporus remained an ancient Hellenistic state in language, culture and traditions; the local material culture from the third to sixth centuries is distinguished both by its great complexity and bysyncretism, intertwining both ancient and new barbarian elements.[19]
Through some means, the Goths appear to have left or been driven away, leading to the resumption of local self-rule in the late 5th century under rulers such as Douptounos, who re-oriented the kingdom towards theByzantine Empire as a client state.[18] Such a re-orientation is also evidenced by the presence of Byzantine coins in the Crimea, including coinage of emperorsJustin I (r. 518–527) andJustinian I (r. 527–565).[20] By Justinian's time, the Bosporus was under a barbarian ruler once more: the Hunnic rulerGordas. Though Gordas maintained good relations with Justinian, he was killed in a revolt in 527, which led the emperor to send armies to the Bosporus, conquering the lands of the kingdom and establishing imperial control there.[21]
The Bosporan cities enjoyed a revival, underByzantine and Bulgarian protection. The ancient Greek city ofPhanagoria became the capital ofOld Great Bulgaria between 632 and 665.[citation needed] The town ofTmutarakan, on the eastern side of the strait, became the seat of theKievan Rus principality ofTmutarakan in the 10th and 11th centuries, which in turn gave way toTatar domination.[6] From time to time Byzantine Greek officers built fortresses and exercised authority at Bosporus, which constituted anarchbishopric. A relevant Byzantine usage of the term is found in a newly discovered seal of a general of the early 11th century as of "Πο⟨σ⟩φορ(ου)", i.e., of the Cimmerian Bosporos.[22] Also, in the early 12th century reference is made of the Byzantine Empire's reassertion of control over the Cimmerian Bosporos (Κιμμέριον Βόσπορον).[23]
Although considered rare among collectors prior to the demise of theSoviet Union in 1991, Bosporan coins are now well known on the international coin markets, hinting at the quantities produced. Several large series were produced by Bosporan cities from the 5th century BC, particularly inPanticapaeum. Gold staters of Panticapaeum bearingPan's head and a griffin are especially remarkable for their weight and fine workmanship.
There are coins with the names of the later Spartocids and a complete series of datedsolidi issued by the later orAchaemenian dynasty. In them may be noticed the swift degeneration of the gold solidus through silver andpotin to bronze.[24]
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