Satyrus I (Ancient Greek:Σάτυρος,romanized: Satyros, died 389 BC) was theSpartocid ruler of theBosporan Kingdom from 432 BC to 389 BC.^[1] During his rule he built upon the expansive foreign policy of his father, Spartocus I. He conqueredNymphaion, became involved in the political developments of the neighbouringSindike kingdom and laid siege to the city ofTheodosia,^[2] which was a serious commercial rival because of its ice-freeport and proximity to the grain fields of easternCrimea.

He presided over a strengthening of ties withAthens, and at one point possibly had a statue raised in his honour in the city.^[3][4] He was also the father ofLeucon andGorgippus, who expanded their realm into a powerful kingdom.

Satyrus I was a leading figure in the expansion of his father's kingdom, initially gaining some success by takingNymphaeum fromGylon and perhapsKimmerikon, but later had extensive problems with the neighbouringSindike Kingdom, with which he had started an unsuccessful war, and the Greek city-states ofTheodosia andHeraclea Pontica.

He allowed the son of his powerful ministerSopaeus to travel to Athens with two ships filled with wheat.^[5] Sopaeus' son's ships managed to avoid pirates and arrived at Athens. Once in Athens, his son met with the Athenian banker,Pasion, and managed to settle his affairs. Satyrus, however, came to the view that Sopaeus was involved in a conspiracy to take his life, so he had Sopaeus arrested. As Sopaeus's son was still in Athens, Satyrus ordered the Bosporans in Athens to confiscate the son's property and force him to return to the Bosporan Kingdom.^[6]

Afterwards Satyrus acquitted Sopaeus of his crimes and agreed to Sopaeus's daughter, Theodosia, marrying his son Leucon.^[7]

Satyrus encountered extensive problems with the Sindi. According to Polyaenus, the problems arose because Satyrus I had offered his daughter to Hecactaeus,^[8] the king of the Sindi, but had instructed Hecactaeus to kill his existing wife,Tirgatao. Instead of killing her,^[9] Hecactaeus had her imprisoned in a tower, from which she was able to escape and reach her tribe, theIxomatae. Tirgatao married her father's successor, her father presumably being king of the Ixomatae, and roused many tribes to make war against Satyrus.^[10] Satyrus, realising that he could not win, offered his son Metrodorus as a hostage and sued for peace.^[11]

Shortly after this, there was an attempt on Tirgatao's life, likely organized by Satyrus.^[12] After finding out about this scheme, Tirgatao had Metrodorus killed, and once again waged war on Satyrus.^[13] This war was ended by Leucon and Gorgippus shortly after their father's death and their ascent to the throne.^[14]

Satyrus died in the unsuccessfulSiege of Theodosia in 389 BC at the age of 81, his death leading to the ascension to Leucon and Gorgippus, who expanded the Bosporan Kingdom.

• Cimmerian Bosporus
• List of Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus

• Gaudukevich, V. F. (1979)."Bosporskoe tsarstvo".The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd Edition). Retrieved5 December 2011.
• Trofimova, Anna A. (2007).Greeks on the Black Sea: ancient art from the Hermitage. Los Angeles, USA: Getty Publications. pp. 11–12.ISBN 978-0-89236-883-9.
• Dinarchus.Against Demosthenes. Cambridge MA (USA): Harvard University Press. p. 1.43.
• Gardiner-Garden, John R. (1986). "Fourth Century Conceptions of Maiotian Ethnography".Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte.35 (2): 193.JSTOR 4435962.

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