Bosporan Kingdom - Roman Kingdom of The Cimmerian Bosporan

Roman Kingdom of The Cimmerian Bosporan

After the death of Mithridates VI (63 BCE), Pharnaces II (63 – 47 BCE) suplicated to Pompey, and then tried to regain his dominion during Julius Caesar's Civil War, but was defeated by Caesar at the Zela and was later killed by his former governor and son-in-law Asander.

Before the death of Pharnaces II, Asander had married Pharnaces II’s daughter Dynamis. 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 BCE, the Bosporan Kingdom was restored to Asander and Dynamis by Caesar’s great nephew and heir Octavian. Asander ruled as an archon and later as king until his death in 17 BCE. After the death of Asander, Dynamis was compelled to marry a Roman usurper called Scribonius, but the Romans under statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa interfered and set Polemon I of Pontus (16 – 8 BCE) in his place. Polemon married Dynamis in 16 BCE and she died in 14 BCE. Polemon ruled as king until his death in 8 BCE. After the death of Polemon, Aspurgus, the son of Dynamis and Asander, succeeded Polemon.

The Bosporan Kingdom of Aspurgus was a client state of the Roman Empire, protected by Roman garrisons. Aspurgus (8 BCE – 38 CE) founded a dynasty of kings which endured with a couple of interruptions until 341 CE. Aspurgus adopted the Imperial Roman names "Tiberius Julius" when he received Roman citizenship and enjoyed the patronage of the first two Roman Emperors, Augustus and Tiberius. All of the following kings adopted these two Roman names followed by a third name, of Thracian (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 King Mithridates 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 BCE to date their coins. Bosporan kings struck coinage throughout its period as a client state, which included gold staters bearing portraits of both the Roman emperor and Bosporan king. Like the Roman, 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 the Taman peninsula, and extended along the east coast of the Maeotian marshes to Tanais at the mouth of the Don in the north-east, a great market for trade with the interior.

Throughout the period there was perpetual war with the native tribes of Scythians and Sarmatians, and in this the Bosporan Kingdom was supported by its Roman suzerains, who lent the assistance of garrisons and fleets.

In 63 for reasons unknown, Roman emperor Nero deposed the Bosporan king Cotys I. It is possible that Nero wanted to minimise the power of local client rulers and wanted the Bosporans to be subsumed into the Roman empire. The Bosporan Kingdom was incorporated as a part of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior from 63 to 68. In 68, the new Roman emperor Galba restored the Bosporan Kingdom to Rhescuporis I, the son of Cotys I.

The balance of power amongst local tribes was severely disturbed by westward migration in the 3rd–4th centuries. In 255 CE, the Goths and Borani were able to seize Bosporan shipping and even raid the shores of Anatolia.

With the coins of the last king Rhescuporis VI in 341, constructing a chronology becomes very difficult. The kingdom was probably overrun by the Huns, who defeated the nearby Alans in 375/376 and moved rapidly westwards towards the Roman empire.