The Bosporan kings were the rulers of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, ...

, an ancient

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Greco-

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

state centered on the

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait, uk, Керченська протока, crh, Keriç boğazı, ady, Хы ТӀуалэ is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west f ...

(the Cimmerian Bosporus) and ruled from the city of

Panticapaeum Panticapaeum ( grc-gre, Παντικάπαιον , from Scythian , "fish-path") was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city lay on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus, and was found ...

. Panticapaeum was founded in the 7th or 6th century BC; the earliest known king of the Bosporus is Archaeanax, who seized control of the city 480 BC as a usurper. The

Archaeanactid dynasty The Archaeanactids (Ancient Greek language, Greek: Αρχαιανακτίδαι) were a Ancient Greek, Greek dynasty of the Kingdom of Bosporan Kingdom, Bosporus that ruled in 480–438 BC. The presumed founder, Archaeanax, was probably a strategos ...

ruled the city until it was displaced by the more long-lived

Spartocid dynasty 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 Bospor ...

in 438 BC. After ruling for over three centuries, the Spartocids were then displaced by the

Mithridatic dynasty The Mithridatic dynasty, also known as the Pontic dynasty, was a hereditary dynasty of Persian origin, founded by Mithridates I Ktistes (''Mithridates III of Cius'') in 281 BC. The origins of the dynasty were located in the highest circles of t ...

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

and then its offshoot the Tiberian-Julian dynasy. The Tiberian-Julian kings ruled as

client king A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

s of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

until

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. After several successive periods of rule by groups such as the

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

and

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

, the remnants of the Bosporan Kingdom were finally absorbed into the Roman Empire by

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...

in the 6th century AD.

List of kings

Joint rulers are indicated with indentation.

Archaeanactid dynasty (c. 480–438 BC)

* Archaeanax c. 480 BC–? The number of successors of Archaenax and their names are not known. His family ruled until c. 438 BC.

Spartocid dynasty (438–111 BC)

Spartokos I Spartocus I ( gr, Σπάρτοκος, Spartokos) 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 some ...

438–433 BC * Satyros I 433–389 BC ** Seleukos 433–393 BC *

Leukon I Leucon I of Bosporus ( gr, Λευκὼν, Leukon, lived c. 410-349 BC) also known as Leuco, was a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom who ruled from 389 to 349 BC. He was arguably the greatest ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom. He was the son o ...

389–349 BC **

Gorgippos Gorgippus ( grc, Γοργιππος, Gorgippos) was a son of Satyrus I and was a Spartocid joint ruler with his brother Leucon (389–349 BCE) of the Bosporan Kingdom. He situated himself on the Asiatic side of the kingdom, in Gorgippia where h ...

389–349 BC * Paerisades I 349–311 BC ** Spartokos II 349–344 BC *

Satyros II Satyrus II ( grc, Σάτυρος, Satyros) was a son of Paerisades I and Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom for 9 months in 310 BC. He was the elder brother of Eumelus and Prytanis. He was challenged and ultimately overthrown by Eumelus in ...

311–310 BC * Prytanis 310–309 BC *

Eumelos Eumelus of Bosporus (, fl. 309–304 BC) was a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom and a son of Paerisades. Eumelus was the brother of Satyrus II (not to be confused with his great-grandfather, Satyrus I, another Bosporan ruler) and Prytani ...

309–304 BC * Spartokos III 304 BC–284 BC * Paerisades II 284–c. 250 BC * Spartokos IV c. 250–c. 240 BC * Leukon II c. 240–210 BC * Hygiainon (regent) c. 210–c. 200 BC * Spartokos V c. 200–c. 180 BC * Kamasarye (queen) c. 180–c. 160 BC ** Paerisades III c. 180–c. 170 BC * Paerisades IV c. 170–c. 150 BC (with Kamasarye and then alone) * Spartokos VI (?) c. 150–c. 140 BC *

Paerisades V Paerisades V ( el, Παιρισάδης) was the son of Paerisades III and Kamasarye Philoteknos. He was last Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom and ruled from 125 to c. 109 BC after the death of his brother Paerisades IV Philometor. With hi ...

c. 140–111 BC

Scythian rule (111–110 BC)

* Saumakos 111–110? BC

Mithridatic dynasty (110 BC–AD 8)

* Mithridates I 110 BC–63 BC * Pharnaces 63–48 BC * Dynamis (queen) &

Asander Asander or Asandros ( el, Άσανδρoς; lived 4th century BC) was the brother of Parmenion and Agathon, and uncle of Philotas. He was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, and satrap of Lydia from 334 BC as well as satrap of Caria ...

48–47 BC (''first reign'')Mayor, A., (2009), ''The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy'', Princeton University Press, p. 345 * Mithridates II 47 BC–44/43 BC * Dynamis (queen) 44/43 BC–c. AD 7/8 (''second reign''), with husbands:Rostovtzeff, M., Queen Dynamis of Bosporus, JHS, pp. 100-105Minns, E., H., Scythians and Greeks, A Survey of Ancient History and Archaeology p. 59

/ref> **

44/43–c. 17 BC (''second reign'') ** Scribonius (Bosporan usurper), Scribonius c. 15? BC ** Polemon I c. 12/13–8 BC

Tiberian-Julian dynasty (8–341)

* Aspurgus 8/10–38 AD * Polemon II of Pontus 38–41 * Rhescuporis I (?) 14–42 *

Gepaepyris Gepaepyris ( el, Γηπαίπυρις, flourished 1st century) was a Thrace, 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. Gepaepyris was the first ...

(queen) * Mithridates III 42–46 * Cotys I 46–78 ** Incorporated as a part of the Roman Province of Moesia Inferior 63–68 *

Rhescuporis II Rhescuporis II was king of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace from 12 to 19 AD. He ruled half of the kingdom in succession to his brother Rhoemetalces I, and briefly ruler of the entire realm thereafter, usurping the other half from nephew Cotys VIII ...

78–93 * Sauromates I 93–123 * Cotys II 123–131 * Rhoemetalces 131–153 * Eupator 154–170 * Sauromates II 172–210 * Rhescuporis III 211–228 * Cotys III 228–234 ** Sauromates III 229–232 ** Rhescuporis IV 233–234 ** Chedosbios 233–234 (?) * Ininthimeus 234–239 (possibly non-dynastic) * Rhescuporis V 240–276 ** Pharsanzes 253–254 (possibly non-dynastic) * Teiranes 276–278 ** Sauromates IV 276 * Theothorses 279–309 (possibly non-dynastic) * Rhadamsades 309–322 (possibly non-dynastic) * Rhescuporis VI 314–341

Later rulers (341–527)

The end of Rhescuporis VI's reign is believed to have marked the end of the Tiberian-Julian dynasty. Details of the Bosporan Kingdom are scant thereafter but it appears to have undergone several successive periods of rule by

and

. There was probably a continuous sequence of rulers but few names are known. * Douptounos fl. c. 483 * Gordas fl. 527 (Hunnic ruler) * Mugel c. 527 (Hunnic ruler) Mugel's rule in the Bosporus was brief; shortly after Gordas's death

sent an army to place the Bosporus under Roman rule. Mugel thereafter ruled only Patria Onoguria in the north.

Family tree

This family tree covers the rulers of the Mithridatic and Tiberian-Julian dynasties. Owing to much of the sequence of Tiberian-Julian rulers being based on coinage, the relationships within the Tiberian-Julian dynasty (especially for later rulers) are largely conjectural and speculative. Conjectural and speculative lines of descent are marked with dotted lines. Though genealogical information is completely unknown for kings after Cotys III, the repeating names lead most researchers to believe that the later kings until at least 341 were part of the same continuous dynasty.

Notes

References

{{Bosporan kings Rulers of the Bosporan Kingdom