The siege of Theodosia in 389 BC was the first of three sieges carried out against the city of Theodosia (modern day

Feodosia uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

) by 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, ...

, who attempted time and time again to annex the city to their dominions during the long Bosporan-Heracleote War. The first of these sieges was carried out by Satyros I, the father of

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 ...

Prelude

Satyros had recently bribed

Gylon Gylon ( grc, Γύλων), also known as Gylon of Cerameis, was a Greek military official and the maternal grandfather of Demosthenes. He is known for his role in the capture and ultimately turning over of Nymphaeum to the Bosporans, for which he ...

, an Athenian official of Nymphaeum, to hand over the city. He had recently acquired the city of

Phanagoria Phanagoria ( grc, Φαναγόρεια, Phanagóreia; russian: Фанагория, translit=Fanagoriya) was the largest ancient Greek city on the Taman peninsula, spread over two plateaus along the eastern shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The ...

as well prior to laying siege to Theodosia. He had also recently involved himself with the Sindike Kingdom, attempting to gain influence with the king Hekataios by deposing the king's wife,

Tirgatao Tirgatao (Scythian: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ) was a princess of the Maeotes mentioned by Polyaenus. She was the first wife of the Sindian king Hecataeus, and was a notable participant of the Bosporan wars of expansion. Name The name Tir ...

. Satyros then besieged Theodosia to attempt to make it a part of his dominions.

Siege

Satyros I had been besieging Theodosia with little success until he had to shift his attention to

, an Ixomataen queen who was wronged by Satyros and began laying both fire and sword to his land back east, as well as having killed his son Metrodoros. Heraclea Pontica came to the aid of Theodosia, perhaps possibly to protect their colony at

Chersonesus Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσών; ...

from the rule of the expansionist Spartocids whose domain was ever increasing. Upon returning, Satyros died of despair while sieging at the age of 81, having had two wars that he was losing on two fronts. On his death, he passed over his throne to two of his sons,

and

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 ...

who would later finish what he began.

Aftermath

Around 20 years after the death of Satyros, his son Leukon began a second Siege of Theodosia in around 365 BC. Leukon lifted this siege due to Heraclea Pontica sending Tynnichus, one of its generals, to aid the city and who succeeded in doing so. The city was conquered around 5 years after that, but the Bosporans had enraged the full wrath of Heraclea Pontica, and received another war from Heracleia Pontica.

References

{{Reflist Wars of the Bosporan Kingdom 389 BC 390s BC conflicts Feodosia Municipality