Abstract

The author of the article is revising the concept of the history of the Bosporan Kingdom at the turn of the Common Era as formulated in the early twentieth century by the eminent Russian ancient historian M.I. Rostovtzeff. Its main points may be summarized as follows. In the second half of the first century BCE to the mid-first century CE, the Roman emperor Augustus sought to incorporate Bosporus into a system of client kingdoms, viewing it as a defensive barrier between the Sarmatian-Iranian world and Parthia and as a bridgehead for Roman influence in the Black Sea region. The Romans aimed to unite Bosporus with the Pontic kingdom of the Polemonids, thereby laying the groundwork for their subsequent transformation into Roman provinces. This, in Rostovtzeff's view, explains their political manoeuvres around the Bosporan kings of the second half of the first century BCE and their close attention to Asander, Dynamis, and Rome's direct protégés Scribonius and Polemon I. Sarmatian and Maeotian tribes opposed the intensification of Roman policy; they rallied around Queen Dynamis who, under the cover of an alliance with Rome and friendship with the imperial couple, succeeded in preserving her throne and consolidating her power. A strong and independent Bosporus did not suit the Roman authorities; therefore in 14 BCE the Pontic king Polemon I was sent to Bosporus to unite it with Pontus and place it under Roman control. Under pressure from Augustus, the Bosporan queen Dynamis married Polemon, but soon left him and strengthened her position on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus. She supported Aspurgus, a representative of a local Sarmatian dynasty who claimed the Bosporan throne, and struck gold coinage in 9/8 BCE–7/8 CE. New numismatic and epigraphic evidence discovered in recent years and presented by the author shows the reliability of M.I. Rostovtsev's scientific foresight, and at the same time refines this widely accepted scholarly concept.