KINGDOM of BOSPORUS Sauromates I 90AD Shield Sword Helmet Greek Coin i53434

Item: i53434

Authentic Ancient 

Coin of:

Kingdom of Bosporus

Sauromates I
– King: 
90-124 A.D.
Bronze ’48 Nummia’ 24mm (9.58 grams) Struck circa 108-118 A.D.

Reference: MacDonald 401/2; Anokhin 464

BACIΛЄWC CAYPOMATOY, Bust of Sauromates 
I right, draped, wearing diadem.
Circular shield between battle axe (on left) and sword in scabbard; spear in  
background; above, horse’s head and helmet; beneath, denomination mark M H.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, 

Authenticity.

Tiberius Julius Sauromates I Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, also 
known as Sauromates I (Greek:
Τιβέριος Ἰούλιος Σαυροματης Α’ Φιλόκαισαρ 
Φιλορώμαίος Eυσεbής, Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, means
lover of Caesar, lover of Rome who is the Pius one, flourished the second 
half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century, died 123) was a 
prince and
Roman Client King
of the
Bosporan Kingdom
.

Sauromates I was the son and heir of the Bosporan King
Rhescuporis I
by an unnamed wife. He was of
Greek
,
Iranian
and
Roman ancestry
. The name Sauromates is a 
name of Sarmatian
origin. His paternal grandparents 
were the previous ruling Bosporan Monarchs
Cotys I
and
Eunice
.

Through his paternal grandfather, Sauromates I was a descendant of the Roman 
Triumvir Mark Antony
from his second marriage to his 
paternal cousin Antonia Hybrida Minor (second daughter of
Roman Republican
Politician
Gaius Antonius Hybrida
, Antony’s paternal 
uncle), thus Sauromates I was related to various members of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
. He was also a 
descendant of Roman Client Rulers
Polemon I of Pontus
,
Pythodorida of Pontus
and
Cotys VIII
of
Thrace
. Through his paternal grandfather, 
Sauromates I was a descendant of
Greek Macedonian Kings:

Antigonus I Monophthalmus
,
Seleucus I Nicator
and
Regent
,
Antipater
. These three men served under King
Alexander the Great
. He is also descended from 
the Monarchs
Mithridates VI of Pontus
and his first wife, 
his sister
Laodice
and the previous Bosporan King
Asander
.

When Rhescuporis I died in 90, Sauromates I succeeded his father as Bosporan 
King and reigned until his own death in 123. He was a contemporary of the
Roman Emperors

Domitian
,
Nerva
,
Trajan
and
Hadrian
. Sauromates I continued his father’s 
legacy of rebuilding the Bosporan Kingdom. In 68, Rhescuporis I had restored the 
Bosporan Kingdom, previously a part of the
Roman province
of
Moesia
Inferior, as a semi-independent Roman 
Client State. On coins, his royal title is in Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΑΥΡΟΜΑΤΟΥ 
or of King Sauromates.

Sauromates I is mentioned in the letters of
Roman Senator

Pliny the Younger
. About 103, Pliny served as 
the Roman Governor of
Bithynia
. Sauromates I sent his ambassador (legatus) 
to travel to Bithynia to deliver two letters to Pliny. The nature of these 
letters is unknown. The first letter requested Pliny, for a messenger to use a 
diploma (a permit to use an official wagon) to assist the messenger’s journey, 
which Pliny respected. The second letter was for Trajan. Pliny learned no more 
than that it contained news which Trajan needed to know. An imperial freedman 
called Lycormas took the second letter from Bithynia to

Rome for Trajan, a journey that would have taken 6–8 weeks.

Either Rhescuporis I or Sauromates I established
Phanagoria
as the new capital city of the 
Bosporan Kingdom. From the late 1st century,
Panticapaeum
, the original capital city, had 
gradually lost its importance. Phanagoria became the new capital city because of 
the increasing popularity of the city’s titulary goddess,
Aphrodite
, and her cult.

In 105, Sauromates I, entrusted and appointed a priest as an official to 
oversee the restoration of the porticos
at the temple at Hermonassa
. Out of his 
personal religious devotion in 110, he erected a temple dedicated to Aphrodite 
in Gorgippia
. In an honorific inscription 
dedicated to Sauromates I, found in
Nicaea
, Sauromates I was given the honorific 
title Ktistes or Founder. He was awarded this title because of his 
goodness, generosity and his contributions throughout the Bosporan and
Anatolia
.

At Panticapaeum, there is in Latin an honorific inscription, dedicating and 
honoring Sauromates I:

‘King Tiberius Julius Sauromates, an outstanding friend of Emperor and 
the populus Romanus‘.

Sauromates I married an unnamed woman and had a son called
Cotys II
. Cotys II would succeed his father. 
Through his son, Sauromates I would have three descendants ruling the Bosporan 
that would bear his name.

See also

• Bosporan Kingdom
• Roman Crimea