judaism_and_rome 2026-05-30T09:56:01+02:00 1 284 Inscription https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?recID=284&db=judaism_and_rome 2022-08-16 23:18:41 2025-07-22 16:56:40 public A king of Bosporus, friend of Hadrian Stone broken in two parts. Letters are not carefully carved. 0133 0133 3763 Greek 3960 3839 2731 3698 3957 2730 3419 3954 3692 <a href="https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/854719">Pantikapaion</a> was a former colony of Miletus (Pliny the Elder, <em>Natural History, </em>IV.87; <em>Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax </em>68) on the peninsula of Crimea, which became the traditional seat of the Bosporan kings in the Hellenistic period (Diodorus Siculus, <em>The Library of History</em> XX.24.2) and continued to be the royal residence under Roman rule (Strabo, <em>Geography</em> VII.4.4). In this location, one member of the Bosporan dynasty prepared an honorific inscription for Hadrian. This text sheds light on the foreign policy adopted by the emperor and the control of Rome over client-kingdoms.<br /><br />The inscription can be securely dated to 133 CE on the basis of the local era (297 BCE) recorded in line 8. Hadrian’s titulature is abbreviated as no reference to his adopted grandfather Nerva is made, preferring to highlight only the lineage of Trajan (see Hekster, <em>Emperors</em>, p. 180-181). The sequence of the king (βασιλεύς/<em>basileus</em>) Rhoimetalkes is more elaborate and includes the Roman names Tiberius Iulius – typical of the Bosporan dynasty after Tiberius’s reign (see Gajdukevic, <em>Das Bosporanische, </em>p. 338-339) – and the titles φιλόκαισαρ/<em>philokaisar</em> and φιλορώμαιος/<em>philorhômaios</em>. While the appearance of these last epithets in other client-kingdoms such as Iberia is rather spasmodic (see Braund, <em>Rome and the Friendly King</em>, p. 105-107), it became an inherent element of the Bosporan royal titulature (see Heinen, “Die Anfänge”). Such a persistent and obvious sign of loyalty can be explained by the historical development of the region. The Cimmerian Bosporus heavily supported Mithridates Eupator, became one of his main bases and refuge, but needed to create new alliance when the king of Pontus was finally defeated by Rome at the end of the Republican period (see Gajdukevic, <em>Das Bosporanische,</em> p. 301-332; Rostovtzeff, “Bosporan Kingdom”). Already under Octavian, pretenders to the Bosporan throne were supposed to show not only their royal lineage, but also the support of Rome (Cassius Dio, <em>Roman History,</em> LIV.24.4). From this moment too, the king Asander started displaying the tile<em> philorhômaios </em>on both inscriptions and coins(see Gajdukevic, <em>Das Bosporanische,</em> p. 325-326). At the beginning of the imperial period, Strabo even remarked that the king of Bosporus is “whoever the Romans set up” (<em>Geography</em> VII.4.7). This is perfectly illustrated under Claudius when the emperor appointed Iulius Aquila to protect Cotys I against the aspirations of Mithridates (Tacitus, <em>Annals</em> XII.15-21). In the 2^nd century, this policy of Roman control continued when Hadrian, according to the ancient historian Phlegon, “ordered Cotys II to wear a diadem” (<em>FHG</em> III 607 F20 = <em>FGrH</em> 257.17). Upon the death of this king, the governor of Pontus, Arrian, also informs us that he “set out for you (Hadrian) the sea-route up to the Bosporus” (<em>Periplus</em> XVII.3; see Braund, “Notes from The Black Sea”). The reference to Hadrian as κτίστης/<em>ktistês</em> (“restorer”) should be read against this background.<br /><br />Rhoimetalkes owed his throne to Hadrian and, for this reason, the Roman emperor is honoured as his private (ἴδιος/<em>idios</em>) supporter who, consequently, would have also become benefactor (εὐεργέτης/<em>euergetês</em>) of the entire Bosporus if the suggested readings are correct (l. 2-3). These textual restorations appear to be validated by another inscription from Pantikapaion possibly referring to Hadrian as the “benefactor of the city of the Bosporans” (<em>CIRB</em> 48). Roman support, nevertheless, did not only consist in dynastic intervention but also involved security and military protection. According to Flavius Josephus (<em>Jewish War</em> II.16.4), this region was controlled by the 3000 armed men stationed by Nero along the eastern Black Sea coast and, indeed, at least two gravestones belonging to Roman soldiers had been discovered in the territory of the Bosporan capital (<em>IOSPE</em> II.290, 293). This area was subject to the constant incursions of Scythians, Sarmatians and other nomadic warriors; thus, when Domitian exiled Dio Chrysostom to nearby Olbia, the rhetor lamented the attacks on Greek cities (XXXVI.4).<br /><br />Rhoimetalkes’s alliance was also rewarded with his registration (ἐγγραφῆναι/<em>engraphênai</em>) among the “friends (of the Roman people)” recorded in lines 5 and 6 of our inscription. This sentence refers to the official procedure by which people favourable and loyal to Roman rule were enrolled in a formal list kept in the archives of Rome as we are informed from the <em>Senatus Consultum de Asclepiade</em>. The concept of friendship (<em>amicitia</em>) played a prominent role in the Roman conquest of the eastern Mediterranean (see Badian, <em>Foreign Clientelae</em>; Gruen, <em>The Hellenistic World</em>, p. 54-95; Morstein Kallet-Marx, <em>Hegemony to Empire</em>, p. 184-197); and we can see that Hadrian was still exercising it in the relations established with client-kingdoms under his control. This tradition was not only customary but also had practical advantages. For example, “friends of the Roman people” had preferential treatment in their diplomatic missions, the so-called <em>ius legationis</em>, and an inscription from Chersonesos reports that Rhoimetalkes was very successful with embassies (<em>IOSPE </em>I²423). Under Antoninus Pius, the <em>Historia Augusta </em>(IX.8) even records that this Bosporan king stayed at Rome in order to resolve a dispute with an imperial curator.<br /><br />Hadrian is credited with a change of Roman foreign policy when he decided to remove Roman troops from the Mesopotamian lands conquered by Trajan, as attested in Dura Europos. By contrast, this inscription from Pantikapaion shows that the imperial control over the client-kingdom of Bosporus did not decrease. Furthermore, this special relationship was based on traditional concepts such as friendship that contributed to spreading Roman ideals of restoration and benefaction in far-away lands such as those on the Crimean peninsula. The image of Hadrian was also heavily featured on the coinage of Rhoimetalkes (<em>RPC </em>III.907-923); a king who could offer protection and advantageous diplomacy to his subjects while displaying loyal support and submission to Rome’s superior power.</p> benefactor royal house Hadrian Rhoimetalkes client-king client king Bosporus friendship foreign relations diplomacy Roman people restoration Unknown Marble Not given by the original editor 2nd CE 5832 Found in a reused context at the Turkish fortress of ancient Pantikapaion (modern Kerch) on the Crimean peninsula 232 212 217 Roman Greek IOSPE II.33 [IGRR I.877; CIRB 47] No <p align="left">I reproduce the edition in <em>Inscriptiones antiquae Orae Septentrionalis Ponti Euxini graecae et latinae, </em>Petropoli, Impensis Societatis Archaeologicae Imperii Russici, 1890, p. 34-35, no. 33, incorporating the restorations suggested in <em>CIRB</em> 47 and updating diacritical marks to comply with the Leiden conventions. </p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[Αὐτοκρ]άτορα Καίσαρα Τραια[νοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸν]</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[Ἁδριαν]ὸν Σεβαστόν, τὸν τοῦ [παντὸς Βοσπόρου?]</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[εὐεργέτ]ην καὶ ἴδιον κτίστην. Τ[ιβέριο]ς Ἰού-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[λιος βασιλε]ὺς Ῥοιμητάλκης, φιλόκ[αισα]ρ καὶ</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left">5</div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[φιλορώμαιος], εὐσεβὴς εὐχαριστ[ῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ἐ]ς</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[τοὺς φίλους ἐγ]γραφ[ῆνα]ι ἀν[έ]στησε [δι’ ἐπιμε]-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[λητοῦ - - - Ἰου]λίου Φ[λαβ]ιανοῦ [- - - -]</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="437"> <div align="left">[- - - -] ἔτους] λ[υʹ] κ[αὶ μηνὸς] Ἀπελλαίο[υ - - - ]</div> </td> </tr></tbody></table> <p>The translation is my own.<br /><br />Emperor Caesar, son of the god Trajan, Hadrian Augustus, the benefactor of [the entire Bosporus] and his own restorer. Tiberius Iulius king Rhoimetalkes, Caesar-loving and [Roman-loving], pious, giving thanks for his enrolment [among the friends] set up (this monument) [through the deputy] Iulius Flavianus [...] In the year 430, in the month Appelaios. </p> Translation by author of the database record Yes A king of Bosporus honours Hadrian as a restorer and benefactor and is grateful for his registration as a friend of Rome. αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ ̓Αδριανός εὐεργέτης κτίστης βασιλεύς φιλόκαισαρ φιλορώμαιος εὐσεβής εὐχαριστέω φίλος Aitor Blanco Pérez English Yes 1