Prytanis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Πρύτανης) was king 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, ...

from 310 to 309 BC. He was a son of Paerisades and the youngest brother of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was part of the

Bosporan Civil War The Bosporan Civil War was a war of succession that happened in the Bosporan Kingdom somewhere between 311 and 308 BCE and lasted for about a year. The casus belli was the death of archon Paerisades I, whose sons disputed the succession. These ...

during 309 BC, between himself and his brothers, Eumelos having a claim to the throne and the backing of

Aripharnes Aripharnes (fl. 310–309 BC) or Arypharnasha the Thataean was ruler of the Sarmatian tribe of Siraces and took part in the First Bosporan Civil War of 310-309 between king Satyros II and his brother Eumelos, a pretender to the throne. At first, ...

, king of the

Siraces The Siraces ( gr, Sirakoi, lat, Siraci, also ''Siraceni'' and ''Seraci'' ) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatians, Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Kuban River, Achardeus at the Black Sea north of the Caucasus Mountains, Sirac ...

Reign and defeat

Not much is known about Prytanis prior to the civil war, but he was the youngest son of Paerisades, and thus last in line of succession, and sided with his eldest brother Satyros when Eumelos launched his rival claim for the throne. Upon Satyros' death, his mercenary captain Meniscus brought the body back to Panticapaeum through Gargaza. Here, Prytanis held a great funeral for his elder brother and quickly went to Gargaza, taking both the army and royal power. Eumelos sent envoys to Prytanis, but he ignored them and left a garrison in Gargaza so that he could quickly return to

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 ...

in order to secure the throne for himself. While Prytanis was in Panticapaeum, Eumelos took Gargaza and several other cities. Prytanis then took the field against his brother near the Maeotic Lake, but was defeated and Eumelos forced him to turn over command of the army and abdicate in his favor.

Death

Having already given Eumelos the throne, Prytanis once again entered Panticapaeum. As he walked through it, he knew that it had been the capital of his ancestors and presumably wanted his throne back. After attempting to take the throne, he was overpowered and fled to "The Gardens" where he was cornered and killed. Eumelos, to secure his throne, killed the families and friends of Satyros and Prytanis, with Satyros's young son Paerisades only barely managing to get away to Scythia and getting refuge with Agarus.

References

{{Hellenistic rulers 4th-century BC rulers Rulers of the Bosporan Kingdom 309 BC deaths Spartocid dynasty