Eumelus of Bosporus (,

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

309–304 BC) was a Spartocid ruler of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

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

Prytanis The ''prytaneis'' (πρυτάνεις; sing.: πρύτανις ''prytanis'') were the executives of the '' boule'' of Ancient Athens. They served in a prytaneion. Origins When Cleisthenes reorganized the Athenian government in 508/7 BCE, he rep ...

. He and his brothers engaged in a conflict for the throne, which the eldest brother, Satyrus, had inherited from their father.

Civil war

Shortly after his brother Satyrus became ruler, Eumelus became a pretender to the throne with the backing of

Aripharnes Aripharnes (fl. 310–309 BC) or Arypharnasha the Thataean was king 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. Successi ...

, a ruler of the

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

tribe of

Siraces The Siraces (, , also ''Siraceni'' and ''Seraci'' ) were a hellenized Sarmatian tribe that inhabited Sarmatia Asiatica; the coast of Achardeus at the Black Sea north of the Caucasus Mountains, Siracena is mentioned by Tacitus as one of their ...

from whom he solicited aid. When Satyrus learned of this, he immediately went after Eumelos with his army and crossed the River Thatis to wage war on his brother. Eumelus was defeated by him at the

Battle of the River Thatis The Battle of the River Thatis was part of a succession dispute in the Bosporan Kingdom that was fought out during 310/309 BC. After the death of Paerisades I, his eldest son Satyros II became king. His brother Eumelus of Bosporus, Eumelus dis ...

. He and Aripharnes were forced to retreat to

Siracena Siracena () is the alleged capital settlement or village of the tribe of Siraces, a powerful, hellenized Sarmatian tribe on the steppe. It was ruled by the kings of the Siraces, most notably Aripharnes, who engaged in the Bosporan Civil War of 309 ...

. Satyrus and his army followed his brother to the city, but could not take it as it was surrounded by the River Thatis, leaving two heavily guarded entrances as the only means of ingress. After a four-day siege, Satyrus died while fighting against Aripharnes at the main entryway. Meniscus, Satyrus' mercenary captain, took Satyrus' body back to

Panticapaeum Pantikapaion ( , 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 founded by Milesians in the late 7t ...

for a royal burial and ended the siege. Prytanis, the younger brother, assumed the title of ruler and continued Satyros' war against Eumelus. Eumelus appealed to his brother to split the kingdom between them, but Prytanis rejected the proposal, marching against his brother. The two fought a battle which Eumelus won near the Maeotic Lake. Prytanis was spared by his brother but soon he waged war against Eumelus again and was killed.

Reuniting the kingdom and expansion

To fully establish himself, Eumelus had the families and friends of his brothers killed. The citizens of Panticapaeum were displeased at the killing of their friends, so Eumelos gathered them to an open assembly in which he defended himself and also offered immunity from taxes for those that lived in the city. He enacted several reforms, as well as the recruitment of more Greeks into the Bosporan military, who had previously only provided a small number of its forces, the rest being Sarmatians. He also reinforced the Bosporan fleet, to deal with the pirates and strengthen their trade routes. Eumelus then proceeded to show kindness to other Greek cities that were in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

and gave refuge to 1,000 refugees from the city of Callantia who were driven out by

Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek language, Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessaly, Thessalian officer and Diadochi, successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became king of Thrace, Anatolia, Asia Minor and Mace ...

. Eumelos led a series of campaigns against pirates in the eastern regions of the Black Sea—most likely the Tauri, the Heniochi and several others—and was able to destroy them. He also took back the settlement of Tanais, which was abandoned due to continuous sieges from local tribes and made his kingdom large enough to rival that of Lysimachus.

Death

As he hurried his way back from Sindia to his palace for a sacrifice in a four-horse wheeled carriage, the horses became scared. The driver was unable to control them, so Eumelus jumped out of the carriage, but his sword became caught on the wheel and he was dragged along by the carriage and died. He was succeeded by his son Spartocus III.

References

{{Hellenistic rulers 4th-century BC monarchs Monarchs of the Bosporan Kingdom Spartocid dynasty

Civil war

Reuniting the kingdom and expansion

Death

See also

References