Leukon I
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Leucon I of Bosporus (, lived c. 410–349 BC) also known as Leuco, 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 ...
who ruled from 389 to 349 BC. He was arguably the greatest ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom. He was the son of
Satyrus I Satyrus I (, died 389 BC) was the Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom from 432 BC to 389 BC. During his rule he built upon the expansive foreign policy of his father, Spartocus I. He conquered Nymphaion, became involved in the political dev ...
(432–389 BC) and the grandson of Spartocus I, the first Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom. Leucon ruled his kingdom jointly with his brother Gorgippus, who situated himself on the Asiatic side and ruled from
Gorgippia Anapa (, , ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. As of the 2021 Russian census, it had a population of 81,863. It is one of the largest children's resorts in Russia. In ancien ...
, which he named after himself. Leucon was succeeded by his sons Spartocus II (349–342 BC) and Paerisades I (349–309). He continued his father's war against Theodosia and
Chersonesus Chersonesus, contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson (), was an Greeks in pre-Roman Crimea, ancient Greek Greek colonization, colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlers from He ...
with the goal of annexing all the
Greek colonies Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC, across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages ...
in the Bosporus. He also made Sindike his vassal upon defeating Octamasades, and in an
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
from Nymphaion he is described as "''
archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...
'' of the Bosporus, Theodosia, all Sindike". He also created a foreign and trade policy outside 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 ...
, significantly with
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, a commercial friend of the
Spartocids The Spartocids () or Spartocidae was the name of a Hellenized Thracian dynasty that ruled the Hellenistic Kingdom of Bosporus between the years 438–108 BC. They had usurped the former dynasty, the Archaeanactids, who were tyrants of Pantic ...
.


Early life and reign

Leukon was born to Satyrus I, a ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom who had become king after the death of his father, Spartocus I, a man of Thracian descent with possible ties to the Odrysian royal dynasty, who usurped the former Greek Archaeanactid dynasty. Leukon may have been taught by
Isocrates Isocrates (; ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and writte ...
.To his Greek subjects, Leukon was merely an "
Archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...
", but to the tribes in his dominions, he was "king". Nonetheless, the Athenians viewed him as a tyrant but nonetheless a friend of Athens. He was present during his father's unsuccessful war against the barbarian queen
Tirgatao Tirgatao (Scythian: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ) was a princess of the Maeotes mentioned by Polyaenus. She was the first wife of the Sindian king Hecataeus, and was a notable participant of the Bosporan wars of expansion. Name The name T ...
of the Ixomatae, where his brother Metrodoros died as a hostage. He became king with his brother Gorgippus after their father died during the unsuccessful first siege of Theodosia. Upon becoming king, he attacked the city of Theodosia at first without success, but continued to attack it until the city was defeated, both times being aided by
Heraclea Pontica Heraclea Pontica (; ; , ), known in Byzantine and later times as Pontoheraclea (), was an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. The site is now the location of the modern city Karadeniz Ereğli, in ...
, probably to finish what his father began prior to his own death. At some point during his reign, he married a woman named Theodosia, possibly the daughter of a powerful Bosporan diplomat named Sopaeus. They had three sons named Spartocus II, Apollonius, and Paerisades I. Leucon also initiated a semi-fraudulent coinage reform in which he recalled all coins from the region to be minted into new coins with double the face value. Leucon also faced early problems with his subjects; he had to enlist the aid of merchants to successfully put down a rebellion fomented by some members of his court and even trusted friends. According to
Aeneas Tacticus Aeneas Tacticus (; fl. 4th century BC) was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war and is credited as the first author to provide a complete guide to securing military communications. Polybius described his design for a hydraulic se ...
, ''How to Survive under Siege'', he dismissed his guards who owed gambling debts, because their loyalty could not be assured during a city siege.


Military campaigns

Leukon had inherited several wars from his father, including one against the
Ixomatae The Maeotians (; ; ) were an ancient people dwelling along the Sea of Azov, which was known in antiquity as the " Maeotian marshes" or "Lake Maeotis".James, Edward Boucher"Maeotae" and "Maeotis Palus"in the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geogr ...
, led by queen
Tirgatao Tirgatao (Scythian: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ) was a princess of the Maeotes mentioned by Polyaenus. She was the first wife of the Sindian king Hecataeus, and was a notable participant of the Bosporan wars of expansion. Name The name T ...
, ending with the unsuccessful siege to Theodosia that claimed his father's life. He and his brother Gorgippos made peace with the Ixomatae and focused their attentions to the west.


Siege of Theodosia (c.365 BC)

After his father's death and his ascendance to the throne, Leukon laid siege the city of Theodosia twice. The first siege ended in a Bosporan defeat due to Tynnichus, a general sent by Heraclea Pontica, to relieve the city, which he accomplished, despite inferior numbers, due to trickery.


Siege of Theodosia (c.360 BC)

Leucon besieged Theodosia again 5 years later in a surprise attack, before the city could receive relief aid from the Heracleotes. It is possible that the Heracleotes withdrew before Leucon attacked due to a change of government from oligarchy to tyranny under Clearchus. He was then attacked by the Heracleotes in his own territory. Leucon, noticing that his own troops could be routed easily, positioned his Scythian soldiers in the rear and gave clear instructions that his men were to be struck down if they fled. This precaution helped his army defeat the Heracleotes. Shortly after his victory, Leucon made a peace treaty with the Heracleotes, ending the war.


Annexation of the Sindike Kingdom

Leucon then turned his eye to the Sindike Kingdom, where there had been a dynastic dispute between Hecataeus, the king of the Sindi, and his son, Octamasades who had taken power from his father. Before the Battle of Labrytai, Leucon said he “made a vow to erect a victory monument, not to the local Apollo of Labrys, but to the supreme deity and patron of all the Bosporans, Apollo the Healer”. After defeating Octamasades, it is possible Leucon persuaded Hecataeus to surrender the kingship to him, as he was proclaimed "king of all the Sindike" shortly thereafter.


Later reign


Conflict with Memnon of Rhodes

Probably during the last years of Leucon's reign,
Heraclea Pontica Heraclea Pontica (; ; , ), known in Byzantine and later times as Pontoheraclea (), was an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. The site is now the location of the modern city Karadeniz Ereğli, in ...
may have hired
Memnon of Rhodes Memnon of Rhodes (Greek: Μέμνων ὁ Ῥόδιος; 380 – 333 BC) was a prominent Rhodian Greek commander in the service of the Achaemenid Empire. Related to the Persian aristocracy by the marriage of his sister to the satrap Artabaz ...
, the famous guerrilla fighter who had fought
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
. Heraclea Pontica sent envoys to Leucon to learn the size of his army. Upon hearing that there were not many soldiers, Memnon went to battle Leucon, and used trickery to gain an easy victory against the Bosporan army. Memnon had his army march over to a hill, leaving only half of his men visible, as if to show that there was desertion amongst his troops. He then dispatched a "deserter" to inform the Bosporan army that there had been a mutiny in the Heracleote army. The Bosporan forces marched out to Memnon's forces, believing that they had been split in half, but were defeated as in reality the army was completely intact.


Relations with Athens

Leucon was well regarded by the Athenians, as the Bosporan Kingdom exported a large portion of their grain primarily to Athens. In 356 BC, when Athens could not make do on their payment because of restrictions Sparta had placed on them during the
Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...
, he gave them 400,000 ''medinmoi'' (around 16,380 t) free of charge. For this, Leucon was praised in Athens and was both given citizenship and statues of him and his sons erected in Athens. This policy was continued by his descendants, such as Spartocus III, who gave Athens 15,000 medimnoi of grain (ca 590 t) as a gift. They would continue to follow this diplomatic friendship with the Athenians. Leucon also gave Athenian ships privileges at his ports and did not have them taxed when they docked.


Death and legacy

Leucon died in 349 BC, after a reign of around forty years. He was at least sixty years old at the time of his death, placing his birth around 410 BC or earlier. His body is thought to have been placed in the
Royal Kurgan The Royal Kurgan or Tsarskyi Kurgan () from the 4th century BC, is one of the most impressive tumuli (kurgans) of the eastern Crimea. The burial barrow is located at Kul-Oba in present-day Kerch (Ukraine), which developed out of the ancient Gre ...
,Excerpt from ''Aarchaeological Walks in Ancient Kerch'' (Russian)
/ref> a burial mound where the previous Bosporan rulers had been interred, on the outskirts of Panticapaeum. Leucon's actions mirrored those of his grandfather, Spartocus I, who usurped the former Greek dynasty of the Bosporan state, as well as those of his father Satyrus. Leucon's descendants ruled the Bosporus for another two centuries, until Paerisades V died during a Scythian uprising.


See also

*
Cimmerian Bosporus The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and u ...
*
List of Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus The Bosporan kings were the rulers of the Bosporan Kingdom, an ancient Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Greco-Scythians, Scythian state centered on the Kerch Strait (the Cimmerian Bosporus) and ruled from the city of Panticapaeum. Panticapaeum was ...
*
Sindi people The Sindi (; Adyghe language, Adyghe: Щынджыхэр; Ubykh language, Ubykh: Шинджишвё; ) were an ancient Scythians, Scythian people who primarily lived in western North Caucasus, Ciscaucasia. A portion of the Sindi also lived in Cent ...
*
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 ...


References


Bibliography

*
Aeneas Tacticus Aeneas Tacticus (; fl. 4th century BC) was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war and is credited as the first author to provide a complete guide to securing military communications. Polybius described his design for a hydraulic se ...
, Περὶ τοῦ πῶς χρὴ πολιορκουμένους ἀντέχειν (online editio
here
. * Stanley M. Burstein (1974), "The War between Heraclea Pontica and Leucon I of Bosporus" ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte''. 4th Quarter. pp 401–416. * ''Encyclopædia Britannica Academic Edition'' (2011) (online pag
here
. * Sergei R. Tokhtas'ev (2006), "The Bosporus and Sindike in the Era of Leukon I. New Epigraphic Publications" ''Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia''. Volume 12 series 1-2, pp. 1–62 {{Bosporan kings 4th-century BC monarchs Monarchs of the Bosporan Kingdom Spartocid dynasty