Satyrus II () was a son of

Paerisades I Paerisades I () also known as Birisades, Pairisades, and Parysades was a Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 342 to 310/9 BC. His father was Leukon I, a Bosporan king who was responsible for establishing and expanding the kingdom from ...

and Spartocid king 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 ...

for 9 months in 310 BC. He was the elder brother of

Eumelus Eumelus ( ''Eúmēlos'' means "rich in sheep") was the name of: Mythology *Eumelus ( Gadeirus), the younger twin brother of Atlas in Plato's myth of Atlantis, and the son of Poseidon and Cleito, daughter of the autochthon Evenor and Leucippe. ...

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 was challenged and ultimately overthrown by Eumelus in 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. Thes ...

Reign and civil war

When his father Paerisades died in 310 BC, Satyrus inherited the throne and government as he was the eldest son. Shortly after, his brother Eumelus fled to the lands of the

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 ...

, where he entered into an alliance with

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 ...

, king of the Siraces, and made a rival claim to the throne. As soon as Satyrus learned of this, he set out against his brother Eumelus with his army thus starting the Spartocid civil war. Satyrus' army had a total of 34,000 troops, a mixture of Greeks, Thracians, and Scythians. After cornering his younger brother, they fought 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 ...

, which resulted in a strategic victory for Satyrus and demonstrated his suitability for the throne of his father.

Final battle and death

Satyrus pursued his brother and his ally, Ariphanes, who both retreated to the capital of the Siraces. Upon approaching the city, he realised that it would be hard to take as the city was built on the river Thatis and surrounded by thick marshes. There were also man-made defences including a fortified gate and a well-protected castle at the other entrance. Knowing he would not be able to take the city, he plundered the countryside, gaining many prisoners and plunder. The Siege of Siracena ensued. However Satyrus died fighting Aripharnes while attempting to protect his mercenary captain, Meniscus. His brother Prytanis became king shortly after his death, and fought Eumelus but shared the same fate. His brother Eumelus killed the families of his brothers, but Satyrus' son, Paerisades, survived and fled to

Scythia Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. Etymology The names ...

, where he was given asylum by its king, Agarus.

References

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