Rhoemetalces, also known as Rhoimetalces (,

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 ...

2nd century AD; died 153), was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

client 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 ...

Life

When Cotys II died in 131, Rhoemetalces succeeded him as king. The relationship between Rhoemetalces and previous kings is not known, though it is possible that he was a son of Cotys II. Rhoemetalces ruled as Bosporan king from 131 until 153. He was a contemporary to the rule of the Roman Emperors

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

and

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

. On coinage, his royal title is in Greek: ''ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΡΟΙΜΗΤΑΛΚΟΥ'' ("of King Rhoemetalces"). According to the ''Historia Augusta'', at an unknown date in the reign of

, Rhoemetalces travelled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for a hearing of a dispute between him and the imperial commissioner. The nature and causes leading to this dispute are unknown. After the hearing had concluded, the Emperor sent him back to the Bosporan Kingdom. Rhoemetalces appears to have been religious and involved in the worship of

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

. This can be confirmed by an inscription found on a statue base from Phanagoria. Not much more is known of his reign and life. He was succeeded by Eupator, who might have been his brother. Rhoemetalces is known to have had at least one son, Sauromates II, who succeeded Eupator as king in the 170s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoemetalces, Tiberius Julius Monarchs of the Bosporan Kingdom Roman client monarchs 153 deaths 2nd-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth unknown Rhoemetalces, Tiberius

Life

See also

References