Iranians and Greeks in South Russia - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

158 GREEK CITIES OF SOUTH RUSSIA
kingdom, Phanagoria and Panticapaeum. And I feel convinced, that
the goddess, whose head is represented on these coins, is no other
than Queen Dynamis herself. It is possible that even at a later period
the city of Phanagoria preserved some vestiges of this fictitious and
titular autonomy. The fact is, that under Roman domination the
Bosphoran kingship was a Hellenized Oriental autocracy, like the
kingships of Commagene or of Armenia. But in the course of its
three centuries of Roman protectorate, it underwent gradual but
significant alterations. We can follow the changes by studying the
inscribed stones and the types and legends of the royal coinage.
During the first and second centuries, both in their inscriptions and on
their coins, the kings emphasize their vassalage, their dependence
upon Rome and the Emperor. On the stones, they regularly style
themselves OtXo/Dw/Aatos and ^iXoKaLo-ap, according to the custom of
Roman vassal kings ; they assume the prenomen and gentile name
of the Caesars—Tiberius Julius—and the priesthood of the imperial
cult. Under Eupator, a Capitol was even constructed at Panticapaeum,
as if the city had become a Roman colony. From the
period of Augustus to that of the Flavians, with a few brief intervals,
the gold coins of the Bosphorus show heads of the emperor and of a
member of the imperial house : from the time of Domitian onwards,
the emperor's head on one side and the king's on the other ; again a
sign of vassalage. Lastly, in their bronze coinage (pi. XXX, 3), the
Bosphoran kings make a special parade of their vassalage and of their
loyalty, as well as of the military services rendered to the empire and
to their subjects. On the bronze coins, as on the coins of other vassal
kings, the king is represented sitting on the curule chair, with the
image of the emperor on his crown, and the emperor's head oh his
sceptre : or else in the garb of a Roman general, riding to attack the
enemy, a type which recalls the contemporary coinage of Thrace. The
reverses commonly figure the complimentary gifts of the Roman
emperors : the selection of gifts is traditional, but it well expresses
the dominant ideas of the Roman Empire in its dealings with Oriental
vassals. The Bosphoran kings received the curule chair ; the royal
crown, probably embellished with the image of the emperor ; the
sceptre surmounted by the imperial bust ; and the complete armour
of a Roman knight, helmet, spear, round shield, sword, and sometimes
battle-axe. The intention was always the same everywhere : the king
was to be a loyal vassal, and a good soldier. The triumphal types
which are used by certain kings are imitated from the corresponding
imperial coins, and give expression to the military character of the
Bosphoran kingship.