Pages: 93-106 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp21693106

Under the Bosporan king Eupator, sestercii were issued with two busts on the obverse: an elderly bearded man in a ray crown and a woman in a high openwork crown, as well as two men: a young one, with or without a beard, and an elderly, bearded one. All men have long hair. The elderly man is no doubt Eupator. Together with him, as is commonly believed, they portrayed Aphrodite Urania and Marcus Aurelius. But this is hardly the case. After all, a very similar image of a woman, framed by the legend “Β … ΕΥΝΟΜΙΑC”, is imprinted on the reverse of the Bosporan sesterces with two male busts on the obverse. But the figures of the deities on the Bosporan coins were not signed. Judging by the crown, this was a Sarmatian queen. We believe that Eunomia, who is mentioned in the coin legend, was the wife and co-ruler of Eupator. The Roman emperors on the Bosporan coins were always depicted with short hair. We believe that the studied sestercii had portraits of Eupator, his wife Eunomia, and also their son, who ruled the Bosporus from 170/171 to 174/175 without the sanction of Rome and, as a result, did not receive the right to issue coins and did not leave lapidary inscriptions.

Keywords: history, archaeology, numismatics, Bosporan Kingdom, Eupator, Eunomia

Information about author:

Michael Choref (Nizhnevartovsk, Russian Federation). Candidate  of  Historical Sciences. N. I. Lobachevsky  State University of  Nizhny Novgorod. Gagarin Ave., 23, Nizhni Novgorod, 603950, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]