Pages: 75-98

The Second Bosporan War is a “white page” of the history of the Northern Black Sea Coast and Taurica. There is only one account mentioning it, which is found only in the inscription from Plovdiv (Bulgaria) dated by 200—250 CE. The study of the variable coins of Sauromates II made it possible to clarify the history of this conflict. The war began under Septimius Severus. The severity of the crisis prompted Sauromates II to divide the border areas into sectors, organized both for defense and for preparing offensive operations. One of them in East Taurica was allocated to a Roman Detachment, aimed at helping the Bosporus. In each of the sectors, they used their own exchange money, emitted to cover military expenditures. The Romans minted Septimius Severus’ bust on the coins. The war ended under Rhescuporis II, when the Roman emperor’s bust disappeared from Bosporan bronze coins.

Keywords: Bosporus, Sauromates II, Second Bosporan War, numismatics, epigraphy, Romans, barbarians

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]