Gorgippian Thiasoi Under Sauromates and Rhescuporis — Four Bosporan Inscriptions

Four Bosporan Inscriptions from Gorgippia

These four fragmentary inscriptions come from Gorgippia, the Bosporan city at modern Anapa. They belong to the late second and early third centuries AD, under Tiberius Julius Sauromates II and Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis III.

The texts are small, broken, and administrative, but they preserve useful north Black Sea evidence: royal titulature, a letter to the council and people of Gorgippia, lists of thiasos members, offices connected with the city and royal administration, and the dynastic formula by which Rhescuporis names himself son of the great king Sauromates.

The translation below is made from the inspected Ancient Greek inscription texts printed after the colophon. Restored text is translated cautiously, and damaged or uncertain words remain visibly incomplete.

Translation

1. Letter of Sauromates II to Gorgippia

[... Moiro]doros son of Neokles, the official over Gorgippia.

[Tiberius Julius, king] Sauromates, [friend of Caesar and friend of the Romans], pious, [to the council and] people, greeting. [...]

[...] fatherland [...].

2. List of Members of a Thiasos

[In good fortune.]

[When King Tiberius Julius Sauromates], friend of Caesar [and] friend of the Romans, pious, [was reigning], in the [...] year, in the month Xandikos, [...]: list of the [thiasos members, perhaps the shipmasters].

[The priest was Athenodoros] son of Seleukos, the official over the [royal administration; first, perhaps, and the official over Gorgippia was Moiro]doros son of Neokles.

[The convener and managers were ... the company commander], Lykiskos son of Pharnakes, [perhaps manager of sacred funds]; thiasos members: [...] son of Zenon, strategos; [...] Philodespotos son of Pharnakes; Zephos; [...] Pharnakes son of Pharnakion; [...] of Aspourgos, Sat[...]; [...] Myriskos son of Chrestos [...].

3. Rhescuporis III, Son of Sauromates

In [good fortune].

The [king descended from ancestral] kings, [Tiberius Jul]ius Rhescouporis, [son of the] great [king Sauromates], friend of Caesar [and] friend of the Romans, pious, [...]

4. Thiasos Fragment Under Sauromates

[In good fortune.]

When King [Tiberius Julius Sauromates], friend of Caesar and friend of the Romans, [pious, was reigning, in the ... year and in the] month Xandikos [...]

[The thiasos members around the convener ...]

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Ancient Greek inscription texts printed below. The source records are PHI Greek Inscriptions PH339005, PH339006, PH339008, and PH339011, all from Gorgippia on the north shore of the Black Sea.

The inscriptions are fragmentary. The English keeps restored and damaged material visible rather than turning broken civic formulas into certainty. These texts are Bosporan and north Pontic evidence; they should not be flattened into a simple ethnic claim about Scythians, Sarmatians, or the Bosporan royal house.

Compiled and translated for the Good Works Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Four Greek Inscriptions from Gorgippia

Ancient Greek source text from PHI Greek Inscriptions, records PH339005, PH339006, PH339008, and PH339011. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

1. SEG 36:699 / PH339005

[— — — — — — — — Μοιρόδωρος] Νεοκ[λέους ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς Γοργιππείας]

[Τιβ(έριος) Ἰούλιος βασιλε]ὺς Σαυρ[ομάτης φιλόκαισαρ καὶ φιλο]-

[ρώμαιος, εὐσεβής· βουλῇ καὶ] δήμῳ χ̣[αίρειν· — — — — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]πατ[ρίς {²⁷[—]πατ[ρίδος]}²⁷ — —]

2. SEG 36:700 / PH339006

[ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ].

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέως Τιβερίου Ἰουλίου Σαυρομάτ]ου, φιλ[οκαί]σ̣[αρος καὶ]

[φιλορωμαίου, εὐσεβοῦς, vacat ἔτους ․․․ʹ, μηνὸς Ξ]ανδικοῦ̣, [․․․]· γραφὴ τῶν

[θιασειτῶν τῶν ναυκλήρων(?)· ἱερεὺς Ἀθηνόδωρος Σ]ελεύκο[υ] ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς

[βασιλείας, πρῶτος(?) καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς Γοργιππείας Μοιρ]όδω[ρ]ος Νεοκλέου[ς]

[συναγωγὸς καὶ φροντισταὶ — — — — — — — — — — — λο]χαγός, Λυκίσκος Φαρ-

[νάκου ἱερῶν οἰκονόμος(?)· θιασεῖται· — — — — — Ζήν]ωνος στρατηγός

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Φιλοδέσποτο]ς Φαρνάκου, Ζέφο<ς>

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Φα]ρνάκης Φαρνακίω-

[νος, — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Ἀσπο]ύργου {σ} Σατ[․․․]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Μυρίσκο]ς̣ Χ̣ρή[στου — —]

3. SEG 36:701 / PH339008

vac. ἀγ[αθῆι τύχηι].

[ὁ] ἀπ[ὸ προγόνων βα]-

[σιλέων β]ασι[λεὺς Τιβέ]-

[ριος Ἰούλ]ι̣ος Ῥη[σκούπο]-

[ρις υἱὸς μ]εγάλο[υ βασιλέως]

[Σαυρομά]του φιλό[καισαρ καὶ]

[φιλορώμαιο]ς̣ ε̣[ὐσεβὴς — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — —]

4. SEG 36:704 / PH339011

[ἀγαθῆι τύχηι].

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέ]ως Τ̣[ιβερίου Ἰουλίου]

[Σαυρομάτου φιλοκαίσαρος κ]αὶ φιλο[ρωμαίου]

[εὐσεβοῦς ἔτει ․․․ʹ καὶ μηνὶ] Ξαν[δικῶι ․․ʹ]

[θιασεῖται οἱ περὶ συνα]γωγ[ὸν — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]

Source Colophon

PH339005 is described by PHI as a letter of Sauromates II to Gorgippia, on a fragment of white marble, from Gorgippia, 173-210 AD, published from VDI 1986.1, pp. 70-75. PH339006 is described as a list of members of a thiasos, on two fragments of a white marble plaque, from Gorgippia, 173-210 AD, published from VDI 1967.2 and VDI 1986.1. PH339008 is described as an inscription mentioning Tiberius Julius Rhescouporis III, on two joining marble fragments, from Gorgippia, 210-227 AD, published from VDI 1986.1. PH339011 is described as an inscription of a thiasos, on a marble fragment, from Gorgippia, ca. 200 AD, published from VDI 1986.1.

The ancient Greek inscription texts were inspected from PHI Greek Inscriptions before translation. The ancient source words are presented for verification; modern apparatus and database presentation are not reproduced as the translated body.

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