Sauromates Across the Bosporan Frontier — Eight Greek Fragments

Eight Greek Fragments from the Bosporan Kingdom

These eight Greek inscription fragments come from cities and settlements around the Bosporan kingdom and the north Black Sea: Phanagoria, Sudak, Tyritake, Pantikapaion, Tanais, and Gorgippia. They belong mostly to the first through third centuries AD, the same royal horizon as the larger Sauromates and Rhescuporis inscriptions already gathered for the Scythian shelf.

The fragments are not a continuous narrative. They preserve royal dating formulas, dedications, victory language, civic and association traces, and one manumission formula under Zeus, Earth, and Sun. Their value is cumulative: they show how Bosporan royal power and local civic life were named in Greek across many small frontier witnesses.

The translation below is made from the inspected Ancient Greek inscription texts printed after the colophon. Broken portions remain visible in brackets, and restored royal names are treated cautiously.

Translation

1. Phanagoria Under Sauromates

[In the reign of king] Tiberius [Julius Sauromates], friend of Caesar [and friend of the Romans], pious, [in the ... year], on the eighth day [of the month Apellaios], [...] of Asklepios [?] [...]

2. Sudak Under Sauromates

[Under king] Sauromates, [son of the great Rhoimetalkes], [...] Papas [...], through the supervisors Theodotos [...], [...] of Pharnakes [...], [...] of Pharnakion [...]

3. Tyritake Under Rhescuporis

[In the reign of king Rhescuporis], son [of the great king] Sauromates, [friend of Caesar and friend] of the Romans, [pious], [...]

4. Tyritake Under Sauromates

[In the reign of the great king Tiberius Julius Sauromates, descended from ancestral kings, friend of Caesar and friend of the Romans, and so forth.]

5. Pantikapaion, Sauromates and Rhoimetalkes

The preserved reading gives only broken traces: [...] ULSAU [...], [...] great [...], [...] Rhoime- [...], [...] his own [...], [...] spo- [...]

One restoration reads: [the king descended from ancestral kings], [king Tiberius Julius] Sauromates, [son of the] great [king] Rhoimetalkes, [his] own [benefactor and] master [...]

A second restoration reads: [With good fortune.] [King Tiberius Julius] Sauromates, [son of the] great [king] Rhoimetalkes, [his] own [benefactor], [lord of the inhabited world, the] emperor Caesar, [son of god, ...]

6. Tanais, Victory of Sauromates

[With good fortune. To the king descended from ancestral kings], the king, great Tiberius Julius Sauromates, who defeated [the army against the Psechanoi], [so-and-so son of so-and-so] set this up, the one in charge of [...] in the [...]

7. Gorgippia, A Manumission Under Sauromates

[In the reign of king Tiberius Julius Sauromates, in the ... year] and in the month [...], Menestratos [...] I release as free Kale, [my] foster-child, and Sambion, under Zeus, [Earth, and Sun], untouched and unmolested [by every] heir, and [free to turn] with full authority [wherever they wish ...]

8. Gorgippia, A Synodos Under Sauromates

[...] will be seen [...] [in the reign of king Tiberius Julius] Sauromates, [son of the great king Rhoimetalkes], in the year [...] and month [...], [the association around the priest] Timotheos [...], [son of] Kossos, Attas [?] [...]

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 PH339521, PH339763, PH339800, PH339802, PH339963, PH339970, PH340425, and PH340429.

The dossier is Bosporan frontier evidence. It preserves royal formulas and local civic traces under Sauromates and Rhescuporis, but it should not be flattened into an ethnic claim about every city, association, or person named in the fragments.

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

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Source Text: Eight Greek Fragments from the Bosporan Frontier

Ancient Greek source text from PHI Greek Inscriptions, records PH339521, PH339763, PH339800, PH339802, PH339963, PH339970, PH340425, and PH340429. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

1. SEG 43:511 / PH339521

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέως] Τιβερίου

[Ἰουλίου Σαυρομάτου φι]λοκαίσα-

[ρος καὶ φιλορωμαίου, εὐ]σεβοῦς,

[ἔτους ․․τʹ, μηνὸς Ἀπε]λλαίου ηʹ

[— — — — — — — Ἀσκλ]ηπιο[ῦ(?)]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — —]

2. SEG 45:1017 / PH339763

[ἐπὶ βασιλεῖ] Σα[υρομάτῃ υἱῷ μεγά]-

[λου Ῥοιμητάλ]κου Ἀ[— — — — — —]

[— — — — — —] Πάπα[ς — — — διὰ ἐπι]-

[μελητῶν Θεοδ]ότου Α[— — — — — —]

[— — — — — —] Φαρν[άκου — — — —]

[— — — — Φαρ]νακίων[ος — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]

3. SEG 45:1027,A[1] / PH339800

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέως Ῥησ]κουπό-

[ριδος υἱοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέ]ως Σαυ<ρ>[ο]-

[μάτου φιλοκαίσαρος καὶ φιλ]ορωμ[αίου]

[εὐσεβοῦς — — — — — — — — —] σ[— — —]

4. SEG 45:1027,B[1] / PH339802

[βασιλεύοντος τοῦ ἐκ προγόνων βασιλέων]

μεγά[λου βασιλέως Τιβ(ερίου) Ἰουλίου Σαυρομά]-

του [φιλοκαίσαρος καὶ φιλορωμαίου (κτλ.)]

5. SEG 50:706 / PH339963

Preserved Reading

[— — — — — —]

[— — —] ΥΛΣΑΥ

[— — — —] ΜΕΓΑ

[— — — —] ΡΟΙΜΗ

[— — — —] αὐτοῦ

[— — — —] ΣΠΟ[—]

[— — — — — — —]

Restoration 1

[τὸν ἀπὸ προγόνων βασι]-

[λέων βασιλέα Τιβ(έριον) Ἰο]ύλ(ιον) Σαυ-

[ρομάτην, υἱὸν] μεγα-

[λου βασιλέως] Ῥοιμη-

[τάλκου τὸν ἑ]αυτοῦ

[εὐεργέτην καὶ δε]σπό-

[την — — — — — — —]

Restoration 2

[ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ]·

[βασιλεὺς Τιβ(έριος) Ἰο]ύλ(ιος) Σαυ-

[ρομάτης, υἱὸς] μεγα-

[λου βασιλέως] Ῥοιμη-

[τάλκου τὸν ἑ]αυτοῦ

[εὐεργέτην, δε]σπό-

[την τῆς οἰκουμένης, Αὐ]-

[τοκράτορα Καίσαρα]

[θεοῦ υἱὸν — — — —]

6. SEG 50:711 / PH339970

[ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ· τῷ ἐκ προγόνων βασιλέων]

βασιλεῖ, μεγάλῳ Τιβ(ερίῳ) Ἰουλίῳ Σαυρομά]-

τῃ, νεικήσαντι [στράτευμα τὸ κατὰ Ψε]-

χανῶν [ἀνέστησεν ὁ δεῖνα τοῦ δεῖνος]

ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ [— — — — — — — — — — —]

ἐν τῷ [— — — — — — — — — — —]

7. NE 9 (1971) 3,1 / PH340425

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέως Τιβερί]-

[ου Ἰουλίου Σαυρομάτου(?) ἔτ]ους [․․․ʹ]

[καὶ μηνὸς — — — Μενέ]στρατος

[— — — ἀφίημι ἐλευθ]έραν Καλὴν

[θρεπτήν μου καὶ Σ]αμβίωνα ὑπὸ Δία,

[Γῆν, Ἥλιον ἀνεπάφ]ους καὶ ἀνεπη-

[ρεάστους ἀπὸ παντὸς] κληρονόμου

[καὶ τρέπεσθαι αὐτοὺς] τ’ ἐξουσίως

[ὅπου ἂν βούλωνται — — — —]λυ

[— — — — — — — — — — — — —]

8. NE 9 (1971) 7,5A / PH340429

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]ας. θεασεῖ[ται — —]

[βασιλεύοντος βασιλέως Τιβερίου Ἰου]λίου Σαυ[ρομάτου]

[υἱοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως Ῥοιμητάλτου], ἔτους [․․․ʹ καὶ μηνὸς]

[— — — — — — ἡ σύνοδος ἡ περὶ ἱερέα] Τειμόθ[εον — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — Κοσ]σου, Α[ττας(?) — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]ωνο[ς — — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]ωνο[ς — — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]π[— — — — — —]

[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]

Source Colophon

PH339521 is described by PHI as SEG 43:511 from Phanagoria, late first to mid-second century AD, published from KSIA 204 (1991) p. 98, 1. PH339763 is SEG 45:1017 from Sudak, 174-210 AD, published from Arkheolohiia 1995.2. PH339800 and PH339802 are the two parts of SEG 45:1027 from Tyritake, dated respectively to 210/221-226/227 AD and 173/174-210/211 AD. PH339963 is SEG 50:706 from Pantikapaion, late second or early third century AD. PH339970 is SEG 50:711 from Tanais, 93-123 AD, keyed to CIRB 1240. PH340425 is NE 9 (1971) 3,1 from Gorgippia, probably 93-124 AD. PH340429 is NE 9 (1971) 7,5A from Gorgippia, 173-211 AD, compared by PHI with SEG 49.1033.

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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