Paerisades IV Philometor: Spartocid King of the Bosporan Kingdom

Introduction

Paerisades IV Philometor was a Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom in the mid–2nd century BC. He was a son of Paerisades III and Queen Kamasarye (Camasarye), and modern treatments most commonly place his reign around 150–125 BC, though some sources propose an earlier start date or a joint rule with his mother.

His rule is poorly documented in narrative sources and is known principally from coinage and an inscription naming him alongside his mother. He adopted the epithet Philometor, an appellation that links him formally to his mother. Numismatic evidence attributes to his administration gold and silver issues called “perisads”, distinctive tetradrachms bearing a bearded royal bust and Athena, and silver coinage struck at Panticapaeum with Apollo on the obverse and varied reverse types; later in his reign coinage appears restricted to smaller silver denominations. Some hoard and die evidence indicates the introduction of new silver types bearing additional marks, which has been interpreted in the sources as involvement of private financiers in the minting process.

Paerisades IV was succeeded by Paerisades V, whose eventual transfer of the kingdom to Mithridates VI of Pontus brought an end to Spartocid rule. The precise filiations and sequence of several late Spartocid rulers remain debated in the sources, making Paerisades IV a figure chiefly significant for the numismatic and epigraphic record of the Bosporan late monarchy rather than for well‑attested political acts.