Paerisades V and the Bosporan Kingdom: A Historical Overview on Ancient Realms

Introduction

Paerisades V was the last Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom, ruling from 125 to about 109 BC. He succeeded his elder brother Paerisades IV and presided over a realm long held by the Spartocid dynasty since Spartokos I in 438 BC. His reign was marked by severe external and internal pressures: the kingdom faced sustained incursions and influence from nearby Scythian forces, identified in the sources with leaders such as Skilurus and Palacus, and suffered an economic crisis that weakened royal authority.

During his rule, Mithridates VI of Pontus intervened in the region through his general Diophantus, who campaigned against the Scythians and opened negotiations in Panticapaeum to bring the Bosporan Kingdom under Pontic control in exchange for safeguarding the king. Those negotiations collapsed when a Scythian-led uprising under Saumacus erupted at the Bosporan court; Paerisades V was killed in that revolt while Diophantus narrowly escaped. Diophantus later returned with greater forces, defeated Saumacus, and secured the Bosporan throne for Mithridates VI.

Paerisades V’s death terminated over three centuries of Spartocid rule in the Bosporan Kingdom and ushered in Pontic domination, a transition that shaped the kingdom’s subsequent political alignment.