Paerisades III and the Bosporan Kingdom: Insights from the Spartocid Dynasty

Introduction

Paerisades III, son of Leukon II and Alkathoe, was a Spartocid king of the Bosporan Kingdom who is conventionally dated c. 180–150 BC. He co‐ruled with his cousin and wife Kamasarye, who bore his eldest son Paerisades IV. An assembly at Delphi recorded praise for Paerisades and his brother for their conduct toward foreigners who visited the kingdom. Under his name the Bosporan mint issued gold staters of the Lysimachid type inscribed with ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΑΙΡΙΣΑΔου, marking a notable numismatic issue of his reign. During this period the kingdom faced environmental and military pressures; droughts and wars contributed to declining grain exports and fiscal strain, and Bosporan rulers increasingly relied on mercenaries and external contacts, notably with Rhodes and Egypt, to secure resources. Paerisades III was succeeded by his sons Paerisades IV, who adopted the epithet “Philometor,” and later Paerisades V, the last Spartocid ruler, whose reign ended a three‐century dynasty.