Asandros (Bosporan King)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asandros ( Greek  Ἄσανδρος ; * around 109 BC; † around 16 BC) was from 47 to around 16 BC. King of the Bosporan Empire .

Life

About Asandros' life up to 48 BC Chr. Nothing is known. In that year he was by Pharnakes II , the son of the great Roman enemy Mithridates VI. , appointed governor of the Bosporan Empire when Pharnakes himself set out to dispute Caesar's Pontus and Bithynia , which formerly belonged to his father . Asandros rose against Pharnakes during his absence and hoped - admittedly in vain - to be recognized by the Romans as the new king. Pharnakes, who had meanwhile defeated Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus and conquered Amisus , learned of Asandros' revolt in Asia Minor , but could not do anything about it due to Caesar's advance. After his defeat against the Roman general in the battle of Zela (August 2nd, 47 BC according to the pre-Julian calendar = May 21, 47 BC according to the Julian calendar), he fled back to his country, but was defeated by Asandros defeated and found death. On behalf of Caesar, Mithridates of Pergamon tried to conquer the Bosporan empire, but suffered a defeat against Asandros and lost his life in the process. Asandros was able to successfully complete his rebellion with the permanent establishment of his rule over the Bosporan Empire and, in order to give his seizure of power a more legitimate look, married Pharnakes' daughter Dynamis .

Several coins issued by Asandros have survived, which go up to his 29th year of reign and on which he has referred to himself as king since the 4th year of reign, which title he probably acquired around 44 BC. BC should have increased. To protect against incursions by nomadic tribes, he had a wall built across the isthmos of the Tauride Chersonese. According to Pseudo- Lucian , it was only Augustus who recognized the rule of Asandro from the Roman side . As the latter around 16 BC Was already a very old man (allegedly 93 years old), a revolted for a grandson of Mithridates VI. issuing Scribonius against him. After his troops fell to the rebel, Asandros voluntarily starved himself to death, whereupon Scribonius succeeded him - for a short time - and married his wife Dynamis.

A later king of the Bosporan Empire, Aspourgos , was probably a son of Asandros and Dynamis.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cassius Dio 42,46,4; Appian , Mithridatius 120.
  2. ↑ Cassius Dio 42.47; Appian, Mithridatius 120.
  3. ^ [Caesar], De bello Alexandrino 78; Cassius Dio 42,48,4; Strabo 13,625.
  4. ↑ Cassius Dio 54,24,4.
  5. ↑ Ulrich Wilcken : Asandros 4). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, Sp. 1517.
  6. ↑ Strabo 7.311.
  7. ↑ Lukian, Makrobioi 17.
  8. ↑ Pseudo-Lukian, Makrobioi 17; Cassius Dio 54,24,4.
  9. ^ Paul von Rohden : Aspurgos. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, column 1739.
personal data
SURNAME Asandros
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Bosporan Empire
DATE OF BIRTH around 109 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 16 BC Chr.