Diocletian - with king Thothorses (JUN23101)

Ancient Greece Bosporan Kingdom Stater 297 - 298 AD // 595 BE Thothorses and Diocletian

MacDonald# 645/1; Copper 7,51g, 18 mm.; Obv: BACIΛEΩC ΘΟΘΟΡCOV, diademed and draped bust right, three pellets to right. Rev: Laureate and draped bust of emperor right, date ΔϘΦ below, three pellets to left, tamgha to right; Mint Panticapaeum.; VF

The kingdom of the Bosporus was a wealthy, multi-ethnic Hellenistic trading nation based in the Crimea and Taman peninsula, and the longest lasting Roman client kingdom. One important basis for their wealth was the slave trade. Ironically, their dynasty descended from Rome’s great enemy, Mithridates VI of Pontus.