Paerisades II

Paerisades II
Paerisades II
King of the Bosporan Kingdom
Reign	284–ca. 245 BC
Predecessor	Spartokos III
Successor	Spartokos IV
Born	Unknown; Bosporan Kingdom
Died	circa. 245 BC; Bosporan Kingdom
Issue	Spartokos IV; Leukon II;
Greek	Παιρισάδης
House	Spartocid
Father	Satyros II or Spartokos III
Religion	Greek Polytheism

Paerisades II (Greek: Παιρισάδης) or Parysades was king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 284 to 245 BC. He may have been a son of either Spartokos III, or Satyros II.

Reign

Paerisades II was either the son or cousin of Spartokos III, a previous ruler but may have the son of Satyros II. In the aftermath of the Bosporan Civil War, Eumelos, Spartokos III's father and a Bosporan king, executed the families and friends of his brothers Satyros and Prytanis.^[1] Satyros's youngest son, named Paerisades, survived^[2] and fled into Scythia where he took refuge with its king, Agarus.^[3]

Paerisades was unexpectedly active in diplomacy throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Diadochi. He is mentioned in a letter from Apollonius to Zenon as having sent ambassadors to the court of Ptolemy II, the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, who took the opportunity to sight-see.^[4] Also, he was a donor and made cup offerings at Delos together with the Macedonian king Antigonus II, and a woman named Stratonice,^[5] not to be confused with Stratonice of Macedon, Antigonus's grandmother, who died no later than 301 BC.

Succession

After having ruled for around 39 years, Paerisades died in 245 BC. He was succeeded by his presumably eldest son Spartokos IV, who ruled for only a brief period of about 5 years. Spartokos IV was then succeeded by Leukon II, Paerisades's younger son, who killed his elder brother in a dispute over adultery with Leukon's own wife.

External links

Collection of coins from the Bosporan Kingdom here

References

^ Diodorus Siculus. Book 22.24. After his brothers' death Eumelus, wishing to establish his power securely, slew the friends of Satyrus and Prytanis, and likewise their wives and children.
^ Diodorus Siculus. Book 22.24. the only one to escape him was Parysades, the son of Satyrus, who was very young
^ Diodorus Siculus. Book 22.24. he, riding out of the city on horseback, took refuge with Agarus, the king of the Scythians
^ Apollonius to Zenon. Select Papyri, 1.90A. the other conveyances for the journey, and the luggage-mules for the ambassadors from Paerisades and the theoroi from Argos whom the king has sent to see the sights of the Arsinoite nome. Take care they are not late for when they are needed, for when I wrote this letter to you, they had already sailed up-river. Farewell.
^ Rostovzeff. Rostovzeff, 1998, vol. I, p. 232. 250 BC Paerisades appears at Delos as the donor of a φιάλη together with Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia and Stratonice