Eunice

Who is Eunice?

Eunice was the wife of the Roman Client King, Cotys I and through her marriage was a Roman Client Queen of the Bosporan Kingdom.

Eunice was a Greek noblewoman of obscure origins. At an unknown date in the reign of Cotys I, 45-63, he married Eunice as his Queen. Cotys I was a monarch of Greek, Iranian and Roman ancestry. He was the second son born to the Bosporan Roman Client Monarchs Aspurgus and Gepaepyris, while his eldest brother was the former Bosporan King Mithridates.

Eunice bore Cotys I, a son and his successor Rhescuporis I. The name Rhescuporis, is a name of Thracian origin and is a name that appears in the family of her mother-in-law.

She is not mentioned in ancient Roman historical sources. Eunice is only known through surviving inscriptions and numismatic evidence. In the year 1910, a Greek inscription was found on a marble plate in the wall of a house in Anapa, Russia. Anapa was the ancient Greek city of Gorgippia. In the upper left corner of the marble plate appeared the below inscription. This inscription is dated from the reign of her son Rhescuporis I:

Eunice’s name has also appear in surviving bronze coinage from the Bosporan Kingdom. On coins on one side appears the Greek legend, KA-ΠE appears with a temple with five steps. On the other side of coins, appears with an enclosing wreath with the Greek abbreviations BAK, BAEY, BAEIY and with the trade denomination KΔ. KA-ΠE can be read as KAΠE[τολιών]. BAK is the royal abbreviations of Cotys I in Greek: BA[σιλεύς] K[ότυος], of King Cotys, while BAEY and BAEIY are the royal abbreviations for Eunice in Greek: BA[σιλεία] E[ὐνείκη], of Queen Eunice. No other coins from the Bosporan bear these abbreviations. These coins can be dated from the reigns of Coyts I and Rhescuporis I.