Tiberius Julius Sauromates II

Who is Tiberius Julius Sauromates II?

Tiberius Julius Sauromates II Philocaesar Philoromaios Eusebes, also known as Sauromates II was a prince and Roman Client King of the Bosporan Kingdom.

Sauromates II was the son and heir of the Bosporan King Eupator by an unnamed woman and was of Greek, Iranian and Roman ancestry. Sauromates II was named in honor of Sauromates I, a paternal ancestor of his and a previous Bosporan King.

When Eupator died in 174, Sauromates II succeeded his father. Sauromates II reigned as Bosporan King from 174 until his death in 210/211. He expressed his royal title in Greek on his coinage: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΑΥΡΟΜΑΤΟΥ or of King Sauromates. He was a contemporary of the Roman Emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Septimius Severus and Caracalla.

In 193, Sauromates II engaged in military campaigns against the Scythians and Sirachi tribes, and successfully defeated them. These victories are known from an inscription found in Tanais, dedicating and celebrating the King’s military victories. Little is known on the life and reign of Sauromates II. According to surviving coinage, he appeared to be a religious person who was involved in the worship of the Goddess Aphrodite and her cult.