Spartocus III
{{Short description|King of the Bosporan Kingdom from 304 to 284 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Spartocus III
| succession = Basileus of the Bosporan Kingdom
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| reign = 304–284 BC
| native_lang1 = Greek
| native_lang1_name1 = {{lang|grc|Σπάρτοκος}}
| birth_date = Unknown
| birth_place = Bosporan Kingdom
| death_date = circa. 284 BC
| death_place = Bosporan Kingdom
| predecessor = Eumelus
| successor = Paerisades II
| queen =
| royal house = Spartocid
| father = Eumelus
| mother =
| issue = Paerisades II (?)
| religion = Greek Polytheism
}}
Spartocus III ({{langx|el|Σπάρτοκος|Spartokos}}) was king of the Bosporan Kingdom from 304 to 284 BC. He succeeded to the throne after the death of his father Eumelus in a carriage accident.
Reign
Spartocus inherited the throne from his father in 304 BC, after his father's unexpected death during his return from Sindia.{{cite book|author=Diodorus Siculus|title=Book 22.24|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/20B*.html#25}} Upon assuming the throne, he became the first Bosporan ruler to take the title of Basileus,{{cite book|last1=Deligiannis|first1=Periklis|title=The Battle of the River Thatis|url=https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-battle-of-the-river-thatis-part-iii-scythians-sarmatians-and-greeks-struggling-in-the-cimmerian-bosporus/|quote=followed the example of Alexander’s generals, who at that time nominated themselves as ‘kings’ – and did the same, retaining only the first title for all his subjects.|access-date=2017-04-25|archive-date=2016-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110173809/https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-battle-of-the-river-thatis-part-iii-scythians-sarmatians-and-greeks-struggling-in-the-cimmerian-bosporus/|url-status=dead}} likely following the example of contemporary Hellenistic kings such as the Antigonids, Lysimachids, Seleucids and Ptolemies. As soon as the Athenian trade was liberated from Demetrius, Spartocus sought to renew his relationship with Athens,{{cite book|last=G. J. Oliver|title=War, Food, and Politics in Early Hellenistic Athens|date=6 September 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199283507|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPMTDAAAQBAJ&q=spartokos+iii&pg=PA35}}{{cite book|last1=Rostovzeff|title= 1998, vol. I, p. 216 22.23|url=http://www.hourmo.eu/22_Crimea_&_Cimmerian_Bosporus/Bosporus_Spartokos_III/Index_Spartokos_III.html|quote=Soon after the liberation of the athenian trade from Demetrius of Macedonia, Spartocus III hastened to renew his relations with Athens and to contract with her 289/8 BC a regular συμμαχία, indicating the importance of the business relations between them.}} which had already been trade partners with the Bosporan Kingdom in the reign of his great-grandfather Leukon. Spartocus received Athenian honors, thanking him and his predecessors for maintaining good relations with Athens.{{cite book|title=Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum: 370|url=http://www.attalus.org/docs/sig1/s370.html}}
Succession
{{Primary sources|section|date=January 2022}}
Spartocus died in 284 after ruling for twenty years.{{cite book|author=Diodorus Siculus|title=Book 10|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/20E*.html#100|quote=and his son Spartacus succeeded to the throne and reigned for twenty years.}} He was succeeded by Paerisades II, who may have been the son of Satyrus II who escaped and survived Eumelus' slaughter of the family,{{cite book|author=Diodorus Siculus|title=Book 22.24|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/20B*.html#24|quote=the only one to escape him was Parysades, the son of Satyrus, who was very young}} but may also have been Spartocus' own son.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Bosporan kings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}
Category:Monarchs of the Bosporan Kingdom
Category:4th-century BC monarchs
Category:3rd-century BC monarchs in Europe