244 The Imperial Government
I(ulia)F(elix)S(inope).’’^52 Sauromateswaskingfrom93/4to123/4;thefact
that,aslateasthis,theRomanpeople(populus Romanus)isalsomentionedis
quitestriking.OrthereisaGreekinscriptionof221putupbythecityof
AmastrisinPontusandBithyniatohonourKingTiberiusIuliusRhescuporis
(RhescuporisIII,210/11–226/7),whoisdescribedas‘‘KingoftheBosporus
andthesurroundingethnē[peoples],philorōmaios[friendoftheRomans],and
philhellēn[friendoftheHellenes].’’^53
ThediplomaticsofmutualhonourasdisplayedintheBosporaninscrip-
tions could be explored endlessly. But the real operations of government
arehardlyrevealedbytheinscriptions(oneinscriptionrecordinghowKing
Iulius Tiberius Sauromates rebuilt the walls of Gorgippia is only a partial
exception).^54 Rathermoreinformativeistheinscriptionof193fromTanais,
whichwilldatetothereignofSauromatesII,andwhichcelebratesvicto-
riesagainsttheSirachiandScyths,recordsadedicationbyoneZenon‘‘sent
bythekingtotheemporion[tradingstation],’’andreferstoseatrafficfrom
Bithynia.^55
All that I havewished to suggest in this chapter is that the allied king-
doms of the Roman period represent a significant subject, not just as so-
calledclientkingdoms,thatis,inrelationtoRome,butasmilitary,political,
andsocialgroupingsofacomplexkind,whichrepresentamodest,butnot
insignificant, part of human history in the Graeco-Roman period. At one
timetherewillhavebeenseveralmillionpeoplewholivedunderaformof
two-levelmonarchy,thatis,undertheirownking,andbeyondhimunder
thedistantfigureoftheemperor.Theperiodofthegreatestimportanceof
thesesubordinatekingdomswasthefirstcenturya.d.;andherewemustlook
always to the historyof Judaea. But the longest-lasting and most interest-
ingofthemallwastheBosporankingdom,whichsurviveduntilsomepoint
inthefourthcentury.Itmaynothelpthestudyof itinthemodernworld
thatitsterritory,onthetwosidesofthestraits,isnowdividedbetweentwo
sovereign states,Ukraine and Russia, though archaeologists from the two
countriesareinactivecollaboration.^56 But,allthesame,wecannowexpect
thatthisextremelyimportantfrontieroftheGreekandRomanworldwill
openupfurther.Whilestudyandexplorationofitcontinues,wecanalready
contemplate the complex symbolic relations which are embodied in some
52.CIRB,no.46.
53.CIRB,no.54.
54.CIRB,no.1122.
55.CIRB,no.1237.- Foranoverview,seeJ.G.F.Hind,‘‘ArchaeologyoftheGreeksandBarbarianPeoples
aroundtheBlackSea(1982–1992),’’Archaeological Reports(1993):82–112,onpp.100–109.