Hemidrachm - Paerisades I Panticapaeum

Paerisades I ruled the Bosporan Kingdom from around 349 to 310 BC and held the unusual distinction of being the first Bosporan dynast to formally claim the title of king — a move that reflected both the kingdom's growing autonomy from nominal Scythian and Greek overlordship and the expanding grain trade with Athens that made the Cimmerian Bosporus one of the wealthiest corridors in the Black Sea region. Panticapaeum at this moment was supplying Athens with a significant portion of its imported grain, a dependency Athens acknowledged through extraordinary civic honors granted to Paerisades and his predecessors.