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Stater - Aspurgus Augustus and Agrippa
| Issuer | Bosporan Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 23 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Stater (1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Bare head of Agrippa (attribution disputed; possibly Tiberius or Drusus) facing right, rendered in a style closely paralleling the obverse portrait. A royal monogram appears to the left of the portrait in the field, identifying the issuing authority of King Aspurgus. Below the bust, the Greek date letters ΘΙΤ denote regnal year 319 of the Bosporan Era, corresponding to 23 AD. The reverse inscription ΒΑΡ reads as an abbreviation for Basileos Aspurgou (of King Aspurgus). The composition is enclosed within a plain border conforming to the irregular hammered flan. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Aspurgus was the first Bosporan king to receive Roman citizenship and the title of friend of Rome, granted by Augustus around 14 AD — a diplomatic arrangement that locked the kingdom firmly into the Roman orbit while preserving the fiction of local autonomy. Striking his gold coinage with the portrait of Augustus alongside Agrippa was a calculated act of loyalty, placing him visually on the same register as the two most powerful men in the empire.
Year 23 in the Bosporan reckoning corresponds to a moment when Aspurgus was consolidating dynastic control after years of contested succession. The Agrippa pairing is notable — by this date Agrippa had been dead for years, making this a posthumous honorific rather than a contemporary political statement.