Aspurgus consolidated Bosporan power by playing Rome with considerable skill — he secured recognition from Tiberius around 14 AD, then later from Caligula, earning the Roman citizenship name Tiberius Julius Aspurgus in the process. This stater, pairing his image with that of Agrippa, places the issue almost certainly before 12 BC if Agrippa is Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, though the Bosporan regal year 29 by local era reckoning complicates the absolute chronology.
The kingdom's gold coinage was tied closely to the Attic weight standard but drifted gradually over generations of dynastic rule.
Aspurgus consolidated Bosporan power by playing Rome with considerable skill — he secured recognition from Tiberius around 14 AD, then later from Caligula, earning the Roman citizenship name Tiberius Julius Aspurgus in the process. This stater, pairing his image with that of Agrippa, places the issue almost certainly before 12 BC if Agrippa is Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, though the Bosporan regal year 29 by local era reckoning complicates the absolute chronology.
The kingdom's gold coinage was tied closely to the Attic weight standard but drifted gradually over generations of dynastic rule.