Stater - Sauromates I Trajan

Sauromates I ruled the Bosporan Kingdom as a client king under Roman authority, and these gold staters were struck in his name alongside the reigning emperor Trajan — a deliberate pairing that advertised the vassal relationship in precious metal. The Bosporan kingdom controlled the grain routes from the northern Black Sea into the Mediterranean, and Rome's interest in keeping that corridor stable made the relationship mutually calculated rather than purely tributary.

By 118 the coinage shifts to Hadrian as co-ruler, making late Trajanic-era issues like this one a brief transitional window in the series.