Bosporan wars of expansion

The Bosporan Kingdom waged a series of wars of expansion in the Cimmerian Bosporus and the surrounding territories from 438 BC through 355 BC. Bosporan expansion began after Spartokos I, the first Spartocid and from whom they their dynasty is named after took power and throughout his seven-year reign, established an aggressive expansionist foreign policy that was followed by his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons long after his death.

Background
It is possible that Spartokos I was a Thracian mercenary who usurped the Archaeanactids, a Greek dynasty of Bosporan rulers who had ruled for 40 years. Although disputed, some sources say that Spartokos may have been related to the Odrysian royal dynasty as some members included the names of "Sparatokos" and may have sought influence in other parts of the Black Sea, but this is unlikely to be true. Spartokos I had only reigned for 7 years, leaving his son, Satyrus I to carry on his foreign policy. Satyrus had involved himself with foreign policy of the neighboring Sindike Kingdom, and was interested in Nymphaeum as well.

Encounter with Gylon
Gylon, the maternal grandfather of Demosthenes, was an Athenian official in charge of the Athenian garrison at Nymphaeum which was a city that was possibly part of the Delian League. Satyros had bribed Gylon into giving him Nymphaeum, a city which was in the interests of the Spartocids. This resulted on the exile of Gylon, as he was regarded as a "traitor" by the Athenians. Gylon had received "The Gardens" from Satyros as part of their deal. Around this time, Phanagoria lost it's independence. Gylon also married a Scythian woman of nobility. Their daughter, Kleoboule, would go on to become the mother of Demosthenes. Kimmerikon also seems to have fallen into Bosporan influence shortly during or after the taking of Nymphaeum.

Conflict with Tirgatao
Satyros was delving into Sindian affairs, offering his daughter to marry Hekataios, the king of the Sindians. Satyros told him to kill his other wife, Tirgatao, but instead, he sent her to a tower and imprisoned her there. Tirgatao and managed to escape to her tribe, the Ixomatae and married her father's successor and rallied many tribes to her aid and ravaged the lands of Satyros. Satyros sued for peace, offering one of his sons, Metrodoros, as a hostage. Tirgatao agreed and ended her war against Satyros, only to have an assassination attempt organized by Satyros, upon learning of this, she killed her hostage and began another war against Satyros.

1st Siege of Theodosia
At the same time he was trying to gain influence with the Sindoi, had also laid siege on Theodosia, a city that was a commercial rival to Panticapaeum due it's ice-free ports and possible ally of Heraclea Pontica. Satyros lost his life at Theodosia while laying siege to it in 389 BC having been losing two wars on two fronts, at the age of 81 years old. He was succeeded by his sons Leukon and Gorgippos upon his death.

Peace with Tirgatao
Upon the death of their father, Leukon and Gorgippos ascended to the Bosporan throne and immediately, Gorgippos sued for peace with Tirgatao, who demanded great tribute from them in exchange for a peace. Now, Gorgippos and Leukon could focus on their on-going war with Theodosia and Heraclea Pontica and further expansion to the west and south of Panticapaeum.

2nd Siege of Theodosia
Leukon laid siege to Theodosia once again, hoping to annex it for his dominions and likely to avenge his father's death. During the siege, Tynnichus, a Heracleote commander, had been sent from Heraclea Pontica with a small force of 1 merchant ship and a trireme, and he successfully defeated the Bosporans as he managed to destroy their siege weapons during the night with an odd stratagem and succeeded in relieving Theodosia from the siege.

Putting down the insurrection
After his father's defeat at Theodosia, as well as his own, Leukon's subjects were not pleased with their king. Leukon suspected that there would be an attempt on the throne, and rallied the merchants to his aid and borrowed whatever money he could from them. He argued that if his throne was lost, the merchants would not be able to get their money. The merchants then armed themselves and some acted as his bodyguards while others protected the palace, with the help of the merchants, he killed the conspirators. He repaid the merchants as soon as the times were right.

3rd Siege of Theodosia
After putting down a conspiracy against his throne, in around 360 BC, some time after his unsuccessful first attempt at subjugating the city of Theodosia, Leukon laid siege to Theodosia once more when the Heracleotes had recently left, possibly due to Clearchus of Heraclea making himself tyrant of Heraclea and a change of power from an oligarchy to a tyranny. Leukon attacked the city at night and succeeded in defeating and annexing the city, finally putting an end to the war that took his father's life.

Leukon had later provoked the wrath of Heraclea Pontica with his victory at Theodosia, making them wage an all out war against Leukon. They succeeded in defeating the Bosporan fleet, and soon landed on Bosporan territory. Leukon quickly went out to meet them, preparing to protect his kingdom. Leukon noticed that some of his men might route quickly, so he placed his Scythian allies to the rear with specific orders to strike down any who flee. With this tactic, he was able to defeat the Heraclean army.

War with the Sindike Kingdom
The Sindike Kingdom was amidst a civil war, as Oktamasades, the son of Hekataios, had taken the throne for himself. Oktamasades had attacked the city of Labrys, Leukon, aiming to annex it into the Bosporan Kingdom, waged war against Oktamasades and quickly defeated him in the Battle of Labrytai, ultimately driving him out into Scythia. Before the battle, Leukon is said to have said that he “made a vow to erect a victory monument, but not to the local Apollo of Labrys, but to the supreme deity and patron of all the Bosporans, Apollo the Healer. Leukon succeeded in convincing Hekakatios to renounce his kingship, or perhaps he died while Leukon was fighting Okatamsades and Leukon immediately became ruler of the land.

Gorgippos renamed the capital "Sindia" to his namesake, Gorgippia. From here, Gorgippos established himself as the dynast of the Spartocids on the Asiatic side of the Bosporan Kingdom.

Conflict with Memnon of Rhodes
During the probable last years of Leukon's reign, Memnon of Rhodes was perhaps hired by the city of Heraclea Pontica to wage war on Leukon. He sent ambassadors and envoys to Leukon as if he were wanting an alliance, but in reality, he sent them there to look at Leukon's army. Upon learning the details, Memnon waged war on Leukon and landed on Bosporan soil. He sallied out his army to a field, and was met by a Bosporan army. Memnon retreated to a nearby hill and hid some of his troops, to show as if there was discord in his army, Memnon also sent a "deserter" to the Bosporan camp, to tell them that were was a mutiny in the army. When the Bosporans heard of this, they marched to Memnon's army but were quickly defeated, as Memnon's army was not under any mutiny.

Later Campaigns and Aftermath
It is not known when these occurred, but Leukon may have conquered several other tribes, such as that of the Dandarioi, Toretai, and the Psessoi. These tribes are a part of his dominions as they are mentioned as parts of his lands in his title. His son Paerisades I would expand the kingdom even further, at some point during his reign taking Tanais, but the exact date of the conquering of Tanais is not known. Through his marriage to his paternal cousin, Komosarye, a daughter of Gorgippos, Paerisades achieved the title "King of the Sindians", Paerisades was also regarded as "divine" by his people, a position none of his predecessors held.

Satyros, Leukon, and Gorgippos had established a dynasty that would rule the Bosporan Kingdom another 3 centuries, and would enjoy relative peace until 310 BC, when Paerisades I, one of the sons of Leukon and his heir for the next 30 years, died. Paerisades's sons had begun the Bosporan Civil War in which the kingdom was divided. The victor of this war, Eumelos, would later increase the power of the kingdom even further under him to the point of being able to rival that powerful state of Lysimachus, one of Alexander's generals, making him worthy of the fame of his ancestors.