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The article is devoted to some circumstances of the appearance of the barbarians Farzoy and Inismey in the Northern Black Sea region in the 1st century BC. AD and the problem of determining the degree of participation in these events of individual associations of mercenaries who were in the service of the Bosporan kings. Based on a thorough analysis of the sources, the author comes to the conclusion that one of these barbarian groups played a special role as the most important intermediaries between the representatives of the Bosporan dynasty Asander - Aspurg - Mithridates VIII (III) and their distant relatives from the East. Apparently, in the first half of the 1st c. AD at the stage of their appearance in the Northern Black Sea region, these barbarians were in distant family relations with people from the royal dynasty. However, in the events of the Bosporan-Roman war of 45-49. they did not take part, possibly due to a conflict with Mithridates VIII (III) because of the plan proposed by the barbarians to attract additional forces from the East to fight the Romans. The tamga of this clan was formed as a result of a purposeful transformation of an ancient sign well known in the nomadic world, possibly related to the image of the World (Family) Tree and, accordingly, to some legendary progenitors. This may explain why some of the representatives of the related clans of these barbarians subsequently began to actively demonstrate their belonging to the Farzoy-Inismey dynasty. According to the author, this indicates the presence of common legendary progenitors of the Bosporan royal dynasty and the barbarian clans, whose tamgas were formed on the basis of the sign. Consequently, the barbarians hired at one time by Aspurg and Mithridates VIII (III), whose tamga was fundamentally formed from an ancient sign, at the peak of the consequences of the defeat of the dynasty in the Bosporan-Roman war, could not only contribute to the appearance of the army of Farzoy and Inismey in the Northern Black Sea region, but also possibly become the main allies and the main force of the army of these kings.
Keywords:king Asander, king Aspurg, king Mithridates VIII (III). King Farzoi, King Inismey, Bosporan Kingdom, military settlers, mercenaries, tamgas
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