Palacus

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Palacus or Palakus was the king of a Scythian realm whose capital was based at Scythian Neapolis on the Crimea in the late 2nd century BC.

He succeeded his father, Skilurus, and resumed his war against Mithridates the Great, attempting to capture the wealthy western Crimean city-state of Chersonesos but was defeated by Mithridates' Pontic forces under his general Diophantos. Enlisting the assistance of the Rhoxolani under their king, Tasius, Palacus launched a renewed assault on western Crimea, only to be defeated again in pitched battle by Diophantos. Soon after these events which can be dated to c.110–107 BC, most of the cities of Crimea accepted Mithridates as overlord.

Palacus was the last Scythian king attested in classical sources. His mausoleum has been tentatively identified in Scythian Neapolis.

Note also, the rather fortuitous word similarity, which has been used to suggest the origins of a Slav nation:

Palacus <> Rus Paliaki <> Polakus <> Poles

[edit] References

• Content of this page in part derives from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia article on the same subject.