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List of kings of Thrace and Dacia

This article lists kings of Thrace and Dacia, and includes Thracian, Paeonian, Celtic, Dacian, Scythian, Persian or Ancient Greek rulers up to the point of its fall to the Roman Empire, with a few figures from Greek mythology.

Mythological

Persian

Tribal kings

Getic and Dacian

  • Charnabon, king of the Getae as mentioned by Sophocles in Triptolemus - 5th century BC
  • Cothelas, father of Meda of Odessa – 4th century BC
  • Rex Histrianorum, ruler in Histria, mentioned by Trogus Pompeius and Justinus - 339 BC
  • Dual – 3rd century BC
  • Moskon – 3rd century BC
  • Dromichaetes – 3rd century BC
  • Zalmodegicus – around 200 BC
  • Rhemaxos – around 200 BC
  • Rubobostes – around 200 BC
  • Zoltes – 200 BC
  • Oroles – 2nd century BC
  • Dicomes – 1st century BC
  • Rholes – 1st century BC
  • Dapyx – 1st century BC
  • Zyraxes – 1st century BC
  • Burebista – 82–44 BC
  • Deceneus – 44 BC - around 27 BC High Priest
  • Thiamarkos - 1st century BC - 1st century AD, Dacian king (inscription "Basileys Thiamarkos epoiei")
  • Cotiso – c. 40 BC - c.9 BC
  • Comosicus – 9 BC–30 AD
  • Scorilo – c.30–70 AD
  • Coson
  • Duras – c. 69–87
  • Decebalus – 87–106
  • 106 AD, Dacia becomes a province of the Roman Empire conquered by Trajan.
  • Pieporus, king of Dacian Costoboci – 2nd century AD (inscription)
  • Tarbus – 2nd century AD. Dio Cassius mentioned him without specifying his origin. Some authors consider a possible Dacian ethnicity

Paeonian

Celtic rulers in Thrace

Celtic rulers of Tylis in Thrace

Source:

  • Comontorius Celtic military commander, first king of Tylis (c. 277 BC-?)
  • Orsoaltius (presumed Celtic on the basis of coin types; order uncertain)
  • Cersibaulus (presumed Celtic on the basis of coin types; order uncertain)
  • Cavarus, last king of Tylis; overthrown by the Thracians (?-212 BC)

Greek-Macedonian

Odrysian Kingdom

The list below includes the known Odrysian kings of Thrace, but much of it is conjectural, based on incomplete sources, and the varying interpretation of ongoing numismatic and archaeological discoveries. Various other Thracian kings (some of them non-Odrysian) are included as well. Odrysian kings though called Kings of Thrace never exercised sovereignty over all of Thrace. Control varied according to tribal relationships. Odrysian kings (names are presented in Latin forms):

Odrysian rulers in eastern Thrace (hypothetical reconstruction)

Source:

Odrysian rulers originally in inner Thrace (hypothetical reconstruction)

Source:

  • Teres IV, son of Seuthes (III?) (c. 295 BC?)
  • Seuthes IV, son of Teres (IV?)
  • Teres V, son of ? Seuthes IV (c. 255 BC)
  • Rhoegus, son of Seuthes (IV?) (mid-Third Century, buried in the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak)
  • Seuthes V, son of ? Rhoegus
  • Amadocus III, son of ? Seuthes V (c. 184 BC)
  • Cotys IV, son of Seuthes V (by 171-after 166)
  • Teres VI, son of ? Amadocus III (c. 148 BC)
  • Beithys (Bithys), son of Cotys IV (c.146 BC?)
  • The line may have continued as the Odryso-Astaean dynasty listed below

Various Thracian local rulers attested in the Third Century BC

Source:

  • Spartocus, ruler of Cabyle? (c. 295 BC)
  • Scostocus, ruler in southern Thrace near Aenus and Sestus (c. 280-after 273 BC)
  • Sadalas, ruler near Messembria (c. 275 BC), descendant of Cotys, Medistas, Taruntinus, and Mopsyestis (order and relationships unknown)
  • Odoroes (c. 280-273 BC) (?)
  • Adaeus, Thracian or Macedonian ruler near Cypsela (c. 260-c. 240 BC)

Various non-Odrysian rulers in Thrace

Source:

  • Abrupolis of the Sapaeans, fought with Antigonid Macedonia (by 197-172 BC)
  • Autlesbis of the ? Caeni, fought with Cotys IV as Roman ally (c. 168 BC)
  • Diegylis of the Caeni (by 150-after 144 BC)
  • Zibelmius of the Caeni, son of Diegylis, murdered (c. 141 BC)
  • Sothimus of the ? Maedi, ally of Mithradates VI, invaded Roman Macedonia (c. 89 BC)

Illyrian rulers

Source:

  • Pleuratus I ruler near Skodra (before c. 250 BC)
  • Agron, son of Pleuratus II (c. 250-230 BC)
  • Pinnes, son of Agron (230-212 BC); under regency of stepmother Teuta 230-228 BC and of stepfather Demetrius of Pharos 228-219 BC
  • Scerdilaidas, son of Pleuratus I (212-206 BC)
  • Pleuratus II, son of Scerdilaidas (associated 212, 206-180 BC)
  • Gentius (Genthius), son of Pleuratus II (180-168 BC)
  • 168 BC Illyria annexed by the Roman Republic

Odryso-Astaean Kingdom

A possible continuation of the earlier Odrysian monarchy under a line of kings reigning from Bizye (now Vize) in eastern Thrace.

  • Cotys V, son of ? Beithys (?-by 87 BC)
  • Sadalas I, son of Cotys V (by 87–after 79 BC)
  • Amadocus, Odrysian royal sent to the aid of Sulla at Chaeronea in 86 BC
  • Cotys VI, son of Sadalas I (by 57–48 BC)
  • Sadalas II, son of Cotys VI (48–42 BC)
  • Sadalas III, kinsman of Sadalas II (42-31 BC)
  • Cotys VII, son of Sadalas II by Polemocratia (31–18 BC)
  • Rhescuporis II (Astaean), son of Cotys VII by daughter of the Sapaean king Cotys II, killed by the Bessi (18–11 BC)
  • 11 BC Astaean Thrace conferred on Rhescuporis II's maternal uncle, the Sapaean king Rhoemetalces I, by the Roman emperor Augustus, thereby uniting Thrace

Sapaean Kingdom and unified Thrace

Originally a local power in the Rhodope area of southern Thrace, the Sapaean kings increased in power and influence and, with Roman blessing, found themselves masters of a unified kingdom of Thrace from 11 BC until the Roman annexation in AD 46.

Scythian

See also

Notes

References

  • The Histories, translated by G. C. Macaulay, Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2004.
  • Z. Archibald, The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, Oxford, 1998.
  • P. Delev, "Cotys son of Rhascuporis," in: M. Slavova, N. Å arankov (eds.), Studia Classica Serdicensia V. Monuments and Texts in Antiquity and beyond. Essays for the Centenary of Georgi Mihailov (1915-1991), Sofia, 2016a: 119-129.
  • P. Delev, "Za genealogijata na Sapejskata dinastija" in: P. Delev (ed.), Symposion. Studies in memory of prof. Dimitar Popov, Sofia, 2016b: 148-173.
  • H. Dessau, "Reges Thraciae qui fuerint imperante Augusto," Ephemeris Epigraphica 9 (1913) 696-706.
  • J. Jurukova, Monetite na trakijskite plemena i vladeteli, vol. 1., Sofia, 1992.
  • M. Manov, "Dekret na Apolonija s novo datirane," Numizmatika, Sfragistika i Epigrafika 11 (2015) 167-173.
  • R. D. Sullivan, Near Eastern Royalty and Rome, 100-30 BC, Toronto, 1990.
  • M. Tačeva, Istorija na bălgarskite zemi v drevnostta prez elinističeskata i rimskata epoha, Sofia, 1997.
  • S. Topalov, The Odrysian Kingdom from the Late 5th to the Mid-4th C. B.C., Sofia, 1994.
  • S. Topalov, Contributions to the Study of the Coinage and History in the Lands of Eastern Thrace from the End of the 4th C. B.C. to the end of the 3rd C. B.C., Sofia, 2001.
  • R. Werner, in: W.-D. von Barloewen (ed.), Abriss der Geschichte antiker Randkulturen, Munich, 1961: 83-150, 239-242.