I.

Mladjov, Page 1/2

THRACE (THRAK)

The Thracian tribes failed to achieve any semblance of unity until the rise of Odrysian power during the first
half of the 5
th
century BC. But while powerful kings like Sitalks and Kotys I managed to unite the tribes under
them and to carry out an aggressive policy towards their neighbors (e.g., Macedon and the Greek colonies on the
seacoast), the potential for tribal disunity and multiple kingship remained. On the death of Kotys I in 360,
Thrace was effectively divided between three kings, who were all subjugated by Philippos II of Macedon by 341.
Nevertheless, the Thracian kingship was not completely eliminated, and Seuths III repeatedly challenged the
authority of Alexandros III, his generals and successors, including Lysimakhos, governor from 323 and king
306281. Seuths III also imitated Hellenistic monarchs by founding a regularly planned city and naming it
after himself (Seuthopolis). While much of Thrace effectively escaped Macedonian control at this time, Seuths
death coincided with another period of disunity and the invasion of the Gauls, who set up their own small
kingdom at Tylis (location unknown) on Thracian territory. During this period the identity, sequence, and
relations of Thracian rulers are very poorly known, and Thracian political history becomes only a little better-
illuminated during the period of Romes wars with Macedon during the first half of the 2
nd
century. By 100, in
addition to the apparently senior Astaean line of kings, a line of Sapaean dynasts ruled in parts of Thrace. On
the death of the last Astaean king in 11 BC, the Roman emperor Augustus conferred all of Thrace to his Sapaean
uncle Roimtalks I. In AD 46, on the murder of Roimtalks III by his wife, the kingdom of Thrace was
annexed as a province by the Roman emperor Claudius I.
The list below (which may not be exhaustive) includes the known Odrysian and Sapaean kings of Thrace, but
much of it is conjectural. The distinction made here between the rival Odrysian and Astaean successors of
Seuths III is largely arbitrary, the genealogical relationships are all too often inferred from circumstantial
considerations (chronology, geography, onomastic patterns) and the few new pieces of evidence that have come
to light from recent archaeological work.
1
Names are presented in (Greek) standardized forms.

Odrysian kings of Thrace
c.480c.450 Trs I son of Odryss?
c.450:431 Sparatokos son of Trs I
:431424 Sitalks son of Trs I
424405: Seuths I son of Sparatokos
:405:391 Mtokos son of (?) Sitalks
:391390: Amatokos I son of Mtokos
2

390:387: Seuths II son of Maisads, son of (?) Sparatokos; rival since :401
:386: Hebryzelmis son of (?) Seuths I
:384360 Kotys I son of (?) Seuths II
3

360341 Kersoblepts son of Kotys I; in eastern Thrace; deposed
360357 Brisads son of (?) Saratokos, son of (?) Seuths I; in western Thrace
360351 Amatokos II son of Amatokos I; in central Thrace
357352 Ketriporis son of Brisads; in western Thrace; deposed
351341 Trs II son of Amatokos II; in central Thrace; deposed
341331 (to Macedon)
331305: Seuths III son of (?) Kotys I
Kotys II
4
son of Seuths III
Raizdos
5
son of (?) Kotys II

1
For example, the discovery of a coin of Sitalks (who is thus not identical with Saratokos), of a king Seuths
(not the same as Seuths III), son of a Trs (perhaps the like-named son of Seuths III), and the plausible
ascription of the Kazanlk Tomb to Roigos (known from coins), son of a Seuths (who cannot be Seuths III).
2
So in Taeva (2006); Mtokos and Amatokos I are often considered to be the same person.
3
Or possibly of Seuths I, as in Topalov (1994), though the historical background may still favor Seuths II.
4
It is uncertain if he reigned as king, as he is known only from an Athenian inscription honoring Rboulas,
brother of Kotys and son of Seuths from 331/330. The succession to Seuths III remains unclear. Towards the
end of his reign, his wife Berenik and her four sons (not including Kotys or his brother Rboulas) made a treaty
with two other Thracian dynasts, Spartokos of Kabyl and Epimens; other dynasts: Skostokos and Kersibaulos.
5
It is uncertain if he reigned as king (unless identical to Roigos), as he is only attested as father of Kotys III.
I. Mladjov, Page 2/2
:261: Kotys III son of Raizdos
Raiskouporis I
6
son of Kotys III
(to the Astaean kings of Thrace?)

Astaean kings of Thrace
Trs III
7
son of Seuths III
Seuths IV son of Trs III
:255: Trs IV son of (?) Seuths IV
Roigos son of Seuths IV
Seuths V
8
son of (?) Roigos
:184: Amatokos III son of (?) Seuths V
:171167: Kotys IV son of Seuths V
:148: Trs V son of (?) Amatokos III
:146: Beithys
9
son of Kotys IV
Kotys V son of (?) Beithys
:8779: Sadalas I son of Kotys V
:5748 Kotys VI son of Sadalas I
4842 Sadalas II son of Kotys VI
4231 Sadalas III son of (?) Sadalas II
3118 Kotys VII son of Sadalas II
1811 Raiskouporis II son of Kotys VII
(to the Sapaean kings of Thrace 11 BC)

Sapaean kings of Thrace
Kotys I son of (?) Roimtalks
:4842 Raiskouporis I son of Kotys I
4231 Kotys II son of Raiskouporis I
31 BCAD 12 Roimtalks I
10
son of Kotys II; all Thrace 11 BC
1219 Raiskouporis II son of Kotys II
& 1218 Kotys III son of Roimtalks I
1938 Roimtalks II son of Raiskouporis II
3846 Roimtalks III son of Kotys III
(Roman province of Thracia 46)


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Archibald, Z., The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, Oxford, 1998
Barloewen, W.-D., ed., Abriss der Geschichte Antiker Randkulturen, Munich, 1961
Beevliev, V., Prouvanija vrhu linite imena u trakite, Sofia, 1965
Jurukova, J., Monetite na trakijskite plemena i vladeteli, Sofia, 1992
Sullivan, R., Near Eastern Royalty and Rome, Toronto, 1990.
Taeva, M., Istorija na blgarskite zemi v drevnostta prez elinistieskata i rimskata epoha, Sofia, 1997
Taeva, M., The Kings of Ancient Thrace, vol. 1, Sofia, 2006.
Topalov, S., The Odrysian Kingdom from the Late 5
th
to the Mid-4
th
C. B.C., Sofia, 1994

6
It is not entirely certain if he reigned as sole king.
7
It is uncertain if he reigned as king, as he is attested only as a son of Seuths III and as father of Seuths IV,
which also assumes that these indicators refer to the same Trs.
8
It is uncertain if he reigned as king, as he is attested only as the father of Kotys IV.
9
It is uncertain if he reigned as king, unless he is identical with a certain Byzs attested in c.146.
10
Gaius Iulius (Gaios Ioulios) as Roman citizen, a name inherited by his descendants.