Sapaean kingdom

Last updated
Coin of Rhoemetalces I (r. 11 BC-12 AD). The obverse shows Rhoemetalces and his wife Pythodoris, the reverse Emperor Augustus. Roman Thrace Augustus Rhoemetalces Pythodoris.jpg
Coin of Rhoemetalces I (r. 11 BC–12 AD). The obverse shows Rhoemetalces and his wife Pythodoris, the reverse Emperor Augustus.

The Thracian kingdom, also called the Sapaean kingdom, was an ancient Thracian state in the southeastern Balkans that existed from the middle of the 1st century BC to 46 AD. Succeeding the Classical and Hellenistic era Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, it was dominated by the Sapaean tribe, who ruled from their capital Bizye in what is now northwestern Turkey. Initially only of limited relevance, its power grew significantly in the ancient Roman world as a client state of the late Roman Republic. After the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Octavian (later emperor Augustus) installed a new dynasty that proved to be highly loyal and expansive. Conquering and ruling much of Thrace on behalf of the Roman Empire, it lasted until 46 AD, when Emperor Claudius annexed the kingdom and made Thracia into a Roman province.

Contents

History

In the late 2nd and early 1st century BC, Thrace was politically fractured and subject to constant fighting between local and foreign powers. At the same time, the Roman Republic tried to exert more influence in the region. [1] The Romans encountered great resistance and suffered repeated defeats at the hands of Thracian tribes, most importantly the Bessi; regardless, the Romans gradually contained the Thracian raiding into surrounding, Roman-dominated areas like the one of ancient Macedon. [2]

By the middle of the 1st century BC, one of the most important Thracian tribes were the Sapaeans; [3] the latter eventually became Rome's allies and clients. However, many Thracians continued to oppose both the Sapaeans as well as the Romans. Around 13 BC, the Bessi under a priest named Vologaesus revolted and killed the Thracian king. The Roman Empire put down the rebellion and consequently expanded its holdings along the Danube. Another unsuccessful revolt broke out in 11 BC. [2]

The power of the Thracian kingdom declined as the royal family became embroiled in dynastic conflicts and civil wars. When Sapaean ruler Rhoemetalces I died in 12 AD, the Romans divided his kingdom among his son Cotys III and his brother Rhescuporis II, but the two rulers quickly started to fight each other. Cotys III was murdered by his uncle in 19 AD, whereupon the Romans deposed him and picked new kings from the two lines. Further rebellions continued to erupt in the Thracian kingdom, such as in 21 AD when insurgents besieged king Rhoemetalces II. He was saved by the Roman army's intervention. In turn, Rhoemetalces II helped the Romans to put down a rebellion among the southern Thracian mountain tribes in 26 AD. Around 44/45 AD, another revolt broke out during which king Rhoemetalces III was killed. In 46 AD, Roman Emperor Claudius put an end to the kingdom by annexing it. [4]

List of Sapaean Kings

Related Research Articles

Cotys I or Kotys I was a king of the Odrysians in Thrace from 384 BC to his murder in 360 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odrysian kingdom</span> Union of Thracian tribes and kingdoms (5th century BC to 3rd century BC)

The Odrysian kingdom was an ancient Thracian state that thrived between the early 5th century BC and the early 3rd / late 1st century BC. Located in present-day Bulgaria, southeastern Romania, northern Greece and European Turkey, it was a tribal amalgam dominated by the Odrysians that was the first large political entity to develop in the eastern Balkans. Before the foundation of Seuthopolis in the late 4th century it had no fixed capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonia Tryphaena</span> Roman Client Queen of Thrace (10 BC - AD 55)

Antonia Tryphaena also known as Tryphaena of Thrace or Tryphaena was a Pontian Princess and a Roman Client Queen of Thrace. She co-ruled with her son Rhoemetalces II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asti (Thracian tribe)</span>

Asti is the name of a Thracian tribe which is mentioned by Livy. It is believed that they lived around the old Thracian capital of Bizye.

Rhescuporis II was king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from ca. 18 BC to ca. 13 BC, in succession to his father Cotys VII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhoemetalces I</span> King of Thrace, 1st c. BCE

Rhoemetalces I (Sapaean) (Ancient Greek: Ῥοιμητάλκης) was king of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace from 15 BC to 12 AD. He was king of Odrysian kingdom of Thrace in succession to his nephew Rhescuporis II (Astaean).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhescuporis II</span> King of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace (ruled 12-19 AD)

Rhescuporis II was king of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace from 12 to 19 AD. He ruled half of the kingdom in succession to his brother Rhoemetalces I, and briefly ruler of the entire realm thereafter, usurping the other half from nephew Cotys VIII. He was a son of the earlier Thracian king Cotys VI and the younger brother of kings Cotys VII and Rhoemetalces I. The Roman Historian Tacitus describes his character as "treacherous".

Rhoemetalces II was a Client Ruler in association with his mother Antonia Tryphaena of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace under the Romans. He ruled from 19 until 38 AD. Rhoemetalces II and Tryphaena succeeded his paternal great-uncle Rhescuporis II, who had usurped the throne from Rhoemetalces II's father Cotys VIII. The Roman Emperor Tiberius deposed Rhescuporis II and installed Rhoemetalces II and Tryphaena on the throne in his place. They served as loyal client rulers, even in 26 putting down Thracian malcontents for Tiberius. Rhoemetalces II never married and had no children. After his death in 38, his father's cousin Rhoemetalces III, the son of Rhescuporis II, was appointed king, while his mother retired to live as a private citizen in Cyzicus.

Pythodoris II or Pythodorida II was a client ruler of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace under Roman rule, in association with her father's cousin Rhoemetalces III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapaeans</span> Thracian tribe based close to the Greek city of Abdera.

Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi were a Thracian tribe close to the Greek city of Abdera. One of their kings was named Abrupolis and had allied himself with the Romans. They ruled Thrace after the Odrysians until its incorporation by the Roman Empire as a province.

Cotys III was a king of the Odrysians in Thrace in the early 3rd-century BC. His one secure attestation is an inscription from Delphi dated to sometime between 276 and 267 BC, in which he is named as the son of Raizdos, his probable predecessor. Scholarship has long associated a coin type struck for a king Cotys on one side and a king Rhescuporis on the other and also a king Cotys, father of a Rhescuporis, named in a decree from Apollonia (Sozopol) with Cotys III. However, these identifications have been doubted, and some scholars have redated both the coin type and the inscription to almost three centuries later. It is therefore uncertain whether Cotys III was succeeded by a son named Rhescuporis.

Cotys IV was a king of the Odrysians in Thrace from before 171 until after 166 BC. He was the son of Seuthes V and succeeded either his father or another king, Amadocus III, who was captured by the Macedonians in 184 BC. While the survival of a specifically Odrysian state past the mid-3rd century has been doubted, Cotys IV is described as an Odrysian by Polybius and Livy, although the term may have been used in a less than specific sense.

Rhescuporis may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhoemetalces III</span> 1st century client ruler of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace under the Romans

Rhoemetalces III was a king of the Sapaean Thracians. He was the son of Rhescuporis II. In association with his wife Pythodoris II,, they were client rulers of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace under the Romans from AD 38 to 46, in succession to Pythodoris' mother Tryphaena and Pythodoris' brother Rhoemetalces II.

Sextus Julius Cotys III was the Sapaean Roman client king of eastern Thrace from 12 to 18 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thracian warfare</span>

The history of Thracian warfare spans from the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by Ancient Greek and Latin historians as Thrace. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Thracian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkans. Apart from conflicts between Thracians and neighboring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Thracian tribes.

Cotys I was a Sapaean client king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from c. 57 BC to c. 48 BC. He was the son of Rhoemetalces.

Rhescuporis I was a possible king of the Odrysians in Thrace in the 3rd century BC. Scholarship has long associated a coin type struck for a king Cotys on one side and a king Rhescuporis on the other and also a king Cotys, father of a Rhescuporis, named in a decree from Apollonia (Sozopol) with the Odrysian rulers Cotys III and Rhescuporis I. However, these associations have been doubted, and some scholars have redated both the coin type and the inscription to almost three centuries later, when the same names and relationships appear again among the Astaean and Sapaean kings of Thrace. It is therefore uncertain whether Cotys III was succeeded by a son named Rhescuporis. If he was, the coin type struck for both kings would be the only certain proof that Rhescuporis reigned, because the Apollonia decree only mentions that he had spent time in the town as hostage on his father's behalf.

References

  1. Webber 2001, pp. 14–15.
  2. 1 2 Webber 2001, p. 15.
  3. Delev 2016a, p. 49.
  4. Webber 2001, p. 16.

Works cited

  • Webber, Christopher (2001). The Thracians 700 BC – AD 46. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN   978-1841763293.
  • Delev, Peter (2016a). "Between Pharsalus and Philippi. Thrace in the Forties BC". Thracia. 21: 49–59. ISSN   0204-9872.

Further reading