Greek Kingdom of Thrace Rhoemetalkes I – King: 11 B.C. – 12 A.D. Bronze 14mm (2.21 grams) from the Greek Kingdom of Thrace circa 11 B.C. – 12 A.D. Reference: RPC I 1706 ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ, Fasces (ceremonial axe). B A POIMHTAΛKOY, sella curulis (throne) and spear.
The symbols on this coin symbolize Roman power. Youroukova posited that this type was struck circa 11 B.C. when coming on the throne and receiving the symbols of power from Augustus.
Thrace did not become a Roman province until the reign of Claudius (A.D. 46). Augustus created Rhoemetalkes I ruler of the whole of Thrace in 11 B.C. and he governed the country well for almost a quarter of a century until his death in A.D. 12. Thereafter the Kingdom had a troubled history culminating in the murder, by his wife, of the last ruler Rhoemetalkes III.
Son of Kotys and Sapaean, Rhoemetalkes had a long political career in the earlier part of which he acted as the guardian of the children of Kotys III. He became King of Thrace in 11 B.C. and remained a loyal ally of the Romans throughout his reign.
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Rhoemetalces I (Ancient Greek: Ῥοιμητάλκης) was king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from 12 BC to 12 AD, in succession to his nephew Rhescuporis I.
Rhoemetalces I was a loyal ally to the first Roman Emperor Augustus. He was a direct descendant of the Thracian King Cotys I, and the middle son of the earlier Thracian king Cotys VI. His older brother was Cotys VII, and his younger brother was Rhescuporis II.
When Cotys VII died about 48 BC Rhoemetalces became the guardian of his nephew Rhescuporis I, his brother’s young son and heir. Rhescuporis I died in 13 BC, when he was defeated and slain in battle by Vologases, chief of the Thracian Bessi, who was a leader in the revolt against the Romans in that year.
During this revolt Rhoemetalces and his family fled Thrace, returning only when it ended, when Augustus returned the kingdom to his family. As Rhescuporis I had left no heir, Rhoemetalces became King of Thrace in 12 BC. The Roman Historian Tacitus, describes him as ‘attractive and civilized’. His wife and the mother of his heir, known only through numismatic evidence, was Queen Pythodoris [I].
Rhoemetalces I ruled Thrace until his death in 12. Augustus then divided his realm into two separate kingdoms, one half for his son Cotys VIII to rule and the other half for Rhoemetalces’s remaining brother Rhescuporis II. Tacitus states that Cotys received the cultivated parts, most towns and most Greek cities of Thrace, while Rhescuporis received the wild and savage portion with enemies on its frontier.
Rhoemetalces I
Odrysian kingdom of Thrace
Born: Unknown Died: 12 AD |
Preceded by Rhescuporis II (Astaean) |
King of Thrace 12 BC–12 AD |
Succeeded by Cotys III (Sapaean) and Rhescuporis II |
The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace (Βασίλειον Ὀδρυσῶν, Latin: Regnum Odrysium) was a state union of over 40 Thracian tribes and 22 kingdoms that existed between the 5th century BC and the 1st century AD. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria, spreading to parts of Northern Dobruja, parts of Northern Greece and parts of modern-day European Turkey.
It is suggested that the kingdom had no capital, instead the kings may have moved from a residence to another. A capital was the city of Odryssa (assumed to be Uscudama, modern Edirne), as inscribed on coins. Another royal residence believed to have been constructed by Cotys I (383-358 BC) is in the village of Starosel, while in 315 BC Seuthopolis was build as a capital. An early capital was Vize. The kingdom broke up and Kabyle was a co-capital by the end of the 4th century BCE.E.
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