Amadocus I ( grc, Ἀμάδοκος, Amadokos, also Amatokos, perhaps more accurately Μήτοκος/Μήδοκος, Mētokos/Mēdokos, of which the Latin form would be Medocus) was a

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

king of the Odrysae in the late 5th to early 4th century BC (attested from before 405 BC to after 390/389 BC). On the basis of circumstantial evidence, Medocus/Amadocus I has been identified as the son of

Sitalces Sitalces (Sitalkes) (; Ancient Greek: Σιτάλκης, reigned 431–424 BC) was one of the great kings of the Thracian Odrysian state. The Suda called him Sitalcus (Σίταλκος). He was the son of Teres I, and on the sudden death o ...

and a representative of the so-called "junior" branch of the Odrysian dynasty. Isocrates refers to him as "Amadokos the Elder," while a fragment of

Theopompus Theopompus ( grc-gre, Θεόπομπος, ''Theópompos''; c. 380 BCc. 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician. Biography Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios. In early youth, he seems to have spent some time at Athen ...

specifies that there were two kings named Amadocus, father and son, of whom the son was a contemporary of

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

. Amadocus I is thus the father of

Amadocus II Amadocus ( el, Ἀμάδoκoς, Amadokos, also Amatokos) was an Odrysian ruler in Thrace, who ruled from 360 to c. 351 BC. Amadocus II was the son of Amadocus I (Medocus), according to a fragment of Theopompus, which specifies that there were two ...

. Most modern historians consider Medocus and Amadocus I the same individual. Medocus/Amadocus I apparently succeeded

Seuthes I Seuthes I (; grc, Σεύθης, ''Seuthēs'') was king of the Odrysians in Thrace from 424 BC until at least 411 BC. Seuthes was the son of Sparatocos (Sparadocus), and the grandson of Teres I. While his father Sparadocus is the first Odrysian mo ...

on the Odrysian throne, and is named as king of the Odrysians already in 405 BC, alongside a Seuthes, who is generally identified as

Seuthes II Seuthes II ( grc, Σεύθης, ''Seuthēs'') was a ruler in the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, attested from 405 to 387 BC. While he looms large in the historical narrative thanks to his close collaboration with Xenophon, most scholars consider Seuthe ...

. At the time of the

Battle of Aegospotami The Battle of Aegospotami was a naval confrontation that took place in 405 BC and was the last major battle of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander destroyed the Athenian navy. This effectively ended the war, since ...

in 405 BC, the

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

statesman and commander Alcibiades described the Thracian kings Medocus and Seuthes as his allies. Medocus/Amadocus I made his ward Seuthes II a subordinate king in part of southeastern Thrace, but without restoring all of the territory that had once belonged to Seuthes II's father Maesades, some of which remained in the hands of a certain Teres II. In the winter of 400/399 BC Seuthes II received the services of the Athenian commander

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

and his mercenaries. Xenophon describes Medocus/Amadocus I as Seuthes I's overlord and protector, and records that he lived in the interior of the country, some twelve days from the coast. Seuthes II eventually rebelled against Medocus/Amadocus I: Seuthes despised and attacked his overlord, and the Athenian general

Thrasybulus Thrasybulus (; grc-gre, Θρασύβουλος ; 440 – 388 BC) was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 BC, in the wake of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him as a general, making him a ...

had to reconcile Medocus/Amadocus I and Seuthes II and to renew their alliance with Athens in 390/389 BC. Medocus/Amadocus I introduced the "heraldic" device of a double-headed axe (''labrys'') on the coins of Odrysian rulers, continued on the issues of several members of his branch of the dynasty. Medocus/Amadocus I probably died soon after 390/389 BC.Zahrnt 2015: 44.

Amadok Point Amadok Point (Nos Amadok \'nos a-ma-'dok\) is a point on the south coast of Livingston Island, Antarctica which projects 400 m into the Bransfield Strait. The point was named after the Thracian King Amadokos, 415-384 BC. It is snow-free in the ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named for Amadocus.

References

* M. Tacheva, ''The Kings of Ancient Thrace. Book One'', Sofia, 2006. * S. Topalov, ''The Odrysian Kingdom from the Late 5th to the Mid-4th C. B.C.'', Sofia, 1994. * J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015. * R. Vulpe, ''Studia Thracologica'', Bucharest, 1976. * M. Zahrnt, Early History of Thrace to the Murder of Kotys I (360 BCE), in: J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015: 35–47. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amadocus 01 4th-century BC rulers 5th-century BC rulers 5th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown 390s BC deaths Odrysian kings