Cotys I (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: Κότυς; died 48 BC) was a
Sapaean
Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi (Ancient Greek, "Σαπαίοι") 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 ...
client king of the
Odrysian kingdom
The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria and ...
of
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
from c. 57 BC to c. 48 BC. He was the son of Rhoemetalces.
Cotys was an ally of the Roman general
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
, to whom he sent a body of auxiliaries under his son
Rhescuporis I in 48 BC for use in the Roman civil war against
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
.
On Cotys' death, Rhescuporis I became king under the regency of
Rhoemetalces I
Rhoemetalces I (Sapaean) ( grc, 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).
Rhoemetalces I was a loyal ...
, Cotys' younger brother.
See also
*
List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia
This article lists rulers of Thrace and Dacia, and includes Thracian, Paeonian, Celtic, Dacian, Scythian, Persian or Ancient Greek up to the point of its fall to the Roman Empire, with a few figures from Greek mythology.
Mythological
*Haemus, bec ...
Notes
Sources
Smith, William, ed. ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''. Boston : Little, Brown, and Company, 1867, v. 3, p. 870
1st-century BC rulers in Europe
Roman client rulers
Year of birth unknown
48 BC deaths
Odrysian kings
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