Octamasadas (

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

;

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 pe ...

: ,

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

: ;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ) was a

king, the son of King

Ariapeithes Ariapeithes (Scythian: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ) was a king of the Scythians in the early 5th century BCE. Name Ariapeithes's name originates from the Scythian name , and is composed of the terms , meaning “Aryan” and “Iranian,” an ...

, who lived around 446 BC. He came to power after he deposed and replaced his half-brother

Scyles Scyles, Skyles, or Scylas (Scythian: ; grc, Σκυλης, romanized: ; Latin: ), was a Scythian king who lived in the 5th century BC. He is mentioned in the histories of Herodotus as having been an admirer of Greek culture and traditions, which l ...

. Octamasadas was the son of

Teres I Teres I (, ; reigned 460–445 BC) was the first king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace. Thrace had nominally been part of the Persian empire since 516 BC during the rule of Darius the Great, and was re-subjugated by Mardonius in 492 BC. The Od ...

’s daughter, making Octamasadas Teres’ grandson. Teres I was the father 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 ...

(431–424 BC) and Sparadocus (448–440 BC), Thracian kings.

Name

The name () is the Hellenisation of the

language name , meaning "possessing greatness through his words."

Rise to power

Octamasadas became king after the Scythians broke out into revolt. The Scythians revolted because did not behave in a traditional Scythian fashion. When Octamasadas’ brother heard of this revolt he fled to Thrace. After hearing that his brother had fled to Thrace, Octamasadas gathered his army and headed for Thrace. When Octamasadas arrived at the river Ister, the Thracian army was waiting for him. The two sides were about to engage in battle when Sitalces sent a message to Octamasadas by a herald. Sitalces proposed a trade; Sitalces would surrender Scyles if Octamasadas handed over one of Sitalces' brothers, who had taken refuge with the Scythians because he feared Sitalces. accepted the terms and surrendered his own uncle to Sitalces. After the exchange, Sitalces left with his brother while Octamasadas beheaded Scyles as soon as he received him. This

rapprochement In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries. This may be done due to a mutual enemy, as was the case with Germ ...

between the Scythians and the Thracians - though tragic for Scyles - led to the stabilization among these players as regional powers along with the Thracian Spartocids, which resulted to a period of economic prosperity.

References

(translation by

George Campbell Macaulay George Campbell Macaulay (6 August 1852 – 6 July 1915), also known as G. C. Macaulay, was a noted English classical scholar. His daughter was the fiction writer Rose Macaulay. Family Macaulay was born on 6 August 1852, in Hodnet, Shropshire, ...

, 1852–1915)
The History of Herodotus at Fordham University
Scythian rulers People of the Bosporan Kingdom 5th-century BC people {{hist-stub