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Rhoemetalces I (Sapaean) ( grc, Ῥοιμητάλκης) was king of the
Smith, William, ed. ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''. Boston : Little, Brown, and Company, 1867, v. 3, p. 653
Rhoemetalces I (Sapaean) ( grc, Ῥοιμητάλκης) was king of the Sapaean kingdom
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 Thra ...
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 ...
from 15 BC to 12 AD. He was king of 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 an ...
of Thrace in succession to his nephew Rhescuporis II (Astaean).
Rhoemetalces I was a loyal ally to the first Roman Emperor Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
. He was a direct descendant of the Thracian King Cotys I (Sapaean), and the middle child of the earlier Thracian king Cotys II (Sapaean). His younger brother was Rhescuporis II (Sapaean); his sister married to Cotys VII (Astaean).
When Cotys VII died about 48 BC Rhoemetalces I became the guardian of his nephew Rhescuporis II (Astaean), his sister's young son and heir. Rhescuporis II (Astaean) died in 13 BC, when he was defeated and slain in battle by Vologases Vologases ( Parthian: Walagash, Middle Persian: Wardākhsh/Walākshsh, fa, بلاش, Balāsh), also known as Vologaeses, Vologaesus, Vologeses, Ologases, and Valarsh (Armenian), was the name of various ancient monarchs:
Kings of Parthia
* Vologas ...
, chief of the Thracian Bessi
The Bessi (; grc, Βῆσσοι, or , ) were a Thracian tribe that inhabited the upper valley of the Hebros and the lands between the Haemus and Rhodope mountain ranges in historical Thrace.
Geography
The exact geographic location of the Be ...
, who was a leader in the revolt against the Romans in that year.
During this revolt Rhoemetalces I and his family fled Thrace, returning only when it ended, when Augustus returned the kingdom to his family. As Rhescuporis II (Astaean) had left no heir, Rhoemetalces I became King of whole Thrace in 12 BC. The Roman Historian Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
, 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 III (Sapaean)
Cotys III (Ancient Greek: Κότυς, flourished second half of 1st century BC and first half of 1st century, died 18 AD) was the Sapaean Roman client king of eastern Thrace from 12 to 18 AD.
Family and origins
Cotys was the son and heir of loyal ...
to rule and the other half for Rhoemetalces's remaining brother Rhescuporis II (Sapaean). Tacitus states that Cotys III received the cultivated parts, most towns and most Greek cities of Thrace, while Rhescuporis II (Sapaean) received the wild and savage portion with enemies on its frontier.Tacitus, The Annals 2.64
Sources
Smith, William, ed. ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''. Boston : Little, Brown, and Company, 1867, v. 3, p. 653
Notes