Cotys I (Sapaean)
Encyclopedia
Cotys I was a Sapaean client king of the Odrysian kingdom
of Thrace
from ca. 57 BC to ca. 48 BC. He was the son of Rhoemetalces.
Cotys was an ally of the Roman general Pompey
, 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
.
On Cotys' death, Rhescuporis I became king under the regency of Rhoemetalces I
, Cotys' younger brother.
Odrysian kingdom
The Odrysian kingdom was a union of Thracian tribes that endured between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. It consisted largely of present-day Bulgaria, spreading to parts of Northern Dobruja, parts of Northern Greece and modern-day European Turkey...
of Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
from ca. 57 BC to ca. 48 BC. He was the son of Rhoemetalces.
Cotys was an ally of the Roman general Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
, to whom he sent a body of auxiliaries under his son Rhescuporis I
Rhescuporis I
Rhescuporis I was king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from ca. 18 BC to ca. 13 BC, in succession to his father Cotys VII.In 48 BC, before he became king, he led a body of auxiliaries his father sent to the aid of Pompey for use in the Roman civil war against Julius Caesar...
in 48 BC for use in the Roman civil war against Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.
On Cotys' death, Rhescuporis I became king under the regency of Rhoemetalces I
Rhoemetalces I
Rhoemetalces I was king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from 12 BC to 12, 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...
, Cotys' younger brother.