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

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

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) (; ; reigned 431–424 BC) was one of the kings of the Thracian Odrysian state. The Suda called him Sitalcus (Σίταλκος). He was the son of Teres I, and on the sudden death of his father in 431 BC succeeded to t ...

and a representative of the so-called "junior" branch of the Odrysian dynasty.

Isocrates Isocrates (; ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and writte ...

refers to him as "Amadokos the Elder," while a fragment of

Theopompus Theopompus (, ''Theópompos''; 380 BC 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician who was a student of Isocrates. Biography Early life and education Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios in 378 or 377 BCE. In his ear ...

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 (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), 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 (, 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 kings named Amadocus, father ...

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

Seuthes I Seuthes I (; , ''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 monarch to have l ...

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 (, ''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 Seuthes II to have bee ...

. 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, sin ...

in 405 BC, the

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

statesman and commander

Alcibiades Alcibiades (; 450–404 BC) was an Athenian statesman and general. The last of the Alcmaeonidae, he played a major role in the second half of the Peloponnesian War as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician, but subsequently ...

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 (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

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 (; ; 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 primary leader of the ultimat ...

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 on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

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

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. {{authority control 4th-century BC Greek monarchs 5th-century BC monarchs 5th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown 390s BC deaths Odrysian kings