Amadocus I ( grc, Ἀμάδοκος, Amadokos, also Amatokos, perhaps more accurately Μήτοκος/Μήδοκος, Mētokos/Mēdokos, of which the Latin form would be Medocus) was a
Thracian king of the
Odrysae
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 ...
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) (; 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 of ...
and a representative of the so-called "junior" branch of the Odrysian dynasty.
Isocrates
Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 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 throu ...
refers to him as "Amadokos the Elder," while a fragment of
Theopompus specifies that there were two kings named Amadocus, father and son, of whom the son was a contemporary of
Philip II of Macedon. Amadocus I is thus the father of
Amadocus II. Most modern historians consider Medocus and Amadocus I the same individual.
Medocus/Amadocus I apparently succeeded
Seuthes I 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. At the time of the
Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, the
Athenian statesman and commander
Alcibiades
Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in t ...
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 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 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 in the
South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica 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.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadocus 01
4th-century BC rulers
5th-century BC rulers
5th-century BC Greek people
4th-century BC Greek people
Year of birth unknown
390s BC deaths
Odrysian kings