Cotys II (
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 p ...
: Κότυς, Kotys) was a possible king of the
Odrysians in
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 ...
in the late 4th or early 3rd century BC. His one secure attestation is in an inscription from
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...
dated to 330 BC; the inscription honored Reboulas, brother of Cotys and son of Seuthes. This is generally interpreted to mean that Cotys, not yet king, was the son of
Seuthes III
Seuthes III ( grc, Σεύθης, Seuthēs) was a king of Odrysia, a part of Thrace, during the late 4th century BC (securely attested between 324 and 312 BC).
Historical background
Following the campaigns of Philip II in 347–342 BC a signifi ...
by a marriage earlier than that to Berenike (since their four sons did not include a Cotys or a Reboulas). Building on this interpretation of the evidence, a certain Gonimase (Gonimasē), wife of a Seuthes, buried in a tomb near Smjadovo, has been proposed as Seuthes III's earlier wife and mother of Cotys and Reboulas. However, the Athenian inscription precedes the first clear attestation of Seuthes III by about seven years, and various scholars have proposed
Seuthes I,
Seuthes II, and even a non-reigning Seuthes as the father of Cotys and Reboulas. One scholar conjectures that Cotys was an elder son of Seuthes III but did not live to succeed his father, dying during the siege of Callatis (
Mangalia) in 310 BC. While it is likely that Cotys II was a Thracian ruler in this period, it is not possible to establish his precise relationship (chronologically and genealogically) to Seuthes III. The overall chronology and the names suggest the possibility that Cotys II may have been the father of
Raizdos and grandfather of the latter's son
Cotys III.
Mladjov, Rulers of Thrace, University of Michigan
/ref>
See also
* List of Thracian tribes
References
* K. J. Beloch, ''Griechische Geschichte'', vol. 3:2, Berlin, 1923.
* D. Dana, Inscriptions, in: J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015: 243-264.
* P. Delev, “Filip II i zalezăt na Goljamoto Odrisko carstvo v Trakija,” ''Šumenski universitet “Episkop Konstantin Preslavski,” Trudove na katedrite po istorija i bogoslovie'' 1 (1997) 7-40.
* P. Delev, Thrace from the Assassination of Kotys I to Koroupedion (360-281 BC), in: J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015: 48-58.
* M. Manov, "The Hellenistic Tomb with Greek Inscription from Smyadovo, Bulgaria - Reconsidered," ''Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology'' 6/3 (2019) 99-118.
* M. Tačeva, ''The Kings of Ancient Thrace,'' vol. 1, Sofia, 2006.
3rd-century BC rulers
Odrysian kings
{{Dacia-stub