Cotys IV (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Κότυς, Kotys) was a king of the Odrysians in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

from before 171 until after 166 BC. He was the son of Seuthes V and succeeded either his father or another king, Amadocus III, who was captured by the Macedonians in 184 BC (it is unclear whether Amadocus III and Cotys IV ruled the same political formation and whether kingship was unitary). While the survival of a specifically Odrysian state past the mid-3rd century has been doubted, Cotys IV is described as an Odrysian by

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

and

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, although the term may have been used in a less than specific sense. During the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman fe ...

(171-168 BC), Cotys IV was initially an ally of the Macedonian king

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...

, sending a force of a thousand cavalry and a thousand infantry to his ally, which contributed to the initial Macedonian victory over the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

at Callinicus in 171 BC. However, following an attack on Cotys' kingdom by another Thracian ruler, Autlesbis (of the Caeni?), and the

Attalid The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Ancient Greece, Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Anatolia, Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the At ...

commander Corrhagus, allies of Rome, Cotys and his force were allowed to return to defend their homelands by Perseus, who gave them half of the promised pay. Nevertheless, Cotys IV was able to assist Perseus again at the

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back ...

in 168 BC, although the allies were defeated by the Romans, and Cotys and his forces followed Perseus in his flight from the battlefield. When Perseus embarked for

Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; , ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long, in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries ...

, the Thracians, possibly including those of Cotys, refused to follow and returned to their homes. Later Perseus planned to flee from Samothrace to Cotys, but had to surrender to the Romans. Cotys' son Bithys (the same name is usually spelled Beithys in Thracian inscriptions) had been left a hostage at Perseus' court and ended up among the Macedonian royal captives of the Romans at Carseoli. Cotys sent envoys to the Roman senate to ransom his son, claiming he had been forced to support Perseus. The Roman senate pardoned his actions and released his son without taking the ransom. The grateful Cotys now became a Roman ally. The lenient treatment of Cotys IV by the Roman government in 167 BC is attributed to its desire to secure a useful ally in the region, given both past experience and potential current threats. A decree from Abdera usually dated to c. 166 BC shows Cotys, apparently bolstered by this new alliance with Rome, expanding his territory and encroaching upon Abdera's. This is generally considered to be the last mention of Cotys IV in the source material, but doubts have been raised regarding the date of the Abdera decree and whether anyone but a

Sapaean Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi (Ancient Greek, "Σαπαίοι") were a Thracian tribe close to the Greek city of Abdera. One of their kings was named Abrupolis and had allied himself with the Romans. They ruled Thrace after the Odrysians until ...

Cotys could have encroached upon Abdera. It is not known when Cotys IV ceased to reign or who succeeded him: his son Bithys is not securely attested as ruler, unless perhaps mentioned under the orthography "Byzes" in c. 146 BC; a certain Teres (V or VI) is attested as reigning in 148 BC, but he may have belonged to a different branch of the dynasty or to a different Thracian kingdom. The name "Cotys" appears among both the so-called Odryso-

Astae Asti () is the name of a Thracian tribe which is mentioned by Livy. It is believed that they lived around the old Thracian capital of Bizye. List of rulers A possible continuation of the earlier Odrysian monarchy under a line of kings reigning fr ...

an and

kings of Thrace, which may indicate descent from Cotys IV (particularly for the former), but there is no absolute proof for such a link. Polybius and Diodorus eulogize Cotys, describing him as a man of striking appearance and martial qualities, worthy of friendship, sober and polite, unlike other Thracians. According to a creative and eclectic reconstruction of the pedigree of Thracian rulers that has gained uncritical acceptance in many "descents from Antiquity" personal genealogy projects online, Cotys IV married Semestra and had a son, Dyegilos, who married Apama, daughter of

Prusias II of Bithynia Prusias II Cynegus (Greek: Προυσίας ὁ Κυνηγός; "the Hunter", c. 220 BC – 149 BC, reigned c. 182 BC – 149 BC) was the Greek king of Bithynia. He was the son and successor of Prusias I and Apama III. Life Prusias wa ...

and his wife

Apama III Apama (), sometimes known as Apama I or Apame I, was a Sogdian noblewoman and the wife of the first ruler of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus I Nicator. They married at Susa in 324 BC. According to Arrian, Apama was the daughter of the Sogdian ba ...

. Their son Sothimus married Athenais, daughter of Attalus III of Pergamon and wife Berenice, and their son was Cotys I of the Sapaeans. Of these, Diegylis (c. 145 BC) is attested as king of the

Caeni Kainoi () or Caeni is the name of a Thracian tribe, mentioned by the Roman historian Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, title ...

, while Sothimus (c. 88 BC) is usually identified as a king of the

Maedi The Maedi (also ''Maidans'', ''Maedans'', or ''Medi''; ) were a Thracian tribe in antiquity. Their land was called Maedica (Μαιδική). In historic times, they occupied the area between Paionia and Thrace, on the southwestern fringes of ...

.Delev 2015: 69-70.

References

{{reflist * Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History.'' Vol. 11. English translation by F. R. Walton. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press 1957. * Livy (Titus Livius) ''History of Rome.'' English Translation by Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. (The quotation in the footnote above has been adapted from this text.) * Polybius, ''The Histories.'' Vol. 6. English Translation by W. R. Patton. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press 1927. (The quotation in the footnote above has been adapted from this text.) * G. Chiranky, "Rome and Cotys, two problems: I. The diplomacy of 167 B.C.; II. The date of the Sylloge3, 656," ''Athenaeum'' 60 (1982) 461–481. * P. Delev, From Koroupedion to the Beginning of the Third Mithridatic War (281-73 BCE), in: J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015: 59–74. * P. Delev, "Did a "Late" Odrysian Kingdom ever exist?" ''Stephanos Archaeologicos ad 80 annum professoris Ludmili Getov'', Sofia, 2018: 191–196.

References

See also