Seuthes IV (
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 ...
: Σεύθης, Seuthēs) 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 ...
during the 3rd century BC. Seuthes IV is an obscure figure, and the little that is known depends on inference from very limited information that may apply to him or others of the same name.
Roigos, son of Seuthes, buried in the
Kazanlăk Tomb, may be identified as the son of Seuthes IV, if Roigos and his tomb date to the mid-3rd century BC (as originally reported); if, on the other hand, Roigos belongs in the early 3rd century BC, he could be identified as an otherwise unattested 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 ...
instead. In 2007, the Bulgarian archaeologist
Georgi Kitov
Georgi Kitov (Bulgarian: Георги Китов) (March 1, 1943 – September 14, 2008) was a Bulgarian archaeologist and thracologist. He specialized in Thracian archaeology. He participated in the excavations of many sites including th ...
and his team excavated a Thracian burial mound known as Dalakova Mogila near the village of Topolčane near
Sliven. The burial was of a royal or aristocratic warrior, buried in relative hurry with military equipment including an arrow-pierced silver helmet, a golden pectoral, various other vessels, many of them of gold, and a gold ring bearing the inscription that was eventually determined to read "Seuthes son of Teres" (in unusual orthography, ΣΗΥΣΑ ΤΗΡΗΤΟΣ) alongside a depiction of the owner as a bearded mature man with a possibly receding hairline. The date of the burial is uncertain. If it belongs to the 5th century BC, the Seuthes in question could be a son of the obscure Teres II, who was a contemporary of
Seuthes II's father Maesades. A 4th-century BC date could make the Seuthes of the ring a son of
Teres III, but he appears to be distinct from the famous
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 ...
who appears to have been buried elsewhere. An early 3rd-century BC date could make this Seuthes the son of Seuthes III's son Teres.
Mladjov, Rulers of Thrace, University of Michigan
/ref>
See also
* List of Thracian tribes
References
{{reflist
* D. Dana, Inscriptions, in: J. Valeva et al. (eds.), ''A Companion to Ancient Thrace'', Wiley, 2015: 243-264.
* G. Kitov and P. Dimitrov, "A 4th Century BC Thracian Gold Signet Ring from the Dalakova Tumulus (SE Bulgaria)," ''Archaeologia Bulgarica'' 12/2 (2008): 25-32.
* A. Kojčev, “Trakijskite odriski carski pogrebenija, hramove i grobnici – opit za opredeljane na vladetelskata prinadležnost,” in T. Kănčeva-Ruseva (ed.), Arheologičeski i istoričeski proučvanija v Novozagorsko 2, Sofija 2008: 120-174.
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
3rd-century BC rulers
2nd-century BC rulers in Europe
Odrysian kings