Odrysian kingdom
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The Odrysian kingdom was a union of Thracian tribes that endured between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC. It consisted largely of present-day Bulgaria, spreading to parts of Romania, northern Greece and Turkey.
Its former capital was Uscudama or Odrysia which is now the city of Edirne, in the European part of Turkey. King Seuthes III later moved the capital to Seuthopolis, located at the bottom of the "Koprinka" reservoir near the town of Kazanlak in Central Bulgaria.
[edit] History
The Odrysian state was the first Thracian kingdom that acquired power in the region, by the unification of many Thracian tribes under a single ruler, King Teres. Initially, the state included eastern Thrace and regions as far north as the mouths of the Danube. According to the Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides, a royal dynasty emerged from among the Odrysian tribe in Thrace around the end of the sixth century BC, which came to dominate much of the area and peoples between the Danube and the Aegean for the next century. Later writers, royal coin issues, and inscriptions indicate the survival of this dynasty into the early first century AD, although its overt political influence declined progressively first under Macedonian, later Roman, encroachment. Despite their demise, the period of Odrysian rule was of decisive importance for the future character of south-eastern Europe, under the Roman Empire and beyond. Under the Odrysians Greek became the language of administrators; Greek customs and fashions contributed to the recasting of east Balkan society. The Odrysians created the first state entity which superseded the tribal system in the east Balkan peninsula. Their kings were usually known to the outside world as kings of Thrace, although their power did not extend by any means to all Thracian tribes. Even within the confines of their kingdom the nature of royal power remained fluid, its definition subject to the dictates of geography, social relationships, and circumstance. Teres' son, Sitalces, proved to be a good military leader, forcing the tribes that defected the alliance to acknowledge his sovereignty. The rich state that spread from the Danube to the Aegean built roads to develop trade and built a powerful army that could reach 150,000 men. In 429 BC, they organized a campaign against the Macedonians, but they retreated after only thirty days. Sitalces was later killed fighting the Triballi, another Thracian tribe.
Seuthes I followed as king and during this time, the kingdom enjoyed a period of prosperity, but various Thracian tribes made themselves independent.
In the 4th century BC, the kingdom split itself in three smaller kingdoms, of which one, with the capital at Seuthopolis survived the longest.
