Seuthes III

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Seuthes III was a king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace from ca. 330 BC to ca. 300 BC, at first tributary to Alexander the Great.

Athens had formed an alliance with Odrysian King Cetriporis of Thrace and Illyrians against Philip II of Macedonia in 358 BC. Philip II defeated the coalition in 353 BC and waged his first campaign against the Thrace in 347-346 BC. He conquered southern Thrace in 341 BC. He founded Philippopolis (Plovdiv), Kabyle (Yambol) and other cities near or on older Thracian settlements. The Triballi tribe of Thrace defeated and wounded Philip in 339 BC.

After Philip died in 336 BC, the Thracian tribes revolted against his son Alexander III. Alexander waged a campaign against and defeated the Thracian tribe Getai and King Syrmus of the Triballi. All other Thracians submitted to him and sent troops to join his army.

After Alexander died in 323 BC, Lysimachos seized control of Thrace but only nominally. Odrysian King Seuthes III continued to reign in parallel with the Lysimachos. In 320 BC, Seuthes III moved the Odrysian kingdom to central Thrace and built his capital city at Seuthopolis (Kazanluk). Lysimachus died in a battle against Seleucus in 281 BC. Thrace came under the rule of Ptolemy II after the battle.

In 273 BCE, Celts invaded and destroyed the Thracian kingdom. They founded a kingdom with Tylis as its capital. Thracian aristocracy escaped to Greek colonies on Black Sea. In 214 BC, the Thracians destroyed the Celtic kingdom and Thracian King Pleuratus ruled between 213-208 BC. Philip V of Macedon conquered Thrace in 202 BC. Perseus succeeded Philip V in 182 BC. Perseus was defeated by Romans in 168 BC. Macedonia with Thrace came under the Roman rule.