v23_0348 - REGNO DI TRACIA - RHOEMETALCES I Moyen bronze, (PB, Æ 23)

KINGDOM OF THRACE - RHOEMETALCES I

(11 BC - 12 AD)

Rhoemetalces I and Augustus

Rhoemetalces is the son of Kotys and had been the guardian of the children of Kotys III. It was Augustus who entrusted him with the entire kingdom of Thrace in 11 BC, where he reigned for nearly twenty-five years. He remained the royal ally of the Romans and besides himself or his wife Pythodoris, he had his protector Augustus and his wife Livia represented on his coinage. On his death in AD 12, Augustus divided the kingdom between Rhoemetalces' son, Kotys IV, and Rheskouporis III, a source of conflict that was to end with the former being assassinated by the latter. Eventually, the kingdom of Thrace became a Roman province in 46.