Tra questioni territoriali e lotte dinastiche: i re traci e Roma in età giulio-claudia

This paper aims to reconstruct the relations between the Thracian kings and Rome during the Julio-Claudian era. The starting point is the year 43 BC, when – according to Cassius Dio – King Sadalas II died and bequeathed the Odrysian-Astaean kingdom to the Romans. In my view, his will was the judicial instrument the Romans used to get involved in Thracian affairs and better control the Lower Danube Region. As the Thracians did not constitute a single political entity, the Romans pushed for a matrimonial alliance between the two most powerful dynasties, the Odrysian-Astaeans and the Sapaeans: indeed, the Sapaean Rhoemetalces – one of Augustus’ friends – was the first ruler to obtain power over a unified kingdom of Thrace. But after Rhoemetalces’ death, new dynastic tensions broke out, and Claudius was eventually forced to abolish the Thracian kingdom and turn it into a Roman province. My conclusion is that the Julio-Claudian emperors were responsible for creating the concept of Thrace as a unified political entity.