Teres I

Teres I (Ancient Greek: Τήρης, Ancient Greek: [tɛ́ːrɛːs]; reigned (Unknown–445 BC)¹ was the first king of a large, unified Odrysian kingdom of Thrace.

Teres, who united the 40 or more Thracian tribes under one banner, was well known for his military abilities and spent much of his life on the battlefield. He died during a military campaign in 445 BC. Historians argue it was against the Triballi, a Thracian tribe occupying a large amount of land to the north of Thrace.

There are few reliable sources on his reign, but it is known that "Teres was on friendly terms with the Skythians, that he had given his daughter in marriage to a Skythian ruler, that he had suffered a defeat in the hinterland of the Propontis when he was attacked by the Thynians, and that allegedly he reached the age of 92."² He was succeeded by his son, Sitalces.

Teres Ridge on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica is named after Teres.

Family

He had issue:

• Sitalces king of Thracian Odryses, father of Amadocus I.
• Maisades, father of Seuthes II.
• Sparatocos, father of Seuthes I.

Notes

Footnotes

1. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 (Men-at-Arms) by Christopher Webber and Angus McBride, 2001, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, page 5 ↩

2. Zahrnt, Michael (2015). Valeva, Julia; Nankov, Emil; Graninger, Denver (eds.). A companion to ancient Thrace. Chichester, West Sussex, UK Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Inc. p. 40. ISBN 9781118878248. ↩