IVAN VENEDIKOV (Sofia, Bulgaria) THE ODR YSIAN KINGS AND THE TREASURE FROM R O G OZEN Among the 165 silver vessels in the treasure from Rogozen there are 108 phialae and 54 jugs. These were forms of vessels that were widespread in Thrace especially in the last quarter of the fifth and almost throughout the fourth century B.C. Moreover, as in earlier finds dated to that period, their decoration is very close to the decoration of contemporary vessels from Asia Minor. The decoration consists of a large rosette with many leaves around the bottom of the vessel. Frequently the leaves of the rosette are substituted, as in Asia Minor, with other plant ornaments: almonds, lotus buds or blossoms, palmettes, and sometimes with animal heads, 'animal figures and even with human heads.1 Consequently, the majority of the vessels from Rogozen offer only different variants of an already familiar decoration. The figural decora- tion on some jugs and phialae is not entirely new either, although it is so rare in Thracian toreutics that each new object decorated with religious or myth- ological scenes deserves attention. The treasure from Rogozen belonged to the Triballian kings after the Tri- balloi expanded their power over the present-day Northwestern Bulgaria, having come from the valley of the Morava River. Their first clashes with the . Odrysae took place during the reign of the Odrysian ruler Sitalkes who died during his march against them in 424 B.C.2 At that time the Odrysian king- dom reached its biggest size and stretched to the upper reaches of the Struma and Iskur Rivers. The kingdom of the Triballoi is mentioned for the last time in connection with its being conquered by Alexander the Great in 335 B.C. The military operations developed in two -stages.3 During the first stage Alexander the Great attacked the lands along the lower reaches of the Iskur River. Probably at that time the Triballian king. Syrmos found himself com- pelled to abandon part of his treasure and to hide in the lands near the pre- sent-day village of Rogozen, retreating with part of the population to the es- tuary of the Danube. There, on Peuce Island, he was totally defeated; he re- 1. Iv. Venedikov and T. Gerassimov, Thracian Art Treasures (Sofia: Bulg. Hudojnik, 1974), pp. 77-82, Nos. 135-51. 2. Thucydit. 4.101. 3. Arrian. Anab. 1.1. 56 cognized Macedonian power and probably died, because he did not collect his hidden treasure-naturally, if the treasure really belonged to him. There are several silver vessels without handles or bottoms in the treasure, which suggests that the people who concealed it buried the silver, which did not have a great value, taking with them the more artistic objects made of silver or perhaps also of gold. That is why the discovered vessels are rather similar in shape and in decoration. The main group of vessels in the treasure are apparently the work of local Triballian artists, indicating a link with other finds from graves and with other treasures discovered in this area.4 It is very difficult, however, to make a difference between them and finds from adja- cent regions in Southeastern Thrace, when the decoration is purely orna- mental. This is seen from the numerous vessels with inscriptions, given as gifts to the Triballian kings by Odrysian princes and rulers, mainly phialae, which do not differ in quality from the vessels produced by the Triballian craftsmen. Vessels inscribed with the names of the rulers of the Odrysian kingdom have been known from earlier finds as well: Mogilanska Mogila near Vrace; from the village of Alexandrovo, Lovech district; from the village of Brani- chevo, Shumen district; from the village of Borovo, Ruse district; and from Agighiol in Northern Dobrudzha.s On all of these vessels the name of the ruler is written in the genitive, and all of them are from the reign of Kotys. (385-59 B.C.), only one being dated to the reign of Amatokos (359-48). On Kotys' phialae his name is followed by another one which is interpreted as the name of the goldsmith. The fifteen objects bearing inscriptions in the treasure from Rogozen have helped researchers make a big stride forward in explaining these inscriptions. Two very clear examples have led to the con- clusion that the inscriptions dated to the time of Kotys and Kersobleptes (359-46 B.C.) always followed the same formula, e.g., Kotyos ex Ergiske, where Kotys' name in the genitive means that the phiale belonged to Kotys, a practice occurring on the coins of the Thracian kings as well, then the pre- position ex and the toponym designated the town from which the phiale originated. Kotys had workshops for manufacturing silver vessels in the towns of Apros, Ergiske, Geistai, Sauthaba, and Beos, which were located in the territory between the Sea of Marmora and Strandzha Mountain, to the east of Lower Marica. The name of the goldsmith is written only in one case. It is to be assumed that Kotys took the manufacturing of silver vessels in his hands from the Greek colonies along the Propontis and the Aegean Sea, which previously produced expensive vessels for the aristocracy of Thrace and Asia Minor. ' 4. Seen. 'I.' - : . 5. Venedikov-Crerassimov,Thracian Art Treasures, p. 92. .