The Heyday of the Odrysian Kingdom: Cotys I, his Foreign Policy Towards Athens and the Inevitable War for the Thracian Chersonese

Beyond the seemingly close relations with Athens, Cotys’ foreign policy was deeply marked by duplicity. His main goal was the conquest of the Thracian Chersonese. He therefore sought to ensure the security of the kingdom from the north, maintaining close relations with the Triballians, the Krobyzoi and the Getae. The lack of sufficient written records suggests that Cotys I may not have been as active outside the borders of his kingdom in the 380s and 370s BC, preferring instead to stabilize his internal affairs. In the early 370s BC, Athens managed to restore its influence through the Second Athenian League, but at the beginning and towards the middle of the 360s BC the situation in the Thracian Chersonesе became more complicated, because of the actions of the satraps from Asia Minor who broke away from the Persian Empire. It is then when Cotys I started his war for the strategic peninsula, needed for true political and military power.