Dromichaetes

Dromichaetes (Ancient Greek: Δρομιχαίτης, romanized: Dromichaites) was king of the Getae on both sides of the lower Danube (present day Romania and Bulgaria) around 300 BC.

The Balkan campaigns of Philip II of Macedon between 352 and 340 BC shattered Odrysian authority and the Getae profited from the situation.

[5] The new Macedonian conquests, secured with considerable military power, caused consternation in the adjoining territories and thus stimulated the political fusion of the Getic tribes.

It was also suggested Helis was located in the Moldavian Plateau in a cluster of fortified settlements dated to between the 6th and the 3rd century BC, where two royal treasures were also found at Cucuteni Băiceni and Stânceşti.

[18][20] The settlement enjoyed economic prosperity and sustained active trade relations with the Greek colonies in the Aegean and the Black Sea region.

Imported goods were found in abundance: Attic black-glazed ceramics, amphorae from Thassos, Sinope and Heraclea Pontica and pottery of probably West-Pontic colonial origin.

[17][21] In 313 BC, during the Third War of the Diadochi, the Greek colonies of the western Black Sea shores revolted against Lysimachus, a former general of Alexander the Great, and expelled the military garrisons imposed by him.

Dromichaetes succeeded in persuading the assembly of his compatriots that the release of the enemy king would bring them greater political advantage than his punishment.

[32][13] He then asked Lysimachus: Why then, forsaking such ways, a splendid manner of life, and a more glorious kingdom as well, did you desire to come among men who are barbarous and lead a bestial existence, and to a wintry land deficient in cultivated grains and fruit?

[16] The Roman historian Justin mentions a large army of Celts defeating both Triballi and Getae before attacking Antigonus Gonatas in 279 BC.

[36][37] Diodorus' story of Dromichaetes' banquet for his royal prisoner is probably a literary device, contrasting Macedonian opulence with Thracian frugality.

[32] Dromichaetes is the king of Dacians and the main character in Muntele ("The Mountain"), a play written in 1977 by Dumitru Radu Popescu[38] and a political fable.