Seuthopolis

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Seuthopolis (near Kazanlak, Bulgaria) was an ancient city founded by the Thracian king Seuthes III, which was for a time the capital of the Odrysian state. It was a small city, built on the site of an earlier settlement.

Seuthopolis was not a true polis, but rather the seat of Seuthes and his court. His palace had a dual role, functioning also as a sanctuary of the Kabeiroi. Most of the space within the city was occupied not by homes but by official structures, the majority of the people living outside the city.

The dual role of Seuthes' palace (Royal court and sanctuary) indicates that Seuthes was a priest-king: the high-priest of the Kabeiroi among the Odrysian Thracians. A hearth altar stood in the center of the Kabeiroi sanctuary, the Kabeiroi being associated with fire and metallurgy and with the smith-god Hephaestus.

The cemetery of Seuthopolis included a number of brick tholos tombs, some covered by tumuli, in which the upper-class were interred, sometimes along with their horses. The less affluent were cremated, with modest grave goods laid alongside.

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