Ancient Thrace and Hellenized Thrace

[Flipper]

The coast of Thrace was inhabited by Greeks. Ionians specificaly. Thassos that is considered a Thracian Island was inhabited by Cadmians. Northern Thrace had nothing to do with us except from a Hellinization that occured.

Aristotelis mentions Thrace as a part of the Hellinic world. Not all of Thrace ofcourse but almost where todays borders go.

[Mygdonia]

When Basil II moved the Macedonians from Makedonia to Thrace in the Byzantine Themata of the 11th century AD, Macedonians and Thracians mixed.

Thracians were Romans or Greco-Romans earlier than the 11th century AD.

Capital of Thrace is disputed but Byzantine is as good as any.

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Has anyone read any works lately that may help shed light on the subgect. We haven't touched this thread since August so I thought maybe someone has learned something new.

[pankration]

In his book "The Life Of Greece" the historian and traveller Will Durant wrote that Thrace was a "densely populated" region of "Hellenized" cities. It was composed of an overflow of Dorian settlers. Although there may have been indigenous people there before the Greeks, for all intents and purposes, Thrace was Greek.

[Christov]

A new discovery from the last years: http://www.perperikon.bg/home.php

[paniskos]

in the macedonia highlands under the hellenic sky

[akritas]

Paniskos I think that you didnt read well the previous posts.Almost speak for the Hellenization of the not Greeks Thracians and not the Thracians were Greeks.And I like to see your arguments as about this issue.Actually there are many books that support the Hellenizing theory of the Southern Thracians via the Odrysian kingdom.

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Originally Posted by paniskos

u guys do realise what went wrong and FYROMs political agenta goes forth while ours sinks in the abyss, dont u?

In case u dont is that nobody takes us for serious because we are prone in talking serius bullshit all the time and -unlike with the feelings of pitty that foreign people have for the poor Bulgarians of FYROM who btw talk even bigger crap than ourselves- the westerns dont sympathise us any more like it happened when they decided to help us kick the Turks and revive a Greek state after a couple of thousand years. The truth is we dont deserve sympathy, we deserve our doom.

Because of certain more than "loud" Greek dudes who believe every bullshit they hear or read and easily reproduce it, many westerns mock us and they have every right to do so given the bullshits I come across now and then when I surf the web which unfortunately become popular very easily.

Some of these bullshits are about the Thracians being Greek which nearly approach the level of the saketos/liako theories

start reading about the ethnic ancient thracian people and tell me if they look any greek to u (not u "pankration", I noticed u are historian or something so u know already)
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/h...tory_book5.php

of course the Thracian coasts of Aegian (and later those in euxeinos pontos) were full of greek colonies but those were Greek lads not Thracians. Lets distinct each other the same way lets say we distinct the Lydians, Phrygians, Paphlagonians, Karians (IE) and the Kappadocians, Kilicians (non IE I think) from the ionian and dorian Greeks who lived in the coasts of Asia Minor. Are they Greek? Of course not. Are the Ionian dodekapolis and the Dorian exapolis Greek? Of course yes

Whatever dude. If you think that is where I was coming from, I suggest you read again. Honestly man, that was out there.

[paniskos]

in the macedonia highlands under the hellenic sky

[akritas]

Originally Posted by paniskos

hi akritas I guess I dont need to repost an earlier post of yours implying that the Thracians were kinsmen to the Greeks, do I?

You can post anything that you want (if you mean the Xenophon).My opinion is known and because you are new in the forum is better to read my posts regarding in what is my opinion as about the Thracians.
Greeks and Thracians beyond the Rhodopes written sources hints of the extensive contacts enjoyed by the Odrysian kings and their followers with various parts of the Aegean. The earliest evidence comes from burials at Duvanli (modern Zhitnitsa, 30 km north of Plovdiv) close to the main road from Plovdiv to Karlovo and the Troian Pass. Also the tumuli material announced so far suggests that some of the burials might be as early as the two from Duvanli. A coin of 'Aigai' with the incuse square reverse would confirm that Greek objects were penetrating thus far before the 460s.

Discussions of Odrysian relations with the Greek coastal cities have been dominated by the tribute which Thukydides states was paid by Greek cities and Thracians alike (2. 97. 3), in addition to the Delian League contributions to Athens. Reductions of tribute in the Thraceward region, particularly among the cities of the western shore of the Hellespont, together with the anomalous minting of some north Aegean cities, notably Abdera, Akanthos, and Maroneia, in spite of the Athenian Coinage Decree, have commonly been interpreted as measures to alleviate the phoros imposed by the Odrysian kings.Such arguments combine intrinsically ambiguous types of data which do not correspond to each other. Most of these cities continued to issue their new tetradrachms and some of them travelled into the interior but by no means all.

From the above you can see the Greek influence in South Thrace. Odrysian society has features in common with the Celtic chiefdoms of western Europe. The importance of overseas contacts had already modified existing social roles and functions. Seuthes had a personal ambassador, Medosades, who apparently spoke Greek, a Greek-speaking wine-bearer, and a bilingual interpreter, Abrozelmes, as well as having a tolerably good command of Greek himself.

This call hellenization!!!