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Thracians

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	"Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace Thrace Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey .... , regardless of ethnicity. The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes who spoke the Thracian language Thracian language The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe.... - a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. Those peoples inhabited the Eastern, Central and Southern part of the Balkan peninsula, as well as the adjacent parts of Eastern Europe Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i... . Thracians inhabited parts of the ancient provinces of: Thrace Thrace Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey .... , Moesia Moesia Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River.... , Macedonia Macedonia (Roman province) The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus defeated Andriscus of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved.... , Dacia Dacia In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova.... , Scythia Minor Scythia Minor Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobrogea, with a large part in Romania and a very smal part in Bulgaria.... , Sarmatia Sarmatia Sarmatia or Sarmatian can refer to:* the land of Sarmatians, western Scythia as described by many classical authors, such as Herodotus in the 5th century BC... , Bithynia Bithynia Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thrace Bosporus and the Euxine .... , Mysia Mysia Mysia was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia . It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west and by the Propontis on the north.... , Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia.... , and other regions on the Balkans Balkans The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia.... and Anatolia Anatolia Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast.... . This area extends over most of the Balkans Balkans The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia.... region, and the Getae Getae The Getae was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania.... north of the Danube Danube The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance... as far as beyond the Bug Southern Bug The Southern Buh, Bug, or Boh River is entirely located in Ukraine. It rises in the west, in the Podolian uplands, about 145 km from the Polish border, and flows southeasterly into the Black Sea through the southern steppe.... . The branch of science that studies the ancient Thracians and Thrace is called Thracology Thracology Thracology is the scientific study of Thrace and Thracian antiquities and is a regional and thematic branch of the larger disciplines of ancient history and archaeology.... . Origins The origins of the Thracians remain obscure, in absence of written historical records. Evidence of proto-Thracians in the prehistoric period depends on remains of material culture. Proto-Thracian tombs can be found dating back to 3000 BC, when what can be termed as 'proto-Thracian' culture began to form. It is generally proposed that a proto-Thracian people developed from a mixture of indigenous peoples Neolithic Europe Neolithic Europe is the time between roughly from 7000 BC to ca. 1700 BC . The Neolithic overlaps the Mesolithic and Bronze Age periods in Europe as cultural changes moved from the south east to north west at about 1km/year.... and Indo-Europeans from the time of Proto-Indo-European expansion in the Early Bronze Age when the latter, around 1500 BC, conquered the indigenous peoples. Modern linguistics Linguistics Linguistics is the science study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of Meaning .... classifies the Thracians as an Indo-European people who spoke a satemized language, which links them linguistically to Albanians Albanians The Albanian people , from southeast Europe, live in Albania and neighbouring countries and speak the Albanian language. About half of Albanians live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro.... , Slavs, Balts Balts For the similarly named ethnic group inhabiting northern Pakistani Kashmir, see Balti peopleThe Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European languages family, are descended from a group of Indo-Europeans tribes who settled the area between lower Vistula and upper D... and Indo-Iranian Indo-Iranian Indo-Iranian can refer to:* Indo-Iranian languages* Prehistoric Indo-Iranians * Indo-European languages* Proto-Indo-Iranian religion* Proto-Indo-Iranian language... people. It is however disputed whether the satem languages actually descend from a later than PIE Pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough shell that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweetness or savoury ingredients.... ancestor (thus forming a true satem subgroup of Indo-European) or whether satemization was caused by areal contact or parallel evolution. Links to the Greek Greek language Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European.... branch (a centum language) of the Indo-European language family are also being investigated. The first historical record about the Thracians is found in the Iliad ILiad The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.... , where they appear as allies of the Trojans Troy Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer.... , hailing from Thrace Thrace Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey .... . The ethnonym Thracian comes from Ancient Greek T??? (pl. T???e?) or T?????? (Ionic Ionic Greek Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek .Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.... T???????), and the toponym Thrace comes from T???? (Ion. T????). According to Romanian Romanian language Romanian or Daco-Romanian ; self-designation: limba rom?na, ) is a Romance languages spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova.... linguist and Thracologist Sorin Mihai Olteanu, the ethnonym Ethnonym An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for the ethnically dominant group in Germany is the Germans.... (T??????: ancient Greek Ancient Greek Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity.... for Thracian) appears to have the same etymology Etymology Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time.... as (G?a????). Classical period By the 5th century BC, the Thracian presence was pervasive enough to have made Herodotus Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture.... (book 5) call them the second-most numerous people in the part of the world known by him (after the Indians), and potentially the most powerful, if not for their disunity. The Thracians in classical times were broken up into a large number of groups and tribes, though a number of powerful Thracian states were organized, such as the Odrysian kingdom Odrysian kingdom The Odrysian kingdom was a union of Thracians tribes that endured between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC. It consisted largely of present-day Bulgaria, spreading to parts of Romanian Northern Dobruja, as parts of Northern Greece and modern-day European Turkey.... of Thrace and the Dacian kingdom of Burebista Burebista Burebista is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia. He ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC. He unified the Thracian population from Hercynia in the west, to the Bug river in the east, and from the northern Carpathians to Dionysopolis.... . A type of soldier of this period called the Peltast Peltast A peltast was a type of light infantry in Ancient Greece who often served as skirmishers.... probably originated in Thrace. In that period, contacts between the Thracians and Classical Greece Classical Greece Classical Greece was a culture that was highly advanced and which heavilly influenced the cultures of Ancient Rome and much of the Western World.... intensified which led to strengthening Greek influences in Thracian society, culture and handcrafts. Because their language had no written tradition, in some regions the Thracian aristocracy and administration adopted Classical Greek for an official language and Thracian merchants utilised it as a 'lingua franca Lingua franca A lingua franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues.... ' in their contacts with other tribes and peoples. As a result a level of Hellenization Hellenization Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of Greek culture. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon.... was observed in the following centuries which was more deeply imposed by the Macedon Macedon Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east.... ian conquests over the Thracian territory in 3rd century BC. Extinction of ethnicity and language See also Dacian language Dacian language The Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. It belongs to the Indo-European languages language family.Dacian is often considered to be a dialect of the same language as Thracian language or to be a separate language from Thracian but closely related to it.... , Thracian language Thracian language The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe.... . The ancient languages of these people had already gone extinct and their cultural influence was highly reduced due to the repeated barbaric invasions of the Balkans by Celts, Huns Huns The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire.... , Goths Goths The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy.... , and Sarmatians Sarmatians The Sarmatians, Sarmat? or Sauromat? were a people of Ancient Iranian peoples origin. Mentioned by Classics authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C.... , accompanied by persistent Hellenization Hellenization Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of Greek culture. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon.... , Romanisation and later Slavicisation Slavicisation Slavicisation is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something non-Slavic becomes Slavs. The process can either be voluntary, or applied with varying degrees of force.... . The ethnic contribution of the Thracian and Daco-Getic Getae The Getae was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania.... population, who had lived on the territory of modern Romania and Bulgaria has been long debated among the scientists during the 20th century. Some recent genetic studies suggest that these peoples have indeed made a significant contribution to the genes of these nations. After they were subjugated by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great and consecutively by the Roman Empire, most of the Thracians eventually became Hellenised (in the province of Thrace Thrace Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey .... ) or Romanised (in Moesia Moesia Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River.... , Dacia Dacia In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova.... , etc.). The Romanised tribes of the this region later became the ethnic substratum of the Vlach Vlachs Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe.... people (that first appeared in historical documents in the 10th century) who evolved into modern Romanians Romanians ], 26 Nov 2004. Reprinted at , retrieved 18 Dec 2005.External links ... . In the 6th century, some Thraco-Roman Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman* refers to the culture and language of the Thracians peoples who were incorporated into the Roman Empire and ultimately fell under the Ancient Rome and Latin language sphere of influence.... and Thraco-Hellenic Byzantine Greeks Byzantine Greeks or Byzantines or Romaioi, is a conventional term used by modern historians to refer to the medieval Greeks or Hellenization citizens of the Byzantine Empire, centered mainly in Constantinople, the southern Balkans, the Greek islands, Asia Minor and the large urban centres of the Near East and Northern Egypt.... descendants of Thracian tribes south of the Danube Danube The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance... river made contacts with the invading Slavs and were later Slavicised. Thus they became one of the main ethnic elements in the consolidation of the Bulgarian Bulgarians The Bulgarians are a South Slavs people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries.... nation in 8-9th century. Linguistic evidence about this is the presence of Thracian and direct Latin Latin Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe.... loanwords in Old Bulgarian Old Bulgarian Old Bulgarian may refer to:* An alternative name for the Old Church Slavonic* The Old Church Slavonic#Bulgarian recension of Old Church Slavonic .... and modern Bulgarian language Bulgarian language Bulgarian is an Indo-European languages, a member of the Slavic languages linguistic group.Bulgarian demonstrates several linguistic innovations that set it apart from all other Slavic languages except Macedonian language, such as the elimination of grammatical case, the development of a suffixed definite article , the lack of a verb infin... . Some scholars have proposed that present-day Albanians Origin of Albanians The origin of the Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians. Most of them conclude that they are descendants of an ancient Balkan people, but are divided as to which one, with the most popular ones being the Illyrians, Dacians or Thracians.... may be descendants of Thracian tribes who maintained their language (see also: Albanian Language Albanian language Albanian is an Indo-European languages spoken by nearly 6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including the west of the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and southern Serbia.... ). Archaeology The archaeological research of the Thracian culture started in the 20th century and especially after World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers.... , mainly on the territory of Southern Bulgaria Bulgaria The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries.... . As a result of intensive excavation works in the 1960s and 1970s a number of Thracian tombs and sanctuaries were discovered. More significant among them are: the Tomb of Sveshtari Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari The Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari is situated 2,5 kilometre southwest of the village of Sveshtari, Bulgaria, Razgrad Province, which is located 42 km northeast of Razgrad, in the northeast of Bulgaria.... , the Tomb of Kazanlak Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is a vaulted brickwork "beehive" tomb near the town of Kazanlak in central Bulgaria.The tomb is part of a large Thracians necropolis.... , Tatul Tatul Tatul is a village in Momchilgrad municipality, Kardzhali Province located in the Eastern Rhodopes in southern Bulgaria. It is lies at 319 m above sea level at , 15 km east of Momchilgrad, and has a population of 189 people.... , Seuthopolis Seuthopolis Seuthopolis was an ancient city founded by the Thracians king Seuthes III, and the capital of the Odrysian kingdom since 320 BC. It was a small city, built on the site of an earlier settlement, and its ruins are now located at the bottom of the Koprinka Reservoir near Kazanlak, Stara Zagora Province, in central Bulgaria.... , Perperikon Perperikon The ancient Thrace city of Perperikon is located in the Eastern Rhodopes, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of Kardzhali, Bulgaria, on a 470 m high rocky hill, which is thought to have been a sacred place.... , the Tomb of Aleksandrovo Aleksandrovo kurgan The Aleksandrovo tomb is a Thracian burial mound and tomb excavated near Aleksandrovo, South-Eastern Bulgaria, dated to circa 4th century BCE.... , Sarmizegetusa Sarmizegetusa Sarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre. Erected on top of a crag 1,200 metres high, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orastie Mountains , comprising six citadels.... in Romania, etc. Also a large number of elaborately crafted gold and silver treasure sets from the 5th and 4th century BC were unearthed. In the following decades those were exposed in museums around the world, thus gaining popularity and becoming an emblem Emblem An emblem is a pictorial , abstract art or representational, that epitomizes a concept ? e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory ? or that represents a person, such as a Monarch or Saint symbology.... of the ancient Thracian culture. Since the year 2000, Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov Georgi Kitov Georgi Kitov was a Bulgarian archaeologist and thracologist with controversial methods. He specialized in Thracian archaeology.... has made discoveries in Central Bulgaria which were summarized as "The Valley of the Thracian Kings". On August 19, 2005, some Bulgarian archaeologists announced they had found the first Thracian capital, which was situated near Karlovo Karlovo Karlovo is a picturesque and a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains.... in Bulgaria Bulgaria The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries.... . A lot of polished ceramic artifacts (pieces of roof-tiles and Greek-like vases) were discovered revealing the fortune of the city. The Bulgarian Ministry of Culture declared its support to the excavations. In November 2008, Archaeologists unearthed a well-preserved 1,800-year-old lavishly ornamented four-wheel bronze chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb near the south-eastern village of Karanovo in Bulgaria. It was found in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried with his belongings. Along with the chariot, which was decorated with scenes from mythology, the team unearthed well-preserved wooden and leather objects, some of which the archaeologists believe were horse harnesses. Veselin Ignatov, head of the excavation team, said it was found in a funerary mound that archaeologists believe was the grave of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat, as he was buried with his belongings. In Dabene, Bulgaria, a cache of more than 15,000 gold Thracian artifacts were discovered, including thousands of rings. In August 2006 a sensational archaeological find was made near the village of Dubovo. A Thracian dagger Thracian dagger In August 2006, it was announced that a dagger from the 30th century BCE was found in a Thracians tomb by archaeologists digging in Bulgaria, near the village of Dabene, Karlovo municipality, Plovdiv Province.... made of an alloy of gold and platinum, sharp, and in perfect condition, was found in a tomb near the village of Dubovo. A settlement, most probably related to Perperikion, was located close to the village of Dragoynovo near Iskra. This religious complex is one of the many sacred places, established by the Thracians on high mountain peaks. Sanctuaries of this type originated and developed as religious centres in the period between the Late Bronze Age and the end of the Roman Empire. The sanctuary complex on Dragoyna peak was first studied and recorded in the first half of the 20th century since when the site has suffered at the hands of numerous treasure hunters. No formal archaeological excavations were conducted until 2004. Two periods of occupation have been identified from the archaeological evidence: 13th – 5th centuries BC: the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, but also the Dark Ages in the Aegean and Anatolia. At this time the hill had no floral and soil cover. The archaeological finds from the period are fire places, which served as altars for various fire-related rituals. 4th – 3rd centuries BC: the Late Iron Age or the period of Classics and Hellenism. In this period the region of the Eastern Mediterranean had its cultural consolidation provoked by the military campaigns of the Macedonian rulers Philip II and Alexander the Great. This was also the period of the most active utilization of the sanctuary. Classical texts The Iliad ILiad The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.... records that the Thracians from around the Hellespont Hellespont Hellespont was the ancient name of the narrow strait, now known by the modern European term 'Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle , the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece.... and also the Thracian Cicones Cicones The Cicones or Ciconians were a Thracian tribe, whose stronghold in the time of Odysseus was the city of Ismara , located at the foot of mount Ismara, on the south coast of Thrace.... fought on the side of the Trojans Troy Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle, and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer.... . The Odyssey Odyssey The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Hellenic civilization epic poetrys attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer.... records that Odysseus and his men raided Thrace on their way back home from war. Many mythical figures, such as the god Dionysus Dionysus In classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos , is the God of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians, among whom Greek mythology treated Dionysus as a late arrival.... , princess Europa Europa (mythology) Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage in Greek mythology, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a white bull was a Cretan story, as K?roly Ker?nyi points out; "most of the love-stories concerning Zeus originated from more ancient tales describing his ma... and the hero Orpheus Orpheus Orpheus was a legendary figure, probably from Thracian origin, venerated by the Greeks and Thracians of the Classical age as a chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes.... were borrowed by the Greeks from their Thracian neighbours. In book 7 of his Histories Histories Histories or, in Latin , Historiae is the name of several works from Classical antiquity:* The Histories of Herodotus, by Herodotus* The Histories, by Timaeus ... , Herodotus describes the equipment of the Thracians fighting under the Persians: "The Thracians went to the war wearing the skins of foxes upon their heads, and about their bodies tunics, over which was thrown a long cloak of many colours. Their legs and feet were clad in buskins made from the skins of fawns; and they had for arms javelins, with light targes, and short dirks. This people, after crossing into Asia, took the name of Bithynians; before, they had been called Strymonians, while they dwelt upon the Strymon; whence, according to their own account, they had been driven out by the Mysians Mysians Mysians were the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor.... and Teucrians. The commander of these Asiatic Thracians was Bassaces the son of Artabanus Artabanus * *Artabanus* is the name of a genus of insects in the family Aradidae* Artabanus was the name of two noblemen of Persian Empire: Artabanus was the younger brother of king Darius I of Persia, and satrap of Bactria in the early 5th century BC.... ." In book 5, Herodotus describes the customs of various Thracian tribes: "The Thracians who live above the Crestonaeans observe the following customs. Each man among them has several wives; and no sooner does a man die than a sharp contest ensues among the wives upon the question which of them all the husband loved most tenderly; the friends of each eagerly plead on her behalf, and she to whom the honour is adjudged, after receiving the praises both of men and women, is slain over the grave by the hand of her next of kin, and then buried with her husband. The others are sorely grieved, for nothing is considered such a disgrace." "The Thracians who do not belong to these tribes have the customs which follow. They sell their children to traders. On their maidens they keep no watch, but leave them altogether free, while on the conduct of their wives they keep a most strict watch. Brides are purchased of their parents for large sums of money. Tattooing among them marks noble birth, and the want of it low birth. To be idle is accounted the most honourable thing, and to be a tiller of the ground the most dishonourable. To live by war and plunder is of all things the most glorious. These are the most remarkable of their customs." "The gods which they worship are but three, Mars, Bacchus, and Dian. Their kings, however, unlike the rest of the citizens, worship Mercury more than any other god, always swearing by his name, and declaring that they are themselves sprung from him." "Their wealthy ones are buried in the following fashion. The body is laid out for three days; and during this time they kill victims of all kinds, and feast upon them, after first bewailing the departed. Then they either burn the body or else bury it in the ground. Lastly, they raise a mound over the grave, and hold games of all sorts, wherein the single combat is awarded the highest prize. Such is the mode of burial among the Thracians." In contrast, the Greek historian Strabo Strabo Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy.... describes the Thracians living in twenty-two tribes. Josephus Josephus Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.... claims the founder of the Thracians was the biblical character Tiras Tiras Tiras** was, according to and Chronicles 1, the last-named son of Japheth who is otherwise unmentioned in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Book of Jubilees, the inheritance of Tiras consisted of four large islands in the ocean.... , son of Japheth Japheth Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. In Arabic language citations, his name is normally given as Yafeth ibn Nuh .... : "Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians." - AotJ I:6 Characteristics Academic studies have concluded that Thracians had physical characteristics typical of Mediterraneans with dark eyes and hair. According to Dr. Beth Cohen, Thracians had "the same dark hair and the same facial features as the Greeks." Furthermore, Dr. Aris N. Poulianos Aris Poulianos Aris Poulianos is a Greece anthropologist and archaeologist.... states that Thracians "belong mainly to the Aegean anthropological type". Recent genetic analysis comparing DNA samples of ancient Thracian fossil material (i.e. bones and teeth) with individuals from modern ethnicities place Italian, Albanian and Greek individuals in closer genetic kinship with the Thracians than Romanian and Bulgarian individuals. In contrast, a well-known fragment by Xenophanes Xenophanes of Colophon was a Greece philosopher, poet, and social and religious critic. Our knowledge of his views comes from fragments of his poetry, surviving as quotations by later Greek writers.... comments: "Men make gods in their own image; those of the Ethiopians are black and snub-nosed, those of the Thracians have blue eyes and red hair Red hair Red hair varies from a deep orange-red through orange #Burnt orange to bright copper . It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment Melanin#Melanin in humans and relatively low levels of the dark pigment Melanin#Melanin in humans.... ." Thracian artwork shows variation in regards to pigmentation. The Thracian mural from the Kazanluk Tomb for instance shows a very dark noble man, with a pale, black haired noble women, and a pale servant with red hair. Famous individuals Amadocus, a king after whom Amadok Point Amadok Point Amadok Point is a point on the south coast of Livingston Island, Antarctica which projects 400 m into the Bransfield Strait. The point was named after the Thracian King Amadocus, 415-384 BC.... was named. Burebista Burebista Burebista is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia. He ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC. He unified the Thracian population from Hercynia in the west, to the Bug river in the east, and from the northern Carpathians to Dionysopolis.... was a king of Dacia Dacia In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova.... between 70 BC - 44 BC who united under his rule Thracians in a large territory, from today's Moravia Moravia Moravia is a Historical regions of Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River, Central Europe which rises in the northwest of the region.... in the West, to the Bug river (Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south.... ) in the East, and from Northern Carpathians Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc of roughly 1,500 km across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe.... to Southern Dionysopolis. Sitalces was a king of the Thracian Odrysian state. An ally of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian war Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War which lasted from 431-404BC was an Ancient Greece military conflict, fought by Athens and its Athenian empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.... Decebalus Decebalus Decebalus or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors.... , a king of Dacia ultimately defeated by the forces of Trajan Trajan Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G... . Spartacus Spartacus Spartacus , according to Roman historians, was a slave and gladiator who became the leader in the somewhat successful slave uprising against the Roman Republic known as the Third Servile War.... was a Thracian enslaved by the Romans, who led a large slave uprising in what is now Italy in (73 BC-71 BC). Before being defeated, his army of escaped gladiators and slaves defeated several Roman legions in what is known as the Third Servile War Third Servile War The Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War and The War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Servile Wars.... . Orpheus Orpheus Orpheus was a legendary figure, probably from Thracian origin, venerated by the Greeks and Thracians of the Classical age as a chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes.... was a figure from Greek mythology Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.... , king of the Thracian tribe of Cicones Cicones The Cicones or Ciconians were a Thracian tribe, whose stronghold in the time of Odysseus was the city of Ismara , located at the foot of mount Ismara, on the south coast of Thrace.... . Sources Best, Jan and De Vries, Nanny. Thracians and Mycenaeans. Boston, MA: E.J. Brill Academic Publishers, 1989. ISBN 90-04-08864-4. Cardos, G., Stoian V., Miritoiu N., Comsa A., Kroll A., Voss S., Rodewald A. "Paleo-mtDNA analysis and population genetic aspects of old Thracian populations from South-East of Romania". Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine 12(4), pp. 239–246, 2004. Casson, Lionel. "The Thracians". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 35, No. 1, (Summer, 1977), pp. 2-6. Cohen, Beth (ed.). Not the Classical Ideal: Athens and the Construction of the Other in Greek Art. Leiden, 2000. Hoddinott, Ralph F. The Thracians. Thames & Hudson, 1981. ISBN 0-500-02099-X. Irwin, E. Colour Terms in Greek Poetry. Hakkert, Toronto, 1974. Poulianos, Aris. The Origin of the Greeks, Ph.D thesis, University of Moscow, 1961 (supervised by F.G. Debets). Quiles, Carlos. A Grammar of Modern Indo-European. Carlos Quiles Casas, 2007. ISBN 8461176391 See also Thrace Thrace Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey .... Dacia Dacia In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova.... Thracology Thracology Thracology is the scientific study of Thrace and Thracian antiquities and is a regional and thematic branch of the larger disciplines of ancient history and archaeology.... List of Thracian tribes List of Thracian tribes List of Thracian tribes or partly Thracians tribes or tribes inhabiting lands known as Thrace:... Odrysian kingdom Odrysian kingdom The Odrysian kingdom was a union of Thracians tribes that endured between the 5th century BC and the 3rd century BC. It consisted largely of present-day Bulgaria, spreading to parts of Romanian Northern Dobruja, as parts of Northern Greece and modern-day European Turkey.... Thracian language Thracian language The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe.... Thracian mythology Cimmerians Cimmerians The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, in what is now Ukraine and Russia, in the 8th century BC and 7th century BC.... Thraco-Cimmerian Thraco-Cimmerian Thraco-Cimmerian is a historiographical and archaeological term, composed of the names of the Thracians and the Cimmerians. It refers to 8th century BC to 7th century BC century BC cultures that are linked in Eastern Central Europe and in the area north of the Black Sea.... Thraco-Dacian Thraco-Illyrian Thraex Thraex The Thraex, or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with small rectangular shield called a parmula and a very short sword with a slightly curved blade called a sica , with the intention of maiming an opponent's unarmoured back.... External links