The physical-geographical boundaries of Thrace: the Balkan Mountains, the Rhodope Mountains and the Bosphorus.
Classical Thrace and environs, from Alexander G. Findlay's Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, New York, 1849.
The Byzantine thema of Thrace.
Thraciae veteris typvs.
(, , ) is a historical and geographic area in southeast
Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the
Balkan Mountains, on the south by the
Rhodope Mountains and the
Aegean Sea and on the east by the
Black Sea and the
Sea of Marmara. The region comprises areas in southeastern
Bulgaria (
Northern Thrace), northeastern
Greece (
Western Thrace), and the whole of the European part of
Turkey (
Eastern Thrace). In Turkey, it is also called
Rumeli. The name comes from the
Thracians, an ancient
Indo-European people inhabiting Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Geography
Borders
The historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. Noteworthy is the fact that, at an early date, the Ancient Greeks employed the term "Thrace" to refer to all of the territory which lay north of Greece (of
Thessaly) inhabited by the Thracians, a region which "had no definite boundaries" and to which other regions (like
Macedonia and even
Scythia) were added. In one ancient Greek source, the very
Earth is divided into "Asia, Libya, Europa and Thracia". As the knowledge of world geography of the Greeks broadened, the term came to be more restricted in its application: Thrace designated the lands bordered by the
Danube on the north, by the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) on the east, by northern
Macedonia in the south and by the
Illyrian lands (i.e.
Illyria) to the west. This largely coincided with the Thracian
Odrysian kingdom, whose borders varied in time. During this time, specifically after the Macedonian conquest, the region's old border with Macedonia was shifted from the
Struma River to the
Mesta River. This usage lasted until the Roman conquest. Henceforth, (classical) Thrace referred only to the tract of land largely covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region. In its early period, the
Roman province of Thrace was of this extent, but after the administrative reforms of the late 3rd century, Thracia's much reduced territory became of the six small provinces which constituted the
Diocese of Thrace. The medieval
Byzantine theme of
Thrace contained only what today is
Eastern Thrace.
Cities of Thrace
Bulgaria:
- Ahtopol (Greek: Αγαθούπολη /Agathopolis; Turkish: Ahtabolu)
- Aytos (Greek: Αετός / Aetos (= eagle); Turkish: Aydos)
- Burgas (Turkish: Burgaz, Greek: Πύργος Pyrgos (= tower))
- Panagyurishte (Greek: Παναγιούριστα / Panagiourista; Turkish: Otlukköy)
- Peshtera (Greek: Περιστέρα / Peristera (= pigeon))
- Plovdiv (Turkish: Filibe, Greek: Φιλιππούπολη Philippoupoli (= city of Phillip))
- Pomorie (Greek: Ανχίαλος / Anchialos)
- Sliven (Greek: Σήλυμνος / Selymnos; Turkish: İslimye)
- Smolyan (Turkish: Ahiçelebi veya Paşmaklı)
- Sofia (ancient Serdica) (Turkish: Sofya)
- Sozopol (Greek: Σωζόπολη / Sozopoli (= city of Sozon); Turkish: Süzebolu)
- Stara Zagora (Greek: Παλαιά Ζαγορά / Palaea Zagora; Turkish: Eski Zağra)
- Topolovgrad (Turkish: Kavaklı, Greek: Καβακλή / Kavakli)
- Tsarevo (Greek: Βασιλικό / Vassiliko (= royal))
- Tylis (Greek: Τύλις / Tylis)
- Seuthopolis (ancient city) (Greek: Σευθούπολις / Sefthoupolis)
- Yambol (Greek: Υάμπολις / Yampolis; Turkish: Yanbolu)
Greece:
- Didymoteicho (Bulgarian: Димотика / Dimotika; Turkish: Dimetoka)
- Komotini (Turkish: Gümülcine, Bulgarian: Гюмюрджина / Gyumyurdzhina)
- Pythio (Turkish: Kuleliburgaz)
- Samothrace (Turkish: Semadirek or Semendirek; Bulgarian: Самотраки / Samotraki)
- Sapes (Turkish: Şapçı; Bulgarian: Шапчи)
- Xanthi (Bulgarian: Ксанти / Ksanti or Скеча / Skecha; Turkish: İskeçe)
Turkey:
- Çorlu (Greek: Τυρολόη / Tyroloi; Bulgarian: Чорлу / Chorlu)
- Demirköy (Bulgarian: Малък Самоков / Malak Samokov)
- Edirne (Greek: Αδριανούπολις / Adrianoupolis; Bulgarian: Одрин / Odrin) refounded by Hadrian
- Uzunköprü (Greek: Μακρά Γέφυρα / Makra Gefyra (= long bridge); Bulgarian: Узункьопрю / Uzunkyopryu)
- Gelibolu (Greek: Καλλίπολις / Κallipolis (= beautiful city); Bulgarian: Галиполи / Galipoli)
- Keşan (Greek: Κεσσάνη / Kessani; Bulgarian: Кешан / Keshan)
- Lüleburgaz (Greek: Αρκαδιόπολις / Arkadiopolis (= city of Arcadian); Bulgarian: Люлебургас / Lyuleburgas)
- Kırklareli (Bulgarian: Лозенград / Lozengrad; Greek: Σαράντα Εκκλησιές , Saranta Ekklisyes(= Forty churches))
- Tekirdağ (Greek: Ραιδεστός / Raedestos; Bulgarian: Родосто / Rodosto)
- Istanbul (European side) (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις / Konstantinoupolis (= city of Constantine) or Βυζάντιον / Vizantion, the ancient Greek name, named after the founder of the city Vyzantas; Bulgarian: Цариград / Tsarigrad or Константинопол / Konstantinopol or Византион / Vizantion)
Demographics and Religion
Most of the Bulgarian and Greek population are Christians, while most of the Turkish inhabitants of Thrace are Muslims.
Thrace in ancient Greek mythology
Ancient Greek mythology provides them with a mythical ancestor, named
Thrax, son of the war-god
Ares, who was said to reside in Thrace. The Thracians appear in
Homer's
Iliad as
Trojan allies, led by
Acamas and
Peiros. Later in the
Iliad, another Thracian king makes an appearance, named
Rhesus.
Cisseus, father-in-law to the Trojan elder
Antenor, is also given as a Thracian king. Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River
Axios in the west to the
Hellespont and
Black Sea in the east. The
Catalogue of Ships mentions three separate contingents from Thrace: Thracians led by Acamas and Peiros, from
Aenus;
Cicones led by
Euphemus, from southern Thrace, near
Ismaros; and from the city of
Sestus, on the Thracian (northern) side of the Hellespont, which formed part of the contingent led by
Asius. Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including
Diomedes,
Tereus,
Lycurgus,
Phineus,
Tegyrius,
Eumolpus,
Polymnestor,
Poltys, and
Oeagrus (father of
Orpheus). In addition to the tribe that Homer calls Thracians, ancient Thrace was home to numerous other tribes, such as the
Edones,
Bisaltae,
Cicones, and
Bistones.
History
Ancient history
The indigenous population of Thrace was a people called the Thracians, divided into numerous tribal groups. Thracian troops were known to accompany neighboring ruler Alexander the Great when he crossed the Hellespont which abuts Thrace, and took on the Persian Empire of the day.
The name Thracians and Thrace
seems to be an exonym given by the Greeks.
Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not manage to form a lasting political organization until the Odrysian state was founded in the 4th century BC. Like Illyrians, the mountainous regions were home to various wild, untamed and courageous Thracian tribes, while the plains peoples were purportedly more peaceable.
During this period, a subculture of celibate ascetics called the Ctistae lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers, priests and prophets.Medieval history
By the mid 5th century, as the Roman Empire began to crumble, Thracia fell from the authority of Rome and into the hands of Germanic tribal rulers. With the fall of Rome, Thracia turned into a battleground territory for the better part of the next 1,000 years. The eastern successor of the Roman Empire in the Balkans, the Byzantine Empire, retained control over Thrace until the beginning of the 9th century when most of the region was incorporated into Bulgaria. Byzantium regained Thrace in 972 only to lose it again to the Bulgarians at the end of the 12th century. Throughout the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, the region oscillated between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. In 1265 the area suffered a Mongol raid from Golden Horde, led by Nogai Khan. In 1352, the Ottoman Turks conducted their first incursion into the region subduing it completely within a matter of two decades and occupying it for five centuries.Modern history
Proposal to cede Eastern Thrace to
Greece during
World War I. This photocopy came from a larger, color map.
Thracian
is a strong regional identity in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and other neighbouring countries.Famous Thracians and people from Thrace
- In Greek legend, Orpheus was the chief representative of the art of song and playing the lyre, and of great importance in the religious history of Greece.
- Democritus was a Greek philosopher and mathematician from Abdera, Thrace (c. 460–370 BC.) His main contribution is the atomic theory, the belief that all matter is made up of various imperishable indivisible elements which he called atoms.
- Protagoras was a Greek philosopher from Abdera, Thrace (c. 490–420 BC.) An expert in rhetorics and subjects connected to virtue and political life, often regarded as the first sophist. He is known primarily for three claims (1) that man is the measure of all things, often interpreted as a sort of moral relativism, (2) that he could make the "worse (or weaker) argument appear the better (or stronger)" (see Sophism) and (3) that one could not tell if the gods existed or not (see Agnosticism).
See also
Battlestar Galactica''
