Who were the Thracians?

A recurrent question that keeps popping up. The Thracians are often seen as a barbarian tribe north of Macedonia. In ancient Greece, everyone non-Greek was labeled as Barbarian and the word does not answer our concept of uncivilized. 

The Thracians had no writing, meaning that we had to depend on what had been described by Greek and later Roman authors. Their works of art, however, are of the highest quality of craftsmanship. The most striking example is the bronze head of King Seuthes III, who ruled from 331 until 300 BC, i.e., after Alexander set out for Asia (see: Seuthes III, King of Thrace).

[Picture from Getty.edu]

The head of Seuthes steals the show at every exhibition. If you live in the Los Angeles area or are traveling that way soon, there is a unique opportunity to see this masterpiece for yourself at the Getty Villa in Malibu from November 4, 2024, until March 3, 2025. The exhibition covers a wide area as announced by its full title: Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria Romania and Greece. 

Thracia’s superb gold, silver, and bronze works of art travel the world on many occasions, and it is a unique opportunity to explore the many facets of Thracian life in all its forms and shapes. 

I was lucky to discover the Thracian treasures of Bulgaria back in 2002 when Brussels hosted a special exhibition organized by Europalia at the Palais des Beaux-Arts. “L’or des Thraces. Trésors de Bulgarie” turned out to be a true revelation of art going back thousands of years, with artifacts in a typical combination of silver and gold. I remember staring in awe at the map of Bulgaria, crowded with unfamiliar names of tombs and locations. 

The title of the exhibition at the Getty Villa clearly includes treasures from Romania and Greece. 

I developed Thracian Romania in a blogpost about Dacia, the name given by Emperor Trajan (see: Dacia before Alexander). 

Thracian presence in what’s now eastern Greece is treated in two separate posts, Thracian tomb at Doxipara and What is the Peraia of Samothrace that explores Mesembria. 

For all aficionados, Getty airs a special talk about “Who were the Thracians” on November 19, 2024, at 12 pm Pacific Time via Zoom. 

Happy times ahead!

Seuthes III, king of Thrace

Seuthes III, King of Thracia or, more precisely, of the Odrysian tribe, caught my attention after seeing pictures of his splendid bronze head. The work is of such high quality that it could easily fit the heyday of Hellenism or the Renaissance. Some scholars claim that it was made by Lysippos or in his style. It emanates a sense of power as the face stares back with alabaster and glass-paste-inlaid eyes glancing from under the eyelashes and brows made of copper strips. 

The head of Seuthes was found in his tomb, not far from Kazanlak in modern Bulgaria. The gravesite is one of the many in the Valley of the Thracian Kings and not far from the so-called Tomb of Kazanlak (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings), initially attributed to King Seuthes. 

Seuthes’ rule is roughly dated to 331-300 BC. The news of his ascent to the throne reached Alexander after he set out for Asia in 334 BC. Antipater certainly informed him of this new power on his northern borders. The King of Thracia outlived Alexander (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece) and got involved in the War of the Diadochi. 

Seuthes rebelled against the arrival of Lysimachos, who inherited Thrace after Alexander’s death. In the early stage, Lysimachos occupied only the coastal region, but soon his ambition brought him to conquer the hinterland. He faced Seuthes in combat twice, and eventually, Lysimachos established his authority, and they signed a peace treaty. 

Seuthes has preserved his autonomy, although history does not focus much on him after 310 BC. Coins reveal that he still ruled in 297 BC when Cassander of Macedonia died. Another source is the inscription from Seuthopolis, tentatively dated between the 290s and the 280s BC. It mentions Seuthes III, his wife or widow Berenice (possibly a member of Lysimachos’ family), and their sons, Hebryzelmis, Teres, Satocus, and Sadalas, treating with King Spartocus of Cabyle. Cabyle had been conquered by Philip II in 341 BC and populated with rebellious Macedonians. 

King Seuthes built his capital of Seuthopolis around 320 BC (see: Philip’s Macedonia also included today’s Bulgaria). It was a well-planned city whose remains were flooded after the construction of a dam on the Tundzha River in 1956. 

Initially, the king’s tomb was part of a monumental temple inside the Kosmatka Mound, one of the largest in Thrace. The mound from the second half of the 5th century BC is approximately 20 meters high with a diameter of 90 meters! It contains a corridor, a circular domed room, and a small chamber made of granite blocks. The space may have been used as a sanctuary for Orphic rites. Shortly before the death of Seuthes, the construction was entirely renovated, and the small chamber was converted into a funerary room. It was closed with a two-folding marble door, not unlike what we know from Macedonian tombs. After Seuthes’ funeral, access to the circular room and the grave chamber was walled; the corridor was filled with stones and soil. The very façade had been carefully buried under the mound. 

Seuthes’ tomb was discovered in 2004 and yielded an impressive number of artifacts. In the passageway, archaeologists found the skeleton of a horse. Inside the funerary chamber was a full suit of armor: a bronze helmet showing a picture of Nike, a pair of greaves, remains of a leather breastplate, two iron swords, and ten spearheads. Also in the room were two iron strigils, gold and silver kylices, a bronze and a silver phial, a pair of scissors (how unique!), a silver and two alabaster jugs, a box with silver and bronze jewels, and three wine amphorae from Thasos, one of which was still sealed. Smaller items were also recovered, such as golden horse trappings with pictures of humans, animals, and plants, and sword sheath decorations. On the funeral bed, they found a golden oak wreath, otherwise known from Macedonian graves. 

It is noteworthy that the helmet and some of the silver objects carried the inscription ΣΕΥΘΟΥ, connecting the tomb to King Seuthes III – also confirmed by the gold coins and the bronze bust of the owner found some seven meters in front of the façade. 

We can only dream about the wealth still hidden inside the many mounds of Bulgaria’s Valley of the Thracian Kings.

[Top picture from Wikipedia, Natl Museum of Sofia. 
Second picture from Wikipedia, Rossitza Ohridska-Olson. 
Bottom picture from http://www.kroraina.com/thracia/gk/index.html]

Thracian treasures on Alexander’s northern border

Thracians remain a relatively obscure people somewhere north of ancient Macedonia. It was long thought that they had no writing, but rare examples of inscriptions have been discovered using Greek letters that did not make sense. As a result, the history of the Thracians is only known through what other ancient authors tell us. 

Thracia is generally associated with Bulgaria. In antiquity, its borders extended from the Danube River, the Hellespont, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea in the east to Macedonia in the west. Today, the Greek province of Thracia still stretches from the Rhodope Mountains on its northern border with Bulgaria to the Aegean. It is squeezed between the Nestos River in the west and the Hebros in the east, forming the modern border with Turkey. 

[Photo: Todor Dimitrov/Courtesy of the Regional Historical Museum, Ruse, Bulgaria]

One of the most characteristic heritages of Thracian civilization is their profusion of burial mounds – a tradition that goes back to the Bronze Age, the middle of the 4th-2nd millennium BC. In central Bulgaria alone, over 1,500 such tumuli exist. 

The treasures of these tumuli in Bulgaria, went to the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia, otherwise to other European museums. More typical Thracian tumuli exist in Greece's Province of Thracia (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece). 

The great merit of the Thracians is their exceptional craftsmanship, especially in creating gold and silver objects. Most such testimonies come from grave mounds, which yielded a great variety of treasures, including the best-known Tomb of Kazanlak (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings). 

These precious legacies are occasionally brought together for special exhibitions. In 2015, the Louvre organized The Saga of the Thracian Kings. In 2002, an imposing number of objects were displayed at Bozar in Brussels in the frame of Europalia. 

I have not visited the Paris exhibition but have vivid memories of the one in Brussels. I marveled, for instance, at the gold jewelry from the Chalcolithic era (5-4,000 BC). Since the treasures from that era look very similar to those created in the 5-400 BC, I got my mental references mixed up. Other objects, however, looked like the forerunners of Cycladic Art. 

The collections presented in Paris in 2015 come from the Chernozem-Kaloyanovo and Mushovitsa tombs and the Kosmatka Tumulus of Seuthes III, King of Thracia, who died in 300 BC (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings). For the first time, some of the exhibited artifacts were brought together. 

The link to Architectural Digest displays an inspirational number of objects worth to be relished one by one.

Excavations in the Peraia of Samothrace

Except for the greater Athens area, Greece is generally very much underrated when we consider its wealth of archaeological sites. Most people and tourists limit their visit to Attica, extending it possibly to Delphi and the Monasteries of the Meteors to the north and a few antique cities in the northern Peloponnesus. Since the discovery of  King Philip’s tomb in Vergina (ancient Aegae) and the rekindled interest in Alexander the Great in his hometown of Pella, Thessaloniki has become another hub of interest. Otherwise, much of mainland Greece remains to be explored. 

[Picture Credit Peraiao of Samothrace Project from Archaeology News Network]

One such ignored region is the Peraia of Samothrace, i.e., a series of colonies founded by Samothrace along the coastline of Greece’s province of Thracia north of the island. In an earlier blog (see: What is the Peraia of Samothrace?) I mentioned the major settlements by name: Cape Serreion, Drys, Sale, Zone, Mesembria, and Makri, which were founded from the 6^th century BC onward. The towns of Tempira and Charakoma, on the other hand, date from Roman times. 

At present, a project has been started to examine the topography of the Peraia of Samothrace and to survey sites located further inland. Most of them have been excluded from archaeological excavations that were only concentrated on the cities of Maroneia and Zone, but Drys and Sale clearly deserve special attention since they were the most important and longest-lived settlements. 

The first surveys were started in October 2020 but were soon interrupted because of the pandemic. The project will continue in 2021 focusing on archaeological research proper, geophysical survey, and remote sensing. Complementary work will include the study of ancient sources, historical maps, and whatever literature is available. Small artifacts in stone, bits of ceramics, shells, and blades have been collected so far and provide clues as to the sites to dig. Most of the fieldwork is expected to be completed this year but the parties involved are facing a huge task. 

The Peraia of Samothrace was of strategic interest in particular for the hinterland of Thracia, which by itself is worth exploring as well (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece). Today the province of Thracia is part of eastern Greece - a country repeatedly conquered by Macedonian kings from Philip II to Philip V and later on by the Romans (see: A solid gold bust of Septimius Severus). The rich civilizations that once thrived here (including the Ottomans in more recent times) deserve to be studied very closely. 

The progress of the planned survey is updated regularly and can be followed on www.peraiasamothraceproject.gr and on the project's Twitter account.

Horses buried upright in Thracian tomb

Thracian horses were famous throughout antiquity, and Homer, who probably lived in the 8^th century BC, already mentions that Rhesos, the mythical king of Thrace possessed massive horses, “whiter than snow”. That must have been quite a sight for sore eyes!

Tragedians like Sophocles and Euripides label the Thracians as loving their horses, while Hesiod refers to the horse-breeding qualities of the Thracians. It is not surprising to find the horse portrayed on their coins and on those of the Greek colonies in Thrace.

Alexander and his father, before him, were well aware of this high-quality breed. We will remember the incident when, in 339 BC, Philip returned home after capturing the Athenian corn ships. On his way, he thought it would be a good idea to secure his eastern front and subdue the ruling Scythians. Besides the slaves, he got hold of some twenty thousand thoroughbred horses. But his success did not last long as the Triballi, an independent Thracian tribe, attacked and stole the precious horses from the king before he could reach Macedonia. (see: Philip’s campaigns east (342 BC) and the Fourth Sacred War (339 BC)).

It is therefore not surprising to find horses buried next to their wealthy owners and leaders (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece) or depicted on the walls of their burial chamber (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings, Bulgaria).

Today, wild horses still roam in Thrace, which now extends over most of Bulgaria, as well as the eastern corner of Greece and the western part of Turkey.

Recent excavations in Svestari in north-east Bulgaria have exposed the remains of a Thracian carriage pulled by two horses that apparently were buried standing upright. Scholars believe that the chariot was led over a ramp into the pit. The horses wore their festive trimmings and elaborate harnesses.

[Picture from Sofia News Agency]

A couple of years ago, a similar chariot was found, complete with a seat, together with two horses in the village of Borissvovo, dating from the Roman era. In this case, the chariot was supported by stones to keep it in position, giving the archaeologists a unique opportunity to study how the vehicle was put together.

What is the Peraia of Samothrace?

The Peraia of Samothrace translates as “the land opposite Samothrace” and refers to a series of colonies founded by Samothrace on the mainland north of the island, in this case along the coastline of Greece’s province of Thrace and more precisely between the Hebrus River and Mount Ismaros. It includes several settlements such as Cape Serreion, Drys, Sale, Zone, Mesembria, and Makri, founded from the 6^th century BC onward, whereas Tempira and Charakoma date from Roman times. Not all of these towns have been located or excavated, meaning we are moving in rather uncharted territory.

The area is interesting, however, because it was conquered by Philip II of Macedonia when he prepared his invasion of Asia. This allowed Alexander to march unopposed through this part of Thracia when he set out to cross the Hellespont after his father’s assassination.

Zone, which for some time was thought to be Mesimvria as described by Herodotus, is among the most significant towns that reached its peak during the 5^th-4^th century BC. Its decline set in after Alexander’s death with the constant Macedonian wars, until it became part of the Roman Empire, after which the city was abandoned during the 5^th century AD. Today, this archaeological site goes by the double name of Zone-Mesembria.

Excavations have brought to light Zone’s city walls as well as the smaller Hellenistic walls from that period when the city had shrunk to a square area in the southwest corner. Besides private houses and streets following the Hippodamian plan, the two most remarkable buildings are the Temple of Apollo and the House of the Amphorae.

Not much of the temple from the 6^th century BC is left standing. It measures 15 x 9 meters with a small pronaos and a cella resting on a three-stepped crepis. It has been established that it stood inside a larger complex (35 x 45 meters) with a paved courtyard and surrounded by a Stoa. The recent discovery of about 300 potsherds in and around this Temple of Apollo, however, makes it one of the most important discoveries because these potsherds carried inscriptions in Thracian. The language of the Thracians, which is thought to be closely related to Greek and uses Greek characters, is not known and has not yet been deciphered. Archaeologists have their work cut out for this is the largest collection of Thracian writings ever found.

The House of the Amphorae contains another unique treasure: a puzzling floor made from 188 amphorae turned upside down. They were aligned in such a way that all the pointed bottoms stood at the same level, notwithstanding the size of each amphora. This construction, dating from as early as the 6^th-5^th century BC, represents a rare method to protect the earthen floor against the dampness of the underlying soil. It sounds unbelievable that people some 2,500 years ago knew how to avoid groundwater destroying the foundations and floors of their residences – not to mention the problem with arthritis and rheumatism! The remains of a wide water gutter next to the house clearly illustrate the humidity problem.

In at least two locations, we can find remains of old wine presses. These were simple affairs using a lid on a huge jar or a slab above a quarried rectangular pit riddled with holes. The process was still known in the last century when people used to trample the grapes with their feet, squeezing the juice that would drip into the container underneath as the pulp would stay on top of the lid.

The fortification walls of Zone are interesting elements as well. They were reinforced by towers, and a close look at the walls reveals how different sections were built using different techniques – probably rebuilt and reinforced over time. The West Gate, the only entrance to the city, has also been found and cleared.

Zone is beyond doubt a town like many in southeastern Thrace, and its excavation has shed light on the daily life of its inhabitants from the Classical era to Hellenistic and even Roman times. The town provides an excellent insight into its wealth with the large houses, wine production centers, and kilns. This is not surprising given that the country was located on important communication routes (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara). In an earlier blog about the site of Halka Bunar in Bulgaria (see: Macedonia of Philip was also part of Bulgaria), I mentioned the roads that ran from the western Balkans to the coast of the Black Sea and Byzantium in the east, passing through Serdica and Philippopolis, and from Abdera and Mesembria across the Rhodope Mountains all the way to Seuthopolis.

Today, this part of the world has lost its importance and seems to regress into the oblivion of time. With civilizations rising and falling, roads and cities with their cultural significance and economic wealth inevitably leave their imprint. We only have to make the effort to look for it.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Zone-Mesembria]

Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece

Thracia is generally associated with Bulgaria, but originally its borders extended from the Istros River (now the Danube forming the border between Bulgaria and Romania) to the Aegean Sea and from the Hellespont, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea in the east to Philip’s Macedonia in the west. Today, the Greek province of Thrace still stretches from the Rhodope Mountains on its northern border with Bulgaria to the Aegean. It is squeezed between the Nestos River in the west and the Hebros in the east, forming the modern border with Turkey.

Because of its geographical position, Thrace was clearly a country at a significant crossroads. It functioned as a buffer zone in cultural and economic exchanges with its surrounding neighbors. 

When Philip became king of Macedonia, his eastern border was at the Strymon River, but he soon pushed further east, all the way to the Hellespont. After Alexander died in 323 BC, the cards were reshuffled between his generals, and eventually, it was Lysimachos who became King of Thrace. The Romans added the country to their empire and made it the Province of Thrace in 46 AD. Both Trajan and Hadrian (creating their own cities of Trajanopolis and Hadrianopolis) recognized the importance of Thrace, but, at the same time, left ownership in the hands of the indigenous population. 

One of the most characteristic heritages of Thracian civilization is their profusion of burial mounds – a tradition that goes back to the Bronze Age, the middle of the 4th-2nd millennium BC. In central Bulgaria alone, over 1,500 such tumuli exist in the Valley of the Thracian Kings, and so far, only 300 have been properly excavated. Among the most famous monuments to date are the richly painted Tomb of Kazanlak (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings) from the 4th century BC and the temple tomb of King Seuthes III, who died in 300 BC. 

Beyond Bulgaria, the typical Thracian tumuli are also found in Greece's most eastern Province of Thraiae. Here, the burial mound of Mikri Doxipara–Zoni is located. This one was constructed much later than the abovementioned ones, i.e., at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, when the region was under Roman rule. Obviously, the style and decoration of the tombs have evolved. From frescoed vaulted rooms to hold the deceased's cremated remains, to simple burials in the ground where the dead were put to rest together with their chariots and horses.

The tumulus of Doxipara is not very tall, hardly 7.5 meters high, but with its diameter of 60 meters, it is one of the largest in the region. It was situated close to the road that connected Hadrianopolis (modern Edirne in Turkey) to Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv in Bulgaria). 

Excavations started in 2002 have revealed four large pits containing the cremated remains of three males and one female. A total of five chariots and their draft animals have been exposed and can be divided into two groups. The first group is made of two chariots labeled B and C. The second group consists of three chariots labeled A, D, and E. Although four-wheeled wagons have been found in Europe and Asia, Greece is the first.

Close to each group are separate horse burial sites where the spare horses were laid to rest: two horses on site A and three horses on site B. In all cases, after the chariots carried the dead to the burial site, they were interred together with their still-harnessed horses. The wheels had been taken from the chariots. Today, the bronze rims, bolts, and other elements remain in situ since the wooden components have disintegrated occasionally, leaving their imprint on the clay bottom. At first sight, these remains closely resemble the picture of the Thracian chariot discovered lately in Bulgaria (see: The story of the Thracian chariot). Still, this site is much and much more extensive. 

Horses were a clear symbol of wealth and status for their owners, and it is assumed that the burial site of Doxipara belonged to a wealthy family of landowners. However, no houses or nearby residences have been located as yet. 

The entire tumulus has been dug out and removed, but the wagons and horse skeletons are left exactly where they were uncovered. This makes it a fascinating place to visit!

The tomb also contains the human remains of three men and one woman who died in close succession. They were cremated in appropriate pits with small animals like piglets or birds and fruit like walnuts, almonds, and pine nuts. Once the fire was extinct, the usual offerings that accompanied them in the afterlife were placed around the remains together with vessels in bronze, glass, and terracotta containing water, wine, milk, or honey. Personal possessions such as bronze lamps and lanterns, weapons, small jewelry, etc., were also added. Once this ritual was completed, the pits were filled with earth, and slowly a mound covered those interred. 

On the eastern flank of the tumulus, two platforms were exposed, which served as funerary altars.  

The site of Doxipara is a unique example of the funerary procedures of the Thracians in Roman times, proving that their own customs still prevailed on whatever rites were current in the Roman Empire.

[Click here to see all the pictures of The Thracian Tombs of Doxipara]