Thracians

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Thrace
Geography
Thrace (West, East, North) Moesia Phrygia Perperikon Byzantion Seuthopolis Sintia Pyrgos Samothrace Serdika Pulpudeva Varna Uskudama Singidunum Cities
Culture
People Language Religion Construction Art Warfare Mysteries Emblem
Tribes
Mysi-Moesi Brygi-Phrygi Thyni-Bithyni Maedi Bessi Getae Daci Agriani Dii Asti Edoni Satri Pieres Trausi Bebrici Tribes
History
Tereus Phineus Rhesus Odrysian Kingdom Teres I Cotys I Seuthes III Rulers Skudra
Warfare
Peltast Trojan War Greco-Persian Wars Peloponnesian War Wars of Alexander Battle of Issus Battle of Callinicus Thraex
Roman Thrace
Spartacus Third Servile War Thraco-Roman Maximinus Thrax Justinian the Great
Mythology
Orpheus Zagreus Sabazios Zalmoxis Bendis Ares Hermes Apellon Asclepius Zbelthourd Kotys Derzelas Pleistor Gods
Legacy
Thracian Bulgarians Thracian Greeks Pomaks Archaeology Thracology
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The Thracians (/ˈθreɪʃənz/; Ancient Greek: Θρᾷκες, romanized: Thrāikes; Latin: Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.^[1][2] Thracians resided mainly in Southeast Europe in modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, northern Greece and European Turkey, but also in north-western Anatolia (Asia Minor) in Turkey.

The exact origin of the Thracians is uncertain, but it is believed that Thracians like other Indo-European speaking groups in Europe descended from a mixture of Proto-Indo-Europeans and Early European Farmers.^[3]

Around the 5th millennium BC, the inhabitants of the eastern region of the Balkans became organized in different groups of indigenous people that were later named by the ancient Greeks under the single ethnonym of "Thracians".^[4][5][6][7]

The Thracian culture emerged during the early Bronze Age, which began about 3500 BC.^{[4][8][9][10]} From it also developed the Getae, the Dacians and other regional groups of tribes. Historical and archaeological records indicate that the Thracian culture flourished in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC.^[4][11][12] Writing in the 6th century BC, Xenophanes described Thracians as "blue-eyed and red-haired".^[13]

According to Greek and Roman historians, the Thracians were uncivilized and remained largely disunited, until the establishment of their first permanent state the Odrysian kingdom in the very beginning of 5th century BC, founded by king Teres I, exploiting the collapse of the Persian presence in Europe due to failed invasion of Greece in 480–79.^[14] Teres and his son Sitalces pursued a policy of expansion, making the kingdom one of the most powerful of its time. Throughout much of its early history it remained an ally of Athens and even joined the Peloponnesian War on its side. By 400 BC the state showed first signs of fatigue, although the skilled Cotys I initiated a brief renaissance that lasted until his murder in 360 BC. In the late 4th century BC around 340 BC the Odrysian kingdom lost independence to Macedon, becoming incorporated into the empire, but it regained independence following Alexander the Great's death. A much smaller Odrysian state was revived in around 330 BC by Seuthes III, who founded a new capital named Seuthopolis.

The Thracians faced gradual conquest by the Romans from the mid 2nd century BC under whom they faced internal strife. They composed major parts of rebellions against the Romans along with the Macedonians until the Third Macedonian War. Beginning in 73 BC, Spartacus, a Thracian warrior from the Maedi tribe who was enslaved as a gladiator by the Romans, led a revolt that posed a significant challenge to Roman authority, prompting a series of military campaigns against it. The aftermath of the rebellion saw the crucifixion of 6,000 surviving rebels along the Appian Way. The Odrysian kingdom was attacked by the Roman Republic in the late 1st century BC, when the Odrysian heartlands eventually became known as the Sapaean kingdom, a client state of the Roman Republic, which was finally abolished and converted into a Roman province of Thracia in 45-46 AD.

Thracians were described as "warlike" and "barbarians" by the Greeks and Romans since they were neither Romans nor Greeks but in spite of that they were favored as excellent mercenaries. While the Thracians were perceived as unsophisticated by the Romans and Greeks, their culture was reportedly noted for its sophisticated poetry and music.^[15] Since the 19th century-early 20th century, Bulgaria and Romania have used Archaeology to learn more about Thracian culture and way of life.

Thracians followed a polytheistic religion with monotheistic elements. One of their customs was tattooing, common among both men and women.^[16] The Thracians culturally interacted with the peoples surrounding them – Greeks, Persians, Scythians and Celts^[17][18] Thracians spoke the now extinct Thracian language and shared a common culture.^[1] The last reported use of a Thracian language was by monks in the 6th century AD. The scientific study of the Thracians is known as Thracology.