Everything about Thracian totally explained
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"Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity.
The ancient
Thracians were a group of
Indo-European tribes who spoke the
extinct Thracian language - 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.
Thracians inhabited the ancient provinces of:
Thrace,
Moesia,
Dacia,
Scythia Minor,
Sarmatia,
Bithynia,
Mysia,
Macedonia,
Pannonia, and other regions on the
Balkans and
Anatolia. This area extends over most of the
Balkans region, and the
Getae north of the
Danube as far as beyond the
Bug.. The branch of science that studies the ancient Thracians and Thrace is called
Thracology.
Origins
The prehistoric 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 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 classifies the Thracians as an Indo-European people who spoke a
satemized language, which links them to
Albanians,
Slavs,
Balts and
Ancient Iranian peoples. It is however disputed whether the satem languages actually descend from a later than
PIE 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 branch (a
centum language) of the Indo-European language family are also being investigated.
The
ethnonym Thraikios
(
ancient Greek for
Thracian) may have the same
etymology as
Graikos (External Link).
Graikoi originally referred to a
Boeotian tribe of
Hellenes who became known to the
Latins at an early date.
The first historical record about the Thracians is found in the
Iliad, where they appear as allies of the
Trojans, hailing from
Thrace.
Classical period
By the
5th century BC, the Thracian presence was pervasive enough to have made
Herodotus (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 of Thrace and the
Dacian kingdom of
Burebista. A type of soldier of this period called the
Peltast probably originated in Thrace.
In that period contacts between the Thracians and
Classical Greece 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' in their contacts with other tribes and peoples. As a result a level of
Hellenization was observed in the following centuries and it was deeper imposed by the
Macedonian conquests over the Thracian territory in
3rd century BC.
Extinction of the ethnicity and language
See also Dacian language, Thracian language.
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,
Goths, and
Sarmatians, accompanied by persistent
hellenization,
romanisation and later
slavicisation. The ethnic contribution of the Thracian and
Daco-
Getic population, who had lived on the territory of modern Bulgaria and Romania 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.
(External Link)
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) or
Romanised (in
Moesia,
Dacia, etc.). The Romanised tribes of Dacia later became the ethnic substratum of the
Vlach people (that first appeared in historical documents in the 10th century) who evolved into modern
Romanians.
In the
6th century some Thracian tribes south of the
Danube 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 nation in 8-9th century. Linguistic evidence about this is the presence of
Thracian and direct
Latin loanwords in
Old Bulgarian and modern
Bulgarian language.
Some scholars have proposed that present-day
Albanians may be descendants of Thracian tribes who maintained their language (see also:
Albanian Language). Bulgarian historians also consider it possible for the Vlach and
Karakachani people of
Bulgaria to be descendants respectively of Romanised and Hellenised Thracian tribes.
Archaeology
The archaeological research of the
Thracian culture started in the
20th century and especially after
World War II, mainly on the territory of Southern
Bulgaria. 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, the
Tomb of Kazanlak,
Tatul,
Seuthopolis,
Perperikon, the
Tomb of Aleksandrovo,
Sarmizegetusa 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 of the ancient Thracian culture. Since the year
2000, Bulgarian archaeologist
Georgi Kitov has made discoveries in Central Bulgaria which were summarized as "The Valley of the Thracian Kings".
On 19 August
2005, some Bulgarian archaeologists announced they'd found the first Thracian capital, which was situated near
Karlovo in
Bulgaria. 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 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 made of an alloy of gold and platinum, sharp, and in perfect condition, was found in a tomb near the village of Dubovo.
(External Link)
Sources
The
Iliad records that the Thracians from around the
Hellespont and also the Thracian
Cicones fought on the side of the
Trojans (Iliad, book II). The
Odyssey records that Odysseus and his men raided Thrace on their way back home from war. Many mythical figures, such as the god
Dionysus, princess
Europa and the hero
Orpheus were borrowed by the Greeks from their Thracian neighbours.
In book 7 of his
Histories, 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'd for arms javelins, with light targes, and short dirks. This people, after crossing into Asia, took the name of Bithynians; before, they'd been called Strymonians, while they dwelt upon the Strymon; whence, according to their own account, they'd been driven out by the Mysians and Teucrians. The commander of these Asiatic Thracians was Bassaces the son of Artabanus.
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 don't 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're 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 describes the Thracians living in twenty-two tribes.
Josephus claims the founder of the Thracians was the biblical character
Tiras, son of
Japheth:
» Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians. AotJ I:6.
Physical characteristics of the Thracians
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 states that Thracians like modern Bulgarians belong mainly to the Aegean athropological type. Recent genetic analysis comparing DNA samples of ancient Thracian individuals with individuals from modern ethnicities place Italian, Albanian and Greek individuals in closer genetic kinship with the Thracian individuals than Romanian and Bulgarian individuals.
In contrast, a well-known fragment,
Xenophanes 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.
The contradiction between the physical characteristics of Thracians deduced from anthropological evidence on one hand, and Xenophanes' description on the other can be accounted for by analysing the uniform Hellas tribal classification perspective regarding 'barbarians' to the north. The Greeks identified themselves as civilized, while those to the north of their classical borders were seen as Barbarians. Greeks attributed differing physical features to the so-called barbarians then they did to themselves. A recent statistical comparison of ancient and modern Greek skulls resulted in the discovery of “a remarkable similarity in craniofacial morphology between modern and ancient Greeks.” Supportive of this study, American anthropologist J. Lawrence Angel noted that from the earliest times to the present “racial continuity in Greece is striking.” Buxton who had earlier studied Greek skeletal material and measured modern Greeks, especially in Cyprus, found that the modern Greeks “possess physical characteristics not differing essentially from those of the former [ancientGreeks].”
From this evidence, including the cited works by Cohen and Poulianos, it's clear that Ancient Greeks were themselves dark haired/eyed. Thus in order to disassociate themselves from those whom they saw as inferior, Greeks often attributed fair features to the less advanced ethnic groups while idealizing black hair and brown eyes, so-called dark features, by way of poetic words
melanan and
melampugos that functioned as symbols of strength, civilization and intelligence. The academic suggestion is that Greeks looked upon their northern neighbours, the Thracians, as culturally inferior barbarians who were according to the Xenophanes' reference described as having the typical barbarian feature of "purros" meaning red hair and blue eyes. This implies that while the two separate academic studies conducted by Cohen and Poulianos suggest that Thracians have also had dark features, Xenophanes described them as fair, because he was conditioned to view barbarians in general as having such physical traits.
Famous Thracians and Dacians
Burebista was a king of Dacia between 70 BC - 44 BC who united under his rule Thracians in a large territory, from today's Moravia in the West, to the Bug river (Ukraine) in the East, and from Northern Carpathians to Southern Dionysopolis.
Sitalces was a king of the Thracian Odrysian state. An ally of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian war
Decebalus, a king of Dacia ultimately defeated by the forces of Trajan.
Spartacus 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.Further Information
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