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The region's name comes from the
Thracian people who were of Indo-European stock. According to ancient
sources, the Thracian peoples who settled and lived in the area of
Haimos and Rhodope mountains were of warrior and primitive character
whereas, another portion of the Thracian peoples that settled along the
Aegean and Marmara coasts, in comparison to the former, were more peaceful
and civilized. The most important of the Thracian tribes who settled along
the both sides of the Danube river were ;
Getai who were considered
as the bravest and the most honest, Moseis who were considered as the
ancestors of the Mysians and occupied the area on the left bank of the
Danube to the west of Getais. Triballis dwelled in the southern
areas. Maedis centered in the Strymon valley, whose former name was
Maedobithyni and some of them moved to Anatolia earlier. Maedi tribe
rebelled against Macedonia and was defeated by an army commanded by
Alexander the Great himself. Drois, Dersais, Saeis,
Edons and Bistons lived close to the Aegean coast. Kikons
that were described by Homer as "Spear Bearers" occupied the
area in the east as far as the Hebros river. Sapais who later took
Kikons under their hegemony settled in the same area. Korpils were in
the neighborhood of the town Ainos. To the east of Kikons and on the right
bank of the Maritsa river lived the Paitis. On the left bank of
the Maritsa river was Apsinthians. On the Gallipoli peninsula was the
Dolonks who were relatives of the Bithynians. Further east from
Gallipoli peninsula and along the northern Propontis coast was Kaenis.
In the area to the north of and surrounding Selymbria and Perinthus was the
warrior Thynians who were close relatives of the Bithynians and the
Astians later moved in to the same area. Odrysians settled along
the Ardeskos river, to the west of Odrysians were Satrais, Diis
and Diobessis (Bessis). In the middle Hebros valley lived the
Ben(n)s.
Homer in his Iliad, describes
the Thracians as the breeders of beautiful and fast running horses.
Thucydides in his account says, that the people of the area between the
Ionian Sea and Pontus Euxinus are the richest in income and all kinds of
goods.
Strabo describes the Thracians 22 in number of tribes living in the villages
and in a close distance to each other. That must be true, because we do not
know any big town or city in Thrace before Alexander the Great and his
successors.
Herodotus in his History, about the Thracians ; "The most populated area
after India, is Thrace. If they were under one rule and of one mind, they
would have been the mightiest people on earth. But the unity of these
peoples have never been achieved, that's the weakest point of the Thracians.
They take different names by the area they live around, but they all have
common customs and traditions".
Pausanias makes a similar description of the Thracians. "If compared to other
nations of the earth, Thracians altogether are the most crowded people after
the Celts. For this reason, no other nation before the Romans has been able
to cover the Thracians under their hegemony. Only Romans was the first to
rule Thracians.
Although all Thracian tribes had
common culture and language, from political point, they have never gone far
beyond a primitive tribal order. Thracians, described as being the strongest
peoples of Europe by Plinius, tried to organize a local kingdom under
Odrysis in the 6th C BCE, but this was largely due to the military
superiority of the mentioned tribe, and as soon as this military power
declined, their political unity collapsed. It was fashion among the
Thracians to have tattoos on their body. They sold their kids as slaves or
hired them out as mercenaries to the armies of the other nations. It was, in
their philosophy, nobility sign not to do any work or job other than robbery
and war. It was the lowest form of life to work in the fields and to be
employed in the farms.
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