ODRYSIAN STATE  

After the Persian Wars, in 480-460 BC the first powerful Thracian state was founded by King Teres, the Kingdom of the Odrysae. Teres managed to unite the many Thracian tribes under his rule and to include in his realm the entire area of eastern Thrace, plus other regions as far as the Danube. He created a mighty army and forged political and commercial relations with the Greek cities, the Macedonians and the Scyth chieftains.
Teres was succeeded by his son, Sitalkes (455-424 BC), as energetic and powerful a leader as his father. Some Thracian tribes, which had defected, such as the Thyni, the Asti, the Nipsaii and others, were forced to acknowledge his sovereignty. The frontiers of the kingdom spread from the Strymon to the Euxine Pontus and from the Aegean to the Danube. He built up a large army and cavalry, laid many roads for the development of trade, favoured the settlement of Greeks and was interested in the civilizing and Hellenising of his subjects. The taxes paid by Greeks and Thracians in the coastal zone amounted to 400 talents of gold and silver. In 431 BC, through the mediation of Nymphodoros from Abdera Sitalkes allied with the Athenians, and in 429 BC organized a campaign against the Macedonians, with 100,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry. When the campaign failed he had to contend with the insurrection of the Tribali. Though this was put down, he was slain in battle in 424 BC and succeeded by his nephew, Seuthes I, who had married the daughter of the Macedonian king Perdikkas.
During the reign of Seuthes I (424 - 415 BC) the kingdom of the Odrysae enjoyed a period of prosperity and glory. The king's gold and silver coinage bear witness to the accumulation of wealth from the sale of agricultural and animal produce, and the mining of metal ores. Thucydides remarks characteristically (II, xcvii, 5): "Consequently the kingdom attained to a great degree of power". The Athenians sought the friendship of Seuthes I, for which reason they declared him an Athenian citizen. He also maintained amicable relations with all the neighbouring peoples.
On Seuthes' death the Odrysian state lost its unity and was divided into three parts, ruled by Amadokos, Maides and Euryzelmes I. Xenophon describes his meeting with Maisasades' son, Seuthes II (405-391 BC) and refers to the agreement with the Thracians, their joint operations against the Thyni and Seuthes' violation of the agreement, which forced the Greeks to return to Asia Minor.
   

Symbols. Macedonian tomb. Early 3rd century BC. Built of ashlar blocks of soft poros in the pseudo-isodomic system, it comprises an antechamber and chamber with vaulted roof. The dromos of the tomb, constructed of large river pebbles and with a pedimented roof of schistose slabs, certainly belongs to a later phase. The doors of the antechamber and the chamber have marble jambs and lintel. The walls inside to the springing of the vault are covered with coloured stucco in imitation of marble. The chamber was provided with two stone-built funerary couches coated in painted stucco. The photograph shows the built biers in the interior of the chamber.

Kotys I (384-359 BC) was an ally of the Athenians and gave his daughter as a bride to the general Iphikrates, for helping him establish his authority from the Strymon to the Euxine Pontus. He later dissolved his alliance with the Athenians and took control of the Thracian Chersonese, together with the Athenian naval base of Sestos. After his assassination he was succeeded by his son, Kersobleptes (359-341 BC). In order to curb his power the Athenians supported his brothers, Bresides and Amadokos, and forced him to share his kingdom with them. In the beginning Kersobleptes assisted Philip II to capture Amphipolis, but later he became an ally of the Athenians. In the end he was subjugated by the Macedonians. Philip gradually captured all the cities of Thrace - Abdera, Maroneia, Ainos, Perinthos, Byzantion - and with his expeditions against the Scyths established Macedonian rule throughout the territory: Many Thracians took part in Alexander the Great's campaign, such as the Odrysian Sitalkes who followed Alexander with cavalry, peltasts and lightly armed foot-soldiers. Numerous Thracian uprisings at this time failed, being quashed immediately by the general Antipater.
   

		Stavroupolis. Macedonian tomb. 200-150 BC. The tomb comprises an internal dromos, an antechamber and a chamber, all with vaulted roofs. It is built of ashlar blocks of local marble in the pseudo-isodomic system. The doors of the antechamber and chamber have monolithic jambs and lintel. In the interior of the chamber are two marble biers placed at angles, with a marble double bolster at either end. Their legs are embellished with painted palmettos, spirals and other motifs. Traces of the same decoration in encaustic technique have also survived on the architrave of the entrance to the antechamber, on the door frame of the burial chamber and the cymatia of the consoles in the two chambers. The portal to the burial chamber was closed by a large double door, the leaves of which were found broken into fragments, which have nowadays been mended. They are similar to the corresponding door-leaves in the tombs at Vergina, Langada and elsewhere. The tomb had been looted some time in the past and the only objects to escape the grave-robbers were two small gold ringer rings, a tiny biconical bead and sherds of terracotta figurines, belonging to three Erotes and two other female figures.

During the period of Macedonian domination the diffusion of Greek civilization to all parts of Thrace continued. The Thracians gave their children Greek names, changed the names of their cities and towns to Greek ones, imitated the lifestyle of the Greeks and used the Greek language everywhere.
  

Kalyva. Fort. Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Built atop the height of Kastro (627 m. a.s.L), 9 kilometres north of Neochori, Xanthi and 4 kilometres southeast of the village of Kalyva. It stands in a strategic position surveying a large stretch of the Nestos valley, from Drymia as far as Stavroupolis and Komnina. It was also in visual contact with other forts along the Nestos, such as at Aeriko, Paschalia, Dafnona, Kallithea and Komnina. The enceinte of the fort is of irregular trapezoidal plan and has a perimeter of 245 m. The wall is 1.60- 1.70 m. thick and preserved to a height of 3.50 m. In all six towers, four circular and two square, have been uncovered, belonging to different building phases, as does the enceinte. Specific morphological traits of the earlier phase are the irregular trapezoidal masonry with its characteristic indentations and the slab-like plugs used to cover the difference in height between blocks in the same course. The later building phase includes sections above or adjacent to the earlier, constructed in makeshift fashion from old building material, with smaller irregular stones and lime plaster. Towers Beta, Gamma, Epsilon and Zeta, sections of the west, the northwest and the east side of the enceinte, the walls of the twin internal gates and the niche, the external Priapos gate and the cistern of the fort all belong to the first phase (4th century BC). Towers Alpha and Delta, several sections of the enceinte, the staircases leading to the ambulatory of the walls and the gate of the northeast side all belong to the building phase of the second century AD. The most important structure in the fort is the large cistern, 12 m. deep and of maximum diameter 8 m. It is built of ashlar blocks in the shape of a beehive. The inside is coated with resistant hydraulic plaster. This is a remarkable feat of ancient engineering and hydraulics. The fort was first built by Philip II, circa 340 BC. It is well known that, following his victory over the Odrysae and the dissolution of their powerful state, the Macedonian king founded numerous forts and towns at strategic sites in Thrace, in order to control the movements of the Thracians. Because of its excellent location, the fort at Kalyva was used by a succession of dynasts over the centuries, by Philip V, Perseas, the Romans, the Thracians and Justinian. The photographs show: a) A general view of the fort from the neighbouring hill. Visible are the northwest section of the enceinte, towers Beta and Gamma, and the inside of the fort before the grid of excavation trenches was opened. b) The interior of circular tower Gamma. Visible are the gate and the staircase leading to the ground floor of the tower. The masonry of the earlier phase, with its ashlar blocks of unequal height and their indentations, is impressive. The shoddy, limestone rubble masonry of the enceinte can be seen in the upper part of the walls and inside the gate, because in this same period a section of it was blocked in order to decrease the size of its opening.

After the death of Alexander the Great Lysimachos assumed the administration of Thrace. In 309 BC he built a new state capital, Lysimacheia, which lay a short distance from the Melana GuIf and the Propontis, for which reason it became a thriving commercial centre. In 306 BC he declared himself King of Thrace and, following his victory at Ipsos, became master of a large part of Asia Minor. By waging against Demetrios and Pytrhos he added Macedonia and part of Thessaly to his realm. Lysimachos was defeated and killed at the battle of Koros, fought against Philetairos and his son Alexander in 281 BC. He was succeeded by the Ptolemy Keraunos, who married Lysimachos' widow, Arsinoe.

 

In 280 BC the Galatian incursions into Macedonia and Thrace began. Ptolemy was taken prisoner and murdered. The Gauls (Celts) continued their predatory raids and managed to create a state in Thrace, in 273 BC, with Tylis or Thylis as capital and Komontorios as ruler. Antigonos Gonatas, King of Macedonia, drove out the Gauls from the Chersonese and captured Lysimacheia. The Gauls passed into Asia Minor and settled in the northern pan of Great Phrygia, where they built their capital, Ankara.
  

The external Priapos gate was thus named after the relief of the god found close by. Visible are the large threshold and sections of the jambs. After its destruction the space was filled with debris and the enceinte of the second century AD built on top of it. The external gate led to an internal courtyard where there were the twin internal gates and the wall with the niche for a shrine.

In 180 BC Kotys II became King of the Odrysae and allied with Perseas against the Romans, assisting his army in the battle of Pydna (168 BC). After Perseas' defeat and the break up of the Macedonian state, Kotys made a truce with the Romans and acknowledged their sovereignty. The Romans were in no hurry to make Thrace a Roman province, but all its kings were their vassals and instruments, such as Kotys III, Raiskouporis I, Raskos, Roimetalkes I and Raiskouporis II. During the reign of the last king there was a revolt of the Bessi, led by the priest at the Oracle of Dionysos. Raiskouporis II was killed by the rebels, while Roimetalkes I was saved in the Chersonese. With the help of the Romans he suppressed the uprising and became king of all Thrace (7 BC -AD12).
    The next king, Kotys IV (AD 12-19), was surnamed the Great. He was a friend and ally of Augustus, and an ardent supporter of Greek learning, the Greek language and the fine arts. His court at Vizye was frequented by orators, authors, poets, painters and musicians. The poet Ovid, in one of his letters, praises the virtues of King Kotys. After his death the Romans shared Thrace between Raiskoupores III and Kotys V. However, because the first assassinated the second, he was exiled by Tiberius and died in Alexandria, Egypt. Thrace remained divided, its heirs being Roimetalkes II and the sons of Kotys V Another revolt of the Thracians against Roimetalkes II was quashed by the Romans. In AD 38 the next Roman emperor, Caligula gave the throne to Roimetalkes III, who was the last King of Thrace. When his wife was murdered in AD 46 the Romans dissolved the Thracian state forever and declared Thrace a Roman province.
   

Kalyva. Fort. Relief of Priapos. 2nd century BC. Found in front of the fort's external gate, which thus acquired its name. The relief is frontal only and has been executed on the visible surface of the keystone of the arch. Within a frame the aged and bearded god is shown standing right, before an altar. In his left hand he holds a horn and in the raised right one a model, probably of a phallus. The god's uplifted chiton exposes his enormous phallus. On his feet he wears high boots. Priapos was the major deity of Lampsakos, god of fertility, protector of vineyards and gardens. He was also associated with sympathetic magic and was empowered with averting the 'evil eye'. His magical attributes could perhaps account for the god's presence as protector of the gateway to the fort. H. 0.49m.

The period of Roman rule was definitive for the dissemination of Greek culture and civilization in Thrace. The Romans only managed to influence the Dacians and impose their language on them. For centuries the Thracians had been recipients of the strong influence of Greek language and education, and they continued to follow the course of Hellenism. This common course was their entry onto the stage of world history.