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78-640: Used almost exclusively by the Thracians , examples have been found dating from 300-400 BC. As a weapon, the rhomphaia was feared (like the falx) because of the cutting power afforded to it by its design. The falx forced the only documented change in Roman armour brought about by an encounter with a new weapon. After encountering the falx in Dacia, the Romans added extra reinforcing bars to their helmets to protect against

156-680: 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 . 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

234-476: A Thracian woman. The ethnicity of a slave was a significant criterion for major purchasers: Ancient practice was to avoid a concentration of too many slaves of the same ethnic origin in the same place, in order to limit the risk of revolt . During the Macedonian Wars , conflict between Rome and Thrace was unavoidable. The rulers of Macedonia were weak, and Thracian tribal authority resurged. But after

312-526: A defensive weapon. However, the straighter blade limited the use of the cutting edge. Rhomphaia was first a "spear", later a "sword" ( Plutarch : Life of Aemilius Paulus 18; Eustathius , on Iliad verse VI 166; Hesychius ; also Luke 2:35 and the Revelation of John of Patmos , several times.). In Latin, it has the forms: W. Tomaschek listed the Bulgarian roféja , rufja "thunderbolt" and

390-414: A different associated light cone. One has to conclude that in relativistic models of physics there is no place for "the present" as an absolute element of reality, and only refers to things that are close to us. Einstein phrased this as: "People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion" . In physical cosmology ,

468-470: A given event, can not be in direct cause-effect relationship . Such collections of events are perceived differently by different observers. Instead, when focusing on "now" as the events perceived directly, not as a recollection or a speculation, for a given observer "now" takes the form of the observer's past light cone . The light cone of a given event is objectively defined as the collection of events in causal relationship to that event, but each event has

546-572: A hat with red hair, which classicists believe was Thracian in origin. Other ancient writers who described the hair of the Thracians as red include Hecataeus of Miletus , Galen , Clement of Alexandria , and Julius Firmicus Maternus . Nevertheless, academic studies have concluded that people often had different physical features from those described by primary sources. Ancient authors described as red-haired several groups of people. They claimed that all Slavs had red hair , and likewise described

624-587: 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, mixed with indigenous peoples. According to one theory, their ancestors migrated in three waves from the northeast: the first in the Late Neolithic , forcing out the Pelasgians and Achaeans , the second in the Early Bronze Age , and

702-596: A mythological Thracian king, was so named because of his red hair and is depicted on Greek pottery as having red hair and a red beard. Ancient Greek writers also described the Thracians as red-haired. A fragment by the Greek poet Xenophanes describes the Thracians as blue-eyed and red haired: ...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. Bacchylides described Theseus as wearing

780-590: A subculture of celibate ascetics called the " ctistae " lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers, priests and prophets. They were held in a place of honor by the Thracians, with their lives being dedicated to the gods. During this period, contacts between the Thracians and Classical Greece intensified. After the Persians withdrew from Europe and before the expansion of the Kingdom of Macedon, Thrace

858-533: A warlike nation, grouping them with Celts , Persians , Scythians , Iberians and Carthaginians . Polybius wrote of Cotys's sober and gentle character being unlike that of most Thracians. Tacitus in his Annals writes of them being wild, savage and impatient, disobedient even to their own kings. The Thracians have been said to have "tattooed their bodies, obtained their wives by purchase, and often sold their children". The French historian Victor Duruy further notes that they "considered husbandry unworthy of

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936-462: A warrior, and knew no source of gain but war and theft". He also states that they practiced human sacrifice , which has been confirmed by archaeological evidence. Polyaenus and Strabo write how the Thracians broke their pacts of truce with trickery. Polyaneus testifies that the Thracians struck their weapons against each other before battle, "in the Thracian manner". Diegylis , leader of

1014-520: Is also mentioned in Anna Komnene 's Alexiad . She explains that during the battle, her father, Alexios I Komnenos , fought against the rebel Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder . Alexius happened upon a horse saddled for an emperor, which also had a number of grooms, some of whom "had in their hands the great iron swords which normally accompany the emperors". They seem to have been very distinctive for

1092-775: Is believed to refer to Macedonians . The three ethnicities (Saka, Macedonian, Thracian) enrolled in the Achaemenid army , as shown in the Imperial tomb reliefs of Naqsh-e Rostam , and participated in the Second Persian invasion of Greece on the Achaemenid side. When Achaemenid control over its European possessions collapsed once the Ionian Revolt started, the Thracians did not help the Greek rebels, and they instead saw Achaemenid rule as more favourable because

1170-521: Is said to have participated in the Trojan War , which is believed to have taken place around 12th century BC. This population is referred to with the following name: "...And Hippothous led the tribes of the Pelasgi , that rage with the spear, even them that dwelt in deep-soiled Larisa ; these were led by Hippothous and Pylaeus, scion of Ares , sons twain of Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus . But

1248-438: Is sometimes represented as a hyperplane in space-time , typically called "now", although modern physics demonstrates that such a hyperplane cannot be defined uniquely for observers in relative motion. The present may also be viewed as a duration . Contemporary history describes the historical timeframe immediately relevant to the present time and is a certain perspective of modern history . You shouldn't chase after

1326-635: The Albanian rrufeja as derivatives of that word. In Albanian folk beliefs the lightning was regarded as the " fire of the sky " ( zjarri i qiellit ) and was considered the " weapon of the deity" ( arma/pushka e perëndisë ), indeed an Albanian word to refer to the lightning is rrufeja , related to the Thracian rhomphaia . The Thracian rhomphaia contains the stem *rump- in the Latin rumpo , -ere "to break, to tear". A weapon called rhomphaia

1404-655: The Arteskos river and then proceeded through the valley-route of the Hebros river. This was an act of conquest by Darius I, who sought to create a new satrapy in the Balkans, and had during his march sent emissaries to the Thracians found on the path of his army as well as to the many other Thracian tribes over a wide area. All these peoples of Thrace, including the Odrysae, submitted to the Achaemenid king until his army reached

1482-513: The Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, Roman authority over Macedonia seemed inevitable, and the governance of Thrace passed to Rome. Initially, Thracians and Macedonians revolted against Roman rule. For example, the revolt of Andriscus , in 149 BC, drew the bulk of its support from Thrace. Incursions by local tribes into Macedonia continued for many years, though a few tribes, such as the Deneletae and

1560-731: The Caeni , was considered one of the most bloodthirsty chieftains by Diodorus Siculus . An Athenian club for lawless youths was named after the thracian tribe Triballi which might be the origin of the word tribe . According to ancient Roman sources, the Dii were responsible for the worst atrocities in the Peloponnesian War , killing every living thing, including children and dogs in Tanagra and Mycalessos . The Dii would impale Roman heads on their spears and rhomphaias such as in

1638-837: The Hellenes "). At some point in the 7th century BC, a portion of the Thracian Treres tribe migrated across the Thracian Bosporus and invaded Anatolia . In 637 BC, the Treres under their king Kobos ( Ancient Greek : Κώβος Kṓbos ; Latin : Cobus ), in alliance with the Cimmerians and the Lycians , attacked the kingdom of Lydia during the seventh year of the reign of the Lydian king Ardys . They defeated

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1716-589: The Kallinikos skirmish at 171 BC. Strabo treated the Thracians as barbarians, and held that they spoke the same language as the Getae . Some Roman authors noted that even after the introduction of Latin they still kept their "barbarous" ways. Herodotus writes that "the thracians sell their children and let their maidens commerce with whatever men they please". The accuracy and impartiality of these descriptions have been called into question in modern times, given

1794-532: The Lydians and captured the capital city of Lydia, Sardis , except for its citadel, and Ardys might have been killed in this attack. Ardys's son and successor, Sadyattes , might possibly also have been killed in another Cimmerian attack on Lydia. Soon after 635 BC, with Assyrian approval the Scythians under Madyes entered Anatolia. In alliance with Sadyattes's son, the Lydian king Alyattes , Madyes expelled

1872-600: The Moesi achieved significant importance during Roman rule. What's notable about the Moesians is that they practiced vegetarianism, feeding themselves on honey, milk, and cheese. Thracians were regarded by ancient Greeks and Romans as warlike, ferocious, bloodthirsty, and barbarian. Plato in his Republic groups them with the Scythians , calling them extravagant and high spirited; and in his Laws portrays them as

1950-605: The Scythians as red haired. According to Beth Cohen, Thracians had "the same dark hair and the same facial features as the Ancient Greeks ." However, Aris N. Poulianos states that Thracians, like modern Bulgarians , belonged mainly to the Aegean anthropological type. The earliest known mention of Thracians is in the second song of Homer's Iliad , where the population inhabiting the Thracian Chersonesus

2028-656: The accelerating expansion of the universe has removed the local supercluster beyond the cosmological horizon (at about 150 billion years). In radiocarbon dating , the "present" is defined as AD 1950 . In English grammar , actions are classified according to one of the following twelve verb tenses: past ( past , past continuous , past perfect , or past perfect continuous ), present (present, present continuous , present perfect , or present perfect continuous ), or future ( future , future continuous , future perfect , or future perfect continuous ). The present tense refers to things that are currently happening or are always

2106-467: The 1st century AD. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria , spreading to parts of Southeastern Romania ( Northern Dobruja ), parts of Northern Greece and parts of modern-day European Turkey . By the 5th century BC, the Thracian population was large enough that Herodotus called them the second-most numerous people in the part of the world known by him (after the Indians ), and potentially

2184-664: The 4th century BC made the Odrysian kingdom extinct for several years. After the kingdom was reestablished, it was a vassal state of Macedon for several decades under generals such as Lysimachus of the Diadochi . In 336 BC, Alexander the Great began recruiting thracian cavalry and javelin men in his army, who accompnied him on his continuous conquest to expand the borders of the Macedonian Empire . The strength of

2262-535: The Bessi, willingly allied with Rome . After the Third Macedonian War , Thrace acknowledged Roman authority. The client state of Thracia comprised several tribes. Present (time) The present is the period of time that is occurring now. The present is contrasted with the past , the period of time that has already occurred, and the future , the period of time that has yet to occur. It

2340-756: The Black Sea, and with the central Thracian plain , which gave this region an important strategic value. Persian sources describe the province as being populated by three groups: the Saka Paradraya ("Saka beyond the sea", the Persian term for all Scythian peoples to the north of the Caspian and Black Seas ); the Skudra themselves (most likely the Thracian tribes), and Yauna Takabara . The latter term, which translates as " Ionians with shield-like hats",

2418-1052: The Byzantines who, after an initial rout, saw "the general display of the royal horse with its insignia and the sight of the great swords (which all but spoke for themselves) convinced them that the news was true: Bryennius, who was guarded by these swords, had fallen into the hands of his enemies". The word 'rhomphaia' is preserved in modern Greek, with the meaning of "big broad sword". Thracians The Thracians ( / ˈ θ r eɪ ʃ ən z / ; Ancient Greek : Θρᾷκες , romanized :  Thrāikes ; Latin : Thraci ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history . Thracians resided mainly in Southeast Europe in modern-day Bulgaria , Romania , North Macedonia and northern Greece , but also in north-western Anatolia (Asia Minor) in Turkey . The exact origin of

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2496-694: The Danube, he crossed the river and campaigned against the Scythians , after which he returned to Anatolia through Thrace and left a large army in Europe under the command of his general Megabazus . Following Darius I's orders to create a new satrapy for the Achaemenid Empire in the Balkans, Megabazus forced the Greek cities who had refused to submit to the Achaemenid Empire, starting with Perinthus , after which led military campaigns throughout Thrace to impose Achaemenid rule over every city and tribe in

2574-582: The Greeks. In Greek mythology , Thrax (his name simply the quintessential Thracian) was regarded as one of the reputed sons of the god Ares . In the Alcestis , Euripides mentions that one of the names of Ares himself was "Thrax". Since Ares was regarded as the patron of Thrace his golden or gilded shield was kept in his temple at Bistonia in Thrace . The origins of the Thracians remain obscure due to

2652-521: The Hellespont with a large fleet and army, re-subjugated Thrace without any effort and made Macedonia full part of the satrapy of Skudra . Mardonius was however attacked at night by the Bryges in the area of Lake Doiran and modern-day Valandovo , but he was able to defeat and submit them as well. Herodotus's list of tribes who provided the Achaemenid army with soldiers included Thracians from both

2730-538: The Odrysian kingdom lost independence to Macedon , becoming incorporated into the empire, but it regained independence following Alexander the Great 's death. The Thracians faced conquest by the Romans in 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 ,

2808-646: The Thracians Acamas led and Peirous , the warrior, even all them that the strong stream of the Hellespont encloseth." The first Greek colonies along the Thracian coasts (first the Aegean , then the Marmara and Black Seas ) were founded in the 8th century BC. Thracians and Greeks lived side-by-side. Ancient sources record a Thracian presence on the Aegean islands and in Hellas (the broader "land of

2886-519: The Thracians are described as allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War against the Ancient Greeks. The ethnonym Thracian comes from Ancient Greek Θρᾷξ ( Thrāix ; plural Θρᾷκες, Thrāikes ) or Θρᾴκιος ( Thrāikios ; Ionic : Θρηίκιος, Thrēikios ), and the toponym Thrace comes from Θρᾴκη ( Thrāikē ; Ionic: Θρῄκη, Thrēikē ). These forms are all exonyms as applied by

2964-512: The Thracians co-operating with the Persians by sending supplies and military reinforcements down the Hebrus river route, Achaemenid authority in central Thrace lasted until around 465 BC, and the governor Mascames managed to resist many Greek attacks in Doriscus until then. Around this time, Teres I , the king of the Odrysae tribe, in whose territory the Hebrus flowed, was starting to organise

3042-528: 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 . 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". The Thracian culture emerged during

3120-487: The Thracians were perceived as unsophisticated by the Romans and Greeks, their culture was reportedly noted for its sophisticated poetry and music . 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. The Thracians culturally interacted with

3198-638: The Thracians were uncivilized and remained largely disunited, until the establishment of their first permanent state the Odrysian kingdom in the 5th century BC. The Thracian kingdom faced subjugation by the Achaemenid Empire around the same time. After the Persians were defeated by the Greeks in the Persian Wars , the Thracians experienced a short period of peace. In the late 4th century BC

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3276-475: The Thracians—was known as Perki (Περκη) and Aria (Αρια) before being named Thrace by the Greeks, presumably due to the affiliation of the Thracians with the god Ares and Perki is the reflexive name of the god Ares as *Perkʷūnos. Thucydides mentions about a period in the past, from his point of view, when Thracians had inhabited the region of Phocis , also known as the location of Delphi . He dates it to

3354-685: The Treres from Asia Minor and defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat again, following which the Scythians extended their domination to Central Anatolia until they were themselves expelled by the Medes from Western Asia in the 600s BC. In the 6th century BC the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered Thrace, starting in 513 BC, when the Achaemenid king Darius I amassed an army and marched from Achaemenid-ruled Anatolia into Thrace, and from there he crossed

3432-412: The absence of written historical records before they made contact with the Greeks . Evidence of proto-Thracians in the prehistoric period depends on artifacts of material culture . Leo Klejn identifies proto-Thracians with the multi-cordoned ware culture that was pushed away from Ukraine by the advancing timber grave culture or Srubnaya. It is generally proposed that a Thracian people developed from

3510-458: The ancient provinces of Thrace , Moesia , Macedonia , Beotia , Attica , Dacia , Scythia Minor , Sarmatia , Bithynia , Mysia , Pannonia , and other regions of the Balkans and Anatolia . This area extended over most of the Balkans region, and the Getae north of the Danube as far as beyond the Bug and including Pannonia in the west. According to Ethnica , a geographical dictionary by Stephanus of Byzantium , Thrace —the land of

3588-412: The area. With the help of Thracian guides, Megabazus was able to conquer Paeonia up to but not including the area of Lake Prasias, and he gave the lands of the Paeonians inhabiting these regions up to the Lake Prasias to Thracians loyal to the Achaemenid Empire. The last endeavours of Megabazus included his the conquest of the area between the Strymon and Axius rivers, and at the end of his campaign,

3666-513: The case and no easy answer to the question. Buddhism and many of its associated paradigms emphasize the importance of living in the present moment—being fully aware of what is happening, and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future . This does not mean that they encourage hedonism , but merely that constant focus on one's current position in space and time (rather than future considerations, or past reminiscence) will aid one in relieving suffering. They teach that those who live in

3744-401: The case. For example, in the sentence, "she walks home everyday," the verb "walks" is in the present tense because it refers to an action that is regularly occurring in the present circumstances. Verbs in the present continuous tense indicate actions that are currently happening and will continue for a period of time. In the sentence, "she is walking home," the verb phrase "is walking" is in

3822-429: The coast and from the central Thracian plain, attesting that Mardonius's campaign had reconquered all the Thracian areas which were under Achaemenid rule before the Ionian Revolt. When the Greeks defeated a second invasion attempt by the Persian Empire in 479 BC, they started attacking the satrapy of Skudra , which was resisted by both the Thracians and the Persian forces. The Thracians kept on sending supplies to

3900-400: The diagram on the right was to portray a 3-dimensional object having access to the past, present, and future in the present moment (4th dimension). It follows from Albert Einstein 's Special Theory of Relativity that there is no such thing as absolute simultaneity . When care is taken to operationalise "the present", it follows that the events that can be labeled as "simultaneous" with

3978-403: The early Bronze Age , which began about 3500 BC. 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. Writing in the 6th century BC, Xenophanes described Thracians as "blue-eyed and red-haired". According to Greek and Roman historians,

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4056-405: The end of the 3rd century BC. From Thrace, three Celtic tribes advanced into Anatolia and established the kingdom of Galatia . In western parts of Moesia , Celts ( Scordisci ) and Thracians lived alongside each other, as evident from the archaeological findings of pits and treasures, spanning from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century BC. Slave raids were a specific form of banditry that

4134-442: The future without us being determined to do it) since at least Boethius . Thomas Aquinas offers the metaphor of a watchman, representing God, standing on a height looking down on a valley to a road where past, present and future, represented by the individuals and their actions strung out along its length, are all visible simultaneously to God. Therefore, God's knowledge is not tied to any particular date. The original intent of

4212-413: The governor of Eion when the Greeks besieged it. When the city fell to the Greeks in 475 BC, Cimon gave its land to Athens for colonisation. Although Athens was now in control of the Aegean Sea and the Hellespont following the defeat of the Persian invasion, the Persians were still able to control the southern coast of Thrace from a base in central Thrace and with the support of the Thracians. Thanks to

4290-435: The king of Macedonia , Amyntas I , accepted to become a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire. Within the satrapy itself, the Achaemenid king Darius granted to the tyrant Histiaeus of Miletus the district of Myrcinus on the Strymon's east bank until Megabazus persuaded him to recall Histiaeus after he returned to Asia Minor, after which the Thracian tribe of the Edoni retook control of Myrcinus. The new satrapy, once created,

4368-399: The lands around the northeastern Mediterranean . Although these historians characterized the Thracians as "primitive" partly because they lived in simple, open villages, the Thracians in fact had a fairly advanced culture that was especially noted for its poetry and music. Their soldiers were valued as mercenaries, particularly by the Macedonians and Romans . Thracians inhabited parts of

4446-409: The latter had treated the Thracians with favour and even given them more land, and also because they realised that Achaemenid rule was a bulwark against Greek expansion and Scythian attacks. During the revolt, Aristagoras of Miletus captured Myrcinus from the Edones and died trying to attack another Thracian city. Once the Ionian Revolt had been fully quelled, the Achaemenid general Mardonius crossed

4524-488: The lifetime of Tereus – mythological Thracian king and son of the god Ares . Due to the lack of historical records that predate Classical Greece it's presumed that the Thracians did not manage to form a lasting political organization until the Odrysian state was founded in the 5th century BC. In the 1st century BC, during King Burebista 's rule, emerged the powerful state of Dacia . Currently, there are about 200 identified Thracian tribes . The most prominent tribe,

4602-414: The most powerful, if not for their lack of unity. 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, the most important being the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, and also the short lived Dacian kingdom of Burebista . The peltast is a type of soldier of this period that originated in Thrace. At this time,

4680-456: The past and is finished as of the current reference to the action. Finally, verbs in the present perfect continuous tense refer to actions that have been continuing up until the current time, thus combining the characteristics of both the continuous and perfect tenses. An example of a present perfect continuous verb phrase can be found in the sentence, "she has been walking this route for a week now," where "has been walking" indicates an action that

4758-416: The past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there. What we perceive as present is the vivid fringe of memory tinged with anticipation. "The present" raises the question: "How is it that all sentient beings experience now at the same time?" There is no logical reason why this should be

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4836-404: The peoples surrounding them – Greeks , Persians , Scythians and Celts Thracians spoke the now extinct Thracian language and shared a common culture. 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 . The first historical record of the ethnonym Thracian is found in the Iliad , where

4914-445: The powerful blows of this weapon. According to some researchers, this weapon was developed by the Bessi , that were actively involved in mining and metalworking. The rhomphaia's blade was straight or only slightly curved, while the falx's blade was significantly curved. Because its straighter blade facilitated a thrusting motion, as well as an overhead or sidewards hacking motion, the rhomphaia could be used by tightly packed troops as

4992-416: The present continuous tense because it refers to a current action that will continue until a certain endpoint (when "she" reaches home). Verbs in the present perfect tense indicate actions that started in the past and is completed at the time of speaking. For example, in the sentence, "She has walked home," the verb phrase "has walked" is in the present perfect tense because it describes an action that began in

5070-429: The present moment are the happiest. A number of meditative techniques aim to help the practiser live in the present moment. Christianity views God as being outside of time and, from the divine perspective past, present and future are actualized in the now of eternity . This trans-temporal conception of God has been proposed as a solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge (i.e. how can God know what we will do in

5148-489: The present time in the chronology of the universe is estimated at 13.8 billion years after the singularity determining the arrow of time . In terms of the cosmic expansion history , it is in the dark-energy-dominated era , after the universe's matter content has become diluted enough for dark energy to dominate the total energy density. It is also in the universe's Stelliferous Era , after enough time for superclusters to have formed (at about 5 billion years), but before

5226-432: The property of the mutilators of the Hermai mentions 32 slaves whose origins have been ascertained: 13 came from Thrace , 7 from Caria , and the others came from Cappadocia , Scythia , Phrygia , Lydia , Syria , Ilyria , Macedon , and Peloponnese . The names given to slaves in the comedies often had a geographical link, thus Thratta, used by Aristophanes in The Wasps , The Acharnians , and Peace , simply meant

5304-422: The rise of his kingdom into a powerful state. With the end of Achaemenid power in the Balkans, the Thracian Odrysian kingdom , the Kingdom of Macedonia , and the Athenian thalassocracy filled the ensuing power vacuum and formed their own spheres of influence in the area. The Odrysian Kingdom was a state union of over 40 Thracian tribes and 22 kingdoms that existed between the 5th century BC and

5382-403: The satrapy consisted of the Axius river and the Belasica - Pirin - Rila mountain ranges till the site of modern-day Kostenets . The importance of this satrapy rested in that it contained the Hebros river, where a route in the river valley connected the permanent Persian settlement of Doriscus with the Aegean coast, as well as with the port-cities of Apollonia , Mesembria and Odessos on

5460-416: The sea and included the Bosporus , the Propontis , and the Hellespont proper and its approaches. Otanes then proceeded to capture Byzantium , Chalcedon , Antandrus , Lamponeia , Imbros , and Lemnos for the Achaemenid Empire. The area included within the satrapy of Skudra included both the Aegean coast of Thrace, as well as its Pontic coast till the Danube. In the interior, the Western border of

5538-521: The seeming embellishments in Herodotus's histories, for one. Archaeologists have attempted to piece together a fuller understanding of Thracian culture through the study of their artifacts. Several Thracian graves or tombstones have the name Rufus inscribed on them, meaning "redhead" – a common name given to people with red hair which led to associating the name with slaves when the Romans enslaved this particular group. Ancient Greek artwork often depicts Thracians as redheads. Rhesus of Thrace ,

5616-565: The territory of Thracian tribe of the Getae who lived just south of the Danube river and who in vain attempted to resist the Achaemenid conquest. After the resistance of the Getae was defeated and they were forced to provide the Achaemenid army with soldiers, all the Thracian tribes between the Aegean Sea and the Danube river had been subjected by the Achaemenid Empire. Once Darius had reached

5694-521: The third around 1200 BC. They reached the Aegean islands , ending the Mycenaean civilization . They did not speak the same language. The lack of written archeological records left by Thracians suggests that the diverse topography did not make it possible for a single language to form. Ancient Greek and Roman historians agreed that the ancient Thracians were superior fighters; only their constant political fragmentation prevented them from overrunning

5772-517: The thracian cavalry quickly grew from 150 men, to 1000 men by the time Alexander advanced into Egypt , and numbered 1600 when he reached the persian city of Susa . The thracian infantry was under the command of the Odrysian prince Sitalces II who led them in the siege of Telmissus and in the battles of Issus and Gaugamela . In 279 BC, Celtic Gauls advanced into Macedonia , southern Greece and Thrace . They were soon forced out of Macedonia and southern Greece, but they remained in Thrace until

5850-650: Was also mentioned in Michael Psellos' Chronographia where he describes it as a "one-edged sword of heavy iron which they [the palace guards at Constantinople] carry suspended from the right shoulder". This was possibly a reference to the Varangian Guard and their two handed axe, probably a Dane axe . However, Niketas Choniates describes the bodyguards of the emperor Andronikos I Komnenos as removing "the two-edged swords from their shoulders". Being two-edged, these weapons do not resemble Dane axes. It

5928-530: Was divided into three regions (east, central, and west). A notable ruler of the East Thracians was Cersobleptes , who attempted to expand his authority over many of the Thracian tribes. He was eventually defeated by the Macedonians . The Thracians were typically not city-builders and their only polis was Seuthopolis . The conquest of the southern part of Thrace by Philip II of Macedon in

6006-428: Was named Skudra ( 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 ), derived from Scythian the name Skuδa , which was the self-designation of the Scythians who inhabited the northern parts of the satrapy. Once Megabazus had returned to Asia Minor, he was succeeded in Skudra by a governor whose name is unknown, and Darius appointed the general Otanes to oversee the administrative division of the Hellespont, which extended on both sides of

6084-586: Was the primary method employed by the ancient Greeks for gathering slaves. In regions such as Thrace and the eastern Aegean , natives, or " barbarians ", captured in these raids were the main source of slaves , rather than prisoners of war . As described by Xenophon , and Menander in Aspis , after the slaves were captured in raids, their actual enslavement took place when they were resold through slave-dealers to Athenians and other slaveowners throughout Greece . The fragmentary list of slaves confiscated from

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