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[German version] (Σκάρδον ὄρος/ Skárdon óros; Latin mons Scordus). High mountains, placed by Str. 7a,1,10 in the chain of mountains bounding Macedonia in the north beyond Bertiscus (nowadays in Montenegro) and this side of Orbelus, Rhodope (modern Rhodope, Rila and Prin) and Haemus (modern Stara Planina). According to Liv. 44,31,4 f. (cf. 43,20,1; Pol. 28,8,3, in connexion with the third of the Macedonian Wars) SO is surrounded in the east by Dardania, in the south by Macedonia and in the west by Illyricum. Thus SO is generally identified with modern Šar Planina. von Bredow, Iris (Bie…

[German version] (Ὀδόμαντοι; Odómantoi). Thracian tribe on the east bank of the lower Strymon at the western foot of Pangaeum (Str. 7a,1,36) in the area of modern Serres (northern Greece). The O. were involved in exploiting the gold mines there (Hdt. 7,112; Thuc. 2,101,3). Megabazus [1], commander of the forces of Darius, failed to subject the O. in 512 BC (Hdt. 5,16). A king of the O., Polles, provided a mercenary force to the Spartans in 425 BC (Thuc. 5,6,2). They were conquered by the Macedonians after 424 BC. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography Chr. Danov, Altthrakien…

[German version] (Ἄρζος; Árzos). River in Thrace, modern Sazlijka; at its mouth into the  Hebrus (not the Propontis, cf., however, Ptol. 3,11,4), there was a statio of the same name (It. Ant. 136,7; Tab. Peut. 8,2), modern Kalugerovo, district of Haskovo, in the territory of Augusta Traiana (IGBulg 3,1704-1706). Fortified by  Justinianus. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography IGBulg, 3,2, 131.

[German version] (Pharzanes). King of the Regnum Bosporanum in AD 253-254; he interrupted the reign of Rhecusporis V probably as a usurper who was hostile to the Romans. He is known on account of the coins he issued PIR2 P 343. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography V.F. Gaidukevič, Das Bosporanische Reich, 1971, 470  A.N. Zograph, Ancient Coinage. Ph. II: The Ancient Coins of the Northern Black Sea Littoral, 1977, 334-335.

[German version] (Τραυσοί/ Trausoí, Latin Trausi). Thracian tribe, which can be located in the southwestern part of the Rhodope mountains; their customs are supposed to have been distinct from those of the other Thraci  (Hdt. 5,3 f.). According to Liv. 38,41,5 the T. lived on robbery; he mentions them in connection with the defeat of  Manlius [I 24] Vulso at Tempyra. According to Steph. Byz. s. v. T., the Greeks called the T. Agathyrsi. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography A. Fol, Političeska istorija na trakite, 1972, 58.

[German version] (Ταυρικὴ Χερσόνησος; Taurikḕ Chersónēsos) see Chersonesus [2]. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography J. M. Mogaričev (Hrsg.), Problemy istorii i arheologii Krymy, 1994.

[German version] (Δοῦναξ; Doûnax, Dunuca, Dinax). Mountain range in western Thrace, probably the Rila mountains in Bulgaria (Ptol. 34,10,15 = Str. 4,6,12; Liv. 40,58,2: battle of the Thracians with the Bastarnae, 179 BC). It is not really possible to link homonymous personal names with this name. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)

[German version] (Ἕβρος; Hébros). Southern Thracian river, modern Bulgarian Marica, Byzantine/Modern Greek Εὖρος, longest river after the Danube on the Balkan peninsula. According to Ps.-Plutarchus (De fluviis 3), its earlier name is supposed to have been Rhombus. Its headwaters lie in the Rila mountains (Thuc. 2,96,4). From there, it flows in an easterly direction through the fertile Thracian plain to  Hadrianopolis, where it is joined by the Tonzos, then turns toward the south and empties into th…

[German version] (Βεσσοί; Bessoí). Term given to various Thracian tribal groupings, first mentioned by Hdt. 7,111 as part of the  Satrae in the western Rhodope mountains, but thereafter not again until the 2nd cent. BC (Pol. 23,8,4; Syll.3 710 A). The B. gained political significance because of their opposition to the Romans: defeated by Lucullus in 72 BC, by C. Octavius (ILS 47) in 59 BC, and brought to battle c. 15 years later by Brutus (Liv. Per. 77); in 29 BC M. Licinius Crassus attacked them, took away from them the Dionysus sanctuary in the Rhodope and trans…

[German version] (Σκάπτη ὕλη/ Skáptē Hýlē, Σκαπτησύλη/ Skáptēsýlē). Unlocated township in the peraia of Thasos in the Pangaeum mountains with gold mines from which Thasos extracted 80 talents a year before the Persian Wars (Hdt. 6,46; Thuc. 1,100,2). The historian Thucydides had estates and also died there (Plut. Cimon 4,3; Markellinos, Vita Thucydidis 19,25,47). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography P. Perdrizet, Skaptésylé, in: Klio 10, 1910, 1-27  Müller, 100 f.

[German version] (Ἄμαρδοι; Ámardoi). Iranian town in  Media on the south bank of the  Caspian Sea, west of the Hyrcani ( Hyrcania), east of the  Cadusii (Str. 11,6,1; 8,1; 8; Plin. HN 6,36; Mela 3,39; 42 - joint source is  Eratosthenes). Not likely to be identical with the A. in the Persian armed forces under Xerxes (Aesch. Pers. 994), just as unlikely to be identical with the neighbours of the Persae (Arr. Ind. 40,6). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography F. C. Andreas, s. v. A., RE 1, 1729-1733 F. H. Weissbach, s. v. Mardoi, in: RE 14, 1648-1651.

[German version] (Σιντοί/ Sintoí). Thracian tribe on the western bank of the Strymon, probably between the mountains Malaševska and Ogražden, possibly somewhat more in the south; western neighbour of the Illyrian Dardani (Str. 7a,1,36; App. Mithr. 55); the westernmost tribe of the kingdom of the Odrysae ( cf. Thuc. 2,98,1 on Sitalces' [1] campaign against Macedonia in 429 BC). The main centre of the S. was Heraclea Sintica, which has not yet been located (Diod. Sic. 31,8,8; Liv. 45,29,6). The Sínties in Hom. Od. 8,294 are not the same as the S. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibli…

[German version] (Slavonic; Greek Πλίσκοβα/ Plískoba). Residency in the first kingdom of the Bulgari, one of the successor states on the soil of the Roman Empire, in the years 681-843, 25 km to the east of Šumen at modern Pliska (formerly Aboba) in northeastern Bulgaria, to the north of the Haemus, where important mountain passes can be controlled, probably founded by Khan Asparuh. Originally built as a military fortress 23 km2 in area, with rectangular and circular wooden buildings and three concentric embankments, the innermost ring enclosing the palace area (0·5 km2). This city,…

[German version] (Καινοί; Kainoí). Thracian tribe between Astae and Corpili in the region of the Paeti (Hdt. 7,110 Arr. Anab. 1,11,4). After the fall of the Odrysean kingdom, the C. were located in the area east of the river Hebrus spreading to the coasts of the Propontis and the Aegean Sea. The province Caenica at the lower reaches of the river Hebrus was named after this tribe (Plin. HN 4,47; Ptol. 3,11,6). In 188 BC, the C. followed the advice of Philip V and attacked the baggage train of Cn. Ma…

[German version] (Κασπία θάλαττα; Kaspía thálatta; also known as ‘Hyrcanian Sea’ after the pre-Iranian Caspii or Hyrcanii who settled on its south-western shore). The world's largest drainless salt lake (371,000 km2) with c. 50 smaller islands; in the west, it borders on the Caucasus, in the east on the Iranian highlands, in the south on the Elburz range, and in the north on the Russian lowlands. Rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea (CS) are: Volga (Tanais), Ural, Terek (Atrek), Sulak, and Kura (Cyrus). Whereas the CS was seen…

[German version] (Νεῦροι/ Neûroi). Tribe (not of the Scythae) on the Hypanis [1], to the west of the Borysthenes and south of the source lake of the Tyras (Hdt. 4,17); easterly neighbours of the Androphagi and Melanchlaeni (Hdt. 4,17; 51; 100; 125). Various attempts have been made to associate them with cultures of southern Belrus, including the ancestor tribes of the Slavs, Balts or Finns. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography A.I. Terenožkin, Predskifskij period na Dneprovskom Pravoberež'e, 1961, 234  E.A. Mel'nikovskaja, Plemena južnoj Belorusij v rannem ž…

[German version] Way station for swapping horses ( mutatio) on the Via Egnatia on the border between the late-antique provinces of Europa in the east and Rhodope in the west, 12 miles to the west of Aprus (It. Burdig. 602,1); not located. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)

[German version] ( Tiza, Pathissus, Parthiscus; Τίσσος/ Tíssos, Τήσα/ Tḗsa, Τίτζα/ Títza; modern Tisza). The largest tributary of the Danube (Ister [1]), flowing from the Carpathians to the west of Singidunum and into the Danube from the north (cf. also Pathissus); original name probably Parthisus (Str. 7,5,2). Herodotus (4,100) and Strabo (7,3,4) identify the lower reaches of the T. with the Maris (modern Maros). The T. plain (modern Bánság) was fertile and densely settled: Agathyrsi (Hdt. 4,78), Daci, Bo…

[German version] (Ξάνθεια; Xántheia). City in Thrace between the Bistonis limne (modern Lake Vistonida) and Maronea [1] on the northern coast of the Aigaion Pelagos (Str. 7a,1,44) on the southern slopes of Rhodope, not precisely locatable. In the Byzantine city of the same name no remains suggesting Antiquity have been discovered; it was on the Via Egnatia (Nikephoros Gregoras 727,24; 814,19); modern Xanthi. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography S. P. Kyriakidis, Περὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν τῆς Θρᾴκης, 1960, 27-32  P. A. Pantos, Ἱστορικὴ τοπογραφία τοῦ νομοῦ Ξάνθης…

[German version] (Βίστονες; Bístones). Thracian tribe on the Aegean Sea from around the Βιστονὶς λίμνη ( Bistonìs límnē) to the lower reaches of the Nestus; neighbours of the Cicones and the Sapaei. On their territory,  Abdera,  Dicaea and Stryme were founded. Hdt. (7,110) only mentioned as an intermediate staging post of the Persian army They appear frequently in mythological tales and in genealogies (Str. 7 fr. (43) 44 mentions B. on Thasos, under the rule of Diomedes; Val. Fl. 3,159: homeland of Orpheus). von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography A. Fol, T. Spiridonov,…