THRACE, anciently the name of an extensive country bounded on the n. by the Dan ube, on the e. by the Euxine, on the s. by the .1elgean and Macedonia, and on the w. by Macedonia and Illyria. In prehistorical times, however, the name appears to have denoted the whole of eastern Europe n. of Greece, including both Macedonia and Scythia; so, at least, one is disposed to understand the fable, that Oceanus had four daughters—Asia, Libya, Europa, and Thracia. It is, on the whole, very mountainous —whence, perhaps, its name Thrace, from tracheia, rugged (?)—the principal range being Humus (mod. Balkan, q.v.), from which three lesser chains branch off in a south easterly direction, the loftiest being Rhodope, the summits of which reach an elevation of more than 8,000 feet. The three most important rivers of Thrace are the Strymon (mod. Struma), which, during the Greek period, formed the boundary between it and Macedonia; the Nestus (mod. Carasu); and the Hebrus (mod. Maritza, q.v.), the largest —all of which flow southward from Humus into the zEgean sea. Roughly speaking,. ancient Thrace, before the rise of the Macedonian power, comprised the territory now ffivided by the Turks into the provinces of Rumili and Bulgaria; but subsequently the Romans made the range of Humus the northern limit of Thrace, and gave the region between Humus and the Danube the name of Mcesia (mod. Bulgaria). The climate was considered by the Greeks very severe—even that of lEnos, on the shores of the Agean, being described by Athenus as " eight months of cold and four months of winter;"' but it is believed that the ancient accounts are much exaggerated, or are only applied to poetically as the north, though it is not to be denied that, in the mountainous districts, the frost was often intense—as is still the case. The country was marshy, undrained, and overspread with dense damp forests (of fir, oak, chestnut, etc.), which must have considerably lowered the temperature; but large portions, especially in the s. and e., "such as the great plain of Adrianople and the land toward the lower course of the rivers Nestus and Hebrus," were very fertile. The chief products were corn, mil let, wine, and hemp. Cattle, sheep, horses, and swine were reared in great numbers. The region between the Nestus and the Strymon appears to have been infested by lions. Herodotus states that they attacked the baggage-camels of Xerxes on his march; but if this was anciently the case these formidable animals have long since disappeared. Gold and silver mines were numerous and productive in the same locality, and the acquisi tion of these was the principal motive for Philip of Macedon's aggressions.
The question has been much discussed, to what race the Thracians belonged, and it cannot be said that it has as yet been satisfactorily settled. It is certain, however, that two different peoples went by this name in early times. It is repeatedly asserted by those writers who treat of the confused medley of tradition and myth which fills up the prehistorical annals of Greece, that a race of " Thraciaus" inhabited part of the Hel lenic peninsula, and had even at one time extended themselves as far as Attica. To these prehistoric Thracians belonged, says Strabo, the muses, and the cultivators of ancient music, Orpheus, MusEeus, Thamyris, End Eumolpus; and the grand argument against confounding them with the Thracians of history is the impossibility of a race so notoriously barbarous as the latter in language and manners, having sprung from the authors of Hellenic literature and art (see MUller's Hist. of Greek Lit. p. 26, et see). But.
the prehistoric Thracians were properly FIellenes, or " Pelasgians"—whatever that may mean—is indeterminable.
Passing now to the historic Thracians, whom we find settled in the regions n. and e. of Macedonia, we are again at fault. Of their manners and customs, of their character, and of their later history, we indeed know something; but of their origin and ethnologi cal relations, we cannot be said to know anything. They were not Greeks, for they spoke a language which the latter called barbarous; but if (as Strabo asserts) the Getie and Daci were branches of the Thracian family, and spoke the same tongue, we may conjecture that, ethnologically, the term " Thracian" denotes a mixed Illyrico-Scythiau race; though it is quite impossible, from want of evidence, to substantiate the conjec ture. Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo are our chief authorities regarding the habits and practices of the people. From them we learn that they bought their wives, and sold their children. Polygamy was general, and when a husband died, his favorite spouse was slain over his grave. Before marriage the Thracian women enjdyed the utmost liberty; after it they were guarded with Turkish rigor. War and robbery were the only honorable occupations of the men. They lived to steal, either from each other or from neighboring peoples. When not fighting or plundering they spent their days in savage idleness, or in quarreling over their cups. Courageous, or rather ferocious, after the fashion of barbarous peoples, they yet lacked the steady valor and endurance of dis viplined troops; at all times, their warfare displayed more fierceness and impetuosity than fortitude. Their treachery was probably no greater than that of other barbarians.