THRACE, thr5s (Lat. Thracia, from Gk. Opdxn, Thrake, Thrace, from Threat., Thra cian). The ancient name of an extensive region in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, whose boundaries varied at different periods. At first the designation seems to have included part of Macedonia, where early story knows of Thra cians in Pieria, with whom was connected the worship of the Muses, mythical bards, and Dionysus. In later times, however, the name was applied to the great district northeast of Mace donia bounded on the north by the Danube, on the east by the Euxine, on the south by the Bos porus, l'ropontis (Sea of Marmora), Hellespont, the _Egean, and Macedonia, and on the west by Illyria and Macedonia. Under the Romans it designated the region south of the Thymus Moun tains (Balkans), the region to the north being the Province of Mmsia. From the II:emus three lesser chains stretch toward the south. The three most important rivers of Thrace were the Stry uion (mod. Struma), which during the Greek pe riod formed the boundary between Thrace and Macedonia; the Nestus (mod. Kara-Su); and the Hebrus (mod. Maritza, q.v.), the largest—all of which flow southward into the _Egean Sea. The climate was considered by the Greeks very se vere—even that of _Enos, on the shores of the :Egean, being described by Athemeus as "eight months of cold and four months of winter." The country was in great measure uncultivated, and covered with forests, but the river valleys were fertile. The chief products were corn, millet, wine, and hemp. Cattle, sheep, horses, and swine were raised in great numbers. The minerals were a great source of wealth, especially the rich gold mines of Mount Pangceus, which attracted the Thasians, and led the Athenians to the foun dation of Amphipolis.
While the exact relation between Thraeians and Greeks is still uncertain, it is clear that the former belonged to the great Indo-European family, and were probably closely akin to the Phrygians of Asia Minor, whose language indi cates a somewhat near connection in the past with the Hellenic race. In historic times the Thracians appear as a wild and barbarous race, fond of war and plunder, and ruled over by many petty kings. In the sixth century B.C. they were subdued by the Persians, but after the retreat of Xerxes resumed their independence, of which they had probably been only nominally deprived by their conquerors. In the fifth century a king,
Teres, seems to have secured a decided supremacy and under his rule and that of his son Sitalees, with whom the Athenians contracted an alliance, it is possible to speak of a Thracian kingdom. After the death of Sitalces his territory divided into three parts, and the old internecine strife was resumed. Thrace thus fell an easy prey to Philip of Macedon (after B.C. 359), who incorporated the western portion of the country, as far as the Nestus in Alacedonia, while Mace donian garrisons held the rest of the country in subjection. After the fall of Macedon before the power of Rome (n.e. 168) Thrace was for a short time independent, but in B.C. 133 came under the Roman rule. Mwsia was formed into a prov ince in B.C. 29, but Thrace continued under de pendent kings until A.D. 46, when it was organ ized as a province. After the division of the Roman Empire (395) it shared the history of the Eastern Empire. The natural resources of the country and the opportunities for profitable trade led to the establishment of Greek colonies along the coast at an early period. The earliest were naturally along the waters leading to the Black Sea, among them Byzantium, Selymbria, Perinthus, Sestus, and Elieus, while before the end of the sixth century Ii.c. Miltiades had se cured the Thracian Chersonese (the modern Peninsula of Gallipoli) for Athens. Along the -Egean coast were Amphipolis, Abdera, Mesem bria, :Dins, and many others, while on the Black Sea were Istrus, Tomi, Odessus, and Apollonia. These colonies, however, never attempted to con trol the interior, and though they submitted to the Persians, and later to the Macedonians and Romans, their history belongs to Greece rather than to Thrace. In A.D. 334 a colony of Sarma Gans was planted in Thrace by Constantine, and in 376 another of Goths by permission of Valens. In 395 it was overrun by Alaric, and in 447 by Attila. Soon after the middle of the fourteenth century Sultan Amurath 1. obtained possession of all its fortresses, except Constantinople, and it has ever since remained subject to Turkey. Consult: Hiller von Gaertringen, De Grteeorma Fabulis ad Tlu•aces Pertincn:tibus (Giittingen, 1886) ; Kalopathakes, De Timraeia, Provincia Po mona (Berlin, 1894) Tomasehek, Die alter& Thraker (Vienna, 1893-95). See BALKAN PE NINSULA; BULGARIA.