Brea (,

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

: Βρεαῖος or Βρεάτης) was an ancient Greek colony in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. Nothing is known about the city itself. Nevertheless, the city is considered important by an inscription in which its 446/5 BC founding is mentioned, which is known as the Brea decree, the Brea inscription, or the Brea stone.

Location

The exact location of Brea is unknown. Some scholars locate it to

Bisaltia Bisaltia () or Bisaltica was an ancient country which was bordered by Sintice on the north, Crestonia on the west, Mygdonia on the south and was separated by Odomantis on the north-east and Edonis on the south-east by river Strymon.The eponymo ...

, Thrace, in the lower reaches of Strymon, and some to

Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedon ...

about 4 miles (6.5 km) south of Nea Syllata. In ancient Greece, Chalcidice was also considered to be part of Thrace.

History

The city was a colony of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. There is no information about its future fate after their foundation; perhaps it was destroyed by the Thracians a few years after the founding. In the year 437 BC, the colony founded

Amphipolis Amphipolis (; ) was an important ancient Greek polis (city), and later a Roman city, whose large remains can still be seen. It gave its name to the modern municipality of Amphipoli, in the Serres regional unit of northern Greece. Amphipol ...

; thereafter, it makes no further appearance in

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

Plutarch

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

mentions the establishment of Brea in his '' Pericles '': 'In addition, he sent a thousand citizens as settlers to the Chersonese, five hundred to

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, half of them

Andros Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...

, a thousand to Thrace, to live together with the Bisaltians...'(A thousand to Thrace, Brea: compare Brea decree). He interprets this colonization in such a way that

Pericles Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...

in his far-sightedness, with a social program, alleviated the plight of the people and therefore sent the unemployed to the colony. and the intimate poleis in Thrace were also intimidated by the colony.

The Brea Decree

The Brea decree (446/5 BC) is an inscribed stone inscribed in stone on the Athenian colonization in the 5th century BC, And the 'example of the planned establishment of an independent polis within the framework of the Athenian colonization policy and the exercise of power at the beginning of the

Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

. The text contains several provisions concerning the participants and the execution of the train, the holding of the victims, the installation of sacred districts, and the chief proxy. Added to this is the commitment of the allied cities in

to support Brea in

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

raids. The Athenian

general assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

here clearly reveals the actual function of the colonization to maintain the position of power in this region, because Athens had a strong interest in the Strymon region due to the strategic position of the mines and the precious metals to be mined there. The source translates: '... the person who has reported the complaint or the plaintiff. ... to make available to them the settlers (apoikistai) to offer for the

apoikiai Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC, across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages ...

(= colony) so many auspicious victims as they are good. As a geonoman (= Landverteiler) one should choose ten men, one from one (each)

Phyle ''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleist ...

; these are to distribute the land. Demokleides is to set up the Apoikie as plenipotentiary to the best property. The holy districts, which are reserved, are to be left as they are, and no more to be staked out. A beef and a panhoplie (= full armor) are to be sent to the great

Panathenaia The Panathenaea (or Panathenaia) was a multi-day ancient Greek festival held annually in Athens that would always conclude on 28 Hekatombaion, the first month of the Attic calendar.Shear, Julia L. "Hadrian, the Panathenaia, and the Athenian Calen ...

and the

Dionysia The Dionysia (; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were processions and sacrifices in honor of Dionysus, the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies an ...

a phallus. If a person takes a campaign against the territory of the (Attic) settlers, help the cities as vigorously as possible according to the agreements made, as ... secretary, concerning the cities of Thrace. Record these provisions on a stele and (they) in the polis; to make available to the settlers at their own expense. If a person causes a vote against (the provisions) of this stele (a breach), or if a speaker makes a request and tries to change or cancel something, the

atomism Atomism () is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its Atom, atoms appeared in both Ancient Greek philosophy, ancien ...

and his sons, and his fortune shall be overthrown, and the tenth part of the goddess (Athena) shall fall, unless the settlers themselves... Those who can be enrolled as additional settlers, namely the soldiers, are to be found in "Brea '" as additional settlers after their return to Athens within thirty days. The Apoikie should be dispatched within thirty days. Aischines is to accompany the train and pay off the money ... Phantokles made the request: With regard to the Apoikie after '' Brea '' coincidence with what Demokleides applied for, the Phantokles is to let the Erechtheis-Prytanie before the Council at its next meeting. After '' Brea '' '(from the stratum) the settlers and settlers (settlers) are to move ...' '

Inscriptiones Graecae The ''Inscriptiones Graecae'' (''IG''), Latin for ''Greek inscriptions'', is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences a ...

(IG
(German) = Stahl, p. 231, see below the literature.
/ref>

Notes

Literature and Sources

Kai Brodersen Kai Brodersen (born 6 June 1958) is a contemporary ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of Erfurt. He has edited, and translated, both ancient works and modern classical studies. His research focuses on "Applied Scie ...

, Wolfgang Günther, Hatto H. Schmitt: 'Historical Greek Inscriptions in Translation'. Volume I, Scientific Book Company, Darmstadt 2011 . * '' Inscriptiones Graecae '' (IG). Volume I³, No. 46 (original Greek text). * Russell Meiggs, David Malcolm Lewis: '' A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. '' Oxford 1989, no. 49 (translated as English). *

Eduard Meyer Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German historian. He was the brother of Celticist Kuno Meyer (1858–1919). Biography Meyer was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the unive ...

: '' History of Antiquity ''. Reprint, Darmstadt 1965, p. 670 (interpretation of the Brea inscription in the sense of Plutarch). * Michael Stahl; '' Society and State among the Greeks: Classical Period ''. Paderborn 2003, p. 231 (reprint and interpretation of the German translation by Brodersen, Günther, Schmitt).

Links

Brea inscription in the original
Colonies of classical Greece Greek colonies in East Macedonia Athenian colonies Geography of Serres (regional unit) Former populated places in Greece Populated places in ancient Thrace Lost ancient cities and towns