Salmydessus or Salmydessos (), also Halmydessus or Halmydissos (Ἁλμυδισσός), was a town on the Euxine Sea in

ancient Thrace The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, 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 betwee ...

, about northwest of the entrance of the

Bosporus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

, near present day

Kıyıköy Kıyıköy, historically Medea (; ; ), is a town (''belde'') in the Vize District, Kırklareli Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,160 (2022). It is on the Black Sea coast, from Vize and away from Kırklareli. It became a municipality in 1987 ...

in European Turkey. The eastern offshoots of the Haemus Mountains come very close to the shore here, which they divide from the valley of the Hebrus. Little is known of the history of Salmydessus. Herodotus writes that “...before he nowiki/> Darius_the_Great.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Darius the Great">nowiki/>Darius the Greatcame to the Danube">Ister, he first took the Getae">Darius the Great">Darius_the_Great.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Darius the Great">nowiki/>Darius the Greatcame to the Danube">Ister, he first took the Getae, who pretend to be immortal. The Thracians of Salmydessus and of the country above the towns of Apollonia and Mesambria, who are called Cyrmianae and Nipsaei, surrendered without a fight to Darius; but the Getae resisted stubbornly, and were enslaved at once, the bravest and most just Thracians of all.” During the reign of Seuthes II (c. 405 - 387 BCE)

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

and the remnants of his

Ten Thousand The Ten Thousand (, ''hoi Myrioi'') were a force of mercenary units, mainly Greeks, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa and bac ...

took the town for the Thracian ruler. Xenophon writes that “...after subduing the country in this neighborhood,” he and the remains of the

“set out upon their return.” In the ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the '' Dictionary of G ...

'' it is said that “...the earlier writers appear to speak of Salmydessus as a district only, but in later authors, as Apollodorus, Pliny, and Mela, it is mentioned as a town.”

describes the coast of the Euxine Sea along Salmydessus as having numerous

shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...

, making it a dangerous port for sailors.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

says Salmydessus is “a desert and stony beach, harborless and wide open to the north winds, and in length extends as far as the

Cyaneae Cyaneae (, ; ), also spelled Kyaneai or Cyanae, was a town of ancient Lycia, or perhaps three towns known collectively by the name. Leake observes that in some copies of Pliny it is written Cyane; in Hierocles and the Notitiae Episcopatuum ...

, a distance of about seven hundred stadia Astae, a Thracian tribe who are situated above it.” Aeschylus says it is “[a] rugged jaw, evil host of mariners, step-mother of ships.” Xenophon goes on to add that the Thracians “who dwell on this coast have boundary stones set up and each group of them plunder the ships that are wrecked within their own limits,” an arrangement made because “in earlier days, before they fixed the boundaries, it was said that in the course of their plundering many of them used to be killed by one another.”

, ''

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * '' Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), ...

''
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References

{{coord, 41.637244, N, 28.091144, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/31429.html Populated places in ancient Thrace Former populated places in Turkey History of Kırklareli Province