Thracian Mythology
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The Thracian religion comprised the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the
Thracians 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 ...
, a collection of closely related ancient
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
peoples who inhabited
eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
and southeastern Europe and northwestern
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
throughout antiquity and who included the Thracians proper, the
Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...
, the
Dacians The Dacians (; ; ) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area include ...
, and the
Bithynians The Bithyni (; ; ) were a Thracian tribe who lived in Bithynia. History The Bithyni originally lived in the area of the lower Strymon river, due to which the ancient Greeks claimed that they were originally called the Strymoni (; ). Around , the ...
. The Thracians themselves did not leave any written corpus of their mythology and rituals, but information about their beliefs is nevertheless available through scarce references in various
ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
writings, as well as through
epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
,
iconographic Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...
and archaeological sources.


Sources


Written


Textual

The main textual sources for Thracian religion come from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
poets and writers, who were primarily interested in describing the mythology and philosophy of the Thracians rather than their cultic practices, due to which there is significant disparity in the amount of information recorded on Thracian myth compared to that of Thracian cult. The earliest source on the religion of the ancient Thracians is the Greek historian
Herodotus of Halicarnassus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histories ...
. However, Herodotus's writings combined descriptions of Thracian religious beliefs with Greek philosophical concepts so that it is difficult to disentangle them from each other, and they also described different practices belonging to specific regions or tribes, which themselves were few in number and were ambiguous in nature.


Epigraphic

Aside from compositions by ancient authors, inscriptions on stone are the main other source on ancient Thracian religion. These inscriptions are natively Thracian in origin, and are useful in providing information on the locations of sanctuaries, on the preferred depictions of the deities, as well as on Thracian devotees. The earlier epigraphic sources on Thracian religion are from the 4th century BCE.


In the Odrysian kingdom

The region of Thrace for which there is the most comprehensive evidence for its religious practices is the Odrysian kingdom, which occupied the territory ranging from the
Haemus Mons The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...
in the north to the
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...
in the south, and from the
Strymon river The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its Ancient Greek, ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source fr ...
in the west to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
in the east. Information regarding religion within the Odrysian kingdom is recorded not only by Greek writers and playwrights, but also in inscriptions from
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 ...
,
Seuthopolis Seuthopolis (Ancient Greek: Σευθόπολις) was an ancient hellenistic-type city founded by the Thracian king Seuthes III between 325–315 BC which was the capital of the Odrysian kingdom. Its ruins are now located at the bottom of the ...
, Batkun and Vetren-
Pistiros Pistiros (, Ancient Greek, ''Πίστιρος'') was an inland Ancient Greek emporion, or trade center, in Ancient Thrace. It is located near the modern city of Vetren, in the westernmost part of the Maritsa River valley. The identification of ...
.


Archaeological

Archaeological research has provided a large amount of data on ancient Thrace, such as sites including settlements and cult places, burials, shrines, various deposits, objects depicting cultic scenes, and images like tomb paintings, coins, metal vessels, plaques, and jewellery.


Attempts at reconstruction

The Greek gods
Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...
,
Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greek ...
, and
Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...
, were considered to have originated from Thrace in early scholarship until the decipherment of the
Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...
script and etymological research provided evidence that they were all of Greek origin. In the early 20th century,
Gavril Katsarov Gavril Iliev Katsarov () was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian historian, classical philologist and archeologist. Rector of Sofia University. Director of the National Archaeological Museum and the Bulgarian Archeological Institute. Adopted as the father of ...
based himself on dedications to Graeco-Roman deities to describe Thracian religion as having been "primitive and animistic" until it came into contact with Mediterranean religions traditions and borrowed Graeco-Roman religious concepts and iconography, and therefore as passively accepting more "sophisticated" religious practices from the Aegean world. J. E. Fontenrose in the later 20th century had a similar assessment as Katsarov, describing Thracian religion as "crude and barbaric" before Greek influences transformed it, and positing that Thracian gods might have been "vaguely conceived" until they were individualised due to Greek influence. Due to these earlier negative assessments, Thracian religion became under-studied academically, and therefore native Thracian religious concepts have been mostly ignored in studies, leaving pre-Roman Thracian cults largely unknown. In the second half of the 20th century AD, Thracologists have attempted to draw from heterogeneous texts from different periods to reconstruct Thracian religion, such as the thesis of "Thracian Orphism" by
Alexander Fol Alexander Fol () (born in Sofia, Bulgaria on July 3, 1933; died in Sofia on March 1, 2006) was a Bulgarian historian and Thracologist. In 1957, he studied history at the University of St. Kliment Ohridski in Sofia and earned a PhD in 1966. He wo ...
and
Ivan Marazov Ivan Rousev Marazov () born 15 March 1942 in Pirne, near Aytos, is a Bulgarian artist, culturologist, thracologist and politician. In 1996, Marazov was a candidate to become President of Bulgaria for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (with Irina ...
. Fol's and Marazov's thesis posits that the Thracian religion consisted of an oral doctrine about a universal principle which was one of harmony between the chthonic
Zagreus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus () was a god sometimes identified with an Orphic Dionysus who was dismembered by the Titans and reborn. In the earliest mention of Zagreus, he is paired with Gaia and called the "highest" god, th ...
and the solar Orpheus in the cosmogonic cycles created in the intercourse between the Mother-Goddess and her solar son, who was politically identified with the king. This doctrine would have constituted a parallel to the Greek Delphian reform, according to which Dionysos appears in the winter to replace an absent Apollo. However, their use of sources from significantly later periods means their reconstruction has been criticised as unreliable, and the literary and material evidence regarding Thracian religion is too contradictory to allow for such a coherent reconstruction. Fol's and Marazov's interpretation of the figures of Zalmoxis and Rhesus through an Orphic lens is also at odds with more recent findings on the Thracian afterlife, since
Orphism Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned ...
saw the body and the soul as opposites whereby the soul was trapped by the body until it was released through death, while the Thracian afterlife conceived of a unity of the soul and the body which was preserved after death.


Development

The earliest traces of personified divine power in Thrace is from a Late Bronze Age stone slab depicting an ityphallic warrior in front of a "solar boat." Ceramics from this period were also decorated with painted or incised circles, which might have also represented a solar cult.


Cosmology

The account of Polyaenus of Bithynia, that the king Cosingas of the
Cebrenii Cebrenii () is a Thracian tribe. They are mentioned by Polyaenus Polyaenus: Stratagems - BOOK 7: The generals of the Cebrenii and Sycaeboae, two Thracian tribes, were chosen from among the priests of Hera. Cosingas, according to the tradition of ...
and Sycaeboae threatened to ascend by ladder to Heaven to complain about their disobedience to a goddess, suggests that the Thracians envisioned their deities as inhabiting the celestial realm.


Pantheon

The names of Thracian deities are not well-attested because of a taboo against mentioning them due to what was believed to be the ineffable nature of the deities. According to the Ancient Greek author Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Thracians worshipped a pantheon of three deities, whom he identified, following the , with the Greek gods: *
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
, was the goddess of hunting *Ares, was the god of war *Dionysos, was the god of feasting with wine *a fourth Thracian god was identified by Herodotus with the Greek Hermes These four Thracian gods thus represented the activities of the Thracian aristocracy, among whom the indolent who fought war for prestige and feasted with wine were honoured, while agricultural work was derided. The Thracian religion was aniconic, and representations of deities were present only on utilitarian artifacts, but not in sanctuaries. Nevertheless, a comment by
Xenophanes of Colophon Xenophanes of Colophon ( ; ; – c. 478 BC) was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and critic of Homer. He was born in Ionia and travelled throughout the Greek-speaking world in early classical antiquity. As a poet, Xenophanes was known fo ...
, that the Thracian gods were red-haired and blue-eyed because mortals imagined their gods as alike to themselves, suggests that Thracians viewed their deities as being anthropomorphic in appearance. Due to the various different names attributed by Ancient Greek authors to Thracian deities as well as the fragmented tribal social organisation of the Thracians, it is uncertain whether the Thracians had no common pantheon, or whether certain deities were simply known by different names across different parts of Thrace.


The Thracian "Hermes"

The Thracian "Hermes" was the progenitor of the kings: this god was worshipped supremely by the Thracian kings, who swore only by him.


Bendis

The Thracian goddess Bendis was the Great Mother of Gods, similar to the Phrygian goddess Kubeleya, was a mistress of animals who was associated to wild animals, as well as a power-giver connected to the Thracian elite, and thus was a fertility deity and a . Bendis was identified with the Greek goddess Artemis, whom Herodotus of Halicarnassus described as one of the four main deities worshipped by the Thracians. According to Herodotus, Thracian and Paeonian women offered sacrifices to (). The cult of Bendis in Thrace was performed in open-air rock sanctuaries. Bendis as identified with the Greek was the main deity of the city of Kabyle, where was located a Phōsphorion (), and where she enjoyed a cult along with the Thracian "Apollo." The civic coins of Kabyle depicted Phōsphoros as wearing a long-belted gown and holding a torch in each hand, and this same image was crudely carved at the peak of Zayči Vruh, that is the acropolis of the city. Phōsphoros is also attested in an inscription from the city of Helis, which was the capital of the Getic king
Dromichaetes Dromichaetes () was king of the Getae on both sides of the lower Danube (present day Romania and Bulgaria) around 300 BC. Background The Getae had been federated in the Odrysian kingdom in the 5th century BC. It is not known how the relatio ...
. Bendis is depicted on several Thracian gold and silver objects and on paintings in aristocratic Thracian tombs, implying that she was a protector of dynasts and aristocrats similar to the Phrygian Kubeleya; in the Sveshtari tomb, Bendis is depicted standing on a pedestal while she reaches out to an approaching horseman with a crown in her hand. Bendis was often depicted in the Hellenistic period using the same imagery as Artemis, but wearing a
Phrygian cap The Phrygian cap ( ), also known as Thracian cap and liberty cap, is a soft Pointed hat, conical Hat, cap with the apex bent over, associated in Classical antiquity, antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and Asia. The Phry ...
. Roman-era votive tablets depicting a goddess riding a doe and holding a bow might also have represented Bendis. Bendis was also depicted using the iconography similar to the Phrygian goddess Kubeleya, and she often appeared on the votive reliefs of the Thracian Horseman, where she was represented as a standing feminine figure with a hand raised in a gesture of benediction or salutation.


The Thracian "Dionysos"

One of the main Thracian gods, who was associated with an important Thracian solar cult, was identified with both the Greek Dionysos and Apollo, as attested by Alexander Polyhistor's account that the Thracians worshipped both " Sol" and "
Liber In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron de ...
" as one single god. Consequently, Apollo and Dionysos were popular gods in Hellenistic Thrace. This god appears to have had aspects in common with the Greek god Dionysos, hence why he was assimilated with this latter deity. In his identification as the "Thracian Dionysos," this god had a widespread cult in Thrace, where he was the most popular deity, and his cult was particularly popular among the elite, due to which Dionysian themes were prominent among early tribal and royal coins in Thrace. This god when identified with Apollo was meanwhile very popular in the region to the south of the Haemus range, with an altar dedicated to him being located in the agora of the city of Kabyle. The cult of the Thracian "Dionysos" was mentioned twice by Herodotus of Halicarnassus, and he possessed a sanctuary in the
Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...
where one of his priestesses made prophecies, as well as a sanctuary with an altar in the city of Seuthopolis. The Thracian "Dionysos" was a guarantor of oaths, as attested by him being invoked in a regulation by a mid-4th century BCE Thracian king which confirmed the rights of emporitai in Pistiros. Coins of the king Ketriporis were decorated with images of Dionysus wearing an ivy wreath. A jug from the Rogozen treasure had an inscription reading (), which described the Odrysian king Kotys I as a child or slave of the Thracian "Apollo." The Thracian "Apollo" had several epithets, including Karsenos, Paktyenos, and Kitharedes.


The Thracian Horseman

In eastern Thrace, the deity known as the Thracian Horseman or the Thracian Rider was worshipped in syncretism with the Greek Apollo; however, while the Rider was given epithets of the Greek Apollo, his image was not traditionally associated with the Greek Apollo, attesting that the cult of the Rider was significantly different from the cults of Apollo in Greece or Italy, and that the cults of the Rider and of the Greek Apollo were therefore not merely different forms of the same one cult. Reliefs of the Rider were placed in both urban and rural sanctuaries in central Thrace, Philippopolis, and the regions surrounding the Greek colonies on the Black Sea shores of Thrace, where the cult of the Thracian "Apollo" was present. In western Thrace, the Thracian Horseman was syncretised with Asclepius, and less often with Silvanus or Hephaestus in Moesia. In the 5th century BCE, coins of the king Sparadokos marked his coins with imagery associated with the Rider: *the obverse of
tetradrachm The tetradrachm () was a large silver coin that originated in Ancient Greece. It was nominally equivalent to four drachmae. Over time the tetradrachm effectively became the standard coin of the Antiquity, spreading well beyond the borders of the ...
as featured a horseman; *the obverse of
drachmas Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma, a modern Greek currency (1833...2002) * Cretan drachma, currency of the former Cretan State * Drachma proctocomys, moth species, the only species in the Genus '' ...
featured a horse; *the obverse of diobols featured a horse protome. The position of this imagery was part of religious ideology, since the obverse of coins was reserved for divine depictions. By the 4th century BCE, the depictions of the Rider were moved to the reverse of the coins, while the obverses were decorated with representations of other deities. The presence of the Rider's image as decoration on coins, signet rings, tableware, weapons, horse trappings, and drawings in tombs, implies that he was regarded as an ancestor of the Thracian aristocracy, as well as its divine protector and its (deified man), being thus related to the status and ideology of Thracian kingship. By the Hellenistic period, however, the image of the Thracian Horseman disappeared from luxuries and instead became more widely used, figuring on votive stone reliefs in sacred spaces, among which were anepigraphic dedications from ordinary Thracians; this more common use of the Rider's imagery became widespread through the Thracian provinces of the Roman Empire somewhat like a "national" cult, and the Rider was given an identity of hero (), god (), both hero and god (), or even a master (), who had several local epithets: *Kendrisos from Philippopolis, *Karabasmos from Odessos, *Sandenos at the shrine of Glava Panega near
Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...
, *Propylaios (guardian of the gate), *Pyrmeroulas (of the cultivation of wheat), *Aularkenos (guardian of the house), *Perko, *Karsenos, *Mursine, *and Manimadzos. This image of the Thracian Horseman had become one of a deified ancestor who could however be identified with various Greek gods through inscriptions, and the iconography of the votive monuments depicting it used motifs from Hellenistic heroic cults and monuments where trees marked the burial place as sacred, a serpent acted as its guardian, and a raised altar suggested a ritual to fulfil the hero's manifestation as a horseman. Three types of such imagery are attested: *the scene where the Rider stands in front of a goddess or goddesses, or an altar, or a tree with a snake, being a solemn scene of the hero's epiphany, *the scene where the Rider is a hunter, *the scene where the Rider returns from hunting, which represents the bliss of the hero in the afterlife. By the Roman period, two types of monuments to the Thracian Horseman could be distinguished: votive ones and funerary ones. Of the 300 known monuments to the Thracian Horseman, most of them date from the Roman period.


Kotytto

The Thracian goddess Kotytto was worshipped by the Edones.


The Thracian "Hera"

According to Polyaenus, the king Cosingas of the
Cebrenii Cebrenii () is a Thracian tribe. They are mentioned by Polyaenus Polyaenus: Stratagems - BOOK 7: The generals of the Cebrenii and Sycaeboae, two Thracian tribes, were chosen from among the priests of Hera. Cosingas, according to the tradition of ...
and Sycaeboae was a priest of a goddess whom he identified with the Greek goddess
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
. When his people refused to obey him, Cosingas assembled a large number of ladders to ascend to Heaven to complain about them to the goddess.


The Ancestral Goddess

The Thracian pantheon possessed an equivalent of the
Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...
Snake-Legged Goddess. This figure was depicted in the form of caryatids wearing kalathoi headdresses as well as chitons whose were shaped as floral volutes with an leaf between them, while their hands were disproportionately large similarly to the image of a fertility goddess with her hands raised to her face from a series of Thracian votive plaques. A representation of this goddess might be found in a greave from
Vratsa Vratsa ( ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is about north of Sofia, southeast of Montana. Situated at the foot of the Vrachanski Bal ...
, whose knee is shaped like a woman's head wearing an ivy wreath and having parallel gold stripes on her right cheek, while her body is covered with snakes, including lion-headed ones, as well as lions, and a dove. This iconography, as well as the goddess's divided face, show her dual nature. A representation of the cult of this goddess, who was also a , is depicted on a gilt silver greave from Zlatinitsa, where a rider holding a with a stag protome is depicted above a lady sitting on a throne and holding a spindle while drinking from a cup. This goddess is depicted on a plaque from the Letnitsa treasure as engaging in sexual intercourse with the Thracian "Dionysos" so as to engender humanity, similarly to how the Snake-Legged Goddess copulated with "Hēraklēs" to engender humanity in the Scythian genealogical myth. The various aspects of this goddess, including her union with the Thracian ancestor-hero to become the ancestress of humanity, suggests that she and the Scythian Snake-Legged goddess have similar origins.


Derzalas or Darzalas

A god referred to with the Thracian name Derzalas or Darzalas in the Roman period has been attested in Odessos since the Hellenistic period, when he was called only by the epithet of (), that is the Great God. Derzalas was the patron god of Odessos, and, although this god likely had ancient origins, he is not attested before the 4th century BCE. Derzalas was depicted on silver tetradrachms from Odessos dating from the 2nd century BCE, where he appeared as a bearded god with a ribbon in his hair on the obverse, and as turned to the left while wearing a long chiton and holding a in his right hand and a in his left hand. A monument to Derzalas existed between
Nicopolis Nicopolis () or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus (Roman province), Epirus. Its site, near Preveza, Greece, still contains impressive ruins. The city was founded in 29 BC by Octavian in commemoration of his ...
and
Marcianopolis Marcianopolis or Marcianople (Greek: Μαρκιανούπολις), also known as Parthenopolis was an ancient Greek, then Roman capital city and archbishopric in Moesia Inferior. It is located at the site of modern-day Devnya, Bulgaria. The a ...
in Moesia Inferior, where a marble plaque depicts him as a bearded god wearing a long chiton, and holding a patera over a burning altar in his right hand and a cornucopia in his left hand. One relief with the Thracian Horseman included a dedicatory inscription to the god Derzis, that is Derzalas. And another relief from this same area depicted a bearded Thracian Horseman whose horse charged against an altar while his dog chased a boar. On coins of Odessos, Derzalas was depicted as lying on a , which was a position typical of the iconographies of chthonic deities. Meanwhile, his cornucopia signalled him as a giver of fertility. The various depictions of Derzalas all suggest that he was a chthonic deity.


Svelsurdus

During the Roman period,
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
mentioned a sanctuary of Jupiter Svelsurdus in the territory of the
Dentheletae The Dentheletae (), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae, were a Thracian tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by Polybius, Cassius Dio, Tacitus and by Livy. They li ...
in the Strymon valley. This deity is known from several Roman-era dedications in the territories inhabited by Thracians. The Thracian epithet of Svelsurdus suggests that this was a native Thracian deity who had been assimilated with the Greek
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
, and he was depicted using the iconography of Zeus Keraunios who holds a thunderbolt, is accompanied by an eagle, and has a snake at his legs.


Pleistoros

The god Pleistoros was worshipped by the Apsinthii, who propitiated him with human sacrifices.


Kandaon

The god Kandaon was worshipped by the Krestones.


Zalmoxis

The god Zalmoxis was worshipped by the
Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...
, possibly in the form of an (deified man). According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Zalmoxis built a hall where he feasted and preached to the most prominent of his countrymen that he, as well as them and their descendants, would not die, but would instead go to a place where they would enjoy immortality and every good thing. Zalmoxis then built an underground chamber into which disappeared for three years, during which time the Thracians mourned him, after which he reappeared on the fourth year, proving his words to be true and convincing his people of his story of death and resurrection. A similar Thracian figure is Rhesus, who, like Zalmoxis, was a divine king and prophet who went to live below the earth, the difference being that Rhesus was a tribal deity of the
Edoni The Edoni (also ''Edones'', ''Edonians'', ''Edonides'') () were a Thracian tribe who dwelt mostly between the Nestus and the Strymon rivers in southern Thrace, but also once dwelt west of the Strymon at least as far as the Axios. They inhabited ...
ans while Zalmoxis was that of the Getae. During the 5th century BCE, Greek colonists in Thrace had come to connect Zalmoxis to the Greek philosopher
Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (;  BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...
due to his prophetic abilities, magical healing, and other extraordinary traits; the similarities between the feasts of Getic nobles in their banqueting halls with the Pythagorean adepts' meetings and meals in a common halls, and their respective initiation rides, appear to have also motivated the connection between Zalmoxis and Pythagoras among the Pontic Greeks.


Other deities

During the 4th century BCE, the coins of the king
Hebryzelmis Hebryzelmis (Ancient Greek: Εὐρύζελμις, Ἑβρύζελμις, Ἑβροζέλμης, Εὐρύτελμις) was an Odrysian king of Thrace, attested as ruling in 386/385 BC. The origins of Hebryzelmis are unclear, although it has been ...
were decorated images of the goddess
Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...
wearing a
mural crown A mural crown () is a Crown (headgear), crown or headpiece representing city walls, fortified tower, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the ancient Rome, Romans ...
on the obverse, those of Kersobleptes were decorated with images of the goddess
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...
. During the Hellenistic period, new deities appeared in Thrace due to Greek influence: the coins of the king
Seuthes III Seuthes III (, Seuthēs) was a Thracian king of Odrysia, a part of Thrace, during the late 4th century BC (securely attested between 324 and 312 BC). Historical background Following the campaigns of Philip II in 347–342 BC a significant part ...
depicted a head of the Greek god
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
on the obverse, and a Macedonian-influenced portrait of Seuthes III himself on the reverse. A hero named Melsas was worshipped at Mesembria. A temple to a group of deities originating from Samothrace, called the Kabeiroi but also known as the (), meaning , was located in the city of Seuthopolis, with the worship of these deities being the city's main cult along with that of the Thracian "Dionysos." The ruler Spartokos of Kabyle depicted the deities Artemis Phōsphoros and
Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
; these two deities, together with Apollo and
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
, later appeared on the municipal coins of Kabyle.


Mythology

The Thracian religion appeared to have possessed a myth of the union between an ancestor-god and an ancestress-goddess similar to that of the
Scythian genealogical myth The Scythian genealogical myth was an epic cycle of the Scythian religion detailing the origin of the Scythians. This myth held an important position in the worldview of Scythian society, and was popular among both the Scythians of the Pontic–Ca ...
. This divine union might have been depicted in the hierogamy scene from the Letnitsa treasure.


Customs


Abstention from killing

Demosthenes also claimed that it was customary among Thracians to not kill each other.


Divination

An oracular sanctuary of the Thracian "Dionysos" was located in the territory of the
Satrae The Satrae () were, in ancient geography, a Thracian people, inhabiting part of Mount Pangaeus between the rivers Nestus (Mesta) and Strymon (Struma). According to Herodotus, they were independent in his time, and had never been conquered withi ...
tribe in the Rhodope Mountains, where members of the tribe of the Bessoi served in it and a priestess made prophecies. This might be the same sanctuary referred to by Roman sources as the sacred grove of "Liber" in Thrace, where the priests predicted to Alexander III of Macedon that he would conquer the world, which they saw in the high fire that flared on its altar after the wine libation, and which the priests again later predicted to Gaius Octavius when he consulted this oracle regarding his son's future.


War customs

The Thracians used to carry the heads of the enemies they had killed in battle back to their homes, and some Thracian artifacts depicted severed men's and horses' heads behind horsemen.


Funerary customs

The afterlife was an important part of the Thracian religion, as reflected how Thracians built large and elaborate tombs and kurgans. Tombs of upper class Thracians contained chambers which were used for private family rituals.


=Cremations

= Most Iron Age Thracian burials were
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
s.


=Upper class inhumations

= Royal and aristocratic Thracian burials during the Hellenistic period consisted of inhumations, with their tombs possessing spaces to act as the dwellings of the deceased as well as to perform rituals to contact the said deceased. This practice was linked to the concept of the deceased elites achieving immortality and bliss on the periphery of the inhabited world, due to which they did not depend on the living. Therefore, these upper class burials covered by mounds were built on the ground level or on reused embankments above it, as physical representations of the idea that those buries within them were not within the kingdom of the dead in the underworld, which was sometimes further accentuated by sumptuous stairs leading to the tombs within them. Fitting the vision of the future the deceased elites would enjoy after death, these tombs were located far from settlements of the living, and within them the dead were laid on couches or beds which were not dug into the floor and tableware was present, so that they formed a banquet scene on the inside, thus being reminiscent of the afterlife promised by Zalmoxis to his followers. The tombs' entrances could also function as exits, and allowed for communication between the world of the living and that of the deceased through an open area leading to the interior, which was itself inaccessible. As a result of the shift from belief in immortality of body and soul towards one of the "heroisation" of the deceased during the Hellenistic period, burials from this era were personalised with visible inscriptions or portraits. This newer practice continued until the Roman period, when commoners started being buried in monumental burials as well.


=Horse burials

= Accompanying the deceased was often a horse, placed in the antechamber of the tombs or before their entrances: the horse was placed there to accompany its master in the afterlife, and was therefore treated in the same way as the deceased irrespective of whether they were inhumated or cremated.


=Funerary rituals

= Within the burial mounds were pits and hearths which were used by the living to communicate with the deceased. These were especially performed at the tombs' entrances before they were completely covered under the mounts, and were similar to Greek cults performed on altars at the front doors of Greek temples and homes for deities and heroes. The Thracian rituals were likely "rites of passage" meant to help the deceased achieve the status of .


Mounds

Mounds formed from offerings are documented among Thracian ritual practices. These were associated with offering pits or other sacrificial deposits.


The afterlife

The Thracian vision of the
afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...
considered that a state of blissful immortality after death could be achieved through both the soul and the body, as is attested in
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's account that Zalmoxis taught the Thracian physicians to heal both soul and body because these were one and the same. Herodotus of Halicarnassus had recorded that the Thracians were not afraid of death, which is consistent with the positive attitude towards dying that people who have experienced various mystical states have. Thus, Herodotus claimed that the Getae were the most brave and lawful of Thracians who (), that is they "made themselves immortal," because they believed they would not die but would instead go to Zalmoxis: within Thracian religion, aristocrats were believed to go to a place where they would not die, but would achieve immortality and live in perpetual bliss; commoners could however only reach this state by dying bravely in battle, or by being sacrificed as a messenger to the god Zalmoxis, with those who met this fate being believed to gone to Zalmoxis himself without dying. The Thracian concept of the elite's immortality itself resulted from state formation which occurred in the 6th century BCE and lasted until the Roman annexation of Thrace: the Thracian aristocracy believed that it would obtain immortality where it would enjoy bliss not unlike its lifestyle in the world of the living, which would be achieved in places on the periphery of the inhabited world after being transferred there by the gods. The Thracian idea of immortality in both body and spirit was similar to Pindar's conception of Heracles as a "hero-god," which might in turn explain Porphyry's claim that Barbarians like Heracles worshipped Zalmoxis. Similar elements were also present in the Greek religion, such as: *
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's account of
Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; ) was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central ...
being brought to the Elysian Fields without dying, *
Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
's account of the race of heroes being sent to the Islands of the Blessed without dying, *
Bacchylides Bacchylides (; ''Bakkhulides''; – ) was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted in Bacchylidea ...
's account of Apollo saving
Croesus Croesus ( ; ; Latin: ; reigned: ) was the Monarch, king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his Siege of Sardis (547 BC), defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. According to Herodotus, he reigned 14 years. Croesus was ...
from his funeral pyre and bringing him to
Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans (, ; ) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the Ecumene, known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas (god), Boreas" (the God of the north wind). Some schol ...
, *the myth of
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
's
mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
taking his body from his pyre and bringing him to the White Island in the Pontus Euxinus. This conceptualisation of the Thracian afterlife is recorded in the Greek story of the Thracian king Rhesus who remained as an in a cavern of silver-veined mountains instead of descending to the underworld to become a shadow there: like Zalmoxis, Rhesus obtained immortality without dying. During the Hellenistic period, the Thracian concept of immortality of body and soul was transformed into one of "heroisation" of the dead and of their immortal souls as a result of the replacement of the older epic traditions by newer literary ones. Thus, funerary reliefs depicting the Thracian Horseman often identified the deceased as "immortal heroes" since mortals after death became divine ancestors or were deified.


Cult

The Thracians communicated with their deities through rituals which were performed in human living space: *the domestic cult was performed within the house; *the communal cult was performed in sanctuaries. Since the Thracians were composed of several distinct tribes living across a large territory, there were likely regional variations among the rituals they practised.


Hearth altars

A type of Thracian altar consisted of a circular clay structure which had been used since the Bronze Age. These later gave rise to decorated square altars during the Iron Age. A widespread feature of Thracian cultic sites was the presence of square hearths made of hard clay which had often been fired to a greyish white colour, and were decorated with inscribed geometric patterns as well as impressed and stamped: the designs decorating them included florals, vegetal bands containing ivy leaves and snakes. These hearths were low platforms which were raised some centimetres above the floor surrounding it, being therefore similar to Greek altars to chthonic deities. These hearth altars were present especially in urban locations such as at Seuthopolis, Philippopolis, Kabyle, Pistiros, and Helis, and could be found both in sanctuaries and in the residences of individuals; at Seuthopolis, they were located in a representative room separate from the oikos where the hearth was located. The hearth altars were most likely used to burn incense or hallucinogens, but not food. Associated with these hearths were
andiron An andiron, firedog, fire-dog, fire dog or iron-dog is a bracket support, normally one of a pair, on which logs are laid for burning in an open fireplace, so that air may circulate under the firewood, allowing better burning and less smoke. T ...
s made of stone and clay and decorated with pairs protomes of horses or rams on both sides of the fire. These were present in burial places as well as domestic spaces in villages outside of the cities and towns, in a similar range of environments as the hearths. The horses decorating them likely represented the popular belief of a solar chariot with celestial fire possessing purifying power.


Sanctuaries

Only few Thracian sanctuaries are attested before the Roman conquest of Thrace, with most having started being used from to and ending their operations until the ban on paganism in the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
by the emperor
Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...
in the late 4th century CE. Thracian sanctuaries consisted of: *intramural sanctuaries located within settlements, *and extramural sanctuaries located outside settlements, which were themselves composed of mountains and lowland areas. Among these sanctuaries, some were used only by local worshippers, while others were used by devotees from large areas: rural communities had access to small shrines present near their villages, and they used larger and more distant shrines as important cult centres, while they could access the further distant mountain shrines only during festivities. Thracian sanctuaries had different plans and layouts compared to Greek ones, and were used as treasuries, but did not possess monumental altars. Their buildings were simple, and except for the temple near Pernik and a tetraprostyle near Kopilovtsi, they did not resemble Greek temple buildings; Thracian sanctuaries also lacked structures such as theatres, stadiums, hospitals or facilities for pilgrims, suggesting that they were used only by rural populations living near them.


Extramural sanctuaries

Traditionally Thracian sanctuaries were found far from daily life activities. The identities of the deities worshipped at these sanctuaries have so far been difficult to ascertain.


= Highland sanctuaries

= The several mountain-related goddess epithets in Thrace suggest that
mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
and rocky highlands were considered as sacred among the Thracians. Mountain sanctuaries were especially found on sunlit peaks in the wild: these include rock sanctuaries, which are characterised by cuttings on exposed bedrock which were used as chutes, pools, niches, steps and altars, such as those at
Babyak Babyak () is a village in the Belitsa Municipality in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria, situated 15 km southwest of Belitsa in the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains and dispersed in several neighborhoods. As of 2010 it had a population of 781 ...
,
Tatul Tatul (, the local name for ''Datura stramonium'') is a village in Momchilgrad municipality, Kardzhali Province located in the Eastern Rhodopes in southern Bulgaria. It is lies at 319 m above sea level at 41.5536° N, 25.5412° E, 15 km e ...
and Perperek. The oracle of "Dionysos" located on the Zelmisos hill, in the mountains of the tribe of the Satrae and where the Bessi served as the priests while a priestess pronounced oracles, within a circular Thracian sanctuary.


= Lowland sanctuaries

= Lowland sanctuaries were located near or even within settlements, such as at Levunovo, Nebet Tepe and Kabyle, or sometimes on elevations within lowland areas. These consisted of a holy precinct enclosed by a . The at Babyak had a separation of activities whereby different areas were specifically used for offering gifts and for burning sacrifices on clay altars and hearths. The sanctuaries in the plains were close to human settlements and were likely located in agricultural lands. These sanctuaries were not recorded by Greek authors or by epigraphic sources, and are therefore only known from archaeological evidence. Some of these sanctuaries, such as the one at Bagachina, had been used from the Early Bronze Age until the Roman period, although most of them had started being used in the 4th century BCE. The native Thracian sanctuaries within Moesia were located far from towns or Roman camps, and were largely found in the foothills of the Balkan Mountain and in the less Romanised eastern part of the province. In Thracia, the sanctuaries in the plains were set on high ground so they could be more visible in this region, and were marked by natural rocks, springs and rivers. Sanctuaries were also dedicated to divine ancestors of the aristocracy, to deified mortals in monumental tombs that functioned as tombs, homes and shrine, as well as heroised mortals who were seen as local heroes of rural communities.


Intramural sanctuaries

Sanctuaries and shrines located within settlements are primarily known from Hellenistic Thrace, and the existence of temples and shrines within towns and cities under strong Greek influence suggest that they were influenced by Greek religious cults.


Known Thracian sanctuaries


= Thasos

= A sanctuary of "Hēraklēs" was located on the island of
Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...
, and consisted of: *an earlier temple; *and a hearth-sanctuary: **unlike Classical Greek sanctuaries to the Olympian gods, the sanctuary consisted of a long building whose plan resembled a Greek temple, with a short porch and a long cella; **the sanctuary of Thasos was focused on cultic activities which took place within it, unlike Greek sanctuaries which were centred on an open air altar; **a square hearth outlined with stone blocks was located at the centre of the cella, which was itself supported by two axial pillars on either side of it. The Thasian sanctuary's unusual structure in comparison to Greek sanctuaries appeared to have represented a Thracian ritual tradition.


= At Seuthopolis

= As a result of an agreement between the Thracian king Seuthes III and the Macedonian king
Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek language, Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessaly, Thessalian officer and Diadochi, successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became king of Thrace, Anatolia, Asia Minor and Mace ...
, the cult of the
Kabeiroi In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri or Cabiri (, ''Kábeiroi''), also transliterated Kabeiri or Kabiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshipped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaestus, centered in the ...
was imported into the Hellenistic Thracian city of Seuthopolis. A sanctuary of the Kabeiroi, called the Samothrakeion, was located in the fortified section of Seuthopolis: *this sanctuary was built of unbaked bricks over a stone foundations, and its roof was decorated with marble akroteria and clay antefixes; *the main chamber of the sanctuary was large and spacious and its walls were decorated with plaster which had been painted red: **this chamber contained the largest clay hearth discovered in Thrace as well as an inscription; *the sanctuary possessed a complex of three sets of rooms alongside the main chamber which opened axially onto a portico located at the long side of the temple, and from there onto a courtyard: **the room adjacent to the main chamber also contained a hearth similar to the principal one; **these rooms were not structured to connect with each other, which thus resembled the Thasian sanctuary; *the temple was itself located in a large yard which was fully surrounded by turreted walls, with a propylon separating the yard from the rest of the city. The sanctuary of Seuthopolis had aspects of its layout which were similar to the sanctuary of Thasos, and its plan was unlike domestic or residential buildings from the rest of the city. A structure tentatively identified with an altar and temple of the Thracian "Dionysos" has been discovered in the agora of Seuthopolis: *the structure was enclosed in an almost rectangular open space whose eastern boundary was formed by the city's main arterial road, and whose southern limit was the main east-west road, which ran from the south-west to the north-east; *within this enclosure were located large ashlar blocks which resembled a Classical Greek altar, and which have been interpreted as having formed part of the altar of the Thracian "Dionysos"; *the foundations of the temple were however too badly damaged to allow for any reconstruction of its structure.


= In Athens

= A sanctuary of the goddess Bendis was located on the Munychia Hill of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
in Athens.


= At Kabyle

= After Kabyle had been conquered by the king
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
, he installed a garrison and settled Macedonian Greek inhabitants there, hence why there were Greek cults present in this city: according to an inscription from Seuthopolis, a Phosphorion was located in Kabyle and a bomos of Apollo was found in its agora. Hearth altars have been found at Kabyle, on the low hill of Hissarlik which was located opposite of Zayči Vruh. Nonetheless, water channels and niches connected to cultic practice had been cut on Zayči Vruh before Philip II built a military tower there, and a crude image of the goddess Phosphoros wearing a long gown and holding torches in each of her hands was carved there.


= On Samothrace

= Some buildings with unusual building plans on
Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; , ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long, in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries ...
also represented a Thracian ritual tradition, such as: *a hieron whose designed emphasised activities within it, and had a hearth altar as well as walls painted in red *an anaktoron from the early Roman Empire with a similar plan as the Thasian sanctuary which was divided into a main chamber with a wooden platform, a restricted inner chamber, and a hearth altar within a walled precinct.


= At Philippopolis

= A complete hearth altar was found in an open area in the fortified eastern gateway of the city's acropolis on
Nebet Tepe Nebet Tepe is one of the hills of Plovdiv where the ancient town was founded. The earliest settlements on Nebet Tepe are dated back to 4000 BC.Детев П.Известия на музейте в Южна Българият. 1 (Bulletin des mus ...
, and another one was founded in the city area close below Nebet Tepe.


= At Kallatis

= A rock-cut sanctuary at Kallatis might have begun as a native Thracian shrine until it later came to be used by Greek colonists as well.


= At Batkun

= An inscription from Batkun mentioned a sanctuary of Apollo where the citizens had dedicated a stele in honour of a prominent individual. These citizens were themselves from Philippopolis or
Pistiros Pistiros (, Ancient Greek, ''Πίστιρος'') was an inland Ancient Greek emporion, or trade center, in Ancient Thrace. It is located near the modern city of Vetren, in the westernmost part of the Maritsa River valley. The identification of ...
, suggesting that this was a Greek cult.


= At Sboryanovo

= A sanctuary from Sboryanovo in northeastern Thrace dating from between to the early 3rd century BC consisted of a quadrangular clay building standing on a beaten earth floor which had a wooden roof and a cornice decorated with terracotta with the same rope-impressed patterns used as ornamentation on the hearth altars. This sanctuary contained two quadrangular platforms which were located on both sides of two successive circular raised altars, with one of them having a convex surface. These altars were rectilinear, were surrounded by a sill of rough stones, and had rounded corners. Their foundation, made of small stones mixed with earth, stood 20 centimetres above the clay floor surrounding them, was covered with clay and painted with a white layer. The sanctuary of Sboryanovo was located immediately to the west of the river Krapinets. A shrine was located near a river source above the gorge there, and this shrine as well as a large area of ritual importance immediately below it were both enclosed in a stone wall in the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. To its west, on the plateau, was another ritual site that had been enclosed in a stone wall in the 4th to 3rd century BC, and where a dedication to "Phosphoros" had been inscribed and shallow stone circles had been built in the Hellenistic period. Two large mound cemeteries lined both sides of the gorge in parallel, and the eastern one of these contained monumental stone tombs which were used as cultic sites.


= At Tsrancha

= A rock sanctuary at
Tsrancha Tsrancha ( ) is a village in southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the municipality of Dospat, Smolyan Province. Geography The village of Tsrancha is located in the Western Rhodope Mountains. It is situated in the Chech region. Religion ...
contained a circular clay altar with a distinct border and an -like central protrusion, as well as a clay plaque decorated in relief which was also likely used as an altar.


= At Vetren

= The site of Vetren contained a Thracian sanctuary which had been used over a significant period of time. The altars at Vetren appear to have been built in several structures, and some might have been in the open air. Cereal grains, loom weights, spindle whorls and several figurine types were located near these alters, implying that they were used in cults relating to fertility and procreation. Parts of altars have been found throughout the site of Vetren, meaning that these were regularly built in multiple locations, although several were located near two altars in a way suggesting that the fragments were earlier temporary sites of cultic activity which were used to make bases for later altars, and which became permanent cultic sites. The fortifications located near the sanctuary area contained traces of ritual activity such as pits, altar fragments, mobile clay braziers, and figurines. A complete altar and partial remains of two other altars were located at the western end of an excavated terrace located behind a courtyard complex, which itself contained altar fragments in one of its rooms. Cultic activities were largely concentrated in two squares to the south of the settlement, where several superimposed altars and hearths dating from the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC were located, as well as in two other squares located near the terrace, with one of these squares containing one altar. Another of the altars near this latter set of squares being surrounded by a fence on three sides. The altars in the other of this set of squares already had permanent altars in the 4th century BC which had themselves been built over previous temporary ritual sites. Thus, although there were specific parts of the Vertren settlement that were reserved for cultic activities, rituals were also performed in several places there, and the altars' use in both domestic and non-domestic settings well as both indoors and outdoors suggests that they were used to perform different rituals for various occasions or multiple deities.


Clergy

The Thracian religion possessed various priestly offices: *at the lower level were priests who held the indispensable function of officiating the tribal cults, *and of higher status were priests who likely inherited their prominent positions from ancient legendary priest-kings; examples of such kings include: **the king Cosingas of Cebrenii and the Sycaeboae, who was also their priest; **Zalmoxis of the Getae had been a priest before he had become a god himself; **one Vologaesus, who was priest of the Bessian sanctuary of the Thracian "Dionysos," led an anti-Roman revolt in 15 BCE; **at the time of
Burebista Burebista () was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61BC to 45/44BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers, ...
, Decaeneus was the Dacian priest, and he also acted as sorcerer and the king's advisor before later becoming seen as divine; **the Odrysian king Kotys I was described as a son or slave of the Thracian "Apollo" in an inscription. **thus, the Thracians worshipped Zalmoxis, and the high priest of this god was also the king as well as his substitute on Earth. The Thracian priests were believed to have been given the power to heal by Zalmoxis himself, who taught them to heal the body and the soul together: these healing abilities of the priests of Zalmoxis are similar to those of
medicine men A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...
and
shamans Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of th ...
who derived their powers from altered states of consciousness. Decorations on some Thracian jugs also suggest that there existed Thracian priestesses who attended goddesses. In the early 3rd century BCE, one Amaistas son of Medistas dedicated an altar once his term as priest of the Thracian "Dionysos" was complete, suggesting that the Thracian priesthood had a fixed term and could be held by other occupants in succession, similar to the priesthoods of Greek city-states. According to an account by the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
historian
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...
, when Philip II of Macedon attempted to besiege Odessos, Getae priests wearing white clothes and playing citharas to accompany the prayers to their gods opened the gates of the city and came out. Heroised mortals who became seen after death as local heroes were invoked in prayers for help and protections through simple rituals which did not require the mediation of priests.


Vegetarianism

According to Strabo of Amasia, the Mysians did not consume living things, not even their flocks, out of piety for their belief in the transmigration of souls, but instead subsisted on
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
,
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
and
cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
, and lived peacefully, due to which they were called (), meaning "god fearing," and (), meaning "cloud walkers" or "fire walkers." According to Strabo, the Getae also practised a vegetarian lifestyle. The name of the has been sometimes interpreted as being derived from a practice of inhaling cannabis vapours similarly to Scythians, with their name meaning "those who walk in empsmoke," or as referring to the practive of walking on embers, although these are very uncertain. The might have been shamans, and a parallel to their name is found in Indic traditions in the form of the term () to describe
Brahmans Brahmin (; ) is a '' varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). The traditional occ ...
. The might thus have been a caste who were separate from the rest of the population due to requirements of ritual purity, and they might have lived a form of extreme asceticism and practice of deep trance in a way similar to Indic s and the Faliscan .


Asceticism

Strabo also recorded that there was a group of ascetics among the Thracians, called the (), meaning , who lived celibate lives and therefore were honourable, due to which they were dedicated to the gods and lived free of any fear. The asceticism of these Thracians was so famous in the ancient world that Flavius Josephus compared them with the Essenes. The Dacian high priest Decaenus might have been an ascetic, as suggested by how he convinced the Dacians to destroy their vineyards and live without consuming wine.


Mystery cults

The worshippers of Zalmoxis performed initiatory rites as part of their cult, during which the priest lived in a cave as a reenactment of the descent of Zalmoxis into his underground chamber: the priest who was representative of Zalmoxis lived in a real cave but was near-invisible and seen only by the king and some attendants because he and his successors lived very secluded lives, thus showing that Thracian religion had preserved archaic elements which had already disappeared in Greek religion. The account of Rhesus recorded by
Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
, his mother declared that
Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...
would release his soul so that Rhesus will live hidden in a cavern as an . Thus, Rhesus had a role in mystery rites which Greeks perceived as being not unlike their own mysteries, and the use of the term "" to describe him means that Rhesus was believed to have a status between that of a man and a deity.


Festivals

In his record of the meeting between the Getic Kothelas with the Macedonian king Philip II, the Gothic author Jordanes described a vast ritual procession in which participated members of different social orders, as well as musicians among whom were priests who wore white robes and played .


Bendidia

The festival of
Bendidia The Bendidia was an ancient Athenian festival celebrating the Thracian goddess Bendis. It was celebrated on the 19th day of the month of Thargelion (late May, in the Gregorian calendar), and was introduced in 429 BC. The festival took place in Pi ...
, performed in honour of the goddess Bendis, was one of the main Thracian harvest festivals.


Feasts

Ancient Thracian rulers considered feasts to be an important aspect of maintaining their dominant status, and the Thracians borrowed the use of elite and communal feasts as models of social identity and interaction from the
Mycenaean Greeks Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainla ...
, who had themselves borrowed this practice from West Asians. Therefore, Thracians used to feast both on normal occasions as well as on a ritual basis, and used feasting to display status and affiliation to elige groups. The process of feasting consisted of preparation for bathing, then bathing itself, followed by anointing, then sitting in a chair with a footstool, after which the hands were washed, and food and drink were served in vessels of gold and silver. According to Ancient Greek authors, the king Kotys I used to feast and sacrifice to the gods in "places shaded with trees and watered by flowing streams." The king
Seuthes II Seuthes II (, ''Seuthēs'') was a ruler in the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, attested from 405 to 387 BC. While he looms large in the historical narrative thanks to his close collaboration with Xenophon, most scholars consider Seuthes II to have bee ...
gave a feast during which he shared bread and meat with Xenophon's Greek army to declare his alliance, after which wine was served to the feasters in horns likely made of precious metals and gifts were exchanged.


Fire rituals

The Thracian "Dionysos" might have been worshipped in fire rituals during which the participants carry sacred objects called empyra and danced on embers. Due to this, this god was invoked under the name of Pyribromos.


Royal rituals

Certain rituals were performed in relation to the king, such as investitutes and hierogamies. The union between the king and the goddess was believed to be necessary for him to obtain royal power, and the Odrysian king Kotys I believed that the Thracian goddess Bendis, under the guise of the Greek virgin goddess Athena, had agreed to become his spouse, and he therefore prepared a bridal chamber where he waited for her, while a plaque from the Letnitsa treasure explicitly depicted the sexual intercourse between the hero and the goddess.


Sacrifices

Some sacrifices, both in sanctuaries and in funerary rituals, consisted of intentionally breaking or deforming certain objects.


Offerings

Herodotus of Halicarnassus described Thracian and Paeonian women as bringing offerings wrapped in straw to a goddess whom he identified with ().


= Burnt sacrifices

= Burnt sacrifices for the celestial deities were performed everywhere in Thrace.


Treasure sacrifices

Vessels such as gold goblets and bowls were given in dedication to chthonic deities during the Late Bronze Age in Thrace, mirrorring similar practices among the Mycenaean Greeks and the
Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
.


= Offering pits

= One form of sacrifice attested among Thracians is the practice of depositing offerings in pits and trenches, with the pits themselves being of different sizes as well as being of vascular, beehive, conical, cylindrical and oval shapes. This was the main sacrificial practice at sanctuaries in the lowlands, which consisted of the offering of ritual objects such as models, clay figurines and amulets, or domestic artifacts such as utensils, ornamentsm clothes, tools, and weapons, as offerings in pits. Additionally, fragments of wall plaster and domestic hearths, as well as positions of sacrificial meals, occasionally whole animals, and even human sacrifices were also present in these sites. These sacrifices were performed by the worshippers to obtain help from the deity or to acknowledge said deity's support. This form of below-ground deposits as sacrifice was very common in Thrace, and was form of sacrifice typical of Continental Europe rather than Aegean ones like the Ancient Greek ones. Food was deposited in pits as offerings to the chthonic deities, to heroes, and to the dead: pits in cemeteries were located inside and under burial mounds, with the offerings intended to be food for the dead as part of tomb cults, but also as part of rituals for deified mortals in the form of hero cults. These pits were one of the various locations where rituals were performed, although they were not necessarily ritual pits or sanctuary sites; nonetheless, pits were also built at sanctuaries to deposit offerings or discard used ritual materials. Groups of offering pits were often associated with sanctuaries or settlements. Archaeological analysis of Thracian offering pits shows that they often contained layers of ash, although evidence of burning of objects from the pits is rare.


= Animal sacrifice

= Domestic animals were very common as food offerings in Thracian offering pits: *87 of the 137 pits below the 3rd mound at Kralevo contained animal bones, with the average pit containing between two and four different animals, and 300 out of the 328 sacrificed animals were domestic, consisting of cattle (33.71% of sacrifices), pigs (28.03%), sheep (33.33%), goats, horses (4.93%), and dogs; *in the offering pits at Bagachina, the offerings from over the course of the 5th to the 2nd centuries BCE consisted of individual cattle (28.91%), sheep or goat (14.06%), pig (29.18%), horse (4.15%), dog (1.86%), deer (11.67%), wild boar (5.83%), bear (1.33%): **of these, the largest number of bones were of cattle (56.52%), followed by pigs (16.82%), after which goats and sheep and other domestic animals together amounted to 16.2% *dogs and horses were rarely sacrificed, with neither being butchered for meat, while the dogs' whole bodies were buried after they had been decapitated; *most of the sacrificed cattle were adults, and calves constituted the majority of the younger sacrificed cattle, while piglets were preferentially sacrificed rather than adult pigs, and both adult and young sheep and goats were sacrificed; *the remains of the bones found in the sacrificial pits show signs that they had not been burnt, that their meat had been carefully removed, and that they were primarily constituted leg joints and skulls and horn cores as well as cattle ribs and vertebrae **this suggests that the best cuts of the animals were used for consumption by humans, and that the parts offered in sacrifice were the "divine portions," similar to the Ancient Greek sacrificial practice. At Bagachina, at most 15 pits contained horse bones and at most 7 pits contained dog bones, although none of them were complete or even partial skeletons. It is unknown whether they were part of the same deposits, and their relation to the association of horses and dogs with upper class funerary rituals as well as to the Ancient Greek practice of sacrificing horses and dogs in chthonic rituals are still unknown. The remains of hunted animals such as deer, wild boars, hares, martens, foxes, and badgers, were more rarely deposited in the sacrificial pits, although the martens, foxes and badgers were not food offerings since they had been hunted for their fur. Humans appear to have not been sacrificed in the Thracian offering pits. The very young age of some of the animals buried in the Thracian sacrificial pits suggests that they had been buried around the months of May and July, implying that these sacrifices were related to a specific phase of the agricultural year.


= Human sacrifice

= The Thracians also practised
human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...
s: *Pleistorus was offered human sacrifices; *The ruler of the tribe of the
Caeni Kainoi () or Caeni is the name of a Thracian tribe, mentioned by the Roman historian Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, title ...
,
Diegylis Diegylis (Ancient Greek: Διήγυλις) was a chieftain of the Thracian Caeni tribe and father of Ziselmius. He is described by ancient sources (such as Diodorus Siculus) as extremely bloodthirsty.Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'', ...
, had sacrificed two young Greeks in 145 BCE, and claimed that kings could not offer the same sacrificial victims as commoners. Every four years, the Thracian tribe of the Getae would chose an individual by lot who would be sacrificed as a messenger to Zalmoxis: *The man was given the message for Zalmoxis while still alive, and was then sacrificed by being thrown on the sharp points of spears; *If the sacrificee died, he was believed to have been favoured by Zalmoxis, but if he survived he was considered unworthy of being the messenger for the god. This sacrifice was related to the story of death and resurrection of Zalmoxis after three years, since it was performed to summon Zalmoxis every four years to a ritual which made its participants immortal.


Syncretism


Scythian

When the Scythians migrated into the
Pontic Steppe Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from n ...
in the early 1st millennium BCE, their religion absorbed the fertility cults of the agricultural Thracian populations already living there. As part of this process, the Thracian goddess Bendis influenced the Scythian goddess
Artimpasa Artimpasa (; ) was a complex androgynous Scythian goddess of fertility who possessed power over sovereignty and the priestly force. Artimpasa was the Scythian variant of the Iranian goddess Arti/ Aṣ̌i. Name The first element of Artimpasa's n ...
. Names of some of the main Scythian masculine deities were of Thracian origin and absorbed by the Scythians, and strong parallels existed between the Scythian and Thracian religions as result.


Graeco-Roman

In addition to the Thracian elite's willingness to adopt foreign ideas and practices, the Greek colonisation of the Black Sea coast and Macedonian conquest of Thrace, in addition to the Roman conquest, also brought in strong foreign influences. This process was especially concentrated in the ethnically diverse cities and towns, while more rural communities were more conservative and followed the traditional Thracian cult.


Greek influence

Due to the geographical proximity of the ancient Greeks and Thracians, there was significant circulation of their respective religious beliefs among each other: beginning in the 5th century BCE, decorated items imported by the Thracians, especially tableware such as the
Panagyurishte Panagyurishte (, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of Pazardzhik. The town is ...
and , were decorated with depictions of Greek gods and myths, suggesting that stories like the
judgement of Paris The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War, and in later versions to the foundation of Rome. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Th ...
, the Dionysian or Kabeiric scene on a jug from the
Borovo treasure The Borovo Treasure, also known as the Borovo Silver Treasure, is a Thracian hoard of five matching silver-gilt items discovered in late 1974 while ploughing a field in Borovo, Bulgaria. The treasure is kept in the history museum at Ruse. Item ...
, and Thracian copies of the myths of
Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
on a jug from the
Rogozen Treasure The Rogozen Treasure (), called the find of the century, is a Thracian treasure. Discovery It was discovered by chance in the autumn of 1985 by tractor driver Ivan Dimitrov, digging a hole for an irrigation system in his garden in the Bulgar ...
and a silver plaque from a kurgan near Panagyurishte, were popular in Thrace. Evidence of the affiliation of the Thracian upper class to Greek culture is also attested by how Greek singers sung praises of
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
and Thebes at the wedding of the daughter of Kotys I to
Iphicrates Iphicrates (; ) was an Athenian general, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC. He is credited with important infantry reforms that revolutionized ancient Greek warfare by regularizing light-armed peltasts. Cornelius Nepos w ...
. However, Hellenistic depictions of native Thracian religious scenes which borrowed Greek imagery suggest that indigenous Thracian religious themes were also represented using Greek artistic conventions. The presence of cults of deities known by Greek names in the Thracian interior lands have been traditionally assumed to have been the result of Greek influence beginning with the rule of Philip II of Macedon. However, evidence is lacking for this interpretation, largely due to lack of evidence from the Hellenistic period. The Thracians cults of "Dionysos" and "Phosphoros" appear instead to have been indigenous.


=The Bendidia at Athens

= The Greek city-state of Athens officially recognised the Bendidia festival so that Thracians living there could celebrate one of their primary festivals. This festival was celebrated on the 19th of the month of Thargelion, and during it both Thracian and Greek worshippers of Bendis separately led processions from the in Athens to the Piraeus, where was located the sanctuary of the goddess. The positive and enthusiastic reception of the Bendidia at Athens suggests that the cult was both compatible with Athenian religious customs, and was also viewed favourably by the population of the city, hence why the Bendidia was celebrated at Athens for a long period of time.


Roman influence


=In Moesia

= Under Roman rule, the organisation of Thracian religion changed significantly, with the priests being integrated into the Roman imperial administrative hierarchy and the offices of magistrates in the provincial administration and municipalities. Official Roman cults, as well as new gods, including the most popular ones in the Roman Empire, amongst whom were West Asian and Egyptian deities, were also introduced in Thrace: the cults introduced by the Roman Empire were linked to the official propaganda of imperial power, and included the triad of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, and Minerva Augusta, as well as other deities such as Dea Roma and the then ruling emperor himself. These new cults were especially popular in the Roman army, as well as with Italian settlers who participated in the Roman administration, and amongst merchants and priests, especially those living in the provinces of
Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballia ...
and Inferior. The Roman imperial worship and religious propaganda was centred on the administrative centres, with being attested in
Ratiaria Ratiaria (or: Ratsaria, Raetiaria, Retiaria, Reciaria, Razaria; ; ;) was a city founded by the Moesians, a Daco- Thracian tribe, in the 4th century BC, along the river Danube. In Roman times it was named '' Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria''. ...
,
Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum (, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the village of Gigen. For a ...
, and
Novae A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...
, while were present in Ratiaria, Oescus and
Troesmis Troesmis was an ancient Dacian town and later ancient Roman city and legionary fortress, a major site situated on the Danube and forming a key part of the Limes Moesiae frontier system. Around the fortress the Geto-Dacian town developed. It is ...
, and delegates at Tomis elected a to perform the Imperial cult on a yearly basis. The Roman cults in Thrace included those of Genii,
Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...
and
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
,
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
, Mercury, Ceres,
Liber Pater In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...
,
Proserpina Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...
,
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
, and Silvanus, while single dedications to
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Concordia and
Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...
are also attested. They were largely located in frontier provinces such as Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior where the army was stationed and which were directly under imperial authority, and owed their popularity to the Roman army, which held privileges regarding official cults, the cult of Standards, and the cults of patron deities like
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, Hercules,
Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...
, Victoria, and
Bonus Eventus Bonus Eventus ("Good Outcome") was a divine personification in ancient Roman religion. The Late Republican scholar Varro lists him as one of the twelve deities who presided over agriculture, paired with Lympha, the goddess who influenced the water ...
. Following the Roman conquest, images of deities and written dedications to the gods such as altars, stone reliefs, and statues first appeared in Thrace, with temples especially being built for Roman cults in the new cities which the Roman Empire founded in Moesia: *at the end of Trajan's rule, a consisting of three temples with an altar to Jupiter Optimus Maximus was built at Oescus; *the military camp of
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
contained a large sanctuary of Diana and Apollo, who were there worshipped in the Roman way; *within the inner courtyard of the of Legio Italica I's camp in Novae was a sanctuary of Asclepius and Hygia. Most official altar dedications in Roman cults were located close to military camps, cities and towns. Many of the Thracian cults attested in later periods had however most likely already been established before the Roman conquest of Thrace. The Thracian Horseman was however the most popular deity among the native Thracian soldiers, who occupied the lower ranks of the Roman army and did not usually appeal to foreign deities, with actively participating in Roman cults and officials mainly performing the official cults and the cult of the reigning emperor, while the offered individual dedications to the Thracian Horseman.


=In Thracia

= The official Roman cults were however less popular in the province of Thracia, where the Capitoline triad is not attested, although the Greek deities Zeus and Hera were worshipped there: * At Philippopolis, the Imperial cult was organised by the Thracian and performed by an , who was the chief priest of the city's main cult of Apollo Kendrisos during the reign of
Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
, and under the reign of
Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( ) and Heliogabalus ( ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short r ...
the city received the title of and the duties linked to it were performed by the , which was an office held by individuals with typically Thracian names; *At
Augusta Traiana Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...
, the archiereus officiated his priestly role along with his wife, and he had used his own funds to pay for the dedication of a statue to Marcus Aurelius. The Thracian lived in Philippopolis, and, beginning with the reign of Commodus, the Imperial Cult was performed there through Pythian Games, which were renamed as Alexandrian Games by Caracalla and Kendrisian Games by Elagabalus. The cult of the emperor was performed with gladiatorial games at Augusta Traiana. Within the province of Thracia itself, Greek deities were the more popular ones: *Zeus and Hera were honoured either individually or together in the western part of the province, such as at Serdica,
Pautalia Pautalia is one of the great ancient cities of Thracia, Thrace, now located in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. It was a settlement of the Dentheletae, a Thracian tribe, and had been occupied since at least the Iron Age. It is noted for its temple of Asclep ...
, and in sanctuaries in the Strymon valley, with Cicero mentioning a sanctuary of Jupiter Svelsurdos; *Apollo was also popular in Thracia, where he was the main deity of Augusta Traiana and Philippopolis, having native Thracian priests at the former place and holding the epithet of Kendrisos at the latter one; *Asclepius was popular, often together with Hygeia, in the western part of Thracia, and he had important cults at Pautalia and Serdica, and priests of his with Thracian names are known from Batkun; *Dionysus was worshipped everywhere in Thrace, where he had many priests of largely native Thracian origin who headed religious organisations; *Artemis, Hermes and Heracles are attested from Thracia, especially in urban centres, and native Thracian priests of Heracles are known from Pautalia. These deities were worshipped with Thracian epithets, suggesting that their cults had already been established before the Roman period, although the late date of urbanisation at many cult centres other than Philippopolis means much about their origins is still uncertain. Egyptian cults such as those of
Sarapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god. A syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, as a means to ...
and
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, and Anatolian ones like those of
Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...
and
Attis Attis (; , also , , ) was the consort of Cybele, in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, the '' Galli'', as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis castrating himself. Attis was also a Phrygian vegetation deity. Hi ...
and of Hypsistos, were also present in Thrace, where they had been present since the Hellenistic period, although they had been limited to the Greek colonies; by the Roman period, single dedications to these deities and religious artifacts offered by Greek and West Asian settlers are attested in urban centres. The cult of the Syrian god
Jupiter Dolichenus Jupiter Dolichenus was a Roman god whose mystery cult was widespread in the Roman Empire from the early-2nd to mid-3rd centuries AD. Like several other figures of the mystery cults, Jupiter Dolichenus was one of the so-called 'oriental' gods; th ...
was very popular among West Asian soldiers in Moesia Inferior, where he replaced the Roman cult of Jupiter. The god
Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mit ...
is first attested in the military camps of Moesia, and later in Thracia, although his worshippers were mostly Greeks, Romans, or West Asians, but only rarely were native Thracians. Within Thracia, most temples dedicated to Greek and Eastern cults were located in the towns where lived foreign settlers from the eastern parts of the Roman Empire. Thus, Thracians largely did not participate in the foreign cults introduced under Roman rule other than that of the Phrygian
Sabazius Sabazios (, ''Savázios''; alternatively, ''Sabadios'') is a deity originating in Asia Minor. He is the horseman and sky father god of the Phrygians and Thracians. Sabazios gained prominence across the Roman Empire, particularly favored in the ...
, suggesting it originated in an ancient religious syncretism: even the priest of Sabazius in
Serdica Serdika or Serdica ( Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans ...
was Thracian.


See also

*
Paleo-Balkan mythology Paleo-Balkan mythology is the group of religious beliefs held by Paleo-Balkan-speaking peoples in ancient times, including Illyrian, Thracian and Dacian mythologies. Horseman The horseman was a common Palaeo-Balkan hero. The original Palaeo- ...
*
Illyrian mythology Illyrian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the Illyrian peoples, a group of tribes who spoke the Illyrian languages and inhabited part of the western Balkan Peninsula from at least the 8th century BC until the 7th century ...


Notes


Sources

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Further reading

* Rabadjiev, Kostadin. "The Thracians and Their Religion". In: Sears, Matthew, et al. ''Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece''. First Edition ed., Getty Publications, 2025. pp. 57–66. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/124308. {{Thracians Religion in classical antiquity Paleo-Balkan mythology