THRACIANS AND GREEKS ON THE SOUTH-WEST BLACK SEA COAST IN ANTIQUITY

Abstract

On the southwest coast of the Black Sea, near the town of Bourgas, on the peak of Shiloto, there is an ancient Thracian royal residence-fortress with a sanctuary of Apollo Karsenos. Nearby, on the shore of Mandra Lake, there is a Thracian tyrsis from the 4th–2nd c. BC, in which many ceramics from Apollonia and Mesambria were discovered. In Burgas found an ancient Greek inscription from the middle of the 3th century BC, which says Rhaiskuporis son of the king Kotis, who is sent by his father as a hostage after the deadline left in the city... According the sources, it is assumed that this is one copy of the decree, which is located in the odrysian marketplace in the coastal area, and the other copy was placed in the respective city. At the sanctuary of Apollo Karsenos, silver coins found of the odrysian king Kotis I (383/382–360/359 BC), many bronze coins and 120 silver drachmas of Apollonia from the first half of the 4th century BC were 19 discovered, 1 bronze coin of Messambria from the second half of the 2nd century BC and 1 bronze coin of the Thracian King Mostis (c. 125–86 BC). These data indicate an active odrysian dynastic center that rules the coast of Burgas Bay. Ancient archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic monuments show that besides the harbors of the 3 well-known Hellenic poleis Messambria, Anhialo and Apollonia, 3 Thracian seaports are located in the bay of Bourgas: 2 at the town of Bourgas: in the districts of Pobeda and Izgrev; 1 – at the town of Pomorie. Dominated by a fortified Thracian ruler‘s residence with a sanctuary of Apollo Karsenos at Shiloto peak, along with the ports of the 3 Hellenic poleis, they play the role of a contact zone between the Thracians and the Greeks in the area of the Bourgas Bay.