The Thracians did not leave any written sources about themselves but they did leave a lot of beautifully decorated tombs and fascinating gold treasures scattered around Bulgaria. Would you like to know more about these people and their civilization, whose disappearance was just as mysterious as their appearance? Then check out this article.
Nobody knows where the Thracians originally came from and when exactly they settled on the Balkan Peninsula, however, by 4000 BC there were already more than seventy Thracian tribes inhabiting the territory between the Carpathian Mountains and Aegean Sea. Although there were a lot of them, they were never united and thus they did not appear as a serious threat to their future neighbors, the Ancient Greeks.
It's all about fighting and having fun
The Thracians, who seemed to be very talented in warfare, were engaged in numerous wars. Most of the battles they led were actually between their own tribes and surprisingly they were more fierce towards each other than towards their outer enemies. Anyway, when they were not on the battlefield, the Thracians enjoyed drinking a lot of wine and organizing spectacular feasts.
A feast depicted on the walls of a Thracian tomb
That could explain why although they worshiped a whole pantheon of gods, the one they loved the most was Sabazios, god of… the wine and the feasts! If I could use colloquial language to summarize the nature of the Thracians, they were definitely more of party people than hard workers. As Herodotus once wrote “they loved having nothing to do, considered working in agriculture humiliating and preferred to live off their war lootings”.
The Orpheus Myth and Thracian Mythology
Not only did they enjoy drinking at their parties, but they also fancied poetry, dancing and singing. No wonder the greatest singer of all time Orpheus was born a Thracian. Legend says that even wild animals were enchanted by his songs and trees bowed with their branches as a sign of respect for Orpheus’ incredible talent. Poor guy fell in love with the beautiful Eurydice, who was bitten by a snake and passed away shortly after their marriage.
The mythical singer Orpheus with his wife Eurydice
Realizing how much Orpheus loved his wife, the ruler of the spirit world led him bring Eurydice back to life. There was, however, one condition: while in the spirit world Orpheus should not look behind his back to see whether his wife was following him. Unfortunately, he could not resist forever and eventually turned around to see Eurydice disappearing in the darkness for good. His grief was so great that he could no longer feel happiness. Orpheus lived in sadness for four more years before he died and he was reunited with his lost love.
Sabazios (Dionysus), the Thracian god of wine
This originally Thracian legend was later incorporated into Greek Mythology as well as the entire assembly of the Thracian gods whose names were later replaced with Greek ones (the latter was declared as true by the Greek geographer and historian Strabo himself). Thus Sabazios became Dionysus, a name that probably pops up much more associations in your head (especially if you are into mythology). What makes it even more funny is that the Romans took their pantheon from the Greeks and changed the names of the same good old Thracian gods for the second time!
This will remain a mystery forever
Back to the historical track, it is quite surprising that a civilization with such a complex and diverse mythology did not leave behind anything written. Did they do so because they were just too lazy and tired from their countless feasts? Or could it be that they were too busy fighting on the battlefield that they did not have enough time to create their own alphabet? There could be a totally different explanation for this.
A part of the Panagyurishte Treasure, a true masterpiece
Thracians believed the word was was the only connection they had with their gods. It was regarded as something sacred and its materialization in the form of written language could have been completely out of the question. Think about it, Orpheus did not write any of his magnificent songs and neither did Homer with his famous “Odyssey” and “Iliad”. Even Jesus himself did not write down a single word of what he said throughout his entire lifetime.
A slightly different approach to life
Anyway, the Thracians had a remarkable and rather unconventional attitude towards life. They believed their stay on Earth was plain boring and they literally could not wait until they cross over into the world beyond. They cried when somebody was born but they celebrated his death with great joy. Why? They did not believe that a person could be reincarnated or revived, neither they thought that the body and the soul could be separated from one another.
The Thracian tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria
However, they were convinced that after they die they would meet all the people they have lost in their lives and have a never-ending feast with the Gods. Some sources claim that when a man died, his wife was “more than happy” to get buried with him as she could join the eternal party even sooner. So, you could say that this was not an expression of pure love and commitment but rather a selfish act. As I come to think of it, humans have been like this since the dawn of history…
If the Thracians really believed that the only purpose of life is to get to the world beyond, that could explain why they put such a great effort in occupying their tombs with beautiful (and also very expensive) handmade golden objects. Today, there are more than 20,000 Thracian tombs in Bulgaria only and some of them, such as the Kazanlak Tomb have some astonishing paintings on their walls.
The Thracian tomb of Kazanlak, Bulgaria
The Thracians buried their dead fellows in hills, which were quite obvious and like the pyramids in Egypt have been a subject to vandalism. Unfortunately, we will never know how much of their treasures were stolen and lost in the hands of private collectors for all eternity.
To complete the puzzle: a final piece of history
So, what happened with this great civilization which was good at fighting in wars and extremely good at having fun? As I mentioned earlier, the Thracians lived in separate tribes and often fought each other to increase the influence of their tribes. They could not establish not even a single country that would last for a longer period of time which made it a piece of cake for Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great to invade their territory and make them his subordinates.
A view from the ancient city of Perperikon, Bulgaria
After Alexander died, the Thracians made their final attempt to reunite under the rule of Seuthes III, which build a powerful state and founded a new capital he named after… himself (a practice that was later recognized by the Roman emperor Constantine, who founded the city of Constantinople, now Istanbul). The city of Seuthopolis had some mighty walls designed to keep the enemies away and his beauty was legendary. It is such a pity that today it is located on the bottom of a simple dam…
The revival of the Thracian civilization did not last long after the demise of king Seuthes III. As soon as the Romans set foot in the land of the Thracians, the different tribes began to fight back independently from one another. They fought bravely, but lost tragically to the sons of Romulus and Remus. Numerous unsuccessful riots against the rule of the Roman Empire were organized, with one of them being led by the legendary Spartacus.
Spartacus during the times he was a gladiator
He was captured by the Romans to become the favorite gladiator of the crowds and later on organized the biggest slave revolt in history, bringing the Roman Empire to the brink of its annihilation (in 73 BC, to be exact). Nonetheless, the Thracians continued to live separately until most of them were eventually wiped out in a fierce battle with the emperor Trajan. Thus, the existence of this great civilization came to an end in 106 AD. Or maybe not? It is difficult to imagine that it could all end with a single battle. At least I refuse to believe it.
The Day of Wine, celebrated in Bulgaria on 14 February, has Thracian origins
Although the Thracians were gone, their heritage continued to exist in this world. They gave their gods to the Greeks (and eventually to their annihilators, the Romans, although both of them were later converted to Christianity) and passed on their passion for music and poetry to us, Bulgarians. In fact, a recent research revealed that around 25% of the Bulgarian population has Thracian origins. However, whether we like it or not, we have to admit that we have inherited their self-destructing anarchism and their notable insobriety as well.
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