Abdera, Thrace: Difference between revisions

Abdera

Άβδηρα
Abdera Άβδηρα
Municipality
	Remains of the ancient city of Abdera.
	Abdera Location within the region
	Coordinates: 40°56′N 24°58′E / 40.933°N 24.967°E
Country	Greece
Geographic region	Thrace
Administrative region	Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Regional unit	Xanthi
Government
• Mayor	Georgios Tsitiridis (since 2014)
Area
• Municipality	352.0 km2 (135.9 sq mi)
• Municipal unit	162.0 km2 (62.5 sq mi)
Elevation	41 m (135 ft)
Population (2021)
• Municipality	17,610
• Density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)
• Municipal unit	2,799
• Municipal unit density	17/km2 (45/sq mi)
• Community	1,172
Demonym(s)	Abderite, Abderian
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Vehicle registration	AH

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Abdera (Greek: Άβδηρα) is a municipality in the Xanthi regional unit of Thrace, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was a major Greek polis on the Thracian coast.

The ancient polis is to be distinguished from the municipality, which was named in its honor. The polis lay 17 km east-northeast of the mouth of the Nestos River, almost directly opposite the island of Thasos. It was a colony placed in previously unsettled Thracian territory, not then a part of Hellas, during the age of Greek colonization. The city that developed from it became of major importance in ancient Greece. After the 4th century AD it declined, contracted to its acropolis, and was abandoned, never to be reoccupied except by archaeologists.

During the Early Middle Ages, a new settlement emerged near the ancient city. It was called Polystylon (Greek: Πολύστυλον),^[3] and later considered as the New Abdera (Greek: Νέα Άβδηρα). In 2011 the modern municipality of Abdera was synoecized from three previous municipalities comprising a number of modern settlements. The ancient site remains in it as a ruin. The municipality of Abdera has 17,610 inhabitants (2021). The seat of the municipality is the town Genisea.^[4]

Name

The name Abdera is of Phoenician origin and was shared in antiquity by Abdera, Spain and a town near Carthage in North Africa.^[5]^[a] It was variously Hellenized as Ἄβδηρα (Ábdēra), Αὔδηρα (Aúdēra),^[7] Ἄβδαρα (Ábdara),^[8] Ἄβδηρον (Ábdēron),^[7] and Ἄβδηρος (Ábdēros),^[9] before being Latinized as Abdera.^[7] Greek legend attributed the name to an eponymous Abderus who fell nearby and was memorialized by Hercules's founding of a city at the location.^[10]

The present-day town is written Avdira (Άβδηρα) and pronounced [ˈavðira] in modern Greek.

History

Antiquity

The Phoenicians apparently began the settlement of Abdera at some point before the mid-7th century^[5] and the town long maintained Phoenician standards in its coinage.

The Greek settlement was begun as a failed colony from Klazomenai, traditionally dated to 654 BC. (Evidence in 7th-century-BC Greek pottery tends to support the traditional date but the exact timing remains uncertain.)^[11] Herodotus reports that the leader of the colony had been Timesios but, within his generation, the Thracians had expelled the colonists. Timesios was subsequently honored as a local protective spirit by the later Abderans from Teos.^[12] Others recount various legends about this colony. Plutarch and Aelian relate that Timesios grew insufferable to his colonists because of his desire to do everything by himself; when one of their children let him know how they all really felt, he quit the settlement in disgust; modern scholars have tried to split the difference between the two accounts of early Abdera's failure by giving the latter as the reason for Timesios's having left Klazomenai.^[13]

Strabo describes Abdera as "a Thracian city"^[14] at the time of Anacreon and the migration of people from Teos to that area. The successful colonisation occurred in 544 BC, when the majority of the people of Teos (including the poet Anacreon) migrated to Abdera to escape the Persian invasion of their homeland.^[15]^[16] The chief coin type, a griffon, is identical with that of Teos; the rich silver coinage is noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types.^[17]

In 513 and 512 BC, the Persians, under Darius conquered Abdera, by which time the city seems to have become a place of considerable importance, and is mentioned as one of the cities which had the expensive honour of entertaining the great king on his march into Greece.^[18] In 492 BC, after the Ionian Revolt, the Persians again conquered Abdera, again under Darius I but led by his general Mardonius. On his flight after the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes stopped at Abdera and acknowledged the hospitality of its inhabitants by presenting them with a tiara and scimitar of gold.^[19] Thucydides^[20] mentions Abdera as the westernmost limit of the Odrysian kingdom when at its height at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war. It later became part of the Delian League and fought on the side of Athens in the Peloponnesian war.^[21]

Abdera was a wealthy city, the third richest in the League, due to its status as a prime port for trade with the interior of Thrace and the Odrysian kingdom.^[11] In 408 BC, Abdera was reduced under the power of Athens by Thrasybulus, then one of the Athenian generals in that quarter.^[22]

A valuable prize, the city was repeatedly sacked: by the Triballi in 376 BC, Philip II of Macedon in 350 BC; later by Lysimachos of Thrace,^[16] the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and again by the Macedonians. In 170 BC the Roman armies and those of Eumenes II of Pergamon besieged and sacked it.

The town seems to have declined in importance after the middle of the 4th century BC.^[17] Cicero ridicules the city as a byword for stupidity in his letters to Atticus, writing of a debate in the Senate, "Here was Abdera, but I wasn't silent" ("Hic, Abdera non tacente me").^[23] The Philogelos, a Greek-language joke book compiled in the 4th century AD, has a chapter dedicated to jokes about dumb Abderans.^[24] Nevertheless, the city counted among its citizens the philosophers Democritus, Protagoras^[16] and Anaxarchus, historian and philosopher Hecataeus of Abdera, and the lyric poet Anacreon. Pliny the Elder speaks of Abdera as being in his time a free city.^[25]

Abdera had flourished especially in ancient times mainly for two reasons: because of the large area of their territory and their highly strategic position. The city controlled two great road passages (one of Nestos river and other through the mountains north of Xanthi). Furthermore, from their ports passed the sea road, which from Troas led to the Thracian and then the Macedonian coast.^[26]

The ruins of the town may still be seen on Cape Balastra (40°56'1.02"N 24°58'21.81"E); they cover seven small hills, and extend from an eastern to a western harbor; on the southwestern hills are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon (Greek: Πολύστυλον). Since the 9th century, Byzantine Polystylon was an episcopal see, under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan bishop of Philippi. By the end of the 14th century it fell under the Ottoman rule.^[3]

Modern

Avdira as a modern administrative unit (community) was established in 1924, and consisted of the villages Avdira, Myrodato (Kalfalar), Pezoula, Giona, Veloni and Mandra, but Myrodato and Mandra became separate communities in 1928.^[27] The municipality Avdira was formed in 1997 by the merger of the former communities Avdira, Mandra, Myrodato and Nea Kessani.^[4] At the 2011 local government reform it merged with the former municipalities Selero and Vistonida, and the town Genisea became its seat.^[4]^[28]

The municipality has an area of 352.047 km², the municipal unit 161.958 km².^[29] The municipal unit Avdira is subdivided into the communities Avdira, Mandra, Myrodato and Nea Kessani. The community Avdira consists of the settlements Avdira, Giona, Lefkippos, Pezoula and Skala.

Landmarks

Landmarks of Abdera include the Archaeological Museum of Abdera, the Kütüklü Baba Tekke, and Agios Ioannis Beach (also Paralia Avdiron) near the village Lefkippos.

Famous people

Notes

^ The name of the African town is written Ἄβδειρα (Ábdeira) in Claudius Ptolemy's Geography.^[6]

References

Citations

^ Municipality of Avdira, Municipal elections – October 2023, Ministry of Interior
^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b Agelarakis & Agelarakis 2015, p. 11-56.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Δ. Αβδήρων". EETAA. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b Graham (1992), pp. 44–45.
^ "Ἄβδειρα". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abdera" . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
^ "Ἄβδηρα". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
^ "Ἄβδηρος". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ed. Wagner, R. Leipzig: Teubner, 1894; Mythographi Graeci 1, Chapter 2, section 97, line 7ff.
^ ^a ^b Hornblower, Simon (1996). "Abdera". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1.
^ Graham (1992), p. 46.
^ Graham (1992), pp. 45–47.
^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. 14.1. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
^ Herodotus, i.168.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Abdera". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010. pp. 19. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
^ ^a ^b
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abdera". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 33. Endnotes:
- Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens, xii. (1887), p. 161 (Regel);
- Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, xxxix. 211;
- K. F. Hermann, Ges. Abh. 90-111, 370 ff.
^ Herod. vii. 120.
^ Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abdera" . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
^ ii. 97.
^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, ed. Vogel, F., Fischer, K.T. (post I. Bekker & L. Dindorf), Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1888; 2:1890; 3:1893; 4–5:1906, Repr. 1964. Book 13, chapter 72, section 2, line 2.
^ Diod. xiii. 72.
^ Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum, 4.17.3, 7.7.4.
^ The Jests of Hierocles and Philagrius. Translated by Bubb, Charles Clinch. Cleveland: The Rowfant Club. 1920. pp. 50–55.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^ N.H. iv. 18.
^ D. C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Western Thrace during the Roman Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 2005, p. 91-96
^ "Κ. Αβδήρων". EETAA. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
^ "ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text" (in Greek). Government Gazette.
^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-21.

Sources

Grant, Michael (1986). A Guide to the Ancient World. Michael Grant Publications.
Agelarakis, Anagnostis; Agelarakis, Argiro (2015). "Αbdera/ Polystylon: A Byzantine Town in Western Thrace in the Context of Historical Developments during the 6th-14th Centuries as Depicted by its Archaeo-Anthropological Record". Byzantina Symmeikta. 25: 11–56. doi:10.12681/byzsym.1159.
Adak, Mustafa and Thonemann, Peter (2022). Teos and Abdera: Two Cities in Peace and War. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

External links

Stillwell, Richard, ed. (1976). "Abdera, Thrace, Greece". Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.
"Abdera". Hellenic Ministry of Culture. 2005. Archived from the original on 2008-02-03.
Graham, A.J. (1992), "Abdera and Teos", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. CXII, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, pp. 44–73, doi:10.2307/632152, JSTOR 632152, S2CID 162718165.

[7] The name of the African town is written Ἄβδειρα (Ábdeira) in Claudius Ptolemy's Geography.^[6]

[mayor-1] Municipality of Avdira, Municipal elections – October 2023, Ministry of Interior

[census21-2] "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.

[FOOTNOTEAgelarakisAgelarakis201511-56-3] Agelarakis & Agelarakis 2015, p. 11-56.

[eetaa-4] "Δ. Αβδήρων". EETAA. Retrieved 24 July 2022.

[FOOTNOTEGraham199244–45-5] Graham (1992), pp. 44–45.

[6] "Ἄβδειρα". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.

[dgrg-8] Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abdera" . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

[9] "Ἄβδηρα". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.

[10] "Ἄβδηρος". Logeion. University of Chicago. Retrieved 20 November 2019.

[11] Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ed. Wagner, R. Leipzig: Teubner, 1894; Mythographi Graeci 1, Chapter 2, section 97, line 7ff.

[OCD-12] Hornblower, Simon (1996). "Abdera". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1.

[FOOTNOTEGraham199246-13] Graham (1992), p. 46.

[FOOTNOTEGraham199245–47-14] Graham (1992), pp. 45–47.

[15] Strabo. Geographica. Vol. 14.1. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.

[16] Herodotus, i.168.

[EB-17] "Abdera". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2010. pp. 19. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.

[EB1911-18] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abdera". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 33. Endnotes:
Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens, xii. (1887), p. 161 (Regel);

Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, xxxix. 211;

K. F. Hermann, Ges. Abh. 90-111, 370 ff.

[19] Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens, xii. (1887), p. 161 (Regel);

[20] Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, xxxix. 211;

[21] K. F. Hermann, Ges. Abh. 90-111, 370 ff.

[19] Herod. vii. 120.

[Smith-20] Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abdera" . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

[21] . 97.

[22] Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, ed. Vogel, F., Fischer, K.T. (post I. Bekker & L. Dindorf), Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1888; 2:1890; 3:1893; 4–5:1906, Repr. 1964. Book 13, chapter 72, section 2, line 2.

[23] Diod. xiii. 72.

[24] Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum, 4.17.3, 7.7.4.

[25] The Jests of Hierocles and Philagrius. Translated by Bubb, Charles Clinch. Cleveland: The Rowfant Club. 1920. pp. 50–55.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

[26] N.H. iv. 18.

[27] D. C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Western Thrace during the Roman Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 2005, p. 91-96

[28] "Κ. Αβδήρων". EETAA. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

[Kallikratis-29] "ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text" (in Greek). Government Gazette.

[stat01-30] "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-21.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Municipality in the Xanthi Prefecture of Thrace, Greece}}
 {{Infobox Greek Dimos
  |name = Abdera
  |name_local = Άβδηρα
+|type = municipality
  |image_map = 2011 Dimos Avdiron.svg
  |georegion = [[western Thrace|Thrace]]
@@ Line 7: / Line 9: @@
  |periph = [[Eastern Macedonia and Thrace]]
  |periphunit         = [[Xanthi (regional unit)|Xanthi]]
- |pop_municipality   = 19005
+ |pop_municipality   = 17610
  |area_municipality  = 352.0
- |pop_municunit   = 3341
+ |pop_municunit   = 2799
  |area_municunit  = 162.0
- |pop_community   = 1473
+ |pop_community   = 1172
- |population_as_of = 2011
+ |population_as_of = 2021
  |elevation = 41
  |coordinates        = {{coord|40|56|N|24|58|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
@@ Line 21: / Line 23: @@
  |image_skyline      = Abdera.JPG
  |caption_skyline    = Remains of the ancient city of Abdera.
+ |mayor              = Georgios Tsitiridis<ref name=mayor>[https://ekloges.ypes.gr/current/d/home/en/municipalities/9015/ Municipality of Avdira, Municipal elections – October 2023], Ministry of Interior</ref>
- |mayor              = Georgios Tsitiridis
  |party              =
  |since              = 2014
 }}
-'''Abdera''' is a [[municipalities and communities of Greece|municipality]] in the [[Xanthi (regional unit)|Xanthi Prefecture]] of [[western Thrace|Thrace]], [[Greece]]. In [[classical antiquity]], it was a major [[ancient Greece|Greek]] ''[[polis]]'' on the [[Thrace|Thracian]] coast.
+'''Abdera''' ({{Langx|el|Άβδηρα}}) is a [[municipalities and communities of Greece|municipality]] in the [[Xanthi (regional unit)|Xanthi regional unit]] of [[western Thrace|Thrace]], [[Greece]]. In [[classical antiquity]], it was a major [[ancient Greece|Greek]] ''[[polis]]'' on the [[Thrace|Thracian]] coast.
-The ancient polis is to be distinguished from the municipality, which was named in its honor. The polis lay 17&nbsp;km east-northeast of the mouth of the [[Nestos River]], almost directly opposite the island of [[Thasos]]. It was a colony placed in previously unsettled Thracian territory, not then a part of Hellas, during the age of [[Greek colonization]]. The city that developed from it became of major importance in ancient Greece. After the 4th century{{nbsp}}{{sc|ad}} it declined, contracted to its [[acropolis]], and was abandoned, never to be reoccupied except by archaeologists.
+The ancient polis is to be distinguished from the municipality, which was named in its honor. The polis lay 17&nbsp;km east-northeast of the mouth of the [[Nestos River]], almost directly opposite the island of [[Thasos]]. It was a colony placed in previously unsettled Thracian territory, not then a part of Hellas, during the age of [[Greek colonization]]. The city that developed from it became of major importance in ancient Greece. After the 4th century{{nbsp}}AD it declined, contracted to its [[acropolis]], and was abandoned, never to be reoccupied except by archaeologists.
-Meanwhile, life went on as the changing population settled in other communities in the region. One named Polystylus changed its name to Abdera. In 2011 the municipality of Abdera was [[synoecism|synoecized]] from three previous municipalities comprising a number of modern settlements. The ancient site remains in it as a ruin. The municipality of Abdera has 19,005 inhabitants (2011). The seat of the municipality is the town [[Genisea]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web3.eetaa.gr:8080/metaboles/show_metaboles_ota.jsp?toponymio_code=6910 |title=Administrative changes in OTA |date=4 December 1997 |publisher=EETAA |accessdate=9 December 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212141303/http://web3.eetaa.gr:8080/metaboles/show_metaboles_ota.jsp?toponymio_code=6910 |archivedate=2016-12-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
+During the [[Early Middle Ages]], a new settlement emerged near the ancient city. It was called Polystylon ({{langx|el|Πολύστυλον}}),{{sfn|Agelarakis|Agelarakis|2015|p=11-56}} and later considered as the New Abdera ({{langx|el|Νέα Άβδηρα}}). In 2011 the modern municipality of Abdera was [[synoecism|synoecized]] from three previous municipalities comprising a number of modern settlements. The ancient site remains in it as a ruin. The municipality of Abdera has 17,610 inhabitants (2021). The seat of the municipality is the town [[Genisea]].<ref name=eetaa>{{cite web |url=https://www.eetaa.gr/eetaa/metaboles/dkmet_details.php?id=6910 |title=Δ. Αβδήρων|publisher=EETAA |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>
 {{anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Names}}
 ==Name==
-The name ''Abdera'' is of [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] origin and was shared in antiquity by [[Abdera, Spain]] and a town near [[Carthage]] in [[North Africa]].{{sfnp|Graham|1992|pp=44–45}}{{efn|The name of the African town is written {{lang|grc|Ἄβδειρα}} (''Ábdeira'') in Claudius [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδειρα|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδειρα|website=Logeion|publisher=[[University of Chicago]]|accessdate=20 November 2019}}</ref>}} It was variously [[Hellenization|Hellenized]] as {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρα}} (''Ábdēra''), {{lang|grc|Αὔδηρα}} (''Aúdēra''),<ref name="dgrg" /> {{lang|grc|Ἄβδαρα}} (''Ábdara''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδηρα|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδηρα|website=Logeion|publisher=University of Chicago|accessdate=20 November 2019}}</ref> {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρον}} (''Ábdēron''),<ref name="dgrg" /> and {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρος}} (''Ábdēros''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδηρος|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδηρος|website=Logeion|publisher=University of Chicago|accessdate=20 November 2019}}</ref> before being [[latinisation of names|Latinized]] as ''Abdera''.<ref name=dgrg>{{cite DGRG|wstitle=Abdera}}</ref> [[Greek mythology|Greek legend]] attributed the name to an eponymous [[Abderus]] who fell nearby and was memorialized by [[Hercules]]'s founding of a city at the location.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheke|Bibliotheca]]'', ed. Wagner, R. Leipzig: Teubner, 1894; ''Mythographi Graeci'' 1, Chapter 2, section 97, line 7ff.</ref>
+The name ''Abdera'' is of [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] origin and was shared in antiquity by [[Abdera, Spain]] and a town near [[Carthage]] in [[North Africa]].{{sfnp|Graham|1992|pp=44–45}}{{efn|The name of the African town is written {{lang|grc|Ἄβδειρα}} (''Ábdeira'') in Claudius [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδειρα|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδειρα|website=Logeion|publisher=[[University of Chicago]]|access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref>}} It was variously [[Hellenization|Hellenized]] as {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρα}} (''Ábdēra''), {{lang|grc|Αὔδηρα}} (''Aúdēra''),<ref name="dgrg" /> {{lang|grc|Ἄβδαρα}} (''Ábdara''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδηρα|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδηρα|website=Logeion|publisher=University of Chicago|access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref> {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρον}} (''Ábdēron''),<ref name="dgrg" /> and {{lang|grc|Ἄβδηρος}} (''Ábdēros''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Ἄβδηρος|url=https://logeion.uchicago.edu/Ἄβδηρος|website=Logeion|publisher=University of Chicago|access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref> before being [[latinisation of names|Latinized]] as ''Abdera''.<ref name=dgrg>{{cite DGRG|wstitle=Abdera}}</ref> [[Greek mythology|Greek legend]] attributed the name to an eponymous [[Abderus]] who fell nearby and was memorialized by [[Hercules]]'s founding of a city at the location.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'', ed. Wagner, R. Leipzig: Teubner, 1894; ''Mythographi Graeci'' 1, Chapter 2, section 97, line 7ff.</ref>
 The present-day town is written '''Avdira''' ({{lang|el|Άβδηρα}}) and pronounced {{IPA-el|ˈavðira|}} in [[modern Greek]].
@@ Line 44: / Line 46: @@
 The [[Phoenicia]]ns apparently began the settlement of Abdera at some point before the mid-7th century{{sfnp|Graham|1992|pp=44–45}} and the town long maintained Phoenician standards in its coinage.
-The Greek settlement was begun as a failed colony from [[Klazomenai]], traditionally dated to 654{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}. (Evidence in 7th-century-{{sc|bc}} [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek pottery]] tends to support the traditional date but the exact timing remains uncertain.)<ref name="OCD">{{cite encyclopedia| last = Hornblower| first = Simon| title = Abdera | encyclopedia = The Oxford Classical Dictionary| pages = 1| publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| year = 1996}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] reports that the leader of the colony had been [[Timesios]] but, within his generation, the [[Thracians]] had expelled the colonists. Timesios was subsequently honored as a [[hero (ancient Greece)|local protective spirit]] by the later Abderans from Teos.{{sfnp|Graham|1992|p=46}} Others recount various legends about this colony. [[Plutarch]] and [[Aelian]] relate that Timesios grew insufferable to his colonists because of his desire to do everything by himself; when one of their children let him know how they all really felt, he quit the settlement in disgust; modern scholars have tried to split the difference between the two accounts of early Abdera's failure by giving the latter as the reason for Timesios's having left Klazomenai.{{sfnp|Graham|1992|pp=45–47}}
+The Greek settlement was begun as a failed colony from [[Klazomenai]], traditionally dated to 654{{nbsp}}BC. (Evidence in 7th-century-BC [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek pottery]] tends to support the traditional date but the exact timing remains uncertain.)<ref name="OCD">{{cite encyclopedia| last = Hornblower| first = Simon| title = Abdera | encyclopedia = The Oxford Classical Dictionary| pages = 1| publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| year = 1996}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] reports that the leader of the colony had been [[Timesios]] but, within his generation, the [[Thracians]] had expelled the colonists. Timesios was subsequently honored as a [[hero (ancient Greece)|local protective spirit]] by the later Abderans from Teos.{{sfnp|Graham|1992|p=46}} Others recount various legends about this colony. [[Plutarch]] and [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] relate that Timesios grew insufferable to his colonists because of his desire to do everything by himself; when one of their children let him know how they all really felt, he quit the settlement in disgust; modern scholars have tried to split the difference between the two accounts of early Abdera's failure by giving the latter as the reason for Timesios's having left Klazomenai.{{sfnp|Graham|1992|pp=45–47}}
-The successful foundation occurred in 544{{nbsp}}BC, when the majority of the people of [[Teos]] (including the poet [[Anacreon]]) migrated to Abdera to escape the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] yoke.<ref>[[Herodotus]], i.168.</ref><ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|last=|first=|authorlink=|editor-first=|editor-last=|editor-link=|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abdera|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak - Bayes|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/19 19]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/19}}</ref> The chief coin type, a ''[[Griffin|griffon]]'', is identical with that of Teos; the rich silver coinage is noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Abdera (Thrace)|display=Abdera|volume=1|page=33}} Endnotes:
+[[Strabo]] describes Abdera as "a Thracian city"<ref>{{Cite Strabo|14.1}}</ref> at the time of [[Anacreon]] and the migration of people from [[Teos]] to that area. The successful colonisation occurred in 544{{nbsp}}BC, when the majority of the people of [[Teos]] (including the poet [[Anacreon]]) migrated to Abdera to escape the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] invasion of their homeland.<ref>[[Herodotus]], i.168.</ref><ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abdera|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak - Bayes|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/19 19]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/19}}</ref> The chief coin type, a ''[[Griffin|griffon]]'', is identical with that of Teos; the rich silver coinage is noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Abdera (Thrace)|display=Abdera|volume=1|page=33}} Endnotes:
 *''Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens'', xii. (1887), p.&nbsp;161 (Regel);
 *''Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions'', xxxix. 211;
 *K. F. Hermann, ''Ges. Abh.'' 90-111, 370 ff.</ref>
-In 513 and 512{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}, the Persians, under [[Darius the Great|Darius]] conquered Abdera, by which time the city seems to have become a place of considerable importance, and is mentioned as one of the cities which had the expensive honour of entertaining the great king on his march into Greece.<ref>Herod. vii. 120.</ref> In 492{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}, after the [[Ionian Revolt]], the Persians again conquered Abdera, again under [[Darius I]] but led by his general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]]. On his flight after the [[Battle of Salamis]], Xerxes stopped at Abdera and acknowledged the hospitality of its inhabitants by presenting them with a tiara and scimitar of gold.<ref name=Smith>{{Cite DGRG|wstitle=Abdera}}</ref>  [[Thucydides]]<ref>ii. 97.</ref> mentions Abdera as the westernmost limit of the [[Odrysian kingdom]] when at its height at the beginning of the [[Peloponnesian war]]. It later became part of the [[Delian League]] and fought on the side of Athens in the Peloponnesian war.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca historica'', ed. Vogel, F., Fischer, K.T. (post I. Bekker & L. Dindorf), Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1888; 2:1890; 3:1893; 4–5:1906, Repr. 1964. Book 13, chapter 72, section 2, line 2.</ref>
+In 513 and 512{{nbsp}}BC, the Persians, under [[Darius the Great|Darius]] conquered Abdera, by which time the city seems to have become a place of considerable importance, and is mentioned as one of the cities which had the expensive honour of entertaining the great king on his march into Greece.<ref>Herod. vii. 120.</ref> In 492{{nbsp}}BC, after the [[Ionian Revolt]], the Persians again conquered Abdera, again under [[Darius I]] but led by his general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]]. On his flight after the [[Battle of Salamis]], Xerxes stopped at Abdera and acknowledged the hospitality of its inhabitants by presenting them with a tiara and scimitar of gold.<ref name=Smith>{{Cite DGRG|wstitle=Abdera}}</ref>  [[Thucydides]]<ref>ii. 97.</ref> mentions Abdera as the westernmost limit of the [[Odrysian kingdom]] when at its height at the beginning of the [[Peloponnesian war]]. It later became part of the [[Delian League]] and fought on the side of Athens in the Peloponnesian war.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca historica'', ed. Vogel, F., Fischer, K.T. (post I. Bekker & L. Dindorf), Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1888; 2:1890; 3:1893; 4–5:1906, Repr. 1964. Book 13, chapter 72, section 2, line 2.</ref>
-Abdera was a wealthy city, the third richest in the League, due to its status as a prime port for trade with the interior of Thrace and the [[Odrysian kingdom]].<ref name="OCD"/> In 408{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}, Abdera was reduced under the power of Athens by [[Thrasybulus]], then one of the Athenian generals in that quarter.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus|Diod.]] xiii. 72.</ref>
+Abdera was a wealthy city, the third richest in the League, due to its status as a prime port for trade with the interior of Thrace and the [[Odrysian kingdom]].<ref name="OCD"/> In 408{{nbsp}}BC, Abdera was reduced under the power of Athens by [[Thrasybulus]], then one of the Athenian generals in that quarter.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus|Diod.]] xiii. 72.</ref>
-A valuable prize, the city was repeatedly sacked: by the [[Triballi]] in 376{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}, [[Philip II of Macedon]] in 350{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}; later by [[Lysimachus|Lysimachos of Thrace]],<ref name=EB/> the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]], the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemies]], and again by the Macedonians. In 170{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}} the Roman armies and those of [[Eumenes II|Eumenes II of Pergamon]] besieged and sacked it.
+A valuable prize, the city was repeatedly sacked: by the [[Triballi]] in 376{{nbsp}}BC, [[Philip II of Macedon]] in 350{{nbsp}}BC; later by [[Lysimachus|Lysimachos of Thrace]],<ref name=EB/> the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]], the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemies]], and again by the Macedonians. In 170{{nbsp}}BC the Roman armies and those of [[Eumenes II|Eumenes II of Pergamon]] besieged and sacked it.
-The town seems to have declined in importance after the middle of the 4th century{{nbsp}}{{sc|bc}}.<ref name="EB1911"/> Cicero ridicules the city as a byword for stupidity in his letters to [[Atticus (philosopher)|Atticus]], writing of a debate in the Senate, "Here was Abdera, but I wasn't silent" ("Hic, Abdera non tacente me").<ref>Cicero. ''Epistulae ad Atticum'',  4.17.3, 7.7.4.</ref> Nevertheless, the city counted among its citizens the philosophers [[Democritus]], [[Protagoras]]<ref name=EB/> and [[Anaxarchus]], historian and philosopher [[Hecataeus of Abdera]], and the lyric poet [[Anacreon]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] speaks of Abdera as being in his time a free city.<ref>[[Natural History (Pliny)|N.H.]] iv. 18.</ref>
+The town seems to have declined in importance after the middle of the 4th century{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name="EB1911"/> Cicero ridicules the city as a byword for stupidity in his letters to [[Atticus (philosopher)|Atticus]], writing of a debate in the Senate, "Here was Abdera, but I wasn't silent" ("Hic, Abdera non tacente me").<ref>Cicero. ''Epistulae ad Atticum'',  4.17.3, 7.7.4.</ref> The ''[[Philogelos]]'', a Greek-language joke book compiled in the 4th century AD, has a chapter dedicated to jokes about dumb Abderans.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=http://archive.org/details/jestshieroclesa00ohiogoog |title=The Jests of Hierocles and Philagrius |date=1920 |publisher=The Rowfant Club |year=1920 |location=Cleveland |pages=50–55 |language=English |translator-last=Bubb |translator-first=Charles Clinch}}</ref> Nevertheless, the city counted among its citizens the philosophers [[Democritus]], [[Protagoras]]<ref name=EB/> and [[Anaxarchus]], historian and philosopher [[Hecataeus of Abdera]], and the lyric poet [[Anacreon]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] speaks of Abdera as being in his time a free city.<ref>[[Natural History (Pliny)|N.H.]] iv. 18.</ref>
 [[File:Abdera West gate.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The west gate of classical Abdera]]
@@ Line 63: / Line 65: @@
 Abdera had flourished especially in ancient times mainly for two reasons: because of the large area of their territory and their highly strategic position. The city controlled two great road passages (one of Nestos river and other through the mountains north of Xanthi). Furthermore, from their ports passed the sea road, which from Troas led to the Thracian and then the Macedonian coast.<ref>D. C. Samsaris, Historical  Geography of Western Thrace during the Roman Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 2005, p. 91-96</ref>
-The ruins of the town may still be seen on Cape Balastra (40°56'1.02"N 24°58'21.81"E); they cover seven small hills, and extend from an eastern to a western harbor; on the southwestern hills are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon.<ref name="EB1911"/>
+The ruins of the town may still be seen on Cape Balastra (40°56'1.02"N 24°58'21.81"E); they cover seven small hills, and extend from an eastern to a western harbor; on the southwestern hills are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon ({{langx|el|Πολύστυλον}}). Since the 9th century, [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Polystylon was an [[episcopal see]], under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan bishop of [[Philippi]]. By the end of the 14th century it fell under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule.{{sfn|Agelarakis|Agelarakis|2015|p=11-56}}
 ===Modern===
+Avdira as a modern administrative unit (community) was established in 1924, and consisted of the villages Avdira, [[Myrodato]] (Kalfalar), [[Pezoula]], [[Giona, Xanthi|Giona]], Veloni and [[Mandra, Xanthi|Mandra]], but Myrodato and Mandra became separate communities in 1928.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eetaa.gr/eetaa/metaboles/dkmet_details.php?id=4351|title=Κ. Αβδήρων|publisher=EETAA |access-date=29 June 2020}}</ref> The municipality Avdira was formed in 1997 by the merger of the former communities Avdira, Mandra, Myrodato and [[Nea Kessani]].<ref name=eetaa/> At the 2011 local government reform it merged with the former municipalities [[Selero]] and [[Vistonida]], and the town [[Genisea]] became its seat.<ref name=eetaa/><ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref>
-The municipality Abdera was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of three former municipalities that became municipal units: Abdera, [[Selero]], and [[Vistonida]].<ref name=Kallikratis>[http://www.kedke.gr/uploads2010/FEKB129211082010_kallikratis.pdf Kallikratis law] Greece Ministry of Interior {{in lang|el}}</ref>
-The municipality has an area of 352.047&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, the municipal unit 161.958&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archivedate=2015-09-21 }}</ref> The municipal unit Abdera is subdivided into the communities Abdera, [[Mandra, Xanthi|Mandra]], [[Myrodato]] and [[Nea Kessani]]. The community Abdera consists of the settlements Abdera, [[Giona, Xanthi|Giona]], Lefkippos, [[Pezoula]] and Skala.
+The municipality has an area of 352.047&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, the municipal unit 161.958&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece |title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation) |language=el |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-21 }}</ref> The municipal unit Avdira is subdivided into the communities Avdira, Mandra, Myrodato and Nea Kessani. The community Avdira consists of the settlements Avdira, Giona, Lefkippos, Pezoula and Skala.
 ==Landmarks==
-Landmarks of Abdera include the [[Archaeological Museum of Abdera]], and [[Agios Ioannis Beach]] (also ''Paralia Avdiron'') near the village Lefkippos.
+Landmarks of Abdera include the [[Archaeological Museum of Abdera]], the [[Kütüklü Baba Tekke]], and [[Agios Ioannis Beach]] (also ''Paralia Avdiron'') near the village Lefkippos.
 == Famous people ==
@@ Line 77: / Line 79: @@
 * [[Protagoras]]
 * [[Hecataeus of Abdera|Hecateus]]
+* [[Nicaenetus of Samos|Nicaenetus]]
+==See also==
+* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]
 ==Notes==
@@ Line 87: / Line 93: @@
 ===Sources===
 * {{cite book | last=Grant | first=Michael | title=A Guide to the Ancient World | publisher=Michael Grant Publications | year=1986}}
+* {{Cite journal|last1=Agelarakis|first1=Anagnostis|last2=Agelarakis|first2=Argiro|title=Αbdera/ Polystylon: A Byzantine Town in Western Thrace in the Context of Historical Developments during the 6th-14th Centuries as Depicted by its Archaeo-Anthropological Record.|journal=Byzantina Symmeikta|year=2015|volume=25|pages=11–56|doi=10.12681/byzsym.1159|doi-access=free}}
+* Adak, Mustafa and Thonemann, Peter (2022). ''Teos and Abdera: Two Cities in Peace and War''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 ==External links==
-{{commonscat|Abdera}}
+{{Commons category|Abdera}}
 * {{cite encyclopedia | url=http://icarus.umkc.edu/sandbox/perseus/pecs/page.5.a.php | editor-first=Richard | editor-last=Stillwell | encyclopedia=Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites | year=1976 | title=Abdera, Thrace, Greece}}
 * {{cite web | url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2359 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203130512/http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2359 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2008-02-03 | publisher=Hellenic Ministry of Culture | title=Abdera | year=2005}}
-* {{citation |last=Graham |first=A.J. |title=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |contribution-url=https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=kFl_DgN73UUC&pg=PA270 |contribution=Abdera and Teos |volume=Vol. CXII |date=1992 |pp=44–73 |doi=10.2307/632152 |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies }}.
+* {{citation |last=Graham |first=A.J. |title=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFl_DgN73UUC&pg=PA270 |contribution=Abdera and Teos |volume=CXII |date=1992 |pages=44–73 |doi=10.2307/632152 |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies |jstor=632152 |s2cid=162718165 }}.
 {{Eastern Macedonia and Thrace}}
 {{Abdera div}}
+{{Authority control}}
 [[Category:Municipalities of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace]]
 [[Category:Populated places in Xanthi (regional unit)]]
+[[Category:Abdera, Thrace| ]]
 [[Category:Ionian colonies in Thrace]]
 [[Category:Ancient Greek cities]]
@@ Line 105: / Line 116: @@
 [[Category:Greek city-states]]
 [[Category:Populated places in ancient Thrace]]
+[[Category:Phoenician colonies in Greece]]
+[[Category:Towns of fools]]

v t e Administrative division of the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region
Area 14,157 km² (5,466 sq mi) Population 608,182 (as of 2011) Municipalities 22 (since 2011) Capital Komotini
Regional unit of Drama	Doxato Drama Kato Nevrokopi Paranesti Prosotsani
Regional unit of Evros	Alexandroupoli Didymoteicho Orestiada Samothrace Soufli
Regional unit of Kavala	Kavala Nestos Pangaio
Regional unit of Rhodope	Arriana Iasmos Komotini Maroneia-Sapes
Regional unit of Thasos	Thasos
Regional unit of Xanthi	Abdera Myki Topeiros Xanthi
Regional governor Christos Metios [el] (since November 2016, elected 2019) Decentralized Administration Macedonia and Thrace

v t e Subdivisions of the municipality of Abdera
Municipal unit of Abdera	Abdera Mandra Myrodato Nea Kessani
Municipal unit of Selero	Selero
Municipal unit of Vistonida	Diomideia Genisea Koutso Magiko Pigadia Polysitos Selino Sounio