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The article examines the genesis of the aristocratic establishment of archaeological data, written testimonies and the powers of the ruler’s institution in the Thracian kingdoms. The conclusions reached are that the figure of the ruler in Thracian society embodies a centralized socio-political device in which the king carries the judicial, military and religious power. At the same time, the monarchical organization of the Thracian kingdoms can be defined as “soft”, as it does not overcome the system of local rulers. The “soft monarchical organization” is supported by the markedly aristocratic way of life that has impressed the Greek settlers who founded colonies along the Thracian coasts, especially those who came into contact with the Thracians along the North Aegean coast.Monarchy as an aristocratic form of government is the prerogative of those important because of their bloodline or riches, conforming to traditional norms of life. This also applies to the Odrysian kingdom, despite the evidence of the para-dynastic status reported by Thucydides (Thuc., 2.97.2–3). The Thracian aristocratic establishment does not rule based on ethnic consciousness. Self-determination is based on common traditions, rituals and beliefs, and on belonging to a territory governed by a dynastic clan. The article also looks at the Thracian kingdoms as economic regions, not just as state formations formed solely by the force of coercion, which gives a clearer picture of the need for the military aristocracy to protect them. Key words: Thrace, royal power, powers of the ruler’s institution, Thracian aristocracy, soft monarchical organization.
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The present paper has been focused on the literary passage of (Pseudo-)Euripides from his tragedy “Rhesus”, which deals with the posthumous being of the Thracian king (Eurip. Rhes. 962-973), and the fragment of Aeschylus from his tragedy “Bassarids”, which tells about the life and death of Orpheus (Aesch. Bassar. Fr. 83). Both texts situate king Rhesus and Orpheus in Mount Pangaion. They describe on one hand Dionysian, chthonian type of cult and ritualism, and on the other hand – Apollonian, solar type of cult and ritualism. The passages have been analysed in comparison with other pieces of evidence from ancient authors, related to Mount Pangaion and other similar cultic topoi. These sacred places described in the ancient literary tradition correspond to the rock topoi of cult and ritualism in South-East Europe and in Asia Minor, which have preserved numerous ancient relicts as a vital heritage up to the present day. One important feature of Thracian religion is to be noticed – both its unity and its variety. we can see clearly juxtaposed the Apollonian and the Dionysian principle – this fundamental opposition which marks the entire European cultural-historical tradition. But this juxtaposition can be logically explained in the light of the literary evidence of the Roman writer Macrobius. In his work “Saturnalia” he provides numerous arguments that Apollo and Dionysus are one and the same god. In conclusion, Mount Pangaion may be considered as an important sacred place of synthesis between Dionysian and Apollonian types of religiousness.
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In this article I would like to reexamine the information in Herodotus for deportation of Paeonians in Achaemenid Empire. This procedure I will put the evidences in context of mass deportations of people, and all families like workers – kurtaš from different origin in Persian Empire. They are war captives and worked in Royal estates, and also in economic structures of Persian noblemen like satraps. Paeonians are settled in Anatolia in one ‘kome kai hora’ as workers in Persian estates (royal or satrapal) and worked in agriculture. The etiological myth for hard-working paeonian women clearly state that Paeonian workers are settled in Persian provinces ‘tayaiy drayahya’ (Hellespontine Phrygia) and ‘sparda’ (Sardis, Lydia). Some of Paeonian workers probably was settled in Persida and Elam and named Iškudra/ Skudra in Persepolis Fortification Tablets and Old Persian Inscriptions. with ethnonym Skudrians (in Old Persian language) was described Thracians and probably Phrygians.
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Before the time of the Great Persecution Christians were not prosecuted by the imperial government, but with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian (284–305 г.) the religious policy takes another direction. The emperor’s legislation inaugurates the first and only period of persecution against Christians due to their religious beliefs. One of the first Christian centers in today’s Bulgarian territory is the city of Durostorum (modern day Silistra), which at the end of 4th century became the seat of a Christian bishopric and a center of Christianity in the region. Many early Christian buildings and artefacts indicating a strong Christian presence compared to the other parts of the Moesia Inferior province have been discovered in Durostorum. In numerous hagiographical sources the names of a fourteen martyrs stand out. Eight of them are known to be soldiers in the Legio XI Claudia during the time of the Great Persecution. Unfortunately there is no other source that confirms their stories or their actual existence. The only information about those soldiers is that they were executed during the reign of Emperor Diocletian in 304.This paper argues that the majority of the martyrdom stories need to be considered as propagandist literature while the martyrs themselves represent the embodiment of a Christian ethic – an ideal example of heroism and other virtues. whatever the case with the martyrs of Durostorum is, we couldn’t possibly consider them as an example for the religious climate during the time of the edicts.
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Carmen XVII of Paulinus of Nola is the principal source of information about the conversion of the Bessians. The poem, written in 398 A.D., is dedicated to the missionary activity of the bishop of Remesiana – St. Nicetas among different barbarian tribes including the Bessians.Paulinus of Nola praises the great success of Nicetas in the conversion of the barbarians. He presents the Bessians as rude people who refuse to be slaves and as robbers, transformed by Nicetas in monks. The poet uses different rhetorical techniques to present the transformation from paganism to Christianity and to magnify the power of the Christian faith. That fact questions the credibility of the missionary activity of Nicetas and puts the question if Paulinus writes about historical events or if he uses his imagination to show the greatness of the Christianity. The author gives precise details and an exact information about the Bessians, their past and their culture so the information about their conversion also does not be put under question.The geographical area of the missionary activity of Nicetas is not certain – the region of Remesiana and the province of Dacia but without more precise details. The date of the conversion of the Bessians is not evident – around 398 because in the poem the Bessians are presented as already converted to the Christianity. Nevertheless the conversion of the Bessians should be regarded as a historical event considering the historical context of the end of IV c. A.D. and the historical fate of Thrace and the Thracian tribes.
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The article reveals the policy of the Bulgarian Communist Party for modernization of agriculture in Dobrudzha from 1951 to 1956. The main goal of this policy was to solve production problem in the country. The study is based on archival documents and available historical literature.
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Modern mountaineering (mountain tourism) is an urban socio-cultural phenomenon that originated in Western Europe in the middle of the 19th century. The South Slavic mountaineers followed the basic European model, while enriching it with their national peculiarities. The contacts between Slovenian, Croatian, Bulgarian and Serbian mountaineers became particularly intense in the first decade of the twentieth century in the context of the Neo-Slav movement (Neo-Slavism). Through this movement, the topic of mountaineering with its actual or alleged Slavic peculiarities and dimensions was included in the agenda of the First Slavic Congress in Prague in 1908 and the Second Slavic Congress in Sofia in 1910. Steps have been undertaken to establish a Union of the Slavic Tourist Organizations that was to promote their mutual knowledge and cooperation. The Balkan and the First World War put an end to the projects of all-Slavic unity. Despite the strained political relations between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the interwar period, the connections between the South Slavic mountaineers were not interrupted. They developed mainly within the Association of Slavic Mountaineering Societies, a collective member of the Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme. Two of the congresses of this organization were held in Sofia (1929 and 1936) and that enabled the Slovenian and the Croatian mountaineers to get to know Bulgarian mountains and establish organizational and personal ties with their Bulgarian counterparts. The Bulgarian mountaineers also visited Ljubljana and Zagreb. Despite the attempts at ideologization and politicization, on the eve and during the Second World War the links between South Slavic Bulgarian mountaineers remained a beautiful page in the relations between the two nations that enriched their cultural cooperation and deserves to be studied and popularized.
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The Eutin library celebrated its modest jubilee last year but at the same time it draws attention to the 25 years of the existence of a scientific unit dealing with the history and culture of traveling. In a tiny town in the north of Germany, the library stores the attention-grabbing collection of 18 thousand volumes of diaries, memories, original manuscripts and prints, a collection of maps and atlases (over 5,000) on various information carriers. What is also available there is Wolfgang Grieg’s constantly updated bibliography of literature and sources found in other collections, currently including 24 thousand titles.
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The paper examines perceptions and self-perceptions of national identities in 19th century Balkans using the history of the merchant family of Rombi or Робев as a case study. According to Greek and Bulgarian historians the family appeared to be of Greek-Wlach or Bulgarian origin. Preliminary research, mainly based on the family archive preserved in the National Library in Sofia, shows changing attitudes in terms of ethnic identity. Despite their Greek education certain members of the family identified themselves as Bulgarians and support the Bulgarian independent movement against the Greeks.
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The methods and instruments chosen for presenting the internal conflict in the Republic of Moldova allowed the author to follow step by step 1785 real events, which played a tragic role in the country's fate, which received state independence as a result of the self-destruction of the Soviet Union.Presenting concrete facts through the recommended bibliography method, M. Melintei relies on a wide range of sources, mainly official, which confirms the author's objectivity and provides an efficient working tool both for the theoretical and practical analysis of the Transnistrian issue.This study is unique in the sense that there are no such collections of specialized documents and chronologies on the issue in question. The volume of descriptive material (over 450 pages) is impressive, as well as the fact that the study is published in Romanian and Russian.
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Historiographic periplus
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Northwest and Northeast Thrace is the region where the voynuk institution was probably established in the 1370s. According to the Ottoman chronicles, the voynuks from these areas served from the very beginning in the state stables and military wagon trains, taking care of horses, cargo animals, and military equipment. However, it turns out that Christians from a number of villages in the region of Plovdiv and Pazardzhik, which are later known as Voynuk settlements, were registered in 1472 in one akunji register. This fact suggests that in the earliest period of their history, voynuks accompanied the raids of the akunjis into the areas still not occupied by the Ottomans to the west of the Upper Thracian Lowland. In the 16th century the voynuks from Northwestern Thrace were set apart as a separate group subordinated directly to the voynuk sanjak-bey in Rumelia. It is likely that this fact actually reflects their place within the voynuk institution as voynuk category, which served in the inner palace stables in the capital where the Sultan’s personal horses and the horses belonging to the officers of the inner courthouse service were raised. Various types of Ottoman documents from the 15th to 16th centuries show that Plovdiv (Filibe) is the seat of the voynuk sancakbey, therefore this Thracian city is the center of the voynuk institution in Rumelia. In the 16th century, a lot of voynuk villages were registered in Northwestern Thrace. In the second half of the century, in some of these settlements, the voynuk service and related tax privileges were abolished so that the ex-voynuks could become regular taxpayers from the vakifs of Suleiman the Magnificent and some other members of the Ottoman dynasty. But in those villages where voynuk service was preserved, the number of voynuks increased. While 755 voynuks were registered in the region of Plovdiv and Pazardzhik in 1529, in 1573 their number increased to 903 people. As a supplement to the article a large excerpt from the voynuk register, compiled in 1528–1529, is published translated for the first time in Bulgarian. It contains rich information on the names of voynuks, their number, their settlements, and the voynuk agriculture in the form of tax-exempt baştinas.
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During the 3rd century BC – first half of the 1st century AD, Thrace and its Black Sea coast continued the tradition established in the 5th-4th century BC, consisting in mutually beneficial coexistence and cooperation between polis and ethnos states, with definite domination of the Thracian rulers over the Greek poleis. However, the Greek states preserved their autonomy to a great extent. That line of behaviour in the relations between polis and ethnos, which had become traditional, was to end with the liquidation of the Thracian states by Rome and their transformation into Roman provinces.
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