A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace:  The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods

Bastide Maguelone

doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Research Article

DOI :10.26650/gaad.2023003 IUP :10.26650/gaad.2023003 Full Text (PDF)

A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods

The aim of this paper is to point at a methodological bias that uses Roman or Late Roman evidence for describing earlier periods in the archaeological context of cults in Ancient Thrace. I analyze examples from the recent literature on the Western Black Sea coast, inner, and Aegean regions of Thrace before explaining the bias in question from an epistemological point of view as a consequence of an anachronistic perception of religion. Finally, I propose examples where a clear separation of evidence from the Hellenistic period from evidence from the Roman period allows one to make much better sense of the archaeological data.

Keywords: Historiography, archaeology, cults, Thrace, Hellenistic period, religion

References

Alexandrescu-Vianu, M. “Remarques sur l’héroïsation thrace”, Dialogues d’histoire ancienne (DHA), 6 (1980), p.101-111. google scholar
Bastide, M. Les lieux de culte en Thrace du VIIIe au IIIes. avant J.-C., BEFAR, in press. google scholar
Bremmer, J. N. Greek religion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. google scholar
Chiekova, D. Cultes et vie religieuse des cités grecques du Pont Gauche (VIIe-Ier siècles avant J.-C.), Bern: Peter Lang, 2008. google scholar
Dana, D. Onomasticon Thracicum (OnomThrac): répertoire des noms indigènes de Thrace, Macédoine Orientale, Mésies, Dacie et Bithynie. Athènes-Paris: Fondation Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Meletemata no. 70, 2014. google scholar
Delev, P. “From Koroupedion to the Beginning of the Third Mithridatic War (281-73 BCE).” In: J. Valeva et alii (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Thrace, John Wiley & Sons Inc: Hoboken, 2015, p. 59-74. google scholar
Detschew, D. “Der Artemiskult im Gebiet des mittleren Strymon.” IAI, 19 (1955), p. 95-109. google scholar
Durkheim, E. Les Formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse. Paris, 1912. [2007] google scholar
Fol, A. Thracian Culture: Told and Untold. Sofia: ТАНГРА ТанНакРа, 2010. Formun Üstü google scholar
Hawthorne, K. “Balkan Pit Sanctuaries - Retheorizing the archaeology of Religion.” PhD diss., Cambridge University, 2009. google scholar
Haysom, M. “Entangled Religion, Ritual and Social Practice : the Case of Karphi.” In: Lemos, I. S., Tsingarida, A. (ed.), Beyond the polis: rituals, rites and cults in early and archaic Greece (12th-6th centuries BC). Brussels: CreA-Patrimoine, 2019, p. 53-64. google scholar
La Dinahet, M. T. La religion des cités grecques: VIIIe-Ier siècle avant J-C, Paris: ELLIPSES, 2005. google scholar
Pakkanen, P. “Deposing Cult - Considerations on What Makes a Cult Deposit.” In: Pakkanen, P., Bocher, S. (ed.), Cult material from archaeological deposits to interpretation of early Greek religion. Helsinki: Suomen Ateenan-Instituutin Säätiö, 2015, p. 25-48. google scholar
Parker, R. “The Polis as a Religious Organisation.” In: Hansen, M. H., Nielsen, T. H. (ed.), An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 130-134. google scholar
Ivanov, R., von Bülow, G. “Thracia: eine römische Provinz auf der Balkanhalbinsel”, Mayence, Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie, 9 (2008). google scholar
Rabadjiev, K. “Religion.” In: Valeva, J. et alii (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Thrace. John Wiley & Sons Inc: Hoboken, 2015, p. 443-456. google scholar
Smith, J. Z. Magie de la comparaison : et autres études d’histoire des religions, Genève: Labor et Fides, 2014. google scholar
T. Marinov. Nos ancêtres les Thraces: Usages idéologiques de l’Antiquité en Europe du Sud-Est, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2016. google scholar
Tonkova, M. “Jewellery representations on the jugs-rhytons with women’s heads from the Panagyurishte treasure”, In: T. Stoyanov, M. Tonkova, Ch. Preshlenov, Ch. Popov (Ed.). Heros Hephaistos. Studia in honorem Liubae Ognenova-Marinova, Tarnovo: Фабер, 2005, p. 262-275. google scholar
Tsatsopoulou-Kaloudi, P., Brixhe, Cl., Pardalidou, Hr., Iliopoulou, S., Kaloudis, K., Galani-Krikou, M., Zournatzi, A., Tselekas, P., Veropoulidou, P., Nikolaïdou, D. Αρχαία Ζώνη I - Το Ιερό του Απόλλωνα. Αρχαία Ζώνη, vol. 1, Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού, Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Έβρου, 2015. google scholar
Vulchev, I. Извънградските Светилища в Римската Провинция Тракия [Extraurban Sanctuaries in the Roman Province of Thrace]. Sofia,: УИ “Св. Климент Охридски”, 2015. google scholar
Zannis, A. G. Le pays entre le Strymon et le Nestos: géographie et histoire (7.- 4. siècle avant J.-C.). Athènes-Paris: Fondation Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Meletemata no. 71, 2014. google scholar

Citations

Copy and paste a formatted citation or use one of the options to export in your chosen format

EXPORT

APA

Bastide, M. (0001). A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods. The Journal of Southeastern European Studies, 0(40), 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

AMA

Bastide M. A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods. The Journal of Southeastern European Studies. 0001;0(40):23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

ABNT

Bastide, M. A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods. The Journal of Southeastern European Studies, [Publisher Location], v. 0, n. 40, p. 23-32, 0001.

Chicago: Author-Date Style

Bastide, Maguelone,. 0001. “A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods.” The Journal of Southeastern European Studies 0, no. 40: 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Chicago: Humanities Style

Bastide, Maguelone,. “A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods.” The Journal of Southeastern European Studies 0, no. 40 (Dec. 2024): 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Harvard: Australian Style

Bastide, M 0001, 'A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods', The Journal of Southeastern European Studies, vol. 0, no. 40, pp. 23-32, viewed 22 Dec. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Harvard: Author-Date Style

Bastide, M. (0001) ‘A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods’, The Journal of Southeastern European Studies, 0(40), pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003 (22 Dec. 2024).

MLA

Bastide, Maguelone,. “A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods.” The Journal of Southeastern European Studies, vol. 0, no. 40, 0001, pp. 23-32. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Vancouver

Bastide M. A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods. The Journal of Southeastern European Studies [Internet]. 22 Dec. 2024 [cited 22 Dec. 2024];0(40):23-32. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003 doi: 10.26650/gaad.2023003

ISNAD

Bastide, Maguelone. “A Note on the Archaeology of Cults in Ancient Thrace: The Transition from the Hellenistic to Roman Periods”. The Journal of Southeastern European Studies 0/40 (Dec. 2024): 23-32. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.2023003

Issue 402023, P. 23-32

TIMELINE

Submitted	01.01.2023
Accepted	12.03.2023

LICENCE

Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

The Journal of Southeastern European Studies