Abdera, Thrace in the context of "Western Thrace"

Democritus (/dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs/, dim-OCK-rit-əs; Greek: Δημόκριτος, Dēmókritos, meaning "chosen of the people"; c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. Democritus wrote extensively on a wide variety of topics.

None of Democritus' original work has survived, except through second-hand references. Many of these references come from Aristotle, who viewed him as an important rival in the field of natural philosophy. He was known in antiquity as the ‘laughing philosopher’ because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness.

Sitalces (Sitalkes) (/sɪˈtælˌsiːz/; Ancient Greek: Σιτάλκης; reigned 431–424 BC) was one of the kings of the Thracian Odrysian state. The Suda called him Sitalcus (Σίταλκος).

He was the son of Teres I, and on the sudden death of his father in 431 BC succeeded to the throne. Sitalces enlarged his kingdom by successful wars, and it soon comprised the whole territory from Abdera in the south to the mouths of the Danube in the north, and from the Black Sea in the east to the sources of the Struma in the west.

Xanthi (Greek: Ξάνθη, Xánthi, [ˈksanθi]) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace.

Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided by the Kosynthos River, into the west part, where the old and the modern town are located, and the east part that boasts a rich natural environment. The old part of town ("Palia Poli") is known throughout Greece for its distinctive architecture, combining many Byzantine Greek churches with neoclassical mansions of Greek merchants from the 18th and 19th centuries and Ottoman-Era mosques. Other landmarks in Xanthi include the Archaeological Museum of Abdera and the Folklore and Historical Museum. Because of the beauty that characterizes both the city and the wider region, Xanthi is often called "the Lady and Noblewoman of Thrace",

Cotys IV (Ancient Greek: Κότυς, Kotys) was a king of the Odrysians in Thrace from before 171 until after 166 BC. He was the son of Seuthes V and succeeded either his father or another king, Amadocus III, who was captured by the Macedonians in 184 BC (it is unclear whether Amadocus III and Cotys IV ruled the same political formation and whether kingship was unitary). While the survival of a specifically Odrysian state past the mid-3rd century has been doubted, Cotys IV is described as an Odrysian by Polybius and Livy, although the term may have been used in a less than specific sense.

During the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC), Cotys IV was initially an ally of the Macedonian king Perseus, sending a force of a thousand cavalry and a thousand infantry to his ally, which contributed to the initial Macedonian victory over the Romans at Callinicus in 171 BC. However, following an attack on Cotys' kingdom by another Thracian ruler, Autlesbis (of the Caeni?), and the Attalid commander Corrhagus, allies of Rome, Cotys and his force were allowed to return to defend their homelands by Perseus, who gave them half of the promised pay. Nevertheless, Cotys IV was able to assist Perseus again at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, although the allies were defeated by the Romans, and Cotys and his forces followed Perseus in his flight from the battlefield. When Perseus embarked for Samothrace, the Thracians, possibly including those of Cotys, refused to follow and returned to their homes. Later Perseus planned to flee from Samothrace to Cotys, but had to surrender to the Romans. Cotys' son Bithys (the same name is usually spelled Beithys in Thracian inscriptions) had been left a hostage at Perseus' court and ended up among the Macedonian royal captives of the Romans at Carseoli. Cotys sent envoys to the Roman senate to ransom his son, claiming he had been forced to support Perseus. The Roman senate pardoned his actions and released his son without taking the ransom. The grateful Cotys now became a Roman ally. The lenient treatment of Cotys IV by the Roman government in 167 BC is attributed to its desire to secure a useful ally in the region, given both past experience and potential current threats. A decree from Abdera usually dated to c. 166 BC shows Cotys, apparently bolstered by this new alliance with Rome, expanding his territory and encroaching upon Abdera's. This is generally considered to be the last mention of Cotys IV in the source material, but doubts have been raised regarding the date of the Abdera decree and whether anyone but a Sapaean Cotys could have encroached upon Abdera. It is not known when Cotys IV ceased to reign or who succeeded him: his son Bithys is not securely attested as ruler, unless perhaps mentioned under the orthography "Byzes" in c. 146 BC; a certain Teres (V or VI) is attested as reigning in 148 BC, but he may have belonged to a different branch of the dynasty or to a different Thracian kingdom. The name "Cotys" appears among both the so-called Odryso-Astaean and Sapaean kings of Thrace, which may indicate descent from Cotys IV (particularly for the former), but there is no absolute proof for such a link.

Hecataeus of Abdera (Greek: Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης; c. 360 BC – c. 290 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and ethnographer. None of his works survive; his writings are attested by later authors in various literary fragments, in particular his Aegyptica, a work on the society and culture of the Egyptians, and On the Hyperboreans. He is one of the authors (FGrHist 264) whose fragments were collected in Felix Jacoby's Fragmente der griechischen Historiker.

Historian John Dillery called Hecataeus "a figure of extraordinary importance for the study of Greek and non-Greek [cultures] in the Hellenistic period."

Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi (Ancient Greek, "Σαπαίοι") were a Thracian tribe close to the Greek city of Abdera. One of their kings was named Abrupolis and had allied himself with the Romans. They ruled Thrace after the Odrysians until its incorporation by the Roman Empire as a province.