Bisaltae

The Bisaltae (Greek: Βισάλται) were a Thracian people on the lower Strymon river, who gave their name to Bisaltia, the district between Amphipolis and Heraclea Sintica (the modern village of Rupite, Bulgaria) on the east and Crestonice on the west.

Between the 470s and 450s BC they issued large silver coins, which depict a naked horseman standing next to a horse and wearing a petasos hat, and the name of the tribe in the Parian-Thasian alphabet.

Plutarch, in his Life of Perikles, says that the Athenians established a colony ("cleruchy")"a thousand to dwell among the Thracian tribe of the Bisaltae."

This colony was meant to strengthen Athen's hold over the wealthy region around Amphipolis, which would become a major battleground in the Peloponnesian War.

Their country was rich in figs, vines and olive trees; the silver mines in the mountain range of Dysorum brought in a talent a day to their conqueror Alexander.