Thrace

[6] Sixth century geographer Stephanus of Byzantium claimed that, long before the ancient Greeks started referring to the region as Thrace, it was known as Aria (Αρια) and Perki (Περκη).

[7][8] In Turkish, Thrace is commonly referred to as Rumeli, meaning "Land of the Romans", which was the name traditionally given by Turkic societies to the Byzantine Empire and Orthodox Christians.

Henceforth, (classical) Thrace referred only to the tract of land largely covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region.

The largest cities of Thrace are: Istanbul, Plovdiv, Çorlu, Tekirdağ, Burgas, Edirne, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Yambol, Haskovo, Komotini, Alexandroupoli, Xanthi, and Kırklareli.

Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River Axios in the west to the Hellespont and Black Sea in the east.

Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including Diomedes, Tereus, Lycurgus, Phineus, Tegyrius, Eumolpus, Polymnestor, Poltys, and Oeagrus (father of Orpheus).

Notably, Thracian troops are known to have accompanied Alexander when he crossed the Hellespont which abuts Thrace, during the invasion of the Persian Empire itself.

[15] Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not form any lasting political organizations until the founding of the Odrysian state in the 4th century BC.

[citation needed] During this period, a subculture of celibate ascetics called the Ctistae lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers, priests, and prophets.

Towards the end of the 1st century BC Thrace lost its status as a client kingdom as the Romans began to directly appoint their kings.

[21] During the imperial period many Thracians – particularly members of the local aristocracy of the cities – had been granted the right of the Roman citizenship (civitas Romana) with all its privileges.

[24] By the mid-5th century, as the Western Roman Empire began to crumble, Thracia fell from the authority of Rome and into the hands of Germanic tribal rulers.

[25] In 1352, the Ottoman Turks conducted their first incursion into the region subduing it completely within a matter of two decades and ruled it for five centuries in general peace.

In 1821, several parts of Thrace, such as Lavara, Maroneia, Sozopolis, Aenos, Callipolis, and Samothraki rebelled during the Greek War of Independence.

With the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Northern Thrace was incorporated into the semi-autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which united with Bulgaria in 1885.