EPMA-6577-IGI(3)46-Brea foundation decree-1

Brea ( grc, Βρέα,

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

: Βρεαῖος or Βρεάτης) was an ancient Greek colony in

Bisaltia Bisaltia ( el, Βισαλτία) or Bisaltica was an ancient country which was bordered by Sintice on the north, Crestonia on the west, Mygdonia on the south and was separated by Odomantis on the north-east and Edonis on the south-east by river ...

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

, in the lower reaches of Strymon. Nothing is known about the city itself. Nevertheless, the city is considered important by an inscription in which its 446/5 BC founding is mentioned, which is known as the Brea decree, the Brea inscription, or the Brea stone.

Location and History

The exact location of Brea is unknown. The city was a colony of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. There is no information about its future fate after their foundation; perhaps it was destroyed by the Thracians a few years after the founding. In the year 437 BC, the colony founded

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is ...

; thereafter, it makes no further appearance in

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

Plutarch

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

mentions the establishment of Brea in his '' Pericles '': 'In addition, he sent a thousand citizens as settlers to the Chersonese, five hundred to

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

, half of them

Andros Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fr ...

, a thousand to Thrace, to live together with the Bisaltians...'(A thousand to Thrace, Brea: compare Brea decree). He interprets this colonization in such a way that

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...

in his far-sightedness, with a social program, alleviated the plight of the people and therefore sent the unemployed to the colony. and the intimate poleis in Thrace were also intimidated by the colony.

The Brea Decree

The Brea decree (446/5 BC) is an inscribed stone inscribed in stone on the Athenian colonization in the 5th century BC, And the 'example of the planned establishment of an independent polis within the framework of the Athenian colonization policy and the exercise of power at the beginning of the

Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...

. The text contains several provisions concerning the participants and the execution of the train, the holding of the victims, the installation of sacred districts, and the chief proxy. Added to this is the commitment of the allied cities in

to support Brea in

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

raids. The Athenian

general assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

here clearly reveals the actual function of the colonization to maintain the position of power in this region, because Athens had a strong interest in the Strymon region due to the strategic position of the mines and the precious metals to be mined there. The source translates: '... the person who has reported the complaint or the plaintiff. ... to make available to them the settlers (apoikistai) to offer for the

apoikiai Greek colonization was an organised Colonies in antiquity, colonial expansion by the Archaic Greece, Archaic Greeks into the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the period of the 8th–6th centuries BC. This colonization differed from the Iron Ag ...

(= colony) so many auspicious victims as they are good. As a geonoman (= Landverteiler) one should choose ten men, one from one (each)

Phyle ''Phyle'' ( gr, φυλή, phulē, "tribe, clan"; pl. ''phylai'', φυλαί; derived from ancient Greek φύεσθαι "to descend, to originate") is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphylet ...

; these are to distribute the land. Demokleides is to set up the Apoikie as plenipotentiary to the best property. The holy districts, which are reserved, are to be left as they are, and no more to be staked out. A beef and a panhoplie (= full armor) are to be sent to the great

Panathenaia The Panathenaic Games ( grc, Παναθήναια) were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece from 566 BC to the 3rd century AD. These Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony (including prize-giving), athletic competitions, a ...

and the

Dionysia The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the sec ...

a phallus. If a person takes a campaign against the territory of the (Attic) settlers, help the cities as vigorously as possible according to the agreements made, as ... secretary, concerning the cities of Thrace. Record these provisions on a stele and (they) in the polis; to make available to the settlers at their own expense. If a person causes a vote against (the provisions) of this stele (a breach), or if a speaker makes a request and tries to change or cancel something, the

atomism Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...

and his sons, and his fortune shall be overthrown, and the tenth part of the goddess (Athena) shall fall, unless the settlers themselves... Those who can be enrolled as additional settlers, namely the soldiers, are to be found in "Brea '" as additional settlers after their return to Athens within thirty days. The Apoikie should be dispatched within thirty days. Aischines is to accompany the train and pay off the money ... Phantokles made the request: With regard to the Apoikie after '' Brea '' coincidence with what Demokleides applied for, the Phantokles is to let the Erechtheis-Prytanie before the Council at its next meeting. After '' Brea '' '(from the stratum) the settlers and settlers (settlers) are to move ...' '

Inscriptiones Graecae The ''Inscriptiones Graecae'' (IG), Latin for ''Greek inscriptions'', is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the . Its aim is to collect and publish all known ...

(IG
(German) = Stahl, p. 231, see below the literature.
/ref>

Notes

Literature and Sources

Kai Brodersen Kai Brodersen (born 6 June 1958) is a contemporary ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of Erfurt. He has edited, and translated, both ancient works and modern classical studies. His research focuses on "Applied Scie ...

, Wolfgang Günther, Hatto H. Schmitt: 'Historical Greek Inscriptions in Translation'. Volume I, Scientific Book Company, Darmstadt 2011 . * '' Inscriptiones Graecae '' (IG). Volume I³, No. 46 (original Greek text). * Russell Meiggs, David Malcolm Lewis: '' A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. '' Oxford 1989, no. 49 (translated as English). *

Eduard Meyer Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German historian. He was the brother of Celticist Kuno Meyer (1858–1919). Biography Meyer was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the univer ...

: '' History of Antiquity ''. Reprint, Darmstadt 1965, p. 670 (interpretation of the Brea inscription in the sense of Plutarch). * Michael Stahl; '' Society and State among the Greeks: Classical Period ''. Paderborn 2003, p. 231 (reprint and interpretation of the German translation by Brodersen, Günther, Schmitt).

Links

Brea inscription in the original
Colonies of classical Greece Greek colonies in East Macedonia Athenian colonies Geography of Serres (regional unit) Former populated places in Greece Populated places in ancient Thrace Lost ancient cities and towns