View source for Bisaltae

{{Short description|Thracian tribe}}
The '''Bisaltae''' ({{langx|el|Βισάλται}}) were a [[Thracians|Thracian]] people on the lower [[Struma (river)|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. They also made their way into the peninsulas of [[Mount Athos|Acte]] and [[Pallene, Chalcidice|Pallene]] in the south, beyond the river [[Nestus]] in the east, and are even said to have raided [[Cardia (Thrace)|Cardia]].

According to mythology, they were the descendants of [[Bisaltes]], the son of [[Helios]] and [[Gaia]] (the personifications of the [[Sun]] and [[Earth]]), after whom they were named.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Δήμος Βισαλτίας |url=https://serrelib.gr/sites/default/files/2018-10/visaltia.pdf |access-date=15 July 2025 |website=Δημόσια Κεντρική Βιβλιοθήκη Σερρών |language=el}}</ref>

[[File:OdrysianKingdom.jpg|thumb|right|Approximate location of the Bisaltai]]
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. These coins weighed 29 [[gramme]]s each and were by far the largest of a number of similar coins issued by Macedonian and Thracian tribes in this period, numbering perhaps half a million coins (ca. 14,500 kilogrammes of silver). The source of the silver was probably a silver mine at Lake Prasias, near Mount Dysorum, which is mentioned by [[Herodotus]].<ref name=KaKr>{{cite book |last1=Kallet |first1=Lisa |last2=Kroll |first2=J. H. |title=The Athenian empire : using coins as sources |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=9781107015371|pages=9–10 and 78–80}}</ref> Under a separate king at the time of the [[Persian Wars]], they were annexed by [[Alexander I of Macedon|Alexander I]] (498 BC-454 BC) to the kingdom of [[Macedon]]. He continued to mint coinage from the silver mine at Lake Prasias, using the same coinage designs as the previous Bisaltian coinage.<ref name=KaKr/> At the division of Macedon into four districts by the Romans after the battle of [[Pydna]] (168) the Bisaltae were included in Macedonia Prima.

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]], [[Grape|vines]] and [[olive]] trees; the [[silver]] mines in the mountain range of [[Dysorum]] brought in a [[Talent (weight)|talent]] a day to their conqueror Alexander. The Bisaltae are referred to by [[Virgil]] in connection with the treatment of the diseases of [[sheep]]. The fact that their [[eponym]] is said to have been the son of [[Helios]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Ge]] points to a very early settlement in the district.

==References==
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==Bibliography==
*''A History of Macedonia: 550-336 B.C'' by [[N.G.L. Hammond]] v. 2 pages 77, 81, 117 {{ISBN|0-19-814814-3}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170424003106/http://www.ems.gr/analytikos-katalogos-ekdoseon/makedoniki-vivliothiki/049-samsaris.html] D. C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Eastern Macedonia during the Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 1976 (Society for Macedonian Studies), p.&nbsp;54-56. {{ISBN|960-7265-16-5}}

[[Category:Ancient tribes in Greece]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in the Balkans]]
[[Category:Thracian tribes of Macedonia]]
[[Category:Thracian tribes]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Bulgaria]]


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