On Athenian Colonization And Cultural Exchange In Thrace(6^th Century BC—4^th Century BC)

From the 6th to 4th centuries B.C.,that is,the end of the Greek Archaic Age and the whole Classical Era,Athenians carried out colonial activities in the Thrace "barbarians" living areas in the northern Aegean Sea.Previously,the Euboeans,the Megarons,and other Greeks from the islands and coasts of the Aegean Sea had established colonies along the Aegean Sea in Thrace.However,in the economic and cultural exchanges between Greeks and Thracians,Athenians dominated.The colonial activities of Athenians,on the one hand,influenced the Thracian monetary system,language customs,funeral system and so on,and helped shape the Odrysian Kingdom through Thracian mercenaries.On the other hand,they also affected Athens itself,many of Athenian political elites have Thracian cultural background.That Athenians became the greatest contributor to the cultural exchanges between Greeks and Thrace "barbarians",was determined by the characteristics of Athens colonization and cultural exchanges in Thrace.First,the colonies of Athens were located in Thrace,where the population was concentrated,and the economy and culture were relatively developed.Secondly,the colonial activities in Athens were more of a governmental nature.Third,Athens was the leader of the whole Greek economy and culture in the classical era.The cultural exchanges between Athenians and Thracian "barbarians" have shown us the effectiveness of cultural exchanges between different nations with different civilizations and cultures,which have certain enlightenment in the era of globalization.The full text is divided into four chapters.Chapter One deals with the colonial activities of Greeks,especially Athenians,in Thrace,with a view to revealing the characteristics of the colonial activities in Athens.Based on archaeological materials,the second chapter discusses the influence of Athens on Thrace's monetary system,language customs and funeral system.Chapter three discusses that Athens helped shape the Odrysian Kingdom through the way of Thrace mercenaries.Chapter Four discusses the influence of Thrace culture on the character of Athenian political elite through several examples in order to reveal the shining point of Thrace's "barbarian" culture.