Abdera
Abdera, a town of Thrace, proverbial for narrow-minded people
- Abdera, a town on the southern coast of Thrace, not far from the mouth of the Nestus, noted for the stupidity of its inhabitants. It was the birthplace of the philosophers Protagoras, Democritus, and Anaxarchus; n., Liv. 45, 29, 6; Gell. 5, 3, 3; f., Ov. Ib. 469; Plin. 25, 8, 53, § 94 dub.; 4, 11, 18, § 42: hic Abdera, non tacente me, here was Abdera itself, Cic. Att. 4, 17, 3 (4, 16, 6).—
- 2 Folly, stupidity, madness, Cic. l. l. (cf.: id est Ἀβδηριτικόν, i. e. stupid, id. Att. 7, 7, 4, and Arn. 5, p. 164; Juv. 10, 50; Mart. 10, 25, 4).—
- B Hence, derivv.
- 1 Abdērīta and Abdērītes, ae, m., =Ἀβδηρίτης, an Abderite: Democritus Abderites, Laber. ap. Gell. 10, 17: Abderites Protagoras, Cic. N. D. 1, 23, 63; cf. id. Brut. 8: de Protagora Abderita, id. de Or. 3, 32, 128: Abderitae legati, Liv. 43, 4, 8; cf. id. § 12 sq.; Vitr. 7, 5, 6; Just. 15, 2 al.—
- 2 Ab-dērītānus, a, um, adj., of Abdera, meton. for stupid, foolish: Abderitanae pectora plebis habes, Mart. 10, 25, 4.—
- II A city of Hispania Baetica, on the southern coast, now Adra, Mel. 2, 6, 7; Plin. 3, 1, 3, § 8.
- a town of Thrace, proverbial for narrow-minded people, C., L.
ABDE´RA
1.(τὰ Ἄβδηρα, also Ἄβδηρον or -ος; Abdera,--orum, Liv. 45.29; Abdera,--ae, Plin. Nat. 25.53: Eth. Ἀβδηρίτης, Abderites or--ita: Adj. Ἀβδηριτικός, Abderiticus, Abderitanus), a town upon the southern coast of Thrace, at some distance to the E. of the river Nestus. Herodotus, indeed, in one passage (7.126), speaks of the river as flowing through Abdera (6 ὁ δι' Ἁβδήρων ῥέων Νέστος, but cf. 100.109, κατὰ Ἄβδηρα). According to mythology, it was founded by Heracles in honour of his favourite Abderus. (Strab. p. 331.) History, however, mentions Timesius or Timesias of Clazomenae as its first founder. (Hdt. 1.168.) His colony was unsuccessful, and he was driven out by the Thracians. Its date is fixed by Eusebius, B.C. 656. In B.C. 541, the inhabitants of Teos, unable to resist Harpagus, who had been left by Cyrus, after his capture of Sardis, to complete the subjugation of Ionia, and unwilling to submit to him, took ship and sailed to Thrace, and there recolonised Abdera. (Herod. l. c.; Scymnus Chius, 665; Strab. p. 644.) Fifty years afterwards, when Xerxes invaded Greece, Abdera seems to have become a place of considerable importance, and is mentioned as one of the cities which had the expensive honour of entertaining the great king on his .march into Greece. (Hdt. 7.120.) On his flight after the battle of Salamis, Xerxes stopped at Abdera, and acknowledged the hospitality of its inhabitants by presenting them with a tiara and scymitar of gold. Thucydides (Thuc. 2.97) mentions Abdera as the westernmost limit of the kingdom of the Odrysae when at its height at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war. In B.C. 408 Abdera was reduced under the power of Athens by Thrasybulus, then one of the Athenian generals in that quarter. (Diod. 13.72.) Diodorus speaks of it as being then in a very flourishing state. The first blow to its prosperity was given in a war in which it was engaged B.C. 376 with the Triballi, who had at this time become one of the most powerful tribes of Thrace. After a partial success, the Abderitae were nearly cut to pieces in a second engagement, but were rescued by Chabrias with an Athenian force. (Diod. 15.36.) But little mention of Abdera occurs after this. Pliny speaks of it as being in his time a free city (4.18). In later times it seems to have sunk into a place of small repute. It is said in the middle ages to have had the name of Polystylus. Dr. Clarke (Travels, vol. 3. p. 422) mentions his having searched in vain on the east bank of the Nestus for any traces of Abdera, probably from imagining it to have stood close to the river.
Abdera was the birthplace of several famous persons: among others, of the philosophers Protagoras, Democritus, and Anaxarchus. In spite of this, its inhabitants passed into a proverb for dullness and stupidity. (Juven. 10.50; Martial (Mart. 10.25. 4; Cic. ad Att. 4.1. 6, 7.7.)
Mullets from Abdera were considered especial dainties (Athen. p. 118). It was also famous for producing the cuttle-fish (Id. p. 324). COIN OF ABDERA.[H.W]
COIN OF ABDERA.(τὰ Ἄβδηρα, Αβδηρα, Strab.; Ἄβδαρα, Ptol.; τὸ Ἄβδηρον, Ephor. ap. Steph. B.: Eth. Ἀβδηρίτης : Adra or, according to some, Almeria), a city of Hispania Baetica, on the S. coast, between Malaca and Carthago Nova, founded by the Carthaginians. (Strab. pp. 157, 8; Steph. B. s.v.;Plin. Nat. 3.1. s. 3.) There are coins of the city, some of a very ancient period, with Phoenician characters,. and others of the reign of Tiberius, from which the place appears to have been either a colony or a municipium. (Rasche, s. v.; Eckhel, vol.i.p. 13.) [P.S]
(τὰ Ἄβδηρα). (1) A town of Thrace, near the mouth of the Nestus, which flowed through the town. It was colonized by Timesius of Clazomenae about B.C. 656, and a second time by the inhabitants of Teos in Ionia, who settled there after their own town had been taken by the Persians, B.C. 544. It was the birthplace of Democritus, Hecataeus, Protagoras, Anaxarchus, and other distinguished men; but its inhabitants, notwithstanding, were accounted stupid, and Abderite was a term of reproach. (See Juv.x. 50; Mart.x. 25.)
(2) A Punic town of Hispania Baetica, on the sea-coast.
Coastal city situated on Cape Bulustra, about 17 km NE of the estuary of the river Nestos, birthplace of the philosopher Demokritos and other illustrious men. The founding of the city, according to ancient tradition, can be traced back to mythical times since it is related to the eighth labor of Herakles, the capture of the man-eating horses of King Diomedes of the Bistonians. Another tradition refers to Timesios of Klazomenai as an inhabitant of the city (656-652 B.C.), but his colonists were driven back by the Thracians. In 545 B.C., the Ionians of Teos, unable to suffer Persian domination any longer, settled on the site of Abdera, which they rebuilt (Hdt. 50.68). The city dominated a large and rich area, “covered with vineyards and fertile,” which it fought hard to wrest from the Thracians (Pind., Second Hymn).
Abdera was subjugated by the Persians during their period of action in Thrace and in 492 B.C. It was used as a base of operations (Hdt. 6.46,47; 7.120). As a member of the First Athenian Alliance, it contributed to the Athenian treasury the sum of 10 to 15 talents, starting in 454 B.C. This heavy taxation and the rich silver currency are an indication of the economic prosperity of the city.
In 376 B.C. Abdera was destroyed by the invasion of the Thracian tribe of the Triballi, who killed all the citizens who took part in the battle (Diod. Sic. 15.36). A little later, ca. 350 B.C., Philip II of Macedon conquered the city. About the 3d century B.C. it fell successively to King Lysimachos of Thrace, to the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and again to the Macedonians, who dominated it until 196 B.C., when the Romans declared it a free state. Abdera suffered a second catastrophe in 170 B.C., when the Roman armies and those of Eumenes II, king of Pergamon besieged and sacked it (Diod. Sic. 30.6). During Roman Imperial times, it lost political importance and went into decline. In the 6th c. A.D. a small Byzantine town, the seat of a bishopric, was established on the NW hill of the great ancient city.
Large sections of the immense wall, which dated from the archaic period, were uncovered in the W, N, and E parts of the city. In the W wall a gate with two towers was uncovered, and to this led a central street of the city, as well as the road that came from the W harbor. (Under the surface of the sea, stone plinths and rocks that form a large breakwater have been preserved.) A second small open harbor appears to have been situated on the sandy shore of the E end of the city, where a round tower is preserved in the sea. In the N section near the wall the theater was uncovered. In the W part large clusters of habitations of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, with a strict N-S orientation, show that the area was built according to the Hippodamian system of city planning. A mosaic floor found in the courtyard of a house depicts dolphins, rosettes, and lilies. The foundations of a large building in the SW section appear to belong to Roman baths. N of the city stretched a large suburb, and at a distance of 2 to 4 km N and NW, a group of graves and tombs yielded findings that date from the late archaic and Classical periods.
The findings of the excavation—which consist mainly of pots, architectural fragments, corner tiles decorated with reliefs and lettering, sculptures, lamps, and especially a rich collection of terracotta figurines, the product of a local workshop of image-makers—are on exhibit in the Museum of Kavala. The agora and the sacred temples of the city, whose existence is known from ancient sources, have not yet been uncovered.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. Regel, “Abdera,” AthMitt 12 (1887) 161ff; Fr. Munzer-M. L. Strack, Die Antiken Münzen Nordgriechenlands II (1912); Δημ. Λαζαρίδη, Πρακτικά Ἀρχαιολογικῆς Ἑταιπείας (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1966); Πήλινα εἰδώλια (1960); Ἀρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον, Χρονικά (1961, 1963, 1964, 1967); Νεάπολις-Χριστούπολις-Καβάλα, Ὁδηγός Μουσείου Καβάλας (1969); σελ. 161 κ.ἑ.; J.M.F. May, The Coinage of Abdera (1966).
D. LAZARIDES- Paus. 6.5.4, Paus. 6.14.12
- a town of Thrace on the Nestus: Hdt. 1.168, Hdt. 6.46, Hdt. 7.109, Hdt. 7.120, Hdt. 7.126
- founded at grave of Abderus: Apollod. 2.5.7
- Xerxes' first halt in his flight: Hdt. 8.120