v34_0081 - THRACE - ABDERA Bronze, (PB, Æ 16)

THRACE - ABDERA

(5th - 4th century BC)

Abdera was founded in 656 BC.. -VS. on the southern coast of Thrace, not far from the mouth of the Nestos (Herodotus I, 168) by colonists coming from Clazomenes (Ionia). The new city was abandoned and it was only in 543 BC. -VS. that part of the inhabitants of Teos (Ionia), fleeing the Persian yoke, came to settle permanently in Abdera. The city then experienced great political and economic development.. The choice of the griffin as a monetary type in Abdera comes from its metropolis Teos. The city served as the headquarters of Xerxes during the Persian Wars. The city remained the main port under Persian domination until Cimon's victory at the mouth of the Eurymedon in 465 BC.. -VS. It then experienced a period of intense activity under the authority of the Delio-Athenian league to which it joined in 454 BC.. -VS. The city was besieged and taken by Thrasybulus, an Athenian general in 410 or 408 BC.. -VS. Having found freedom after the fall of Athens, she nevertheless had to appeal to her in 377 BC.. -VS. when the Triballes threatened its independence. It was Chabrias, an Athenian general who freed it. From 350 BC. -VS. , it entered the Macedonian orbit and then lost its commercial and strategic importance.