Silver Hemidrachm - Ancient Greece, Thrace: Cheronesos - c. 400-350 BC.
Obv: Forepart of Lion, head facing left.
Rev: Quadripartite incuse square with pellet and palm branch.
cf Sear-G1608. 12mm, 2.29gm. (Diameter: 12 mm)
The indigenous population of Thrace was a people called the Thracians, divided into numerous tribal groups. Thracian troops were known to accompany neighboring ruler Alexander the Great when he crossed the Hellespont which abuts Thrace, and took on the Persian Empire of the day.
The Thracians did not describe themselves as such and Thrace and Thracians are simply the names given them by the Greeks. Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not manage to form a lasting political organization until the Odrysian state was founded in the 4th century BC. Like Illyrians, Thracian tribes of the mountainous regions fostered a locally ruled warrior tradition, while the tribes based in the plains were purportedly more peaceable.
