HISTORY OF THE CITY
The Odrys
Near the city of Ainos archaeologists have excavated a settlement belonging to one of the oldest known neolithic cultures in the Balkans. Their pottery and the defensive wall around the settlement are typical of contemporary Anatolian cultures, so these people are thought to have been a colony from Anatolia.
Later Thrace was settled by a people whose courage and skills as warriors put fear into many of their neighbours. These qualities meant that the Thracians were sought after as mercenaries by first the Athenians and then the Romans. Thracian settlements took many forms, from caves to strong forts, farms to fishing villages whose houses were raised on poles, and unwalled cities.
The Apsinti, east of Ainos, the Drugeri in the central region of the Hebrus, the Tyns in Salmydessos and the Kalopothaks were some of the Thracian tribes who inhabited the region stretching from Ainos to the Kallipolis (Gallipoli) peninsula. Most famous of all were the Odrys who at the height of their power inhabited an area extending from the Tonzos valley to the Aegean coast.
Odrysai was one of the major to vns of the powerful Odrys Thracians. Odrysai lay in the fork at the confluence of the Hebrus and the Tonzos, and was a centre of commerce.
