Founding Pistiros was founded in the 3rd quarter of the 5th century BC. The location of the emporion offered many strategic advantages. In addition to the site's proximity to lumber sources and copper, iron, and gold mines, it was situated on the Hebros River, which was navigable for small boats, and was at the intersection of several major roads.
Chronology Archaeological excavations have uncovered the eastern fortification wall with a gate, towers, and a bastion, built of stone blocks on the model of Thasian fortification systems, as well as stone-paved streets, buildings with stone bases, and a well-constructed sewer system. The excavations suggest the following phases of the site: • I phase (second half of the 5th century BC – end of the first quarter of the 4th century BC): foundation of the emporion, building of the fortification system, pavement of the first streets, building of the drainage system. • II phase (second quarter – end of the 4th century BC): reconstruction of the site's plan, connected with the reign of King Cotys I, heyday of Pistiros, regulations concerning the statute of Pistiros and its emporia (Ancient Greek,
ἐμπορία) in the Vetren inscription. • III phase (3rd century BC – beginning of the 2nd century BC): burning down and destruction of Pistiros by the
Celts in the late 3rd century BC as well as its transformation into a metal production center.
Society and religion The co-existence between the Greeks and
Thracians rendered them allies to a certain extent. The grave inscriptions of Greeks originating from Apollonia and Maroneia, discovered in Pistiros, and the names incised on pottery (graffiti) both of Thracians and Greeks, prove that the people from Pistiros were not ethnically homogeneous. Adjacent to the territory of emporion Pistiros were the
Bessoi, the keepers of the
Dionysian sanctuary in the
Rhodopes. The oath taken in Dionysos’ name by King Cotys I and his successor, according to the Vetren inscription (see below), represents additional proof for the significance of that cult in the official ideology of the Odrysian state. The excavations have produced a great deal of evidence regarding cult practices in Pistiros. Among the artifacts discovered are preserved or fragmented clay altars with various forms and decorations (several of them preserved
in situ), cult zoomorphic figurines made of clay or stone, clay anthropomorphic figurines, and miniature objects and portable hearths (
pyraunoi).
Economy Emporion Pistiros maintained wide trade contacts. Under
Cotys I (384 BC–359 BC) and his successors, the Thasian, Apollonian, and Maroneian traders of the city obtained guarantees, as described in the Vetren inscription (see below), concerning the integrity of their life, property and activity. This status coincided with the period of greatest economic prosperity for Pistiros. More than 1000 copper and silver coins discovered during the excavations in Pistiros shed light on its internal and external trade contacts. This is the unique numismatic complex discovered during ordinary excavations where the coinage of several Thracian rulers is represented, including Amadocus I,
Bergaios, Cotys I,
Amadocus II,
Teres II,
Cersobleptes, and
Seuthes III. The collection also contains coins from several Greek city-states, including Thasos, Maroneia,
Parion,
Thracian Chersonese,
Kypsela,
Enos, Apollonia,
Messembria,
Damastion,
Sermyle, and
Kardia. Also included in the find is coinage of
Ancient Macedonian and
Hellenistic rulers (
Philip II,
Alexander the Great,
Cassandros,
Demetrios Poliorketes,
Lysimachos,
Seleucus I, etc.). In 1999 another fundamental discovery was made – a collective find consisting of 552 silver and gold coins issued by Alexander the Great, Demetrios Poliorketes, Lysimachos and Seleucus I. The inhabitants of this antique center imported luxury pottery from Attic workshops for their domestic usage. Among the painted pottery discovered in Pistiros, vessels of krater and scyphos types predominate, while those of the kylix and pelike types are more uncommon. Scenes of everyday life, mythology, leisure, and games of the ancient Greeks are depicted on the vessels. Represented in more variety are black glazed pottery wares, including scyphoi, kanthaoroi, bowls and one-handled cups, kylices and various shapes of latter type, lekythoi, and fish plates. The import of luxurious Attic pottery in Pistiros was interrupted around the mid 3rd century BC. This trend is typical for the entire Thracian plain. Among the significant number of amphora fragments, the greatest number are of those manufactured in Thasian workshops or in those belonging to the Thasian peraea. Various patterns of autochthonous pottery (both wheel- and hand-made) prevail compared to the imported pottery. In some cases, the vessels have been entirely preserved, as in the case of several sealed oenochoai representing various scenes of the Dionysian cult (Silenus abducting a maenad, a Satyr's masque). Thrace with its rich ledges succeeds in attracting the interest of the population from Aegean region. Emporion Pistiros, which was created under the tutelage of the Thracian kings, became a key center in the export of metals from Thrace to Greece. In addition to exporting metal, Thracians also produced jewellery, and a variety of archaeological finds in Pistiros, including crucibles, blowers, cuts, matrixes, and molds, are evidence for the presence of jewellery workshops within the emporion. After the Celts burned down the emporion in the early 3rd century BC, a village was built on its remains, in which fibulae and other ornaments made of iron, bronze, silver and gold were manufactured. ==The Vetren inscription==