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What connections did Thucydides have to Thrace?
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Thucydides
Thucydides manuscript, 3rd century bc (Hamburg, Staats- und UniversitÀtsbibliothek, P. Hamburg 163).
Thucydides maintained significant personal and professional ties to Thrace throughout his life:
- Ancestry and Family: His father, Olorus, was likely of Thracian descent on his motherâs side. Furthermore, Thucydides was related to the Athenian statesman Miltiades, who had previously married the daughter of a Thracian prince.1
- Property and Influence: Thucydides personally owned property in the region, which included valuable mining rights in the gold mines located opposite the island of Thasos. He explicitly noted that he was a man of influence in that area.1
- Military Command: Due to these local connections, he was elected as a stratÄgos in 424 BCE and given command of the Athenian fleet in the Thraceward region, with his base of operations at Thasos.1
His tenure in the region ended after he failed to prevent the Spartan general Brasidas from capturing the strategic city of Amphipolis, an event that led to his recall and subsequent exile from Athens.1