I. THE PROJET
Epigraphy and Onomastics of the Thracian Populations
The bibliography on Thracian onomastics is extensive, but a recent and exhaustive tool to help scholars access this special field remained a desideratum. The collection by the linguist Dimităr Dečev (D. Detschew, Die thrakischen Sprachreste, Vienna, 1957, repr. 1976), longtime a standard reference work, is nowadays obsolete. In 2005, a high number of Thracian names were included in the recent LGPN IV IV, an indispensable tool for work on Greek onomastics (cf. the review by D. Dana, “Les noms de facture thrace dans LGPN IV: les noms fantômes et d’autres corrections,” ZPE, 157, 2006, pp. 127-142).
Critical study of the available evidence, which has been supplemented vastly by new publications, especially in the last twenty years (inscriptions, military diplomas, papyri, and ostraca), as well as access to unpublished data (for which the author is extremely grateful to many scholars who allowed him to use this material), encouraged D. Dana to bring together the Greek and Latin evidence for Thracian anthroponyms. This study, which proposes to critically review all publications on Thracian onomastics, was carried out at the ANHIMA Center within the framework of the program “Documentary Research on Greek Inscriptions”. The first step was the publication of a collection titled Onomasticon Thracicum (OnomThrac): Répertoire des noms indigènes de Thrace, Macédoine Orientale, Mésies, Dacie et Bithynie, which appeared in the MELETHMATA collection of the SGRA] (Research Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity, Athens).
II. THE COLLECTION
OnomThrac
The finished product surpassed expectations: OnomThrac contains more than 1,500 distinct Thracian names, as many main entries, and several dozen fragmentary names. It in fact amounts to 3,000 entries (including all orthographic variants) and around 7,000 instances of anthroponyms in Greek and Latin literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and numismatic sources, ranging from the Archaic period to the end of Late Antiquity. Preceded by an introduction and historical and methodological overview, the collection is rounded off by several appendices: an alphabetical index of names and their frequency, the most popular Thracian names, and a reverse index. About fifty distribution maps help visualize the geographic distribution of the names, thus bringing out clear regional differences that are generally neglected.
In an academic field plagued by maximalist and nationalist approaches, this kind of research on the epigraphy and onomastics of Thracian populations seeks to provide a basis for subsequent scholarly projects by bringing together widely scattered evidence. Potential subsequent studies include, for example, an exhaustive study of the Thracians in the Hellenistic world, especially in the armies of the successors to Alexander the Great; a prosopography of Thracians in Ptolemaic Egypt; dossiers on the [social history of Thracian soldiers and their families>art1197] in all units of the Roman army; the edition of unpublished inscriptions from Thracian territory in collaboration with specialists working on various sites. OnomThrac is intended as a manifesto in support of the revival of Thracian Studies, with all the up-to-date tools and methodological rigor of modern scholarship.
Dan Dana
Onomasticon Thracicum (OnomThrac). Répertoire des noms indigènes de Thrace, Macédoine Orientale, Mésies, Dacie et Bithynie
Athènes, 2014 (MELETHMATA 70)
Publisher: De Boccard
624 p., 51 cartes
21 x 29,7 cm
ISBN 978-960-9538-24-4
→ Download the Table of Contents
III. ONLINE RESOURCES: THE UPDATED SUPPLEMENT
OnomThracSuppl
The collection published in the MELETHEMATA series of the SGRA was completed in early fall 2014. Yet the evidence for Thracian onomastics continues to grow constantly today: every year, several Thracian names are documented, some of which are new or attest new orthographies. Consequently, the latest data modifies the statistics, enriches already known onomastic series, and improves our knowledge of obscure elements. That is why the data collected in OnomThrac is in need of an update. An online supplement, known by the acronym OnomThracSuppl, will be hosted by the ANHIMA website.
→ Download the Supplement
Available as a PDF file, OnomThracSuppl presents the updated data in the same manner as OnomThrac, with references to the pages of the printed version of OnomThrac. Published in successive instalments, with several updated versions per year (version 1.0 appeared in December 2014 and contains 35 entries), it will regularly contain:
‒ a new list of bibliographic abbreviations;
‒ additions, especially new names, but also new orthographic variants and attestations;
‒ revised readings by the author or by other specialists;
‒ potential omissions;
‒ edition of unpublished sources, as indicated already in OnomThrac;
‒ deletions and corrections that have emerged since the publication of OnomThrac;
‒ concordances with known sources (new critical editions or reference works);
‒ bibliographic additions, with references to the relevant chapters of OnomThrac.
How to cite entries:
D. Dana, OnomThracSuppl [page number in OnomThrac], version 1, décembre 2014. URL : http://www.anhima.fr/IMG/pdf/onomthracsuppl.pdf
For example, for new instances of the name “Bithus,” cite OnomThracSuppl [40-58].
**Contact :
Dan Dana
CNRS/ANHIMA
2, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
email: ddana_ddan [at] yahoo.com
