This volume deals with the concept of 'West' and 'East', as held by the ancient Greeks. Cultural exchange in Archaic and Classical Greece through the establishment of Hellenic colonies around the ancient world was an important development, and always a two-way process. To achieve a proper understanding of it requires study from every angle. All 24 papers in this volume combine different types of evidence, discussing them from every perspective: they are examined not only from the point of view of the Greeks but from that of the locals. The book gives new data, as well as re-examining existing evidence and reinterpreting old theories. The book is richly illustrated.

A Companion to Ancient Thrace presents a series of essays that reveal the newly recognized complexity of the social and cultural phenomena of the peoples inhabiting the Balkan periphery of the Classical world. • Features a rich and detailed overview of Thracian history from the Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity • Includes contributions from leading scholars in the archaeology, art history, and general history of Thrace • Balances consideration of material evidence relating to Ancient Thrace with more traditional literary sources • Integrates a study of Thrace within a broad context that includes the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, southwest Asia, and southeast Europe/Eurasia • Reflects the impact of new theoretical approaches to economy, ethnicity, and cross-cultural interaction and hybridity in Ancient Thrace

Of all the areas colonised by the Greeks, the Black Sea is one of the least-known in the West, although the area is gradually opening up to Western scholarship. This volume presents the work of Western and Eastern scholars - archaeologists, historians, linguists, epigraphists - on the Black Sea. Contents: Greek colonisation of the Black Sea Area: Stages, models and native population (G. R. Tsetskhladze) ; Greek ideas of the north and the east (M. Vassileva) ; Pontic interactions: the cult of Sabazios (A. Fol) ; Notizen zur griechischen Kolonisation am westlichen Schwarzen Meer (M. Lazarov) ; Apollonia Pontica: Recent discoveries in the Necropolis (K. Panayotova) ; Zum beginn der r�mischen Kontrolle der griechischen St�dte an der Westkueste des Pontos Euxeinos (A. Avram) ; Megaran colonisation in the Western half of the Black Sea (J. Hind) ; The Greek colonisation of the Black Sea region in the light of private lead letters (Y. Vinogradov) ; Ionia and the North Pontic Area: Archaic metalworking (M. Treister) ; Olbia and Berezan: the early pottery (J. Boardman) ; Archaic Berezan: Historical-archaeological essay (S. Solovev) ; The foundation of Tauric Chersonesus (S. Y. Saprykin) ; Greek Colonisation of the Bosporus (G. A. Koshelenko and V. D. Kuznetsov) ; The Achaeans and the Heniochi: reflections on the origins and history of a Greek rhetorical topos (D. Asheri) ; Writing and re-inventing colonial origins (D. Braund) ; Die Gruendung von Sinope und die Probleme der Anfangsphase der griechischen Kolonisation des Schwarzmeergebietes (A. L. Ivantchik) .

Originally published as Volume 4 (2005) of Brill's bi-annual Ancient West & East.

Fascinating discussions of fifth-century Athens and its modern interpretation