Bizye
Bizye is a historic city located in Thrace, Turkey, positioned equidistant between the ancient cities of Byzantium (modern İstanbul) and Hadrianopolis (modern Edirne). Rich in mythological heritage, it is associated with the tale of King Tereus, whose tragic story involves themes of vengeance and transformation. The city has a long history, with evidence of a sacred precinct dedicated to Thracian deities dating back to before 500 BC. In the third century BC, Bizye became the capital of the Astice, a territory inhabited by the Thracian Astae people, and flourished during the first century BC.
Under the rule of King Cotys of the Astae, the city reached significant prosperity before being annexed by the Romans in the mid-first century AD. Bizye continued to be important in later Roman and Byzantine times, eventually falling under the province of Europa. Notable archaeological remnants include sections of the ancient city wall, which reflect its historical fortifications and urban planning. The city’s legacy is further highlighted by inscriptions and coins that provide insights into its complex governance and cultural significance across different eras.
Bizye
(Vize)
A city in Thrace, equidistant between Byzantium (İstanbul, to its southeast) and Hadrianopolis (Edirne, to its northwest). It was the home of the mythological King Tereus, whose wife Procne, as punishment for the seduction of her sister Philomela, served him up their son at a feast, whereupon they escaped his vengeance by turning into a nightingale and a swallow, or vice versa. A sacred precinct of local Thracian divinities seems to go back to the years before 500 BC. In the third century, if not earlier, Bizye became the capital of Astice, the country of the Thracian people of the Astae, whose lands extended between the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) and the Black Sea; a burial tumulus containing gold, silver and bronze articles is attributable to one of their kings. The claim that Bizye had been founded by Greek colonists from Mesembria (Nessebur) seems to have been fictitious.
At one time client kings dependent on the inland Odrysians, the rulers of the Astae reemerged in the first century BC as the second most powerful family in Thrace, united by marriage with the kings of the Sapaci (on the Thraco-Macedonian border), who also, for a time, controlled the Bessi in the interior of the country. In this period Bizye enjoyed considerable prosperity, becoming, in the later years of the century, the capital of King Cotys of the Astae (who married a daughter of the king of the Sapaci, bearing the same name). When the Bessi, conquered by Marcus Lollius (19/18), broke away from the control of the Astae, Augustus reunited the country under the Astican royal house, which continued to rule (after a temporary division) until the Romans decided upon annexation in AD 44/6; inscriptions found at Bizye illustrate the dynasty's complicated relationships. Under the reorganization of the province by Trajan (98–117), the city assumed the additional name of his family Ulpia. In the later empire it was included in the province of Europa, and in 431 a bishop of Bizye is recorded, enjoying authority over other ecclesiastical centers in the region.
Substantial remains of the ancient fortifications have survived, mostly of imperial date but going back to Hellenistic times. The main gateway is shown on a coin of Antoninus Pius (138–61), and an issue of Philip I (244–49) offers a remarkable view of the city within the circuit of its walls, which are studded with seven towers.