lower estuary of the Hebros, in 254bc(Polyaen. 4.16), then it would
appear that contemporary and later literary tradition could fashion
rather different interpretations of Getic lifestyles, since Polyaenus attri-
butes the reason for the defendants’decision to surrender themselves
to Antiochos to the impressive character of the Thracian officers’
dress. Military attire can rarely have had a more dramatic tactical effect.
The story implies that not only was the Getic leader able to turn out
creditably, but also that he was an impressivefigure by international
standards.
If Sboryanovo, the fortified upland city in a naturally defended prom-
ontory above a loop in the River Krapinets,c.40 km south of the Danube
at Tutrakan andc.110 km from Odessos, is indeed the citadel of Helis,
where Lysimachos was kept prisoner, then Diodorus, and Strabo after
him, painted an over-generous contrast between the lifestyle of Lysima-
chos and that of Dromichaites. Lysimachos’power may in principle have
been far greater than the Getic leader’s. But Helis was a major civic
centre, apolisaccording to Diodorus (in contrast to a range of sites that
are variously designatedphrouriaorchoria), with a defended nucleus of
20 ha and an overall area ofc.100 ha, the focus of various craft industries,
notably metallurgy, and a net importer of wines from Thasos, Herakleia,
Sinope, and other Pontic centres.^54
The sort of dress illustrated in contemporary Thracian tombs (such as
Alexandrovo, Kazanluk Tomb and Ginina Mogila, Sveshtari) as well
as other artwork, including engraved metalware and rings, echoes the
best contemporary fashions in the Aegean, and is comparable to the
kinds of dress depicted on the façade of the Agios Athanasios Tomb,c. 15
km east of ancient Pella andc.20 km west of Thessaloniki, one of the
best-preserved tableaux of images from thefinal decades of the fourth
centurybc.^55 The two large-scalefiguresflanking the doorway into the
tomb chamber (1.45 m and 1.52 m respectively) offer a splendid repre-
sentation of how we might expect a Macedonian soldier to be dressed,
while the 25figures on the frieze above the doorway illustrate the
appearance of horsemen, distinguished diners, women musicians and
(^54) Delev 2000, 396–401 and 400 n.90 for the author’s proposal of the identification,
which has since been accepted by the excavators (Stoyanov 2006, 87); see also Stoyanov
2002; Stoyanov 2006; Stoyanov et al.AOR2006 [2007] 209–12; 2007 [2008] 211–17; 2010
[2011] 174–6;Sboryanovo III(forthcoming).
(^55) Alexandrovo: Stoyanov 2008; Kazanluk: Zhivkova 1973; Ginina Mogila, Sveshtari: Fol
et al. 1986; see also bibliography in Delev 2000, 396 n.73; on Thracian military dress,
Archibald 1998, 204–6 with further refs; Agios Athanasios: Tsimbidou-Avloniti 2005,
109 – 49, pls 24–5, 27, 30–37; 172–82 with catalogue of Hellenistic painted tombs found to
date in Macedonia; see also below on the warrior’s dress from Malomirovo-Zlatinitsa.
Thelongue duréein the north Aegean 163