D. P. Dimitrov, developed the theory that Seuthopolis may have aspired to
the status of a contemporary Greekpolis(as the topographical content of
the inscription found there, now dubbed the‘oath of Berenike’, indicates:
IGBR iii.2, no. 1731; Velkov 1991, 7, no.1); but in practice this was a‘royal
residence’, a type of settlement identified with the fortified residences
described by Xenophon in Thrace and north-west Asia Minor (Seuthes’
residence:Anab.7.2.21; Asidates in Mysia: 7.8.12–14). Seuthopolis is, on
this reading, a socially restricted type of settlement, with room for no more
than some 40 aristocratic families. This social interpretation of Seuthopolis
might equally, however, be applied to the spacious residences at the heart
of Pella, or even to the generous accommodation at Olynthos, if we use the
evidence of house forms and artefacts as direct reflections of societies. If
these comparisons are valid, however, perhaps the spacious style of
accommodation should be seen as a regional preference, rather than an
ethnic one.^51
Moreover, Stoyanov has criticized D. P. Dimitrov’s evaluation of the
social hierarchy at Seuthopolis, arguing that the excavator was too ready
to dismiss the evidence for the extramural population of the city as
poorly housed and indigent. Long-term archaeological investigations at
Sboryanovo (identified with ancient Helis), where there are several
extramural sectors, show that tiles may sometimes be the only evidence
we can point to of domestic structures, other than portable artefacts; but
these investigations show no significant differences between the kinds of
everyday objects found inside the urban walls, as compared with similar
material found outside.^52 If there are social distinctions to be drawn
inside Thracian settlements, these cannot be made on the basis of the
types of residential structures discovered so far.
Proponents of the‘Asiatic mode of production’in Thrace have had
difficulty in accommodating the burgeoning evidence of commercial
activities inland of the coastlines. Tacheva has argued that the rights
accorded to Maronitan merchants and traders from other cities at the
emporionof Pistiros were in effect forced on a puppet ruler, a successor
of Kotys I, put in place by Philip II of Macedon, who was thereby obliged
to renege on his exclusive rights.‘Urbanization [in Thrace during the
second half of the fourth centurybc] was very late due to the strong royal
power and its economy, which prevented producers from participating
(^51) Dimitrov 1958, 683–99; Dimitrov and Chichikova 1978, 10–11, 48–64; K. Dimitrov
2011, 101–12, with recent bibliography and detailed re-investigation of many of these
arguments, even if his conclusion is that Seuthopolis, whilst having many of the essential
features of an early Hellenistic city, did not have‘citizens’.
(^52) Stoyanov 2006, 85; K. Dimitrov 2011, 101.
214 Regionalism and regional economies