Ethnē Thrakōn in ancient greek and latin authors – what’s in a name?

Abstract

Writing l’histoire des noms, et même l’histoire par les noms is, in the case of Thracian ethnonyms, a particularly complex procedure. After briefly commenting on some of the difficulties, the present communication focuses on two specific cases attested in both literary and epigraphic sources (Sapaioi, Coelaletae) and, by analyzing variations in the attested forms of these ethnonyms, tries to differentiate between variations that can be considered pertinent to the history of the tribes from variations that can be attributed solely to the literary tradition.

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