Ancient tribes in the Balkans

thumb|250px|Bronze head of Seuthes III from his tomb The Thracians (; ; or Θρήϊκες in Ionic Greek) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history. Thracians resided mainly in Southeast Europe in modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, northern Greece and European Turkey, but also in north-western Anatolia (Asia Minor) in Turkey.

thumb|upright=1.3|right|Illyrian tribes in the 1st–2nd centuries AD The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, along with the Thracians and Greeks.

union of Thracian tribes and kingdoms (5th century BC to 1st century AD)

thumb|306x306px|The regional location of the Bessi, in the Rhodope Mountains|Rhodope and North-West of the [[Dii tribe.]]

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Edones|305x305px The Edoni (also Edones, Edonians, Edonides) () were a Thracian tribe who dwelt mostly between the Nestus and the Strymon rivers in southern Thrace, but also once dwelt west of the Strymon at least as far as the Axios. They inhabited the region of Mygdonia before the Macedonians drove them out. After that, they settled in the region of Edonis which was named after them. There were a number of Edonian cities in the Classical era, including Drabeskos and Myrkinos.

250px|thumb|Mount Cholomon, highlands in or near ancient [[Mygdonia.]] Bryges or Briges () is the historical name given to a people of the ancient Balkans. They are generally considered to have been related to the Phrygians, who during classical antiquity lived in western Anatolia. Both names, Bryges and Phryges, are assumed to be variants of the same root.

thumb|right|305x305px|Paeonia, tribes and environs The Odomanti () or Odomantes () were an ancient Balkan tribe. Some regard it as Paeonian, while others claim, that the tribe was with certainty Thracian. The Odomanti are noted by Herodotus, Thucydides, Stephanus of Byzantium and Pliny the Elder.

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Bistones|303x303px Bistones () is the name of a Thracian people who dwelt between Mount Rhodopé and the Aegean Sea, beside Lake Bistonis, near Abdera extending westward as far as the river Nestus. It was through the land of the Bistones that Xerxes marched on his invasion of Greece (480 BC). The Bistones continued to exist at the time when the Romans were masters of Thrace. Roman poets sometimes use the names of the Bistones for that of the Thracians in general. Pliny mentions one town as belonging to the Bistones: Tirida; the other towns on their coast,

Dii is also the plural of Latin Deus.

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Satrai|308x308px The Satrae () were, in ancient geography, a Thracian people, inhabiting part of Mount Pangaeus between the rivers Nestus (Mesta) and Strymon (Struma). According to Herodotus, they were independent in his time, and had never been conquered within the memory of man. They dwelt on lofty mountains covered with forests and snow, and on the highest of these was an oracle of Dionysus, whose utterances were delivered by a priestess.

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Sinti|306x306px The Sintians () were a group of people who were known to the Greeks as pirates and raiders. They are also referred to as a Thracian people who once inhabited the area of Sintice and the island of Lemnos which was also called in ancient times Sinteis. Some scholars have suggested that they were not Thracians but Pelasgians, related to another group who lived in Samothrace, also known as Sintians.

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Dentheletae in the second half of the 5th century BC.|306x306px thumb|Approximate location of the Dentheletae|306x306px The Dentheletae (), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae, were a Thracian tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by Polybius, Cassius Dio, Tacitus and by Livy. They lived in the neighbourhoods of the modern towns Kyustendil (ancient Pautalia) and Dupnitsa (ancient Germania, from the Thracian word for "hot", due to its springs), stretching to as far as the mountains to the w

thumb|right|Expulsion of the Pieres from the region of Olympus to the region of Pangaion by the Macedonians |309x309px The Pieres (Ancient Greek,"Πίερες") were a Thracian tribe connected with the Brygi, that long before the archaic period in Greece occupied the narrow strip of plain land, or low hill, between the mouths of the Peneius and the Haliacmon rivers, at the foot of the great woody steeps of Mount Olympus. This region was named after them as Pieria ().

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Bisaltai|306x306px The Bisaltae () were a Thracian people on the lower Strymon river, who gave their name to Bisaltia, the district between Amphipolis and Heraclea Sintica (the modern village of Rupite, Bulgaria) on the east and Crestonice on the west. They also made their way into the peninsulas of Acte and Pallene in the south, beyond the river Nestus in the east, and are even said to have raided Cardia.

thumb|right|Approximate location of the Sapaioi|307x307px Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi (Ancient Greek, "Σαπαῖοι") were a Thracian tribe close to the Greek city of Abdera. One of their kings was named Abrupolis and had allied himself with the Romans. They ruled Thrace after the Odrysians until its incorporation by the Roman Empire as a province.