Berge (Bisaltia)
BergeorBerga(Ancient Greek:Βέργη or Βέργα) was aGreek[1]town ofancient Macedonia,in what is now theSerres regional unitin northern Greece.
The town was located inland from the mouth of theStrymon,in the region ofBisaltia,north-west ofAmphipolis,and was founded byThasians[2]as a dependent colony andemporionsometime in the 5th century BCE.[3]The town was a member of theDelian League,and according toN. G. L. Hammondwas colonized by 1000Athenians.[1]Later sources call it apolis,but according toStraboit was a village of theBisaltaeandPtolemywrites that it was in the territory of theOdomanti.[1][4][5]
Berge was a rich city that minted her own coins from 476 to 356 BCE depictingSilenuswith anymphor Silenus or a carp fish or square crisscross in form ofswastikasand had the following words inscribed, (ΒΕΡΓ) or (ΒΕΡΓΑΙ) or (ΒΕΡΓΑΙΟΥ). Berge began to lose its importance after the foundation ofAmphipolis,it continued however being a self-sufficient city inHellenisticandRomantimes.
It was the homeland ofAntiphanes of Berge(4th century BCE), writer of the bookApista(Unbelievable Stories), from which the verbbergaḯzein(Greek:βεργαΐζειν) was created to denote someone telling incredible stories.[1]
Its site is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of modernNigrita.[6][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdThe Greek Settlements in Thrace Until the Macedonian Conquestpage 57by Benjamin H. IsaacISBN90-04-06921-6(1986)
- ^An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen,2005,page 859
- ^Agoranomia: studies in money and exchange presented to John H. Kroll By John H. Kroll, Peter G. Van Alfen Page 75ISBN0-89722-298-9(2006)
- ^Strabo.Geographica.Vol. i. p. 47, ii. pp. 102, 104.Page numbers refer to those ofIsaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^Ptolemy.The Geography.Vol. 3.13.31.
- ^Richard Talbert,ed. (2000).Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.Princeton University Press. p. 51, and directory notes accompanying.ISBN978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^Lund University.Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Berga".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.