Abdera

40°55'55"N 24°58'31"E

The site of Abdera was settled in the middle of the 7th century B.C. by colonists from Clazomenae and in 545 B.C. by the inhabitants of Teos. It soon grew to a prosperous city, with a fortification wall, harbour, dockyards and sanctuaries. This was the city of Democritos, and was host to the army of Xerxes. In the middle of the 4th century B.C. a new section was added to city on the south side, built in the Hippodamian system, with strong fortification walls, an acropolis, two harbours and workshop areas. The city flourished until the Roman period, when it lost its importance and the defensive walls were abolished. During the Byzantine period the site was used as a cemetery.

Excavations on the site were begun in 1950 by D. Lazarides and continued until 1966. The fortification walls and the buildings of the south enceinte (later city) were then uncovered. The same area and the ancient cemeteries were later excavated by the 19th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. The Archaic city inside the north fortification wall and its cemetery have been systematically excavated since 1981. A project for the preservation of the monuments was undertaken in 1985. So far, all the buildings found during the old excavations have been restored and the site is open to visitors. The most important monuments of the site are the following: Area of the West Gate. The wall of the 4th century B.C. was reinforced with towers and a gate on the west side, quite well preserved. Remains of houses have also survived in the enclosed area. Roman house. The rooms are organized around a central, paved, peristyle courtyard with a well. Clay figurine workshop. Complex of four houses which were also used for the manufacture of terracotta figurines. Roman houses on the hill of Aghios Panteleimon.

The Archaic city. Remains of an Archaic establishment have been uncovered at the NE corner of the north fortification wall. Excavations have brought to light two successive phases of the defensive wall, dockyards, a sanctuary and private houses. "House of the Dolphins". Private house of the Classical period, inside which was found a mosaic with a representation of dolphins.

Polystylon (Abdera) Polystylon was the name of the city founded in the Middle Byzantine period on the site of the acropolis of ancient Abdera, on a low hill by the harbour. The name is probably owed to the numerous ancient columns ("stylos" means column in Greek), which were transported from this area. Excavations began in 1982 and were continued until 1984; work was resumed in 1991 and is still in progress.

The most important monuments of the site are: Single-aisled domed church dated to the 12th-13th century. The ruined church and the cemetery around it were discovered inside the walled area, near the gate. Post-Byzantine three-aisled church with an earlier, octagonal baptistery. It was located on the top of the hill where the tower of the Byzantine acropolis stood, and is considered to be the Episcopal church of the city. It was founded in the 9th-10th century and was repaired in the 11th century. A built tomb with an arcosolium was brought to light next to the baptistery. Cemetery of the 9th-11th centuries. It lies outside the walls of the Byzantine city, in front of the west gate of Abdera, on the site of the ancient cemetery. A three-aisled basilica was also located in the area.

Middle-Byzantine fortification wall of Polystylon. It is founded either on the Classical or on the Roman-Late Roman walls. The central gate is located on the north side of the fortification. Ruins of a small bath in the vicinity of the SW tower of the Byzantine walls.

Democritus of Abdera Democritus of Abdera is best known for his atomic theory of the universe, but also made significant contributions to the study of geometry. Not much is known of his life, but rather extensive knowledge remains about his philosophies. He wrote a large amount of works on a variety of subjects including ethics, language, literature, logic, mathematics, music, and physics. Some of the titles relevant to mathematics are: On Numbers, On Geometry, On Tangencies, On Mappings, and On Irrationals. Born to a wealthy family in Abdera (Avdhira, Greece), an ancient port on the coast of Thrace, Democritus used his inheritance for the sole purpose of acquiring knowledge. He traveled extensively (by ancient standards) and visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia, and India. He may have even visited Athens to study under Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (499-428 B.C.), the great mathematician and philosopher. The foundation for all of Democritus' mathematics was based upon the theory of Atomism. An elaboration of his mentor Leucippus' theory (c. 480-420 B.C.), Atomism explains that the universe is composed of a void, or vacuum, and an infinite number of atoms. These atoms are atomon (the Greek word for indivisible), impassable (completely filling the space they occupy), and eternal. Although each is indivisible, they possess the ability to link with others to form larger objects--the visible entities of reality. And through variations in the shapes and arrangement of these atoms, coupled with the degree of void within the substance, individual objects are created. From this concept, Democritus could explain all facets of everything in existence within the physical world. For example, Democritus claimed that the atoms of iron and water were identical. Their inherent differences come from the fact that water atoms are glossy spheres that are unable to hook onto one another. Thus, the water atoms continually roll over one another creating a liquid form. On the other hand, the atoms of iron are jagged and rough, and therefore cling together to form a solid mass. Since all things were predicated upon the theory of Atomism, Democritus' mathematics focused primarily on infinitesimal problems and the concept of the geometrical atom. For example, Democritus had the idea of a solid being the sum of many parallel planes, and he may have used this concept while calculating the line segment, area, or volume of a cone and pyramid.

Protagoras The Greek philosopher Protagoras (ca. 484-ca. 414 B.C.) was one of the best-known and most successful teachers of the Sophistic movement of the 5th century B.C. Protagoras was born in Abdera, the native city of Democritus, and spent much of his life as an itinerant Sophist, traveling throughout the Greek world. He was a frequent visitor to Athens, being a friend of Pericles, and was said to have aided in framing the constitution for the colony of Thurii, which the Athenians established in southern Italy in 444/443 B.C. Plato said that Protagoras spent 40 years teaching and that he died at the age of 70. Stories about an indictment against Protagoras by the Athenians, the burning of his books, and his death at sea are probably fictitious. Sophist Philosophy Protagoras earned his livelihood giving lectures and instruction to individuals and groups. The system he taught had little to do with philosophy or the pursuit of an absolute truth; instead it imparted to its adherents the necessary skills and knowledge for success in life, especially in politics. These skills consisted mainly of rhetoric and dialectic and could be used for whatever ends a person desired. It was for this reason, for teaching people "to make the weaker cause the stronger, " that Protagoras came under attack, indirectly by Aristophanes in The Clouds and directly by Plato in several of his dialogues. Protagoras wrote on a wide variety of subjects. Fragments of some of his works survive, and the titles of others are known through later comments on them. His famous dictum "man is the measure of all things" is the opening sentence of a work variously called Truth or Refutatory Arguments. He also wrote On the Gods, a fragment of which survives. In it he says that the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human life prevent any definite conclusions. Other works include The Great Argument, Contradictory Arguments, On Mathematics, and The Art of Eristics. The list of titles preserved in the works of the Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius may represent sections of larger works, whereas such titles as On Ambition, On Virtues, On Human Errors, and Trial Concerning a Fee almost certainly represent discussions of the common themes of Sophistic speeches. The chronology of these works is unknown. Protagoras was a perfect example of the 5th-century Sophist. Careful thinkers could, of course, easily undermine the basis of his relative theory of knowledge; but the attractiveness of his theory and the pervasive influence of his teachings were so great that no less an opponent than Plato went to great lengths to expose the fallacies and potential evil of what he represented. Further Reading The surviving fragments of Protagoras's works are collected in H. Diels and W. Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, translated in Kathleen Freeman, Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (1948), and discussed in her The Pre-Socratic Philosophers (1946; 3d ed. 1953). An excellent discussion of the Sophists and their contributions to Greek culture is in Werner Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, translated by Gilbert Highet, vol. 1 (1939; 2d ed. 1945). A brief but useful account of Protagoras's importance can be found in Albin Lesky, A History of Greek Literature (1966)