Seutopoli

Seutopoli (greco, Σευθόπολις) era un'antica città^[1] di tipo ellenistico^[2] fondata dal re tracio Seute III, e capitale del regno degli Odrisi.

Storia

La città venne fondata tra il 325 ed il 315 a.C.^[3] Era una piccola città, costruita su di un insediamento precedente, le cui rovine si trovano oggi sotto il lago artificiale di Koprinka, vicino a Kazanlak, nella provincia bulgara di Stara Zagora. Seutopoli fu l'unica città importante della Tracia non costruita dai Greci,^[4] sebbene fosse basata su piani greci.^[5] Seutopoli non era^[6] una vera e propria città, ma la sede ufficiale di Seute e della sua corte. Il suo palazzo aveva un duplice ruolo, dal momento che era anche un santuario dei Cabiri, divinità originarie di Samotracia^[7]. La maggior parte dello spazio interno della città non era occupato da case, ma da strutture per scopi ufficiali: la maggior parte della popolazione viveva fuori dalla città. Vi abitavano sia Greci che Traci.^[8] Nel 281 a.C. venne saccheggiata e distrutta dai Celti.^[9]

Il fatto che il palazzo di Seute avesse il ruolo di reggia e santuario poteva indicare che egli era un re-sacerdote. Al centro del santuario dei Cabiri sorgeva un altare. La necropoli di Seutopoli presenta alcune tombe a thòlos in mattoni, alcuni tumuli ed alcune steli che indicavano la posizione di urne cinerarie.

Le rovine della città vennero scoperte e scavate nel 1948^[10] da alcuni archeologi bulgari mentre erano in corso i lavori per la costruzione del lago artificiale di Koprinka, ma i lavori proseguirono, inondando il sito della città, oggi del tutto sommerso.

Nel 2005, l'architetto bulgaro Zheko Tilev propose un progetto per restaurare e ricostruire Seutopoli (la città tracia meglio conservata in Bulgaria) costruendo un terrapieno di 420 metri attorno alla città in mezzo al lago e iscrivendola nella lista dei siti patrimonio dell'umanità dell'UNESCO e farla conoscere meglio ai turisti. Il progetto fu donato dall'architetto al municipio di Kazanlak, che sta cercando fondi per l'opera, stimata da Tilev in 50 milioni di euro.^[11]

Note

^ R. Malcolm Errington, A History of the Hellenistic World: 323 - 30 BC, 2008,"...in founding a city which he named after himself, Seuthopolis (SEG 42, 661). ..."
^ Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between the Oceans: 9500 BC-AD 1000, 2008, p. 331,""... The most sophisticated was the capital, Seuthopolis, founded by the Odrysian king Seuthes III in c.32o BC. The town was laid out entirely in the style of a Hellenistic city...""
^ Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 1336,"Seuthopolis founded c.325-315"
^ Christopher Webber, The Thracians 700 BC–AD 46,ISBN 1841763292,2001,p. 1,"the city of Seuthopolis seems to be the only significant town in Thrace no built by Greeks"
^ Christopher Webber, The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46,ISBN 1841763292,2001,p. 3,"Seuthopolis which was built on a Greek plan"
^ Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 888,"It was meant to be a polis but this was no reason to think that it was anything other than a native settlement"
^ The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (editori. Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister),A Thracian city near the village of Koprinka. It was founded at the end of the 4th c. B.C. by Seuthes III. The large quantity of material discovered during the excavation has shown that Seuthopolis was not only a center of production, but also of commerce. The city rises on a terrace circumscribed on three sides by the Tundza and by one of its tributaries. It was a fortified city of ca. 5 ha with a pentagonal circuit wall 2 m thick and 890 m in perimeter, with a quadrangular tower at each angle. At the N, between two towers, is the principal gate; and at the south are two gates between bastions. The wall is constructed of clay bricks and wood on stone foundations. The city's orthogonal plan is regular, with two large arteries that lead from the gates to the center. The agora is in the NW sector. In the NE zone is a walled and towered trapezoidal area within which is enclosed the palace of the prince and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods of Samothrace. In the houses, which are built with rooms around a court, has been found a type of plaster. Elements of porticos have been found and upper galleries of wood. The houses were furnished with wells and drainage systems with a channel in the center of the street. The influence of Hippodamos is evident, though the democratic distribution of living quarters is lacking. Seuthes III built his city on the site of an earlier settlement, and he also followed the Hellenistic fashion of the Diadochi in giving it his own name. Greek influence is prevalent in the urban elements cited and in decoration such as antefixes, stucco, and incrustation, and in the use of the Doric capital
^ Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 888
^ Barry Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, ISBN 0140254226,2000, p. 172
^ Getzel M. Cohen, The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor, 1996, " The existence of Seuthopolis in Thrace was not known until 1948"
^ [1]

Bibliografia

Dimitur P. Dimitrov, Maria Cicikova, The Thracian city of Seuthopolis. Londra 1978. ISBN 0-86054-003-0
Heinz Siegert, I Traci, Milano, 1986, p.125-130

Altri progetti

Wikimedia Commons contiene immagini o altri file su Seutopoli

Controllo di autorità	VIAF (EN) 247224115

[1] R. Malcolm Errington, A History of the Hellenistic World: 323 - 30 BC, 2008,"...in founding a city which he named after himself, Seuthopolis (SEG 42, 661). ..."

[2] Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between the Oceans: 9500 BC-AD 1000, 2008, p. 331,""... The most sophisticated was the capital, Seuthopolis, founded by the Odrysian king Seuthes III in c.32o BC. The town was laid out entirely in the style of a Hellenistic city...""

[3] Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 1336,"Seuthopolis founded c.325-315"

[4] Christopher Webber, The Thracians 700 BC–AD 46,ISBN 1841763292,2001,p. 1,"the city of Seuthopolis seems to be the only significant town in Thrace no built by Greeks"

[5] Christopher Webber, The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46,ISBN 1841763292,2001,p. 3,"Seuthopolis which was built on a Greek plan"

[6] Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 888,"It was meant to be a polis but this was no reason to think that it was anything other than a native settlement"

[7] The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (editori. Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister),A Thracian city near the village of Koprinka. It was founded at the end of the 4th c. B.C. by Seuthes III. The large quantity of material discovered during the excavation has shown that Seuthopolis was not only a center of production, but also of commerce. The city rises on a terrace circumscribed on three sides by the Tundza and by one of its tributaries. It was a fortified city of ca. 5 ha with a pentagonal circuit wall 2 m thick and 890 m in perimeter, with a quadrangular tower at each angle. At the N, between two towers, is the principal gate; and at the south are two gates between bastions. The wall is constructed of clay bricks and wood on stone foundations. The city's orthogonal plan is regular, with two large arteries that lead from the gates to the center. The agora is in the NW sector. In the NE zone is a walled and towered trapezoidal area within which is enclosed the palace of the prince and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods of Samothrace. In the houses, which are built with rooms around a court, has been found a type of plaster. Elements of porticos have been found and upper galleries of wood. The houses were furnished with wells and drainage systems with a channel in the center of the street. The influence of Hippodamos is evident, though the democratic distribution of living quarters is lacking. Seuthes III built his city on the site of an earlier settlement, and he also followed the Hellenistic fashion of the Diadochi in giving it his own name. Greek influence is prevalent in the urban elements cited and in decoration such as antefixes, stucco, and incrustation, and in the use of the Doric capital

[8] Mogens Herman Hansen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, 2005, p. 888

[9] Barry Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, ISBN 0140254226,2000, p. 172

[10] Getzel M. Cohen, The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor, 1996, " The existence of Seuthopolis in Thrace was not known until 1948"

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