Brea

Brea (, demonym: Βρεαῖος or Βρεάτης) was an ancient Greek colony in Bisaltia, Thrace, in the lower reaches of Strymon. Nothing is known about the city itself. Nevertheless, the city is considered important by an inscription in which its 446/5 BC founding is mentioned, which is known as the Brea decree, the Brea inscription, or the Brea stone. Location and History The exact location of Brea is unknown. The city was a colony of Athens. There is no information about its future fate after their foundation; perhaps it was destroyed by the Thracians a few years after the founding. In the year 437 BC, the colony founded Amphipolis; thereafter, it makes no further appearance in Thucydides. Plutarch Plutarch mentions the establishment of Brea in his Pericles : 'In addition, he sent a thousand citizens as settlers to the Chersonese, five hundred to Naxos, half of them Andros, a thousand to Thrace, to live together with the Bisaltians...'(A thousand to Thrace, Brea: compare Brea decree). He interprets this colonization in such a way that Pericles in his far-sightedness, with a social program, alleviated the plight of the people and therefore sent the unemployed to the colony. and the intimate poleis in Thrace were also intimidated by the colony. The Brea Decree The Brea decree (446/5 BC) is an inscribed stone inscribed in stone on the Athenian colonization in the 5th century BC, And the 'example of the planned establishment of an independent polis within the framework of the Athenian colonization policy and the exercise of power at the beginning of the Delian League. The text contains several provisions concerning the participants and the execution of the train, the holding of the victims, the installation of sacred districts, and the chief proxy. Added to this is the commitment of the allied cities in Thrace to support Brea in Thracian raids. The Athenian general assembly here clearly reveals the actual function of the colonization to maintain the position of power in this region, because Athens had a strong interest in the Strymon region due to the strategic position of the mines and the precious metals to be mined there.