Realms of Silver and Gold

Ares and Orpheus—the belligerent Greek war god and the greatest of mythical poets—might seem like polar opposites. But they have one thing in common: Their legendary birthplace was ancient Thrace.

That Ares was linked to Thrace is not surprising. Homer, Herodotus and Thucydides all praised the fierce, warlike Thracians, tribes that inhabited the towering Rhodope Mountains of southwestern Bulgaria and the fertile lowlands south of the Danube River. But the Thracians’ association with Orpheus and his heartrending lyre suggests that they were also skilled at the art of art.

The Thracians left a considerable visual legacy—much of it catalogued in Ancient Gold: The Wealth of the Thracians, which is also the name of an exhibition that traveled the United States in 1998 and 1999. Four essays by the Bulgarian scholars Alexander Fol, Margarita Tacheva, Ivan Venedikov and Ivan Marazov accompany the brilliant illustrations, making up the first comprehensive English-language history of Thracian art.