Thracians are said to have been conquered by the romans in the second mid century. Rebellion turned to Christianity. They were said to be superior fighters. Reports of a vicious people are disputed. Archaeology in southern Bulgaria has identified more about them. Said to have occupied most of the Balkan regions including Pannonia in the west. Thrace, south of the Danube except for the land of Bessi was ruled for nearly half a century by Persians under Darius the great who invaded in 513/512 bc. Once overruled they invaded Greece and Macedonia with Persia. The persian troops subjugated gold rich Thrace and the powerful Paeonians.
Thracians lived mainly in the Odrysian kingdom of present day Bulgaria, south eastern Romania, northern Greece and parts of Turkey. They were said to be a vassal state of Macedon for several decades under generals such as Lysimachus of the diadochi, generals of Alexander. Celts are said to have settled in Thrace around 3rd Century bc and advanced to Anatolia, present day Turkey reportedy establishing the kingdom of Galatia.
Thracia became an official Roman province. The central governing authority was in Perinthus, Turkey. Roman authority in elsewhere is thought to have relied on soldiers. Repeated attacks from migrating germanic tribes may have resulted in over a hundred legionary fortresses. People living in Thrace and the surrounding areas became known as the Bessi. Plato described Thracians as being extravagant and high spirited. Portraying them as a war like nation, he grouped them with Celts, Persians, Scythians, Iberians and Carthaginians: Polyaenus and Strabo wrote of Strathians breaking a truce with trickery. Reportedly the Dii were responsible for atrocities of the Peloponnesian war.
Thracians and Macedonians revolted against Roman rule though a few tribes such as the Deneletae and the Bessi aligned to Rome. Bessi are believed to originate from Bessapara, Bulgaria. The Sapaei came to the fore. Rhoemetalces III and his wife Pythodorus II were reportedly rulers of the Sapaean kingdom of Thrace under Roman rule from 38-46 ordinary time. They succeeded Pythodoris’s mother Tryphaena and her brother Rhoemetalces II. Rhoemetalces III was reportedly murdered by his wife who was also his cousin.
Many Thracians are said to have disappeared, perhaps early 5th Century, possibly migrated. Some scholars believe there may have been a move to south eastern Europe. Perhaps west. According to sources there appearance was of red or dark hair and blue eyes and typical of the Bulgarian people.