Bistones

Bistones (Greek: "Βίστονες") is the name of a Thracian people who dwelt between Mount Rhodopé and the Aegean Sea, beside Lake Bistonis, near Abdera. From the worship of Dionysus in Thrace, female Bacchanals were sometimes called Bistonides, just as in some Latin poems, Edonis (from another Thracian tribe, the Edoni) refers to female Bacchanals. Pliny mentions one town as belonging to the Bistones: Tirida.

Approximate location of the Bistones

According to myth Biston founded the Bistones tribe. He also introduced the practice of tattooing eye-like patterns on their men and women to guarantee victory over the nearby Edonians. The Bistones were also a warlike people who worshipped Ares, who was Biston's father, in the form of an upright standing sword.

See also

• Biston
• List of Thracian tribes