Ancient/Modern Sources about Thessalonica

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and in his own name and that of the people of Thessalonica he offered the city to the Venetian signoria, asking only that it should be governed “according to its usages and statutes”; that the orthodox metropolitan of Thessalonica be confirmed in his ecclesiastical charge; that the greek inhabitants should retain their local rights of jurisdiction..

“The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 Vol. 2: The Fifteenth Century” By Kenneth Meyer Setton, page 19-20

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On 14 July 1429, the Senate gave formal replies to a detailed petition presented by an embassy representing the Greek population of Thessalonica, showing that the inhabitants had become disenchanted with Venetian rule as they years had passed.

The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 Vol. 2: The Fifteenth Century By Kenneth Meyer Setton, page 28

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It was a business transaction carried through with every regard for the welfare of Thessalonica and its greek inhabitants; and it was done with the full knowledge and assent of the emperor Manuel II.

Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations, By Donald M. Nicol, Page 361

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The Mission to Thessalonica.—The Christian inhabitants of Thessalonica were mainly Greeks by birth and training who had been won over from paganism by the efforts of Paul, Silyanus (Silas) and Timotheus (Timothy)..

“The Expositor’s Greek Testament” By W. Robertson (William Robertson) Nicoll, Alexander Balmain Bruce, Marcus Dods, R. J. (Richard John) Knowling, James Denney, George G. (George Gillanders) Findlay, J. H. (John Henry) Bernard, Frederic Rendall, S. D. F. (Stewart Dingwall Fordyce) Salmond, Harry Angus Alexander Kennedy, Arthur S. (Arthur Samuel) Peake, James Moffatt, Newport John Davis White, W. O. E. (William Oscar Emil) Oesterley, J. H. A. (John Henry Arthur). Hart, Robert Harvey Strachan, David Smith, Joseph B. (Joseph Bickersteth) Mayor

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But when Hadrian reorganized the empire with a more genuine partnership of Italians and Hellenes, he improved on one aspect of the plan of Augustus for the participation of colonies- Hadrian established a synedrion which united elected representatives of old Greek cities. Greek federal stales, and Greek colonies. Just as the Italians of the colonies which Augustus sought to attach more closely were, on the one hand, men who lived in cities organized on a peculiarly Roman pattern, and, on the other hand, men of Italic stock and culture or natives who had completely assimilated themselves, so the cities which joined in forming the Panhellenion were cities of a peculiarly Hellenic type, the polis. the cities which could claim colonists of old Hellenic stock. If the majority of the population were Hellenes or completely assimilated to Hellenes, the Eastern colonia (Corinth or Thessalonica) might be treated either as a colony or a mother city of Hellenes. Roman Corinth, for instance, appear as a mother city in I.G., VII. 24 and Corns/A. VIII, lit, 269* Certainly their interests had to be weighed with those of neighbouring cities.

“Marcus Aurelius: Aspects of Civic and Cultural Policy in the East” By James H Oliver, page 136

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Here we notice thai in Acts the term “Hellenes” (or “Greeks”) is used with noteworthy propriety: the people of Thessalonica, of Berea, of Ephesus, of Iconium. and of Syrian Antioch are spoken of as Hellenes. Those were all cities which had no claim to be Roman, except in the general way of being parts of the Roman provinces Macedonia, Galatia, and Syria. They were counted Greek cities, and reckoned themselves as such.

“Historical Commentary on First Corinthians” By William Ramsay, page 34

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By the time of Paul the population of Thessalonica was cosmopolitan. The original Macedonian population had long been assimilated with Greek immigrants from the South, giving the city a distinctively Greek character.

“The Epistles to the Thessalonians: Commentary on the Greek Text” By Charles Wanamaker, page 4

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“Paul the Apostle, was summoned to Macedonia by a Macedonian in the form of a vision speaking to him in Greek“

(Act Apost. XVI 9,10)

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“The Apostles Paul and Silas met Greek men and women in Thessaloniki and Beroea“

(Act Apost. XVII 4, 12).

Ac 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came
to THESSALONICA, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Ac 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath
days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Ac 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and
risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is
Christ.
Ac 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of
the devout GREEKS a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

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The growing riches of Constantinople and Salonika had an irresistible attraction for the wild men from the east and north and unfortunately the Greek citizens were more inclined to spend their energy in theological disputesand their leisure in the circus than to devote either the one or the other to the defence of their country.

The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey (1916) By Nevill Forbes, page 13

>The population of Saloniki is reckoned at 80,000 but probably does not exceed 65,000 of whom 35,000 are Turks, 15,000 Greeks and 13,000 Jews, the remainder Franks and Gypsies

Travels in Northern Greece. By William Martin Leake, page 248

Taken from the ‘Encomium of St Demetrios’ written by the well-known fourteenth-century theologian Nicholas Kabasilas Chamaetos.