It is said to have been a Samian colony, founded about 599 BC. According to Tzetzes, its original name was Mygdonia; later it was called Heraclea (Heraclea Thraciae, Heraclea Perinthus). It is famous chiefly for its stubborn and successful resistance to Philip II of Macedon in 340; at that time it seems to have been more important than Byzantium itself.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.