Novae was initially one of the few great Roman legionary fortresses along the empire's border, forming part of the defences ( limes Moesiae) along the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in northern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The settlement later expanded into a town in the Roman province of

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

, later Moesia Secunda. It lies about 4 km east of the modern town of

Svishtov Svishtov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous S ...

. The fortress is one of the few along the ''limes'' to have been excavated and now open to the public.

Location and topography

Novae is situated on the southern bank of the Danube at Pametnicite near

. The legionary fortress (''

castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

legionis'') covers an area of 18 hectares on a slope towards the river-bank, its highest point in the southern part of the site being 30m higher. Its topography resulted in terraced levels within the defensive walls. At present mainly the central part of the site has been excavated and restored.

History and archaeology

Permanent Roman military presence in the Lower Danubian region started after

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

had established himself as sole ruler of the Roman state in 30 BC and adopted a strategy to move the empire's south-eastern European border from Macedonia to the line of the Danube providing a major river supply route between the Roman armies in the region.

Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115–53 BC) was a ancient Rome, Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome".Wallechinsky, Da ...

fought a successful campaign against the Moesi and Augustus formally proclaimed victory in 27 BC. The region was organised as the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

in the last years of Augustus' reign, around 6 AD. Around 45 AD Legio VIII Augusta took part in the suppression of the

Thracia Thracia or Thrace () is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkans, Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical Greece, Classical and Hellenistic period, Hellenis ...

n uprising, and founded its fortress at Novae. The site was chosen to control a river crossing and the key section of the Danube from the mouth of the Osum River (Asamus) up to the mouth of the Yantra River, near Iatrus, a choice that was justified by later successes. After the death of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

, the dislocation of many legions within the Empire resulted in replacement by emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

in 69–70 AD of Legio VIII Augusta by Legio I Italica, which stayed in Novae at least to the 430s. In 86 the province was divided and Novae, together with Durostorum, became one of two legionary bases within the borders of Moesia Inferior. During the Dacian wars of

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

(85–89) Novae did not suffer significant damage, which may indicate that the main operations took place in the western and eastern part of the province. The legion was followed by craftsmen, servicemen, traders and other camp followers who settled down in the fortress vicinity creating the canabae legionis. At the same time another settlement (vicus) emerged ca. 3 km to the east of the camp, in the place Ostrite Mogili Novae served as a base of operations for Roman campaigns against Barbarian tribes including Trajan's Dacian Wars, and the last time during

Maurice's Balkan campaigns Maurice's Balkan campaigns were a series of military expeditions conducted by Byzantine emperor, Roman Emperor Maurice (emperor), Maurice (reigned 582–602) in an attempt to defend the Balkans, Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire, Roman Empi ...

. The legion was also responsible for bridge construction over the Danube. Until the Flavian period the fortress walls were built from earth and wood. During the campaigns of

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

the walls were replaced by stone wall up to 3m thick with square towers. Apart from the new defensive walls, the monumental building of headquarters (principia) with the new Trajanic basilica, and the new building of a hospital (valetudinarium) were built at the place of the former Flavian baths (thermae). It is possible that during the Antonine period the legion controlled the area beyond the Yantra River. The most prosperous times for Novae, as well as for the province, were during the Severan dynasty. In 250 Novae was attacked by the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

of Cniva but escaped damage, although the canabae and the nearby settlements were completely destroyed. In the second half of the 3rd century Novae was systematically attacked and destroyed by ''barbarians''. From the 4th century onwards when the legion was divided into detachments occupying small forts and fortlets, civil buildings constituted the main part of internal buildings of Novae. The new streets with pavements were built from re-used stone, often bearing inscriptions. Many glass workshops were established, both in the town, as well as in its surroundings. At a certain moment the area of 8 ha to the east of the legionary base was surrounded by the new defensive walls. The latest evidence for the presence of the legion is dated by a series of inscriptions from 430, 431 and 432. In the late 5th and 6th centuries Novae was the seat of a bishop. The cathedral and neighbouring buildings were built over the legionary barracks west of the former legionary headquarters. The last period of prosperity was during the reign of

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(527–565) when the defensive walls were rebuilt and reinforced, but the attacks of Slavs and Avars eventually end the existence of the ancient town. In 9th–11th centuries the church and a cemetery existed in the western part of the town. Novae is supposed to be the home of the saint named Lupus, who is venerated in Greek and Romanian traditions. Recent excavations have revealed the via principalis and other buildings. In 2018, possible Roman soldiers' burials were discovered near Novae.

Civilian settlements and the extramural area

The civil settlement ( canabae legionis) were situated to the west of the legionary base. Another civil

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

has been located over 2 km east of the fortress, at Ostrite Mogili. One of the settlements was granted municipal rights, but only one inscription testifies this status. A splendid villa to the west of the defensive walls, within the canabae, could have been an official residence was destroyed by the Gothic invasions in mid-3rd century. Other minor settlements and places of cult were located but not systematically excavated. The area to the south-east and east of the fortress was occupied by the necropolis, which was recently excavated., while the military amphitheater is postulated on the north-eastern side of the camp. Water supply to the fortress, particularly the baths including the nearby '' nymphaeum'' and to the town was ensured by three known aqueducts, one of which was at least 9 km long and fed the distribution tank (''castellum divisorum'') at the south-east corner of the fortress. During the late Roman period the town was enlarged by a new line of defensive walls and covered 26 hectares jointly with the former legionary base.

Name of the site

Novae (Novae) might have referred to the ''canabae (canabae legionis I Italicae Novae)'', when the fortress itself had the name ''castra legionis I Italicae''. Literary sources give the name of Novae or, in accusative form Novas, and the Greek transcription Nόβας given by Procopius, Theophanes Confessor and Anonymous Ravennatis. The Greek form Nόβαι appears rather rare; an earlier form mentioned by Ptolemy is Nooῦαι. One hypothesis derives the name from Νόης ''Nóēs'', a river mentioned by Herodotus, which is then identified with the stream (now variously known as ''Dermendere'', ''Tekirdere'', ''Golyamata Bara'', or ''Belyanovsko Dere'') at whose mouth the fortress was located.

References

Literature

* E. GENČEVA, P”rviât voenen lager v Novae (Dolna Miziâ), Sofia-Warszawa 2002. * L. PRESS, T. SARNOWSKI, Novae. Römisches Legionslager und frühbyzantinische Stadt an der unteren Donau, Antike Welt 21, 1990, 22. * T. SARNOWSKI, Fortress of the Legio I Italica at Novae, Akten des XI. Intern. Limeskongresses (Szekesfehervar, 30.8.–6.9.1976), 415–424. * T. SARNOWSKI, La fortresse de la legion I Italica et le limes du sud-est de la Dacie, Eos 71, 1983, p. 265–276. * T. SARNOWSKI, Novae in the Notitia Dignitatum, Archeologia (Warszawa) 57, 2007 (2008). * T. SARNOWSKI, The Name of Novae in Lower Moesia, Archeologia (Warszawa) 57, 2007(2008). * A. TOMAS, Living with the Army, vol. I. Civil Settlements near Roman Legionary Fortresses in Lower Moesia, Warszawa 2017. * IGLNov Inscriptions grecques et latines de Novae (Mésie inférieure), J. Kolendo, V. Božilova ed. Bordeaux 1997.

External links

Research in Novae by the Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw Expedition

Bulgaria Travel - Novae Roman Town

Archaeological Discoveries in Novae Continue

Ancient Rome Festival Recreates Legionnaires' Fights in Bulgaria's Svishtov

Mending bodies, saving souls: a history of hospitals

BULGARIA: Heritage in Danger

Festival of Ancient Heritage and Hrubieszow Museum
{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Bulgaria History of Veliko Tarnovo Province Svishtov Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria Former populated places in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Veliko Tarnovo Province Roman legionary fortresses in Bulgaria Roman fortifications in Moesia Inferior