Sofia-Archeological-museum-lapidarium-19

Ratiaria (or: Raetiaria, Retiaria, Reciaria, Razaria; bg, Рациария; el, Ραζαρία μητρόπολις;) was a city founded by the

Moesi In Roman literature of the early 1st century CE, the Moesi ( or ; grc, Μοισοί, ''Moisoí'' or Μυσοί, ''Mysoí''; lat, Moesi or ''Moesae'') appear as a Paleo-Balkan people who lived in the region around the River Timok to the south ...

ans, a

Daco The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often cons ...

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

tribe, in the 4th century BC, along the river

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. In Roman times it was named '' Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria''. It is located 2 km west of the present village of Archar in

Vidin Province Vidin Province () is the northwesternmost province of Bulgaria. It borders Serbia to the west and Romania to the northeast. Its administrative centre is the city of Vidin on the Danube river. The area is divided into 11 municipalities. As of D ...

, northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. The closest modern cities are

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

(27 km. to the north west) and Lom (28 km. to the east). An archaeological museum for the site has recently been established in Dimovo.

History

Ratiaria was conquered by the

Dacians The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often consi ...

Burebista Burebista ( grc, Βυρεβίστας, Βοιρεβίστας) was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61BC to 45/44BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area loca ...

and later by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. There was a gold mine in the city, which was exploited by the

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

. The city may have owed its success to the goldsmiths. The earliest involvement of the Romans occurred in 75 BC when Gaius Scribonius Curio, prefect of Macedonia, entered this territory to ward off the

Scordisci The Scordisci ( el, Σκορδίσκοι) were a Celtic Iron Age cultural group centered in the territory of present-day Serbia, at the confluence of the Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), Margus (Morava) and Danube rivers. They were historically ...

, the

Dardani The Dardani (; grc, Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι; la, Dardani) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their ...

and the Daci. In 29 BC,

Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a 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, David & Wallace, I ...

, the grandson of the triumvir, fought the

Triballi The Triballi ( grc, Τριβαλλοί, Triballoí, lat, Triballi) were an ancient people who lived in northern Bulgaria in the region of Roman Oescus up to southeastern Serbia, possibly near the territory of the Morava Valley in the late Iron ...

here. Ratiaria was a fortified city by this point. It was not until the

principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

that the Romans conquered the region, which was organised into a province named

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

. In 33/34 AD

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

built the road linking the Danube forts including

Viminacium Viminacium () or ''Viminatium'', was a major city (provincial capital) and military camp of the Roman province of Moesia (today's Serbia), and the capital of ''Moesia Superior'' (hence once a metropolitan archbishopric, now a Latin titular see). ...

and Ratiaria. The city was certainly less important than the nearby

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyria ...

, Viminacium and Naissus, but its associated fortress located along the '' Danubian Limes'' made it a key legionary station.

Legio IV Flavia Felix Legio IV Flavia Felix ("Lucky Flavian Fourth Legion"), was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79) from the cadre of the disbanded Legio IV ''Macedonica''. The legion was active in Moesia Sup ...

was based here at least until the conquest of Dacia (101-106 AD), together with the fleet of the '' Classis Moesica'' under

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...

. After the division of Moesia in 86 AD, the city became the principal city of Upper Moesia. After the conquest of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

, the ''

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

'' was abandoned and the settlement became a '' colonia'' within

Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

named ''Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria'' (107 AD) after its founder the Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries Ratiaria became prosperous as a trade centre and customs port. A number of Roman patricians (aristocrats) lived in Ratiaria, while the nearby Bononia (today's Vidin) was home to a small military unit. With the definitive abandonment of

Dacia Traiana Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...

Aurelian Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...

in 271, the old ''castra'' in the region were reopened. It is unclear whether Aurelian or the Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

replaced Dacia Aureliana with two provinces,Bury, p. 135. "The date must be A.D. 283, and it is obvious that Aurelian set up the boundary stones, one of which Gaianus restored. There were, then, two Dacias when Diocletian came to the throne and, therefore, Mr. Fillow has inferred that we should read in our List: Dacia , that is presumably Dacia Ripensis and Dacia Mediterranea. Aurelian's Dacia mediterranea might have included Dardania, and Dardania, Mr. Fillow thinks, was split off as a distinct province by Diocletian." but by 285, there were two: –

Dacia Mediterranea Dacia Mediterranea (Mid-land Dacia; ) was a late antique Roman province, whose capital city was Serdica (or Sardica; later Sradetz or Sredets, now Sofia). The date for the establishment of Dacia Mediterranea is uncertain. It was traditionally he ...

with its capital at ''

Serdica Serdika or Serdica ( Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria. Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandov ...

'' (

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

) and

Dacia Ripensis Dacia Ripensis () was the name of a Roman province in the northern Balkan peninsula, immediately south of the Middle Danube. Its capital was Ratiaria (modern Archar, Bulgaria). It was a district less urban than neighbouring Dacia Mediterranea a ...

with its capital at ''Ratiaria''. As the capital of the new province Ratiaria served both as the seat of the military governor (or dux) and as the military base for the

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...

XIII ''Gemina''. Later these two "Dacias" along with Dardania,

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

and

Praevalitana Praevalitana (also ''Prevalitana'', ''Prevaliana'', ''Praevaliana'' or ''Prevalis'') was a Late Roman province that existed between c. 284 and c. 600. It included parts of present-day Montenegro, northern Albania, and part of present-day Kosovo ...

constituted the

Diocese of Dacia The Diocese of Dacia ( la, Dioecesis Daciae) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern western Bulgaria, central Serbia, Montenegro, northern Albania and northern North Macedonia. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefectu ...

. An important bishop's cathedra was established in the town in the 4th century AD. The city became an important Christian centre in the 4th century and several bishops are recorded.

Palladius of Ratiaria Palladius of Ratiaria (modern Archar Bulgaria) was a late 4th century Arian Christian theologian, based in the Roman province of Dacia in modern Bulgaria. He was deposed from his office, together with Secundianus of Singidunum, at the Council of ...

, an Arian Christian theologian, lived here in the late 4th century. In 440 or 441 the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

sacked Ratiaria. Rebuilding works were done under Anastasius I, celebrated in the new town's name, ''Anastasiana Ratiaria''.

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life genera ...

calls it a prosperous city in the 5th century. In AD 586 the town was sacked by the Avars. Archaeological excavations of the site began in 1958 and have continued sporadically since then.

Archaeology

Investigative journalist Ivan Dikov states that only a small part of the site, which was excavated in the 1980s by a Bulgarian-Italian mission, is left unexplored and unattended. Dikov continues to say that the remaining 20ha of the site has been illegally dug up by hand and machines and that the site is reduced to hills and craters. According to Dikov, local witnesses saw that at one point in the late 1990s, the site was split between the mayor, the police, local people and high-ranking people from Sofia. In the city, there are ruins of an audience hall with a mosaic of Oprheus, jewelry, and ancient coins. File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 01.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 02.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 04.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 05.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 06.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 07.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 08.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 12.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 10.jpg , File:Vidin history museum - Ratiaria findings - 13.jpg ,

Ecclesiastical history

As provincial capital of Dacia Ripensis, it also was the Metropolitan archdiocese. In 304 or 305, during the

Great Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

three

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

men named Jan, Aggaeus, and

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus * Gaius Asiniu ...

were executed in the city. Palladius, a bishop of the city, was a strong supporter of

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

Titular see

The archdiocese was nominally restored in 1925 as a Latin Catholic

titular archbishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of the highest (Metropolitan) rank. The incumbent is Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal, having the following previous incumbents: * Gustave-Charles-Marie Mutel (민 아우구스티노),

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons de ...

(M.E.P.) (11 January 1926 – 22 January 1933) * Andrew Killian (11 July 1933 – 5 November 1934) * Anselm Edward John Kenealy,

Capuchin Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

(O.F.M. Cap.) (13 January 1936 – 8 December 1943) * Nikolay Avtonomov (6 October 1945 – 13 August 1979) * Marian Oleś (28 November 1987 – 24 May 2005) * Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal (3 May 2016 – present )

Famous locals

, late 4th century

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

Christian theologian

References

Sources and external links

Bulgarian Archaeological Association - Excavations at Ratiaria

Archaeological excavations of Ratiaria by the village of Archar

Sarcophagus Ratiaria (Image)
{{Dacian cities Moesia Moesia Superior Dacia Ripensis Dacian towns Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria Former populated places in Bulgaria Geography of Vidin Province Catholic titular sees in Europe