Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum (, ) was an important ancient city on 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 ...

river in

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 ...

. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern

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 ...

n city of Pleven, near the village of Gigen. For a short time it was linked by the longest and most famous stone bridge across the Danube, Constantine's Bridge, with the ancient city of Sucidava (modern-day

Corabia Corabia () is a small Danube port located in Olt County, Oltenia, Romania, which used to be part of the now-dissolved Romanați County before World War II. Across the Danube from Corabia lies the Bulgarian village of Gigen. History Beneath Co ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

). The city seems to have at one point reached a area of 280,000 m² and a population of 100,000. Archaeological excavations have brought to light parts of the ancient city and are continuing.

Etymology

The name of the Roman town comes from the river Oescus (today

Iskar Iskar may refer to: ;Bulgaria * Iskar (river), a river in western Bulgaria * Iskar Reservoir, situated on the Iskar River * Iskar (town), a town in the Iskar Municipality of the Pleven Province * Iskar Municipality * Iskar, Sofia, one of 24 munici ...

). It probably meant "water" in the local

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

dialect.

History

The Greek geographer Claudius

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(ca. 90–168 AD) described Ulpia Oescus as a city of the Triballi, an independent ancient tribe which inhabited today’s northwestern Bulgaria. Under Roman rule, Oescus began as an important military base and legionary fortress as part of the

Danubian Limes The Danubian Limes (), or Danube Limes, refers to the Roman military frontier or '' limes'' which lies along the River Danube in the present-day German state of Bavaria, in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The ...

. Together with the adjacent settlement, it developed into a city. It was connected to the rest of the Roman empire by three important roads: # linking the

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a contin ...

to the Danube: from Heraclea Lyncestis to Ceramiae,

Stobi Stobi or Stoboi (; ; ; ), was an ancient town of Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia, later conquered by Macedon, and finally turned into the capital of the Ancient Rome, Roman province of Macedonia Salutaris. It is located near Gradsko, North Macedonia ...

, Astibos, Tranupara, Pautalia, Aelea, Serdica, Oescus. # from Philippopolis to Oescus: Philippopolis ‐ Viamata (

Voynyagovo Voynyagovo () is a village in central southern Bulgaria, part of Karlovo Municipality, Plovdiv Province. As of 2008, it has a population of 1,260. The village lies in the Sredna Gora mountains, above sea level. History Legend has it that the ...

‐"Gorni Stenici") – Sub Radice (Hristo Danovo) – Montemno (Beklemeto‐"Karcovija Buk") – Ad Radices (Beli Osăm/Kamen Most) – Sostra ( Lomec) – Melta (

Loveč Lovech (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city o ...

) – Doriones – Storgosia ( Pleven) –

Ad Putea Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically used ...

( Riben) – Oescus # along the Danube:

Singidunum Singidunum ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Сингидунум, Singidunum) was an ancient city which later evolved into modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The name is of Celtic origin, going back to the time when the Celtic tribe Scordisci settled the a ...

(

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

) –

Viminacium Viminacium (also ''Viminatium)'' was a major city, military camp, and the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman province of Moesia (modern-day Serbia). Following the division of Moesia in 87, following Domitian's Domitian's Dacian War, Dacian War, i ...

(Costolac) –

Ratiaria Ratiaria (or: Ratsaria, Raetiaria, Retiaria, Reciaria, Razaria; ; ;) was a city founded by the Moesians, a Daco- Thracian tribe, in the 4th century BC, along the river Danube. In Roman times it was named '' Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria''. ...

– Oescus –

Novae A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

(Steklen by Svistov) – Durostorum (

Silistra Silistra ( ; ; or ) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Silistra is the administrative center of the ...

) – mouth of the Danube River. The Roman

Legio V Macedonica Legio V Macedonica (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was established in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Augustus, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as the Roman Emperor, Emperor Augustus). and ...

(Fifth Macedonian Legion) maintained its permanent military fortress intermittently at this site from 10 to 101 AD. In 62 the legion left to take part in the Nero's Parthian War in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and was later sent to the east to fight in the conclusion of the war. It also fought in the Jewish-Roman War in 66–67. After a short stay in Alexandria in Egypt, this legion returned to Oescus in 71. During its absence, the camp in Oescus was probably occupied by cohors IV Gallorum equitata. When the Danube defences were strengthened a second legion ( Legio IV Scythica) was also stationed here until 101 AD. Between 106 and 112

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 ...

granted the city the status of a '' colonia'' and it received a new name, ''Colonia Ulpia Oescensium'' ("Ulpia" after Trajan's middle name, ''Ulpius''). Veterans of the VI Macedonica and the Legio I Italica Legions may have been settled here as shown by archaeology. The city was built on top of the legionary fortress. In 167, Oescus received the unique additional privilege of being granted all Roman rights. In 190–191, the city dedicated a pagan temple to the goddess

Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...

, who was designated as protector of the city. There also existed a temple of the

Capitoline Triad The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill (Latin ''Capitolium''). It comprised Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The triad held a central place in th ...

(

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, Juno and

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

). The city's economy included manufacturing of jewellery, bronze statuettes bronze brooches and other metal objects and vessels, glass, ceramics (''

terra sigillata Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface Slip (ceramics), slips made ...

'', red slip pottery and other), metal and bone articles. It was also home to one of the largest sculpture workshops in the region. After 271, the Legio V Macedonica returned and built a second fortress, called Oescus II. An aqueduct was built to deliver fresh water from springs 20 km away, and a stone wall was constructed to protect the site from invaders and from the Danube floods. On 5 July 328 emperor

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

personally opened and consecrated the Constantines's Bridge, the biggest and most famous stone bridge on the Danube. The crossing linked Oescus with Sucidava to the north and, measuring 2.5 km long (1.3 km over the river) by 5.7 m wide, was the largest river bridge in ancient times. However, the span was only used for about 27 years; it was destroyed during a barbarian invasion in 355. In 411, the

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

destroyed Oescus, and in 444 an attempt was made to resettle it as a Hun settlement, named ''Hunion''. Emperor Justinian I rebuilt the city's defensive wall, in an attempt to re-establish Oescus as the stronghold of the Danube defense system, but all the efforts were stopped in late 585 and early 586 by the invasion of the Avars.

Middle Ages

A Bulgarian village existed on the site during the 10th–14th centuries.

Archaeology

Oescus is one of the biggest and most continuously studied ancient cities of the Lower Danube. Archaeological excavations began at the site in 1904, carried out by Vaclav Dobruski. Remains of the legionary fortress's defensive wall are still visible and areas to the east-northeast (Pyasutsite and Prez Livada) show signs of the presence of a necropolis from this period, containing

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

monuments of veterans. The walled city has the shape of an irregular pentagon, with an initial area of 18 hectares; after 271 it was extended easterly with a 10 hectare addition. In 1948, the mosaic known popularly as " The Achaeans" (3rd century AD) was discovered. It is currently on display, along with many other of the site's artifacts, at the Pleven Regional Historical Museum. Other artifacts from the site, such as a statue of the goddess

, are on view at the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. Archaeological surveys of the eastern extension of Oescus II indicate houses from the Principate period, some of which were quite massive and were decorated with mosaics that could be dated to the time of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

. The ruins indicate the wealth of the city in the Antonine and

Severan The Severan dynasty, sometimes called the Septimian dynasty, ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. It was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus () and Julia Domna, his wife, when Septimius emerged victorious from civil war of 193 - 197, ...

dynasties. There are a main gate, administrative buildings, a civil

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

, three

public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

(''

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

''), wells, a perfectly preserved road, pagan temples, a

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

, defensive walls, workshops, and a forum. There also exist ruins of Constantines's Bridge, but they can be seen only from the northern bank of the Danube. Archaeology is continuing at the site. In 2020 the

Aula regia An ''aula regia'' ( lat. for "royal hall"), also referred to as a ''palas hall'', is a name given to the great hall in an imperial (or governor's) palace in the Ancient Roman architecture and in the derived medieval audience halls of emperors, ki ...

, or great hall, was found to have been exquisitely and elaborately decorated with 14 types of rare multicloured marble. Dating from the 4th century, its date and quality indicate that it may have been built for Constantine's visit to officially open the bridge in 328.

Honours

* Oescus Island in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Oescus.

Gallery

File:Colonia Ulpia Escus 2010 PD 0041.JPG File:Stitched Colonia Ulpia Escus 1.jpg File:Stitched Colonia Ulpia Escus 2.jpg File:Stitched Colonia Ulpia Escus 6.jpg File:Oescus.jpg File:Colonia_Ulpia_Escus_2010_PD_0164.JPG File:Colonia_Ulpia_Escus_2010_PD_0155.JPG File:Colonia_Ulpia_Escus_2010_PD_0124.JPG File:Colonia_Ulpia_Escus_2010_PD_0111.JPG File:Colonia_Ulpia_Escus_2010_PD_0102.JPG

References

Ancient

Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...

cca 395–413 * *

Modern

External links

*
3D Laser scanning and rendered movie
{{Authority control Moesia Inferior Dacian towns Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria Former populated places in Bulgaria Coloniae (Roman) Roman legionary fortresses in Bulgaria