Libida or Ibida was an ancient city in Roman

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 ...

, later Roman

Scythia Minor Scythia Minor or Lesser Scythia (Greek: , ) was a Roman province in late Antiquity, occupying the lands between the lower Danube and the Black Sea, the modern-day Dobruja region in Romania and Bulgaria. It was detached from Moesia Inferior by ...

, today's

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

region of modern

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 ...

. It is in the village of

Slava Rusă Slava may refer to: Ships * ''Slava'' class cruiser, a modern Russian warship ** Soviet cruiser Slava (1979), since 1995 Russian cruiser ''Moskva'', a ''Slava'' class guided missile cruiser sunk during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * Ru ...

History

A Getic settlement existed here in the 4th century BC. The Romans conquered the area in 27 BC; it became the Roman province of

in around 6 AD and the first city walls were built under the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government 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 Dominate. The principate was ch ...

. In Roman times its growing importance as a centre of commerce led to the construction of grandiose city walls during the reign of the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

with modifications under

Constantine the Great 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 ...

. The city walls encompassed approx. 24 ha with an attached fort of approx. 3.5 ha on Harada hill. It suffered attacks 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 ...

(4th century under

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

), by the

Kutrigurs The Kutrigurs were a Turkic nomadic equestrian tribe who flourished on the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the 6th century AD. To their east were the similar Utigurs and both possibly were closely related to the Bulgars. They warred with the Byzan ...

in 559 under

Justinian I 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 ...

who made the most extensive reconstruction, and the Avars-Slavs (6th century). The town and area around was abandoned in the 7th c. AD after the Bulgar invasions.

The site

The city lay on the flat land while attached to it on the hill to the southwest was a fort. The northern part of the city walls has been excavated. A Christian basilica in the city has been excavated. A paleo-Christian monastic complex from the Byzantine period lies about 2.5 km to the west of the city. The Roman necropolis of the 4th to 6th centuries AD covers several hectares up to 2.5 km from the city walls.Aparaschivei, Dan & Iacob, Mihaela & Soficaru, Andrei & Paraschiv, Dorel. (2011). Aspects of everyday life in Scythia Minor reflected in some funerary discoveries from Ibida (Slava Rusă, Tulcea county)

Archaeological history

The town was described by

Pamfil Polonic Pamfil Polonic (27 August 1858 – 17 April 1945) was a Romanian archaeologist and topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves ...

in 1897, who identified 33 towers and 3 gates.

Vasile Pârvan Vasile Pârvan (; 28 September 1882 – 26 June 1927) was a Romanian historian and archaeologist. Biography Pârvan was born in Perchiu, Huruiești commune, Bacău County. He came from a modest family, being the first child of the teacher An ...

identified the settlement in 1911 as Ibida.

Constantin Moisil Constantin C. Moisil (December 8, 1876–October 22, 1958) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian archivist, historian, numismatist and schoolteacher. Born in Năsăud, in the Transylvania region, his grandfather Grigore Moisil was a priest; ...

named the town in 1916 when a treasure of drachmes was found. In 1917 the Bulgar lieutenant Iconomof performed excavations and found the remains of a Basilica with 3 naves. Research in 1953 led to the discovery of Getic and Roman-Byzantine bricks and pottery and bronze coins from the

era.

References

Bibliography

* A. Aricescu, “Despre numele aşezării antice de la Slava RuSt,” Buletinul Monumentelor Istorice 40.3, (1971) 58-60. * Pârvan, V. 1912, Ulmetum I. Descoperirile primei campanii de săpături din vara anului 1911, AARMSI 2, 34, p. 497–607. * Pârvan, V. 1923, Începuturile vieţii romane la Gurile Dunării, București. * Barnea, I. 1968, Perioada Dominatului (sec. IV – VII), în Vulpe, R., Barnea, I., Din istoria Dobrogei. II. Romanii la Dunărea de Jos,București. * Suceveanu, Al., Barnea, Al. 1991, La Dobroudja Roumaine – București.

History

The site

Archaeological history

References

Bibliography

See also