Sostra is an ancient

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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

fort and settlement near the village of Lomets,

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 Mac ...

. Impressive remains have been excavated and partially restored. Sostra was strategically situated along the major Roman road (the Via Traiana) linking ancient Philippopolis (today’s Plovdiv) and Diocletianopolis in the Roman province of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

with the Roman outposts on the

Limes Moesiae The Moesian Limes ( la, Limes Moesiae) is the modern term given to a collection of Roman fortifications between the Black Sea shore and Pannonia, present-day Hungary, consisting primarily of forts along the Danube (so-called Danubian Limes) to ...

on the

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 , ...

such as

Ulpia Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum ( bg, Улпия Ескус, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the v ...

(near today’s Gigen) and

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

(near today’s Shishtov) via the Troyan Pass in the Balkan Mountains. The road was vital in

Trajan's Dacian Wars The Dacian Wars (101–102, 105–106) were two military campaigns fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant Dacian threat on the Danubian province of Moesia and also by ...

against the Thracian tribes north of the Danube, and later became more important as a main artery of the province. The museum in

Troyan Troyan ( bg, Троян ) is a town remembering the name of Roman Emperor Trajan, in Lovech Province in central Bulgaria with population of 21,997 inhabitants, as of December 2009. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Troyan Munic ...

contains several finds from the site.

History

The site was first settled based on a

mansio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...

or road station from around 100 AD. Sostra fort was built around 147 AD at the order of Roman Emperor

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatori ...

. The

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit) ...

II Mattiacorum of around 1000 soldiers (''milliaria'') was stationed here according to a statue base found in the principia, after being based at Sexaginta Prista (present-day Ruse) until 145 AD. The settlement (or

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 ...

) to the west and east of the fort gradually grew into a town with a civilian population. In 175 the road was improved under

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

, according to milestone inscriptions, leading to increased passing traffic and trade. It became a paved dual-width carriageway allowing two-way traffic. From 235 another cohort (I Cisipadensium) was stationed here, consisting of nominally 500 men. The fort became the target of barbarian invasions and in 249 was captured by the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

. In 254 another cohort was stationed here by emperor

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...

and began building a new fort wall which continued till at least 282 under

Claudius Gothicus Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle ...

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 ...

and

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

. In 378 the fort was again burnt down by the Goths, but in the late 4th century the christian

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

of St. George was built in the town. In the early 5th century eastern "barbarians" settled in Sostra and the nearby old Thracian strongholds in the mountains were restored. It was completely destroyed by 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 par ...

at the end of the 5th century.

Archaeology

The Roman site extends over about 6 sq. km. The original fort of 147 AD had no bastions and the walls were rounded at the corners. The rebuilt fort from 254 AD was placed inside the original walls and conformed to later Roman norms with many bastions for better defence. Recently a large Roman road station (

) near the fort has been excavated which covers an area of 500 sq.m with walls up to 2 m high. It is described as a luxury complex resembling a modern-day spa resort and dating from 100 AD; it has also been described as a

praetorium The Latin term (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman castrum (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 ed., ...

because it was a meeting place for VIP visitors. In addition to Roman

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 ...

there was a large indoor swimming pool next to a heated ''jacuzzi''. Other swimming pools have also been discovered some with holes in the floor possibly for upwelling hot springs. Sostra was excavated in 2002–2016 by Ivan Hristov of the Bulgarian National Museum of History.

References

Sources

*Ivan Hristov: SOSTRA, Roman Castellum, Road-side Station and Settlements on the Road Oescus (Ulpia Oescus) – Philippopolis 2nd-5th c., THRACIAN, GREEK, ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL CITIES, RESIDENCES AND FORTRESSES IN BULGARIA, Editor RUMEN IVANOV. {{ISBN, 978-619-90503-0-9 Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria Archaeological sites in Bulgaria History of Lovech Province Tourist attractions in Lovech Province