Tag: Bulgaria

Ulpia Oescus

The imposing ruins of the Roman town Ulpia Oescus lie near the village of Gigen in northern Bulgaria, at the confluence of the Iskar River and the Danube. The city was established in AD 106 in the province of Moesia Inferior. Emperor Trajan granted it colony status in honour of his victory over the Dacians. Ulpia Oescus was built on the former camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, which was stationed there with a canabae (civilian settlement) in late-Augustan times.

Coordinates: 43°42’28.6″N 24°28’00.2″E

In the 1st century AD, Oescus was an important military post that protected the Danube Limes road to Trimontium (modern-day Plovdiv). At this time, the Romans began building a strong defensive system of fortresses along the northern border to protect against attacks by barbarian tribes. Oescus thus became a main military point and the camp of two Roman legions, the Legio IV Scythica and the Legio V Macedonica. It maintained its permanent military encampment at this site until AD 101.

L(egio) V M(acedonica) Oes(ci)

The early military camp of the 1st century is now localised precisely under the ruins of the colony built over the subsequent century. The epigraphic monuments of veterans of the necropolis of Oescus also provide information about the early military camp, the canabae and the presumed vicus. In AD 96, the future emperor Hadrian served as tribunus militum in Oescus with the fifth Macedonian legion.

The earliest inscription from Oescus, set up in memory of Resius Chronius, a freed slave of centurion Resius Albanus from Legio V Macedonica. Dated 9 AD.
Pleven Regional Historical Museum.

After his victory over the Dacian tribes, Trajan turned the military camp into a town centre and directly elevated it to a colonia, the highest rank of provincial government. The name of the colony – Colonia Ulpia Oescensium – is mentioned for the first time in an inscription from the time of Hadrian.

Plan of Ulpia Oescus: 1- 3. Temples of the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva), 4. Civic basilica, 5. Temple of Fortuna, 6. Building for walking during the winter, 7. Building with the mosaic “Acheioi”, 8. Late Roman Bath, 9.

Ulpia Oescus flourished in the 2nd-3rd century AD as a major city in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior during the Antonine (r. AD 117-192) and Severan (r. AD 193-235) dynasties. The town followed typical Roman urban planning, with a rectangular shape and east-west and north-south streets, covering about 28 hectares. The streets were paved with stone slabs, beneath which ran a water supply system and sewage channels. About one-third of the city was occupied by public buildings and the rest by workshops and houses.

Extra muros building. The town flourished again at the beginning of the 4th century AD during the reign of Constantine the Great, when the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople. A stone bridge was erected over the Danube (officially inaugurated on 5 July AD 328 in the emperor’s presence) between Sucidava (present-day Romania) and Oescus. The town was partly destroyed in the 5th century AD by the Huns and rebuilt under Justinian in an attempt to re-establish Oescus as the stronghold of the Danube defence system. However, the Avars stopped these efforts in late AD 585 and early 586.

Archaeological excavations have revealed the city’s Forum; temples of the Roman deities of the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva), built in AD 125 during the reign of Hadrian; a large basilica (built in AD 135); thermae; and other public buildings. In 1948, the mosaic known as “The Achaeans” was discovered. It is currently on display, along with many other artefacts from the site, at the Pleven Regional Historical Museum. Other artefacts from the site, such as a statue of the goddess Fortuna, are on view at the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. Most of the inscriptions and monuments date to the 2nd century AD and provide evidence of people from Asia Minor and Gaul, the city’s establishment, and numerous religious cults, including Mithras.

PORTFOLIO

View of the public baths built during the last quarter of the 3rd century AD when the V Macedonica returned to Oescus following Aurelianus’ retreat from Dacia. The baths occupied 700 sq.m, were built in opus mixtum (mixed masonry), and had 8 separate rooms.
The remains of stores with 7 rectangular rooms arranged side by side with entrances from the south. The stores were built at the end of the 2nd century AD. In one of them, fine glazed pottery was sold from big ceramic centres in Lower Moesia.
The street between the public baths and the stores.
The street between the public baths and the stores.
The Building with the “Achaeans” Mosaic. This was the praetorium of the Roman colony. One room contained a coloured floor mosaic depicting a scene from the play The Achaeans by Menander.
The mosaic “The Achaeans of Menander” depicting a scene of Menander’s The Achaeans with the inscription MENANDROU ACHAIOI. It is dated to the time of Septimius Severus. The play was unknown before the mosaic’s discovery in 1948. Pleven Regional Historical Museum.
Overview of the Decumanus Maximus and the Temple of Fortuna.
The Decumanus Maximus.
The ruins of the Temple of Fortuna. The temple area, which adjoined the southeast corner of the forum complex, consisted of a portico facing south, a peristyle courtyard and the temple itself, occupying an area of ​​50 x 29 m.
The ruined Temple of Fortuna is one of the emblematic buildings of Ulpia Oescus. It was erected in AD 190-192 AD, with funding provided by Commodus. The temple area was destroyed by fire during the Goth invasion in 376/78.

Architrave from the Temple of Fortuna with garlands, Medusa heads and bucrania.
Scattered architectural elements from the Temple of Fortuna.
Scattered architectural elements from the Temple of Fortuna.
View of the Forum was made out of limestone in the Corinthian style. It occupied an area of ​​96 x 58 m and was surrounded by porticoes to the east, south and west. At the north end of the Forum stood the three temples of the Capitoline Triad and the Basilica Civilis.

Pediment with a Latin inscription from the eastern portico of the Forum.
The northern end of the Forum complex was flanked by a three-aisled civic basilica of impressive dimensions (100 х 24 m). The basilica was the last building erected in the Forum during Hadrian’s reign.

Scattered architectural elements from the civic basilica.
A caryatid, one of the sculpted female figures that served as architectural elements and supported the basilica’s pillars. The use of relief caryatids in public buildings has been without parallel in the Roman cities of Thrace and Moesia.
Fragment of fresco from the civic basilica.
Pleven Regional Historical Museum.
One of the medallions with portrait busts decorated the basilica and was placed beneath the caryatids.
Scattered architectural elements from the civic basilica.
Scattered architectural elements from the civic basilica.

Scattered architectural elements from the Temple of Minerva.
Scattered architectural elements from the Temple of Jupiter.
Scattered architectural elements from the Temple of Juno.
The Extra Muros building dates to the mid-3rd century AD and covers an area of ​​52 x 64 m.
U-shaped tower dating to the 4th to 5th century AD.

Links:

by Categories: BulgariaTags: , , , , , 4 Comments