Colonia Ulpia Oescus
Colonia Ulpia Oescus (Bulgarian Искър , Latin Oescus or Escus , Greek Οἶσκος Oiskos ) Roman fort in the north of today's Bulgaria on the Danube near the village of Gigen in the Pleven Oblast - in Roman times in the Roman province of Moesia inferior (Lower Austria) and part of the Danube Limes .
location
The remains of Oescus are on the outskirts of today's village of Gigen, not far from where the Iskar River flows into the Danube. The so-called "Gradischte" stands out as a terrace-like elevation clearly in front of the surrounding plain. The distance to the current course of the Iskar river is about 300 m, that to the confluence of the Iskar in the Danube is 5 km. The Roman fort was probably enclosed by the Iskar, Danube and an arm of the river connected to the Iskar and thus on a river island, even if the exact course of the rivers is disputed. The area up to the Danube was swamp and floodplain until the dikes were built in the 1920s. That is why the Roman embankment road ran here at a greater distance from the Danube. Oescus lies at the intersection of this road, which connected the camps and cities on the Danube, and the road from Philippopolis over the pass from Trojan to the Danube (after the construction of the Constantinian Danube bridge further to "Sucidava" (Celei)), from which at " Melta “( Lovetsch ) another branched off to Nicopolis ad Istrum .
history
founding
It is unclear when Oescus was founded. In the course of the conquest of Illyria , the legate of Macedonia, M. Licinius Crassus , in the years 29 and 28 BC. The Roman rule between the Balkans and the Danube was established. After the victory of Tiberius over the Scordisker in 15 BC. The Sava-Danube line marked the northern border of the empire up to today's Nikopol. Cn. After defending against attacks by the Dacians , Sarmatians , Bastarnians and Getens between the years 14 and 11 BC, Cornelius Lentulus had Establish a system of fortifications on the right bank of the Danube, to which Oescus may have belonged due to its location. During this time the independent Mösian military command was founded. Historical news on Oescus is sparse. Ptolemy calls it Oiskoston Triballon, which suggests the assumption that a tribal settlement already existed at this point . It is believed to be in a part northwest of the ancient city, from where prehistoric material originates, but has not yet been proven by excavations.
Imperial times
Oescus was a typical garrison town on the imperial border. The timing and extent of the stationing of Roman troops in Oescus is uncertain. Epighraphischen sources can be found indications that a camp of Legio V Macedonica with Canabae existed since spätaugusteischer time. According to Ovid , Roman troops were lying on the lower Danube ( Ister ) in 12 AD . From Tacitus shows that in the newly formed province in the year 23 n. Chr. Two legions were stationed. In any case, a building inscription of the Legio V Macedonica and the Legio IV Scythica, dating from the year 33 AD, testifies to the work of the two legions on the embankment. At the latest for this time, the presence of the fifth Macedonian Legion (Legio V Macedonica) can be assumed in Oescus. The Legion was withdrawn from Nero in 62 AD to support his campaign in Armenia, from 66 to 71 AD they took part in the Jewish War under Vespasian . In the Dacian Wars of Trajan (101/02 and 105/06), Oescus played an important role as the base of the Lower Moesia army ( Moesia inferior).
Around AD 167, Oescus was elevated to the status of Colonia Ulpia Oescus (or Oescensium). As Colonia , it was one of the 150 or so cities in the Roman Empire that had this highest city charter and were considered "images of Rome". The nickname Ulpia is derived from Trajan's nickname Ulpius.
In the 2nd century Oescus experienced its first heyday, which found expression in a rich building activity. With the incursion of the Carps and Goths in 238 , a series of barbarian incursions into the area south of the Danube began, which accelerated the outbreak of the imperial crisis of the 3rd century for the provinces of Thrace and Lower Moselle . However, the various attacks in the following years did not lead to a weakening of the economy, and civil construction activity continued. After 250 there was a period of constant invasions by Trans-Danubian peoples, which was accompanied by economic decline. Only the victory of Claudius Gothicus over the Goths at Naissus in 269 created a relative stability on the Danube border again.
When Aurelian gave up Dacia in 271 and established the provinces of Dacia ripensis and Dacia mediterranea south of the Danube , Oescus was slammed into the former. The troops withdrawn from Dacia moved into the Oescus garrison. The city area was expanded by a rectangular area of 10 hectares.
Late antique phase
Diocletian seems to have stayed in the city in the winter of 291 AD, if the place indication "Triballis" in a rescript of the Codex Iustinianus is correctly interpreted. In 328 AD a bridge connecting Oescus with "Sucidava" (today Celei near Corabia - Olt district - Romania) on the other side of the Danube was completed. Constantine the Great personally carried out the inauguration on July 5th, 328 AD. The new connection increased the importance of the city, which later flourished. A bishop is attested in Oescus for the year 343 AD.
When the Goths invaded between 376 and 378 AD, according to archaeological findings, Oescus was also affected. When the Huns invaded Dacia ripensis, Oescus ("Hisko") was conquered by relatives of Attila . The city was probably damaged again.
Presumably Justinian I renewed the fortifications of Oescus as part of his program to secure the Danube flank with a belt of fortifications. Justinian is also said to have paid attention to a fortress "Ounnon" on the Danube bank, which has not yet been located, and to have restored the fortresses "Palatiolon" (Baikal, near Gigen) and " Sucidava / Sykibida" (Celei, Romania) on the opposite bank .
It can be assumed that the fall of the Roman city is related to the invasions of the Avars and Slavs in 586 (see Maurikios' Balkan campaigns ).
From the 10th century to the Turkish conquest in the 14th century, archaeological finds prove the existence of a Bulgarian settlement in the ruins of the ancient city. It has been the namesake for the island of Oescus Island in Antarctica since 2013 .
literature
- Ilian Boyanow: Oescus - from Castra to Colonia. In: Archaeologia Bulgarica 12.3 (2008) pp. 69-76
- Jan Burian: Oescus 2. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01478-9 , column 1117 f.
- Antonio Frova : Oescus Bulgaria . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
- Andreas Günther: The extra muros building in Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria). Master's thesis Humboldt University Berlin 1996, online (accessed August 4, 2017)
- Gergana Kabakschiewa: Oescus. Castra Oescensia. Rannorimski voenen lager pri ustieto na Isk'r. Early Roman military camp at the mouth of the Iskar River. Albatros, Sofia 2000. ISBN 954-751-010-X
Web links
Coordinates: 43 ° 42 ′ 32 " N , 24 ° 27 ′ 57" E