Ratiaria
Ratiaria (also: Raetiaria, Retiaria, Reciaria, Razaria, Ratiaris; Bulgarian Рациария - Raziaria; Greek Ραζαρία μητρόπολις ; later also Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria ) was the name of a Roman city and a Roman castell in the province of Moesia . The fort was part of the fortress chain of the Danube Limes . The ruins of the ancient site are two kilometers west of the village of Artschar (с. Арчар - English Arčar, Arcar, Archar, Artschav or Artscher; French Arzer) - in the area of Kaleto ("калето"; without the specific article it says : Kale ) - in the Vidin administrative district ( Oblast ) in north-western Bulgaria .
location
The site is located a few kilometers west of the River Danuvius ( Danube south shore ) located on a plateau (1500 x 400 meters), which from south to east from the river Artschariza (bulg. Р. Арчарица) was limited and in the north of the Danube. The current village of Artschar (с. Арчар) is named after the river.
In antiquity , Ratiaria was located between the Danube cities of Bononia ( Widin ) and Almus ( Lom ) - 27 kilometers southeast of Widin (housed only a small military unit in Roman times) and 28 kilometers west of Lom - at a crossing over the Danube, where two important ones meet Paths crossed, on the one hand a Roman road along the Danube and on the other the road from Lezha ( Albania ), on the Adriatic , coming via Ulpiana ( Kosovo ) and Niš ( Serbia ). The Danube Path, beginning in Adriatica , led via Naissos and Alesio (today Lezha in Albania) to the lower Danube and Dacia and on to Byzantion (Constantinople).
history
There was already a gold mine in Ratiaria during the Thracian era.
Ratiaria was already the target of an attack by Burebista around 60 BC. BC, so that one must assume that a Thracian settlement already existed there, which is certainly related to the Thracian gold mine and probably already existed since the Odrysian Empire.
The well-known Ratiaria emerged from the Roman garrison that was founded there at the beginning of the 1st century AD. The city was probably given its name at the time of Emperor Vespasian (69–79 AD), who attached great importance to the fortification of the Limes on the lower Danube (called Ister in ancient times ) and to the organization of the Danube fleet . Ratiaria was one of the most important bases for this fleet. Ratiaria was the name of a type of ship used by the Romans on the Ister and the Rhine . The area was well suited for a town because it offered good conditions for agriculture and a convenient port.
At first, Ratiaria was just a military base for two legions. Only later did it become the main base of the Roman Danube fleet Classis Pannonica . The main route from the Adriatic to the lower Danube, to Dacia and to Constantinople ran through Ratiaria. The way to Serdica ( Sofia ) led via Almus (Lom).
In the middle of the 1st century AD, an Ala (equestrian association) from Gaul camped in Ratiaria and the Legio IIII Flavia Felix repeated between 86 and the beginning of the 2nd century . When the province of Moesia was divided, Ratiaria Moesia superior (Upper Moesia ) was added.
Under Emperor Trajan , the city was the starting point for military expeditions to Dacia . In honor of the victory over the Dacians , Emperor Trajan elevated the city to Colonia Ulpia Ratiaria . 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 gentile name Ulpius . Trajan also raised Poetovio (today Ptuj ) in Pannonia superior to Colonia Ulpia Traiana Poetovio . The construction of a Danube road reaching as far as the Black Sea also began at this time.
When the Emperor Aurelian withdrew from Dacia (north of the Danube) after the Dacian Wars , he founded a new province of the same name south of the Danube. This province was later divided by Emperor Diocletian into Dacia ripensis (on the Danube, capital: Ratiaria) and Dacia mediterranea (further south, capital: Serdica [Sofia]). The two provinces existed until 535 and then became part of the newly established province of Justiniana Prima , which the Austrian Emperor Justinian I created.
After 272, Ulpia Ratiaria was the capital of Dacia ripensis and thus the most important economic, administrative and strategic center of the Romans in what is now northwestern Bulgaria. As the provincial capital, it was the seat of the military governor ( Dux ). When Aurelian finally gave up Dacia in 275 AD, the Legio XIII Gemina was stationed in Ratiaria.
The Legio XIII Gemina remained in Ratiaria until the fall of the Roman Empire . Towards the end of the Western Roman Empire (around 400), when the supply and payment of the troops ceased, the remnants of the legion melted away. The last soldiers left military service and took care of the agriculture to support their families. What became of the " troop flag " - Aquila (the eagle - the standard of the Roman legions) - is unknown.
In addition to the Legio XIII Gemina , Dacia ripensis was also defended by the Legio V Macedonica , which was stationed in Oescus . At least until the 5th century these legions also controlled the north bank of the Danube in this area (between Dierna / Orsova and Sucidava / Celei at the mouth of the Olt River ). They had more than ten military camps and fortified forts there. Oescus, the closest Roman fort on the Danube, was about 100 kilometers further east (downstream) of Ratiaria at the confluence of the Iskar with the Danube. The next but one fort was about 200 kilometers further east on the Danube - Novae - today's Swishtow . Upstream the next fort on the Danube was about 200 kilometers away - Viminatium in eastern Serbia .
For more than 200 years (from the 2nd to the 4th century) Ratiaria was the most important military and economic center in what is now northern Bulgaria - a center of Roman culture and civilization. Here was one of the six imperial armories. In its time, the city was one of the largest arms manufacturers for the Roman Empire.
The population of Ratiaria consisted mainly of Thracians, but also of many resettlers from Italy, Asia Minor, Syria and the western areas of the Balkans.
The city flourished in the 4th and 5th centuries, but according to the historian Priskos 441 it was captured and destroyed by the Huns under Attila . The Huns destroyed the Danube Wall in two waves (441 and 447) as far as Ratiaria and on to the Black Sea.
The Byzantine emperors Anastasios I (ruled 491-518) and then Justinian I (ruled 527-565) had the city rebuilt. Under Emperor Anastasios I, the great city gate was built, on which the inscription "Anastasios' Ratiaria will always bloom" was found.
The Avars finally destroyed the city and the neighboring Vidin in 586 and laid them to rubble (see Maurikios' Balkan campaigns ). Most of the population was slain, enslaved, or driven out. But the finds from the excavations and the ceramics that were found testify that life in the city continued afterwards - during the Middle Ages.
Vidin was originally founded as a colony by Ratiaria. However, while only ruins remain of Ratiaria, Vidin still exists today.
The village of Artschar has been namesake for the Artschar Peninsula on Greenwich Island in Antarctica since 2005 .
Excavations
The Latin inscription reads: D (is) M (anibus) / L (uci) Tetti / Rufi dec (urionis) / pontif (icis) / col (oniae) Rat ( iariae) / Fonteia / nus frat (er)
Translation: "The man of Lucius Tettius Rufus, Decurio , pontiff of the colony Ratiaria, his brother Fonteianus"
The first investigations began in 1862 by Felix Kanitz . V. Doburski (В. Добурски) gathered information about the internal layout of the city and the architectural fragments while examining the ruins in 1892.
In 1944 a grave monument was found that had been erected by Gaius Mamius Proculus and his wife Cornelia Inventa in memory of his son Gaius the Younger.
In 1955 a marble statue was unearthed - Heracles Resting - a valuable ancient work of art. It is a Roman copy from the 2nd century AD of a statue by the Greek sculptor Lysipp . It was kept in the museum in Vidin, where it was stolen in early 1992 when an order was stolen. In the meantime, the statue has been secured in Germany and returned.
During excavations from 1952 to 1962 under the direction of Welisar Welkow , two necropolises (burial sites) were discovered.
Excavations have been carried out regularly since 1957 and resumed after an interruption in 1976, with Italian archaeologists also participating.
Monumental public buildings and cult houses, the western fortress wall, the western city gate and the remains of villas in the area were discovered, as well as parts of Roman and late Roman necropolises , many inscriptions, sculptures and two water pipes. The port was localized by the archaeologists, but so far only marked in its location.
During the excavations in the city 50 pieces of gold jewelry were found. In 1986 a valuable gold treasure consisting of 13 pieces of women's jewelry and silver spoons was found.
Crafts flourished in the city: bronze foundry , pottery, processing of lead, glass and bones. The high culture is reflected in the sculptures, artistically elaborated grave slabs and sarcophagi and the magnificent multi-colored mosaics that were found during the excavations. Although the sources speak of a Thracian period of the city, the excavations could not produce any findings from this period. Ceramic remains that have been found speak for a medieval period in this city. But there are no other finds on this either.
Because of the lack of funding, the regular archaeological investigations were discontinued in 1991.
Destruction from illegal digs
After the state stopped financing the excavations in 1992, the excavation site was devastated by robbery excavations by illegal treasure diggers who were hired as day laborers in poor rural Bulgaria and often worked in hundreds and with metal detectors. They were looking exclusively for gold and dug up the ground several meters deep and destroyed the “sterile layer”. While archaeologists carefully prepare and document their work, the treasure hunters have deliberately shredded the entire earth (including ceramics, the stones and building materials of the ruins) so as not to overlook a gold coin.
The area around Ratiaria was already known 200 years ago for the fact that the fields blink with exposed gold coins after heavy rainfall.
At first, the residents of the surrounding villages proceeded with shovels. Up to 2,000 people dug at the same time. Horrified archaeologists reported looks like on a large construction site. In 1992, after the collapse of communism, difficult economic times began in Bulgaria. Industry collapsed in the surrounding cities. The collectivized agriculture came to a standstill because of the unclear property situation. Lawless times began with mafia-like conditions. Shortly before Bulgaria's accession to the EU , the missing and imperfect judicial structures and the ineffectiveness in the fight against organized crime were severely criticized.
In these “wild” times, the treasure hunt was continued by criminal, well-organized treasure hunters, in recent years with heavy equipment. Everything was dug up and smashed three meters deep. The police were bribed or powerless and usually released those arrested after 24 hours. There were almost never any convictions, as the judges followed the defense's argument that the excavation area did not have clearly defined boundaries. A private security service failed.
At the graves, the treasure robbers built pyramids with skulls from the graves. Archaeologists speak of a disaster for this excavation site, since everything has been completely destroyed and now resembles a lunar landscape - the foundations of the city, two fortress walls and the main gate. The earth was heaped up in heaps that were overgrown with weeds.
Through the “work” of the treasure robbers it turns out that the city was at least five times as big as originally assumed - but now everything is irretrievably destroyed.
All other information was destroyed by the treasure hunt. Actually, according to Bulgarian law, access to the archaeological site is forbidden. The farmers and landowners in the area were not allowed to dig deeper than 30 centimeters without the presence of an archaeologist. Even when digging a hole to plant a tree, an archaeologist had to be present.
Bishopric
After the spread of Christianity, the city became a bishopric in 271, where the famous Paladij worked. The bishopric still lives on today as the titular archbishopric Ratiaria of the Roman Catholic Church .
literature
- Felix Kanitz : Danube Bulgaria and the Balkans. Historical-geographical-ethnographic travel studies . 3 volumes, Fries, Leipzig 1875–1879.
- Velisar Velkov : Ratiaria. A Roman city in Bulgaria . In: Eirene. Studia Graeca et Latina 5 (1966), pp. 155-175.
- Jordana Atanasova-Georgieva: Résultats des fouilles de la ville antique de Ratiaria au cours des années 1976 to 1982. In: 13th International Limes Congress, Aalen 1983, lectures. Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0776-3 , pp. 437-440.
- Jan Burian: Ratiaria. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , Sp. 776.
Web links
- Bulgarian Archaeological Association (English)
- one of the few pictures on the internet
- Image. Grave stele from Ratiaria
- J. Zerres, Ratiaria: The shredded Roman settlement. Archeology (June 20, 2013)
Remarks
- ^ András Mócsy : Pannonia and Upper Moesia: History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire , Routledge, 1974, ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1 , pp. 211-212.
- ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XLII
- ↑ AE 1911, 214 ; AE 1919, 81.
- ↑ "Den Manen des ..." ( Dis Manibus ) is a common formula on tombstones of the Roman Empire.
Coordinates: 43 ° 49 ′ 0 ″ N , 22 ° 55 ′ 0 ″ E