At the eastern necropolis of the ancient Rome settlement Abritus near Razgrad archaeologists come upon stone Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd century. At the sarcophagus are detected skeletons from primary and secondary obsequies. The late ancient settlement Abritus is one of the best studied, developed and exposed ancient towns at Bulgaria.

Ancient town from the early Rome epoch was found by archaelogists near the village of Gorno Ablantovo, Opeka municipality.

The stone foundations of the unfortified Rome’s settlement are in quite good condition. There is near by 30 santimeters from the surface, despite to the strong economic activities over the agricultural terrain. Over them have been sun-dried brick walls and wood construction. There was found unique, never known before bronze figure of mallard and one, silver fibula which is the fifth pubished at the Bulgarian chronicles.
Continue reading Ancient town from the early Rome epoch was found by archaelogists near the village of Gorno Ablantovo, Opeka municipality.

Four kilometers eastern direction from Svishtov is that Rome’s legionary bivouac Novae. Initially the rampart got area of seventeen hectares and it is raising immediately to that high Donau coast, later the bulwark has been widened with ten more hectares. That Rome’s legionary bivouac is the best discovered and preserved military bivouac at the boundaries of the south-eastern provinces of the empire. At the emperor August period near Danube has been sent Marcus Licinius Crassus, who has succeed to subordinate the regional Thracian tribes at 30th year before Christ. That Mizia province has been found near 15 years after Christ. At the emperor Domitian ( 85-86 after Christ) she has been divided to upper and lower Mizia, where custom boundary between them is Cibrica river. There is Rome defensive line formed, that is protecting the imperial interests to the Donau river coast and Black sea coast. Novae is important part of this line, with watch-towers and citadels, where has been placed military units- Cohorts urbane, legions, ex. The army has been using the Donau way, that has been connecting all the military defenses of Danube to the delta of the river. The main reason for the military attendance there are all the earned areas and natural resources, that possibilities s for defense of the Thracia and Macedonia front of the unceasing threat from that coming from east tribes. That Rome’s legionary bivouac spring up as domicile of VIII Augustin legion near 45 year after Christ…
Continue reading Rome’s legionary bivouac Novae

With the emergence of the grandiose empire, the Romans thought about its protection. A protective zone, the so-called limes, oriented to the north, was created along the thousands of miles of the border from Britain to Asia, whereby the present day Bulgarian lands were in the Lower Danubian part. That was a defence with a deep echelon structure, in which the fortified cities built played the principal role. The names of dozens of such fortified settlements are known, notably Ratiaria, Oescus, Novae, latrus, and others. They all emerged in the same way: the families of soldiers, merchants and artisans gradually settled near the main camp of a stationed legion, cohort or some auxiliary military unit. Strong fortification walls were built to protect the cities, and their layout followed the typical Roman pattern with straight streets, a central square (forum) with beautiful porticos and statues, public baths, and various representative and public buildings.
Continue reading The Barbarians Attack the Roman Empire

The Romans reached the Balkan Peninsula after they defeated the ancient Macedonian kingdom in the 2nd century BC. The first Roman colonies in the Balkans were also created then. And after the victories in Asia Minor in 133 BC, the Aegean region became the principal communication for the conquests in eastern direction. The last two centuries BC were marked by numerous clashes between the mainland Thracian tribes and the Roman governors of the Macedonia province, who were charged with the protection of the important artery.

Continue reading The Roman Legions are Coming

After Thrace became a Roman province, the Triballi retained enough strength to cause trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia. Many rebelions against the Roman empire broke out in Thrace. According to Florus [Florus II, XXVII], after one of these rebellions had been crushed, the Thracians showed their mad rage even in captivity, for they punished their own savagery by trying to bite through their fetters.

It is most likely here that the history of Thracians and Dachians diverges most. Some of the Thracians were Latinized by the Roman empire, they were called Vlachs. But the Dachians were much more thoroughly Latinized by Rome. It is possible the deals Rome made with some Thracian kings to conquer other Thracian tribes, the wide degree of independence Thrace preserved for a long time within the empire, and the constant Thracian rebellions against Rome, are all reasons why, unlike the Dachians, most of the Thracians were not Latinized. In fact the term ‘Vlach’ still has somewhat of a negative meaning in Bulgaria today. It is possible Thracians who were Latinized were marginalized by the rest. The Romanians, {Romania means ‘land of the Romans’.} on the other hand, are proud of their Latin heritage today. Romanian is the closest to Latin, in a grammatical sense, of all the Romance languages.
Continue reading Thrace under the reign of Roman Empire