Posted on 04/03/2018 2:24:44 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have unearthed part of an unknown Roman Era public building in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv which bears traces from the Invasion of the Roman Empire by the Goths in 250-251 AD when the Goths went as far south as Philipopolis (Plovdiv's predecessor) and ransacked it... emergency excavations at Plovdiv's Antiquity Odeon made headlines from the start when the archaeological team discovered a medieval grave from the 11th-12th century with an arrow in the chest of the buried person. Subsequent digs, however, revealed deeper a room from an unknown Antiquity building with three floor levels built one on top of the other... "It has turned out that it has three floor levels, the latest of which was organized on top of rubble from the city destruction," she adds... In 250 AD, about 70,000 Goths led by Gothic chieftain Cniva invaded the Roman Empire by crossing the Danube at Novae. They were initially halted by Emperor Trajan Decius at Nicopolis ad Istrum (near today's Nikyup) but then went on to raid a number of Roman cities reaching as far south as Philipopolis (today's Plovdiv) which was ransacked. Upon retreating north, from Thrace (Thracia) into Moesia, the Goths were met by the forces of Emperor Trajan Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus near the major Roman city of Abritus (near today's Razgrad in Northeast Bulgaria)... in July 251 AD, 1765 years ago, the Goths routed the Roman forces, and killed not one but two Roman Emperors: Roman Emperor Trajan Decius (r. 249-251 AD) and his co-emperor and son Herennius Etruscus (r. 251 AD)... The artifacts discovered by the archaeological team include a large amount of household pottery, other household items, bronze lamps, and a bronze door key (3-4 cm in length), all of them from the Roman Era.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeologyinbulgaria.com ...
Archaeologist Maya Martinova in the newly discovered Roman Era public building near the Antiquity Odeon of ancient Philipopolis in Bulgaria's Plovdiv. The building has three floor levels, the third of which is built on top of rubble from the Gothic Invasi
Full title, "Archaeologists Find Traces of 251 AD Invasion of Roman Empire by Goths during Digs at Antiquity Odeon in Bulgaria's Plovdiv".
Bulgaria fans may also enjoy this, which is a scrambled mess, IMHO.
Latest Discoveries in Nebet Tepe Fortress Cast Doubt on Status of Bulgaria’s Plovdiv as Oldest City in Europe
March 26, 2018 · by Ivan Dikov
http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/03/26/latest-discoveries-in-nebet-tepe-fortress-cast-doubt-on-status-of-bulgarias-plovdiv-as-oldest-city-in-europe/
Heh... of course, that's not a good analogy, as the Romans tried their darnedest to keep their borders closed. Rome should have lef Carausius rule Britain, and made alliance with his independent state. It would have simplified the border problems and solidified the NW provinces right when they needed it. Ah well. Instead they probably induced Allectus to assassinate and supplant Carausius, and he wasn't effective at any other activities, as it turned out, just as the Emperor in Rome wanted. Britain was brought back into the empire, Allectus was executed, and the province was divided into four or five parts, with separate governors. Of course, since much of my ancestry is from there, I'm glad it worked out that way, else, wouldn't be here, and probably no one reading this would be, either.
They expanded the borders and incorporated the foreigners not just into their populations but their armies as well; in the end the Roman Empire collapsed because too few of its people were “Roman”.
As Cronos pointed out (as have others, as well as yours truly), the Roman Empire went on until the Turks took Constantinople, and they were very interested in the learning of classical antiquity, as well as the imperial trappings, and saw themselves as the successors to earlier rulers (other than their choice of religion of course).
Rome started its conquests by taking Ostia (now Poor Man's Pompeii, but with the virtue of being an easy distance from the popular Roman tourist attractions in the old urban core), meaning the Empire started much earlier than is sometimes claimed, and continued into the 15th century, a total of nearly 1900 years. Yeah, that opening up citizenship to people from outside the citi really didn't work out, did it? The first emperor born in one of the provinces was Trajan, who began his reign in 98 AD, and he was one of the most successful, conquering the future birthplace of Aurelian, who is a favorite of mine. :^)
The use of auxiliaries began at least by the time of Augustus (generally regarded as the first emperor) who cut the regular army in half after the defeat of Anthony and Cleo, to 28 legions, and added the Praetorian Guard (emperor's bodyguards and the local police force) and 28 legions' worth of auxiliaries.
One ancient writer joked that he had to travel into the provinces to hear Latin spoken, as so many speakers of other languages had crowded into Rome; Ovid by contrast was exiled to a largely Scythian area on the north shore of the Black Sea, and wound up thinking, dreaming, and writing in the local tongue (by his own account).
If anything, the Romans were pathogically suspiicious of foreign peoples in groups -- yet they welcomed their cults into the capital and other cities (the rites of Mithras were common among Roman soldiers, so much so Mithras was called "the soldiers' god"). Barbarian tribes were considered inferior, yet were sometimes added into the Empire via conquest of new territories. The view that the Varian disaster was "The Battle That Stopped Rome" was ridiculous when it was promulgated, and looks worse with each new discovery; just in the past ten years a Roman cemetery was dug up in Copenhagen Denmark, and Maximinus Thrax was winning battles to the south of there, deep in Germany, and he had a short reign -- the Guard assassinated him during a Senatorial revolt brought on by his so-called low birth. He was as non-Roman in ancestry as could be, but was diligently adding to the Empire. His sudden removal led to the 3rd century anarchy which lasted about 70 years, and yet, surprisingly, the Empire survived that (thanks to Aurelian, Diocletian, and others).
Among the reasons for the decline of Roman power I'd list, lack of public education and/or general literacy (thus, lack of a common history and mythology); dilution of Senate authority on ridiculous acts, such as voting dead emperors and other deceased Romans into the company of the gods; sketchy banking system (all of it was private lending, similar to what the Medicis and others were doing during the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance); no postal system worthy of the name; and most importantly, no statutory and regularized system for succession into political power for the Emperors (reform of that didn't arrive until Diocletian).
opening up citizenship , as you humourously put it, worked out really well. Rome granted senatorships to families in the 200s whose ancestors fought Caesar in Gauls
Controlled immigration can enhance a nation - if it is made clear that the immigrants need to embrace the culture and laws of the land
I thought Ovid ended up in Romania, so the western shore of the black sea.
Wow. I wish I could have a beer with you. That was just off the cuff writing! I suspect based on the depth of knowledge you are a published author.
My ametuer intrest is the eastern roman empire. Hope someday to contemplate the Golden Horn. But Turkey is just not stable enough. Hopefully that changes in the next ten years.
Thanks, SunkenCiv!
“I thought Ovid ended up in Romania, so the western shore of the black sea.”
He did - city called Tomi I believe, near modern day Constanta. I’ve been there. Roman ruins all over the place.
Do you happen to have a link to the Danish Roman Cemetary discovery?
That’s incredible! I wonder if it was a Colonia or a military encampment?
I don’t think the original link works, but our FR link does:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1909864/posts
My pleasure.
Thanks C.
Thanks for the kind remarks! I'm not a published author.
There are a couple of things I should have looked up, but got lazy, and I'm so lazy now that I don't even want to look at it again to remember which things I should have looked up. ;^)
The Eastern Roman Empire -- I also prefer that correct name to "Byzantine" -- if you're into coins, Byzantine coins are generally high quality and (for their age and stuff) less scarce and reasonably priced. Or at least, they used to be. :^o
Meanwhile, try a search for "Badass of the week Basil the Bulgar Slayer", the language is salty, the events covered are a little gruesome, but it always makes me laugh. :^)
LOL! The 140 eyes story is legendary and one of my favorites from the Eastern Empire. What a horrendous thing to do! Epic.
So many amazing stories virtually unknown in the West.
Badass Basil was one of the great medieval Emperors and achieved the apex of the Empire’s power in that period. Unfortunately, after the Macedonian Emperors, the Turks would appear and start effing things up which continues to this day.
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