Moesia

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Moesia

Moesia (Moisía; , Miziya; ; , Mezija) was an ancient region and Roman province

Roman province

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country in Central Europe and Balkans Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans....
, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
along the south bank of the Danube River.

In ancient geographical sources, Moesia was bounded to the south by the Balkans (Haemus) and Sharr mountain (Scardus, Scordus, Scodrus) mountains, to the west by the Drina

Drina

The Drina is a river in the Balkan Peninsula. It is a 346 kilometer -long tributary of the Sava River, and it forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia....
river (Drinus), on the north by the Danube

Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
and on the east by the Euxine (Black Sea).

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Timeline

6 Iudaea and Moesia become Roman provinces; Syria is guarded by legions X ''Fretensis'', III ''Gallica'', VI ''Ferrata'', and XII ''Fulminata''.

46 Dobruja is annexed into Roman Moesia.

85 Domitian repulsed a Dacian invasion of Moesia

169 Second Marcomanni War begins. Germanic tribes invade frontiers of the Roman Empire, specifically the provinces of Raetia and Moesia.

238 Carpians invade Moesia, Emperor Maximinus Thrax campaigns against them.

248 The revolts of Pacatianus in Moesia and Iotapianus in Syria are put down by senator Decius, by order of Emperor Philip the Arab.

249 Decius, who was proclaimed Emperor by the army in Moesia, defeats and kills Philip the Arab at Verona.

250 The Goths invade Moesia.

253 Emperor Trebonianus Gallus slain by his own troops in Moesia.

382 The Visigoths, defeated by Theodosius, are installed as ''foederati'' in Moesia and Thrace with the title of "Allies of the Roman people", under the condition that they furnish a contingent of auxiliary troops to defend the borders.

Encyclopedia

Moesia (Moisía; , Miziya; ; , Mezija) was an ancient region and Roman province

Roman province

Serbia

Bulgaria

Romania

Drina

Danube

Moesi

The Moesi were a Daco-Thracian tribe who inhabited part of what would become the Ancient Rome province of Moesia, which was named after them. Thracologists suggest that the Moesi may have spoken a language or dialect intermediary between Dacian language and Thracian language....
, a Thraco-Illyrian tribe that lived there before the Roman conquest 75 BC-c. 29 BC and formally became a Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
of that name some years later (by 6 AD).

Moesia was re-organized personally by the Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
in 87 AD into two provinces: Moesia Superior - Upper Moesia, (meaning up river) and Moesia Inferior - Lower Moesia, (from the Danube river's mouth and then upstream) during relief efforts for the province after the Dacian cross-Danube raids of 86 and early 87 AD).

History

In 75 BC, C. Scribonius Curio

Gaius Scribonius Curio

Gaius Scribonius Curio was the name of a father and son who lived in the late Roman Republic....
, proconsul

Proconsul

Ancient RomeIn the Roman Republic, a proconsul was a promagistrate who, after serving as consul, spent a year as a Roman governor of a Roman province....
of Macedonia

Macedonia (Roman province)

The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus defeated Andriscus of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved....
, took an army as far as the Danube and gained a victory over the inhabitants, who were finally subdued by M. Licinius Crassus

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman Republic general and politician who commanded Sulla's decisive victory at Battle of the Colline Gate, suppressed the Slavery revolt led by Spartacus and entered into a secret pact, known as the First Triumvirate, with Pompey and Julius Caesar....
, grandson of the triumvir

Triumvirate

The term triumvirate is commonly used to describe a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals. The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case....
and later also proconsul of Macedonia during the reign of Augustus c. 29 BC. The region, however, was not organized as a province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
until the last years of Augustus's reign; in 6 AD, mention is made of its governor, Caecina Severus (Dio Cassius lv. 29).

Originally one province under an imperial consular legate

Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of Roman senate rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes....
(who probably also had control of Achaea

Achaea

Achaea is an ancient province and a present prefectures of Greece of Greece, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the north, bordering the Gulf of Corinth, into which the mountain Panachaicus projects....
and Macedonia), it was divided by Domitian

Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
into Upper (Superior) and Lower (Inferior, also called Ripa Thracia) Moesia, the western and eastern portions respectively, divided from each other by the river Cebrus (Ciabrus; modern Cibritza or Zibru). Some, however, place the boundary farther west. Each was governed by an imperial consular legate and a procurator

Procurator

Procurator may refer to:In historical uses:*Promagistrate, an appointed position in the Roman Republic by the Senate, acting in place of a curator...
.

After the abandonment of Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
to the Goths

Goths

The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
by Aurelian

Aurelian

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus , known in English as Aurelian, Roman Emperor , was the second of several highly successful "soldier-emperors" who helped the Roman Empire regain its power during the latter part of the third century and the beginning of the fourth....
(270–275) and the transference of the Roman citizens from the former province to the south of the Danube, the central portion of Moesia took the name of Dacia Aureliani (later divided into Dacia ripensis and interior). The district called Dardania (in Upper Moesia), was formed into a special province by Diocletian

Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
, with the capital at Naissus or Nissa (modern Niš

Niš

Ni? is a city in Ni?ava District, Serbia situated at 43.3? N 21.9? E, on the Ni?ava River. With more than 250,000 inhabitants it is the largest city of South Serbia and third-largest city in the country, after Belgrade and Novi Sad....
, Serbia), the birthplace of Constantine I

Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
in 272.

Later, Diocletian renamed Moesia Superior (less Dacia Aureliani) as Moesia Prima, and divided Moesia Inferior (less its westernmost portions) into Moesia Secunda and Scythia Minor

Scythia Minor

Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobrogea, with a large part in Romania and a very smal part in Bulgaria....
. Moesia Secunda's main cities included Marcianopolis (Devnya

Devnya

Devnya is a town in Varna Province, located in northeastern Bulgaria 25 km west of Varna.It lies at the western shore of Lake Beloslav in the northeastern end of the Devnya Valley and along the southern slopes of the Dobruja Plateau, in the close proximity to the Black Sea....
), Odessus, Nicopolis, Abrittus (Razgrad

Razgrad

Razgrad is a city in northeastern Bulgaria and the capital of Razgrad Province, built upon the ruins of the Ancient Rome town of Abritus on the banks of the ???? ??? ....
), Durostorum (Silistra

Silistra

Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern side of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobruja....
), Transmarisca (Tutrakan

Tutrakan

Tutrakan is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite the Romanian town of Oltenita , in the very west of Southern Dobruja, 58 km east of Rousse and 62 km west of Silistra....
), Sexaginta Prista (Ruse

Ruse

A ruse is an action or plan which is intended to deception someone. It may also refer to:*Michael Ruse, a philosopher of science*Ruse , published by CrossGen...
) and Novae (Svishtov

Svishtov

Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube.The city is the third largest in Veliko Tarnovo Province after the towns of Veliko Tarnovo and Gorna Oryahovitsa.The town is also the administrative centre of Svishtov Municipality....
), all in Bulgaria today. As a frontier province, Moesia was strengthened by stations and fortresses erected along the southern bank of the Danube, and a wall was built from Axiopolis to Tomi as a protection against the Scythians and Sarmatians

Sarmatians

The Sarmatians, Sarmat? or Sauromat? were a people of Ancient Iranian peoples origin. Mentioned by Classics authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C....
. The garrison of Moesia Secunda included Legio I Italica

Legio I Italica

Legio prima Italica was a Roman legion levied by emperor Nero on September 22, 66 . There are still records of the I Italica in the Danube border in the beginning of the 5th century....
and Legio XI Claudia

Legio XI Claudia

Legio undecima Claudia was a Roman legion. XI Claudia dates back to the two legions recruited by Julius Caesar to invade Gallia in 58 BC, and it existed at least until early 5th century, guarding lower Danube in Durostorum ....
, as well as independent infantry units, cavalry units, and river flotillas. The Notitia Dignitatum

Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Ancient Rome imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western Roman empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level....
lists its units and their bases as of the 390s CE. Units in Scythia Minor included Legio I Iovia

Legio I Iovia

Legio I Iovia was a Roman legion, levied by Emperor Diocletian , possibly together with Legio II Herculia, to guard the newly created province of Scythia Minor....
and Legio II Herculia

Legio II Herculia

Legio II Herculia was a Roman legion, levied by Emperor Diocletian , possibly together with Legio I Iovia, to guard the newly created province of Scythia Minor....
.

Since 238, Moesia was constantly invaded or raided by the Carpi

Carpians

The Carpi or Carpiani were a Dacian tribe that were located, between not later than ca. 100 and until at least ca. 400 AD, in the central eastern Carpathian Mountains, and in what is today central Moldavia ....
, and the Goths, who had already invaded Moesia in 250. Hard pressed by the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire....
, the Goths again crossed the Danube during the reign of Valens

Valens

Flamin Julius Valens was Roman Emperor , after he was given the Eastern part of the empire by his brother Valentinian I. Valens, sometimes known as the Last of the Romans, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the fall of the Western Roman Empire....
(376) and with his permission settled in Moesia.

After their settlement quarrels soon took place, and the Goths under Fritigern

Fritigern

Fritigern, or Fritigernus , was a Goths war-leader whose military victories in the Gothic War extracted favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian in 382....
defeated Valens in a great battle near Adrianople. These Goths are known as Moeso-Goths, for whom Ulfilas

Ulfilas

Ulfilas, or Gothic language Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and bible translator, was a Goths or half-Goth who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy....
made the Gothic translation of the Bible

Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
.The Bulgarian under different names Onogurs Kutigurs Honogondurs attack it during all 6th century. In the 7th century, Bulgars

Bulgars

The Bulgars were a seminomadic people, probably of Turkic peoples descent, originally from Southern Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga ....
founded the Empire of Bulgaria

Bulgarian Empire

Bulgarian Empire is a term used to describe two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, during which it acted as a key regional power in Europe in general and in Southeastern Europe in particular, often rivalling Byzantine Empire....
in 681 and the Kingdom of Serbia

Kingdom of Serbia

The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenovic, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karadjordjevic dynasty from 1817 onwards ....
in 1217.

The chief towns of Upper Moesia in the Principate were: Singidunum

Singidunum

Singidunum was an ancient Roman city, first settled by the Celts Scordisci tribe in the 3rd century BC, and later garrisoned and fortified by the Ancient Rome who romanized the name....
(Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on international waterway, at the confluence of the Sava River and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula....
), Viminacium

Viminacium

Viminacium was a major city of the Roman Empire province of Moesia , and the capital of Moesia Superior. Viminacium was the base camp of Legio VII Claudia, and hosted for some time the Legio IIII Flavia Felix....
(sometimes called municipium Aelium; modern Kostolac

Kostolac

Kostolac is a small Serbian town on the Danube river in the Branicevo District. The remains of the Roman capital of the province of Moesia Superior Viminacium are located near Stari Kostolac some 20km to the east of Kostolac....
), Remesiana (Bela Palanka

Bela Palanka

Bela Palanka is a town and municipality located in the Pirot District of Serbia. In 2002, the population of the town was 8,626, while population of the municipality was 14,381....
), Bononia (Vidin

Vidin

Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin ....
) and Ratiaria (Archar

Archar

Archar may refer to:* the Archar River, a tributary of the Danube* Archar , in Dimovo municipality, Vidin Province...
); of Lower Moesia: Oescus

Oescus

Oescus, or Palatiolon Palatiolum, was an ancient town in Moesia, northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the village of Gigen. It is a Dacian-Moesian toponym....
(colonia Ulpia, Gigen

Gigen

Gigen is a village in northern Bulgaria, part of Gulyantsi municipality, Pleven Province. It is located on the Danube, close to the place where the Iskar River empties into it, opposite the Romanian town of Corabia....
), Novae (near Svishtov

Svishtov

Theodoric the Great

File:Theodoric bronze weight inlaid with silver issued by prefect Catulinus Rome 493 526.jpg'Theodoric the Great' , known in Latin as 'Flavius Theodericus' and in Greek sources, was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , and regent of the Visigoths ....
), Nicopolis ad Istrum

Nicopolis ad Istrum

Nicopolis ad Istrum was a Ancient Rome and Early Byzantine Empire town founded by Emperor Trajan around 101-106, at the junction of the Iatrus with the Danube, in memory of his victory over the Dacians....
(Nikup; really near the river Yantra

Yantra River

The Yantra is a river in northern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Danube. It is 285 km long and has a watershed of 7,862 km?.The Yantra has its source from the northern foot of Hadzhi Dimitar Peak in Central Stara Planina, at 1,340 m....
), Marcianopolis (Devnya

Devnya

Odessos

Odessos is:* The ancient Milesians colony in Varna, Bulgaria.* The Greek name for Odessa, Ukraine....
(Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits, with a population of 352,211....
) and Tomi (Constanta

Constanta

Constanta is the oldest living city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located on the Black Sea coast. Constan?a is part of the group of four equal size cities which ranks after Bucharest, Romania's capital, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Ia?i....
; to which the poet Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
was banished). The last two were Greek towns which formed a pentapolis with Istros, Mesembria

Mesembria

Mesembria or Messembria or Mesambria may refer to:*an ancient town corresponding to modern Nesebar*an ancient Greek town on the Aegean Sea coast of Thrace...
and Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia may be:People:*Saint Apollonia, of Alexandria*Apollonia Kotero, musician & actressPlaces::In Albania::In Bulgaria::In Greece::* Apollonia , an inland city in Epirus, founded by Corinth.:* Apollonia , an inland city near modern Apollonia, Thessaloniki, visited by the apostle Paul:* Apollonia , a coastal city near Th...
.

The area remained part of the Byzantine empire

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
until the 7th century, when it was conquered by the Bulgarian Empire

First Bulgarian Empire

The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 632 in the lands near the Danube Delta and disintegrated in AD 1018 after its annexation to the Byzantine Empire....
.

External links

, University of Belgrade

Moesia

History

See also

External links