Academic literature on the topic 'Roman provinces Moesia'

Sections of the leges municipales from at least forty different cities in Southern Spain have survived to us. These laws, understood as a powerful instrument by which Roman legal regulations were introduced into the provinces, are usually connected with Baetica. As a result it is too easy to overlook the fact that corresponding leges were issued wherever Roman or Latin cities were founded, and continued to be issued long after the Flavian era, the time to which most of the surviving fragments date. Documentary evidence has now made clear that leges municipales are a general phenomenon which continued to play a role in the second and third centuries CE. Fragments of city laws are known not only in the province of Alpes Maritimae, but also in Noricum (Lauriacum), Moesia superior (Ratiaria), and in Troesmis (Moesia inferior). The law for Troesmis is especially important because, in contrast to the laws from Baetica, it was issued for a Roman and not a Latin municipium. This demonstrates that specific Roman legal regulations, which were issued in Augustan times exclusively for Roman citizens, were still of relevance in the second century and also must have been used in the province of Moesia inferior. This material indicates that people had to obey Roman legal regulations more or less everywhere in nearly all provinces of the West. The leges municipales were thus one of the decisive means by which Roman law spread in the provinces—more so than has previously been realized—and could even be the basis for daily life.

The Beauty and Attractions of Philippopolis, named after Philip II, king of Macedonia, praised in this poetical manner by Lucian, were also celebrated on its coinage in Roman times. Hence the river Hebrus, navigable up to Philippopolis in antiquity, was often depicted on coins; on Hadrianic coins it was even named (pl. 8.1, 1). Its great importance for the city is further reflected in the common illustrations of the river-god and the city-goddess (pl. 8.1, 2). And one coin with the river-god also shows other sources of wealth for the city: little genii are depicted representing agriculture and mining (pl. 8.1, 3). While the AIMOΣ, depicted only on coins of Nicopolis ad Istrum, is shown as a male personification (in the form of a young hunter), the smaller mountains of Rhodope, situated near Philippopolis, are depicted as a charming female figure with an explanatory legend (ROΔOΠH) on coins of Philippopolis (pl. 8.1, 4). In addition, the three hills which formed the acropolis of the city (which, as a consequence, was called Trimontium in Roman times), and are known today as Nebet-, Džambaz-, and Taximtepe, were depicted (singly or all together) on coins of Philippopolis (pl. 8.1, 5). Sometimes even the other hills of the city (which are said to have been seven in all) can be seen on the coins. So a statue of Heracles, situated on a hill, supposedly represented the second highest elevation of the city, the Bundardžika (pl. 8.1, 6). The pictures of these hills are combined with appropriate buildings—temples, statues, aqueducts— on the coins (pl. 8.1, 7). It is clear that such illustrations conveyed a specific image of the city and the landscape, and were intended to show essential aspects of the common identity of the Philippopolites. As a consequence they give a good insight into the processes of acculturation which led to the formation or change of identities. They show how indigenous, local, or regional traditions, myths, and stories of origins were conserved or changed. They also inform us about the adaptation of foreign influences (for example, the taking over and/or integration of foreign deities in the local pantheon) or the resistance against such influences. Such central aspects of ‘Coinage and Identity’ will be studied in detail in this chapter, with special regard to Thrace and Moesia Inferior.

Compared to the rich material from Egypt, evidence for law and legal practice in the Danubian provinces is rather slim. Still, inscriptions offer some insights into how Roman law was received, applied, and transformed in the second and early third centuries CE. Moving from West to East, the article will discuss three case studies and their wider implications. The rescript of Septimius Severus regarding membership in a collegium centonariorum at Solva in Noricum not only shows the emperor directly involved in a legal dispute, but also testifies to the application of the rules on collegia vel corpora known from the Digest. The wax tablets from Alburnus Maior in Dacia show how private legal practice could be shaped by Roman models, but diverge from them as people saw fit, leading to legal forms that have been frowned upon as ‘invalid’ by scholars of Roman law, but must have been useful to people at that time and place. Finally, the new municipal law from Troesmis in Moesia Inferior can be understood as a symbolic assertion of Roman identity in a region bordering on the barbaricum. From a range of rather different epigraphical sources, the multiple uses of Roman law can be deduced, leading to an overall impression that is not entirely different from what is found in the East.

This chapter describes developments in the territory north of the Haemus mountains — included in the late Roman provinces of Moesia Superior, Dacia Ripensis, Moesia Inferior and Scythia Minor — from the late fourth to the early seventh century. It examines the impact of the Gothic war of 376–382 and the successive destructive invasions by Goths, Huns, Avars, Sclavenes and Slavs of 441 and 447 on these provinces. It also looks at attempts to restore the defences and settlements of the region from the late fifth century onwards, particularly in the reign of emperor Justinian (527–565). Periods of invasion were followed by phases of peace and reconstruction, but recovery never came even close to restoring the territory to its condition before these invasions. By the end of the first quarter of the seventh century, the Roman organization of the area had been wiped out.

The Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum and its territory lie in north central Bulgaria. Although the exact extent of the ancient city's territorial jurisdiction is unknown, in general terms the location of its fertile heartland is readily identifiable. The hinterland of the city was within the Roman province of Thrace from the foundation of Nicopolis c.AD 108 down to c.AD 193 when it was transferred to the province of Moesia Inferior. It comprised three distinct regions with different geographical characteristics. The southern part included the upland slopes of the Turnovo hills. The middle region, where the city was located, included the river valleys of the Rositsa and part of the Yantra while the third formed part of the agriculturally fertile light soils of the Danube basin. Within this area, survey has identified more than 300 settlements, dating from the first to the sixth centuries AD, all of which have been recorded as part of the national programme for the identification and description of ancient settlements.

The seven years of excavation on Dichin (Bulgaria) have made a significant contribution to our understanding of the fifth century AD, a period that is still regarded as a ‘dark age’. The fort of Iatrus was situated in the province of Moesia Secunda, where Dichin is also located. Founded at the beginning of the fourth century, the fort was several times destroyed and then rebuilt over the 300 years of its existence until it was finally abandoned c.AD 600. What is not clear is whether Iatrus' role as a part of the Roman frontier (limes) on the lower Danube belongs to the final period in the history of the Roman Empire or whether it belongs to the early development of the Byzantine State. This chapter examines whether the archaeological discoveries at Iatrus, combined with the fragmentary literary sources for the fort, suggest a gradual transition or a radical break between Late Antiquity and the early Byzantine period.