Marcianopolis
Marcianopolis was an ancient city located in Lower Moesia, present-day northeastern Bulgaria, founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan in the early 2nd century AD. Named after Trajan's sister Marciana, the city was strategically situated eighteen miles inland from the Black Sea and served as a vital hub where multiple trade routes converged. Originally a Thracian settlement, Marcianopolis saw significant Hellenistic influence, particularly from immigrants from Asia Minor who introduced Greek and oriental religious practices.
As the capital of the Roman province of Lower Moesia, it produced coinage featuring Greek inscriptions and various architectural landmarks. The city endured invasions throughout its history, including significant attacks by the Goths and later by the Huns, which led to periods of devastation. Despite these challenges, Marcianopolis reached its peak during the 4th century when Emperor Valens made it his winter headquarters amid conflicts with the Visigoths. However, the city faced destruction during subsequent invasions, particularly around 376/7, and eventually fell into decline following further military setbacks. Marcianopolis remains an important historical site reflecting the complex tapestry of Roman provincial life and the cultural interactions of the time.
Marcianopolis
(Reka Devnia)
A city in Lower Moesia (northeastern Bulgaria). It was founded by Trajan (AD 98–117)—who gave it the name of his sister Marciana—eighteen miles inland from the Black Sea coast, on a site endowed with abundant springs where roads met from the port of Odessus (Varna), from Durostorum (Silistra) on the Danube, and from Nicopolis ad Istrum (Nikup) to the west.
Originally a settlement of the Thracians (of whom inscriptions show traces), Marcianopolis was occupied by Hellenized immigrants from Asia Minor, who imported Greek and oriental cults. It became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Moesia, and issued coinage, with Greek inscriptions, from Commodus (AD 180–92) onward. These coins depict temples, a triumphal arch surmounted by four figures on pedestals (Macrinus, 217–18), and—after devastation by the Goths in 238—three city gates (Gordian III, 238–44), one with three arches, another elaborately crenellated, and a third which is flanked by conical roofed towers and appears in a bird's-eye view of the fortress-city surrounded by its massive wall. With the help of these defences, a second Gothic attack was repelled (248), although the local coinage does not seem to have continued after that date.
Becoming the capital of Moesia Secunda, Marcianopolis reached the height of its power in the fourth century, when the eastern emperor Valens established his winter quarters there in the course of his campaigns against the Visigoths and other invading peoples in 367/9. In 376/7, however, an imperial force under Lupicinus was routed by a Visigothic army near the city, which was then ravaged and burned by a new set of rebellious Visigothic chieftains, amid scenes of slaughter. Enough was left of the stronghold, however, for a mass of fleeing Roman soldiers to take refuge within its walls. A short time later the whole district was temporarily lost when Valens himself suffered a disastrous defeat and lost his life at Hadrianopolis (Edirne, 378). In 447 Marcianopolis was attacked by Attila the Hun.