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Dacia Ripensis

Province of the Roman Empire in the Balkans in Late Antiquity

Summary

Province of the Roman Empire in the Balkans in Late Antiquity

Field	Value
native_name
el
conventional_long_name	Dacia Ripensis
common_name	Dacia Ripensis
image_map	Balkans 6th century.svg
image_map_caption	The northern Balkans, including Dacia Ripensis, in the 6th century
subdivision	Province
nation	Roman Empire
status_text
government_type
year_start	280s (before 285)
year_end	586
life_span	283 – 586
capital	Ratiaria (now in Vidin Province, Bulgaria)
latd		latm=	latNS=	longd=	longm=	longEW=
national_motto
national_anthem
political_subdiv
today
era
event_pre	Evacuation of Dacia Traiana, creation of Dacia Aureliana
date_pre	271
event_start	Dacia Aureliana partitioned
event1	Captured by the Huns
event_end	Devastated by Avar invasion
date_end
event_post
p1	Dacia Aureliana
s1	Pannonian Avars
stat_year1
stat_area1
stat_pop1
footnotes

el | | | | | | |

Dacia Ripensis () was the name of a Roman province in the northern Balkan peninsula, immediately south of the Middle Danube. Its capital was Ratiaria (modern Archar, Bulgaria). It was a district less urban than neighbouring Dacia Mediterranea and more militarized; "military camps and forts, rather than cities, were typical of the province". Besides Ratiaria, Oescus was the major settlement.

Dacia Ripensis was one of the "Two Dacias" established south of the Danube in the late 3rd century. The Roman emperor Aurelian () abandoned the province of Roman Dacia established by Trajan () in 106 AD on the northern bank of the river, and created the two new "Dacias" between the existing provinces of Moesia Prima (upstream) and Moesia Secunda (downstream). The northern part of Aurelian's Dacia Aureliana is attested as "Dacia Ripensis" in 343/4. The southern part, with its capital at Serdica (modern Sofia) was known as Dacia Mediterranea.

According to the Laterculus Veronensis, both provinces were part of the Diocese of Moesiae after the empire was divided into dioeceses during the reign of Constantine the Great (), but by the time of the Notitia Dignitatum they were part of the Diocese of Thrace. According to the Notitia, Dacia Ripensis was governed by a praeses, while the governor of Dacia Mediterranea was a more senior consularis. Dacia Ripensis was under the authority of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

Dacia Ripensis flourished in the mid-4th century, and some forts on the northern bank of the Danube were recovered by the Romans. In the 5th century Priscus described Ratiaria as large and densely populated. In the 6th century, Hierocles's Late Greek Synecdemus identifies Ratiera as the principal city of the province, calling the province , though Procopius referred to it as .

In 535, emperor Justinian I (527-565) created the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima as a regional primacy with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all provinces of the Diocese of Dacia, including the province of Dacia Ripensis.

Excavated ruins of fortifications at Oescus (after restoration)

Excavated ruins at [[Felix Romuliana]] (after ''[[anastylosis]]'')

History

It is unclear whether Aurelian or the Emperor Diocletian replaced Dacia Aureliana with two provinces, but by 285, there were two – Dacia Mediterranea with its capital at Serdica and Dacia Ripensis, with its capital at Ratiaria. Later, these two "Dacias" along with Dardania, Lower Moesia, and Prevalitana constituted the Diocese of Dacia.

Ratiaria was established as the capital of Dacia Ripensis (it was previously a colony founded by Trajan located within Moesia Superior) and served both as the seat of the military governor (or dux) and as the military base for the Roman legion XIII Gemina.

According to Priscus, Dacia Ripensis was a flourishing province during the 4th and 5th centuries AD. During the early 440s, however, the Huns captured the province (prior to this, there were conflicts between the Romans and the Huns whereby the latter group captured Castra Martis through treacherous means). Even though the province recovered briefly from Hunnic rule, it was eventually decimated by the Avars in 586. On a more specific note, Aurelian developed Dacia Ripensis on a stretch of the Danube specifically between Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior.

Famous individuals

Aurelian, Roman emperor from 270 to 275, was probably born in Dacia Ripensis, at that time still named Moesia.
Roman Emperor Galerius was born in Dacia Ripensis.
Palladius of Ratiaria, late 4th century Arian Christian theologian.
Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor from 293 to 306, born in Dacia Ripensis, .

References

Sources

References

(2018). "Dacia Ripensis and Dacia Mediterranea". Oxford University Press.
(2018). "Ratiaria (mod. Archar, Bulgaria)". Oxford University Press.
Kazdan, Alexander P.. (2005). "Dacia". Oxford University Press.
Hierocles, ''Synecdemus'', 655.1. Procopius, ''De Aedificiis'', 4.5.11.
Bury, J. B.. (1923). "The Provincial List of Verona". The Journal of Roman Studies.
{{harvnb. Loring. 1890
{{harvnb. Jones. 1988. grc. μεγίστη καί πολυάνθρωπος ("very great and with numerous inhabitants") when it was captured by the Huns in the early 440s. It appears to have recovered from this sack, but was finally destroyed by the Avars in 586, though the name survives in the modern Arcar."
{{harvnb. Maenchen-Helfen. 1955
{{harvnb. Hind. 1984
Eutropius (9.13.1) states that Aurelianus was born in Dacia Ripensis; ''Historia Augusta'' (''Aurelianus'' 3.1) supports the birth in Sirmium or Dacia Ripensis, but reports also origins of [[Moesia]] (''Aurelianus'' 3.2); Aurelius Victor (''Epitome de Caesaribus'', 35.1) claims he was born between Dacia and [[Macedonia (Roman province). Macedonia]].
{{harvnb. Mackay. 1999

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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