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119-518: Ulpiana was established at the site of an unknown Dardanian oppidum . It likely took its name from the Roman Emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus), during whose reign it was upgraded to the status of a municipium before the year 117. An earthquake in 518 destroyed the city, but emperor Justinian , who ascended to the throne in 527, ordered it to be rebuilt, renaming the city Justiniana Secunda , distinguishing it from Justiniana Prima ,

238-666: A 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the Heruli , with a raiding fleet of 500 ships, sacked Heraclea Pontica , Cyzicus and Byzantium . They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea , where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Scyros , broke through Thermopylae and sacked several cities of southern Greece ( province of Achaea ) including Athens , Corinth , Argos , Olympia and Sparta . Then an Athenian militia, led by

357-583: A Dardanian polity began to develop from the fourth century. Moreover, Dardani contact with the Mediterranean world began early and intensified during the Iron Age. Trade connections with the Ancient Greek world developed from the seventh century onwards. Material culture and accounts in classical sources suggest that Dardanian society reached an advanced phase of development. The first written references to

476-504: A Roman army led by Claudius advancing from the north. The battle most likely took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretending to retreat. Some 50,000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed. Apparently Aurelian , who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led

595-560: A century later, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia , it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing. Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy. They were engaged near Naissus by

714-530: A city in Dardania , which is most likely Ulpiana itself. Archaeologists believe that this suggests that Dardania had some sort of autonomous identity and was not fully Romanized by the 6th century. As of August 2023, the mosaic has not been unveiled completely, with the rest of it expected to be revealed by October 2023. The dedication is written in the Latin language, despite being made by a Byzantine emperor. The castrum

833-456: A city newly founded by Justinian in 535. Ulpiana lies in fertile land, near the left bank of the river Gračanka , located near mines that have been used since ancient times. The mines played a considerable role in the development of important cities in the Roman province of Dardania . The ruins of Ulpiana are located 12 km to the south-east of Pristina and the archaeological city is located in

952-466: A fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives. The 4th-century Greek bishop Synesius compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome: A man in skins leading warriors who wear the chlamys , exchanging his sheepskins for the toga to debate with Roman magistrates and perhaps even sit next to a Roman consul , while law-abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone

1071-590: A level of control but many Goths and other eastern peoples were quickly settled in and near the empire. One group of these, initially led by their king Alaric I , were the precursors of the Visigoths , and their successors eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo . Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths . Under their king Theodoric

1190-539: A little way from the senate house, put on their sheepskins again, and when they have rejoined their fellows they mock the toga, saying that they cannot comfortably draw their swords in it. In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king Ermanaric , who embarked on a large-scale expansion. Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric),

1309-562: A long period. [..] The meaning of this state of affairs has been variously interpreted, ranging from notions of Thracianization' (in part) of an existing Illyrian population to the precise opposite. In favour of the latter may be the close correspondence of Illyrian names in Dardania with those of the southern 'real' lllyrians to their west, including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna. ... including

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1428-568: A manner that resembles 3rd-century Roman portrait art. Another marble head, the head of Eros portrays a childish face with long hair, but it is not clear what its purpose or meaning was. Finally, a tragic mask is a 27.5 cm-high theatrical mask made of marble and was found at the site of the Northern Necropolis . It depicts the face of a man with grotesque features and possibly dates to the 2nd century AD. Many objects pre-dating Roman rule have also been found in and around Ulpiana. In 1982,

1547-460: A portion of his people and asked to be allowed to settle on the south bank of the Danube. Valens permitted this, and even assisted the Goths in their crossing of the river (probably at the fortress of Durostorum ). The Gothic evacuation across the Danube was probably not spontaneous, but rather a carefully planned operation initiated after long debate among leading members of the community. Upon arrival,

1666-445: A prehistoric cemetery from the 13th-9th centuries BC was discovered at the center of the city, containing ceramics and other bronze-age objects. A Neolithic terracotta figurine was discovered in 2016 near the two towers of the northern gate of the city. Kingdom of Dardania The Kingdom of Dardania ( Latin : Regnum Dardaniae ) was a polity in the central Balkans in the region of Dardania during classical antiquity . It

1785-554: A pretender to the Macedonian throne, captured Lychnidus and looted Macedonia taking 20.000 prisoners and retreating before Philip's forces could reach them. In 201, Bato of Dardania (along with Pleuratus III the Illyrian and Amynander of Athamania cooperated with Roman consul Sulpicius Galba Maximus in his expedition against Philip V. Always being under the menace of Dardanian attacks on Macedonia, Philip V made an alliance with

1904-537: A public bathroom, the forum (administrative center of the city), a residency of the bishop in the era of the early Christianity, and a baptismal chapel. The most important findings of the city are a church on the northern cemetery (the Northern Necropolis ), a basilica near the northern gate (the Early Christian Basilica ), the first main church of the city (the Episcopal Basilica with Baptistry ), and

2023-492: A recently-discovered 6th-century basilica that was commissioned by Justinian himself (the Archiepiscopal Basilica ). Other important buildings include the northern gate of the town, a thermae (public bath), and a castrum (a military camp). Apart from buildings, many other smaller objects such as sculptures, coins, weapons, pottery, and other personal belongings have been discovered. The Northern Necropolis (Memoria)

2142-473: A single mass migration of an entire people, scholars open to hypothetical Scandinavian origins envision a process of gradual migration in the 1st centuries BC and AD, which was probably preceded by long-term contacts and perhaps limited to a few elite clans from Scandinavia. Similarities between the name of the Goths , some Swedish place names and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that

2261-401: A tragic mask, a terracotta figure, pottery, and coins. The woman's head is an 18 cm-high sculpture that represents a middle-aged woman and is made of fine-grained marble. It is assumed to be from the end of the fourth century. A 33 cm-high man's head , believed to have been part of a life-sized statue in the past is another major finding. It portrays a middle-aged man and is made in

2380-647: A widescale rebellion in Thrace, in which he was joined not only by Gothic refugees and slaves, but also by disgruntled Roman workers and peasants, and Gothic deserters from the Roman Army. The ensuing conflict, known as the Gothic War , lasted for several years. Meanwhile, a group of Greuthungi, led by the chieftains Alatheus and Saphrax , who were co-regents with Vithericus, son and heir of the Greuthungi king Vithimiris , crossed

2499-400: Is a field military garrison of the Roman army located 100m to the east of the eastern-wall of Ulpiana and had a size of 16 hectares. Not much is known about it, since it has been located via ground scanning and has not been excavated yet. Several objects have been found in the ruins of the city, with the most important ones being the sculptures of a woman's head; a man's head; the head of Eros,

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2618-481: Is an edifice, located outside the city walls, on top of a cemetery. It was unearthed during the first phase of the excavations in the 1950s. The initial findings were four graves, followed by the discovery of multiple sarcophagi made of marble. Two tombstones were also found, with one of them dedicated to some Aelia Clementilla . The second tombstone, much larger in size, was dedicated to local magistrate Marcus Pontius and his wife Furia Caecilla . Further digging in

2737-580: Is in the late 3rd century that the name Goths ( Latin : Gothi ) is first mentioned. Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones. Philologists and linguists have no doubt that the names are linked. On the Pontic steppe the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians. They excelled at horsemanship , archery and falconry , and were also accomplished agriculturalists and seafarers . J. B. Bury describes

2856-602: Is named after the Dardani , a Paleo-Balkan tribe that formed the core of the Dardanian polity. Dardania was centered around present-day Kosovo , but also included parts of North Macedonia (northwestern area), Serbia ( Novi Pazar ) and Albania ( Kukës , Tropoja , Has ). The eastern parts of Dardania were at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone. Marcus Licinius Crassus , grandson of the triumvir Marcus Crassus , officially annexed

2975-635: Is the largest in Ulpiana and one of the largest in the region, and is believed to have belonged to the Archbishop of Ulpiana. The floor of the basilica has many mosaics which are currently being unearthed. In 2023, a mosaic related to Emperor Justinian the Great was discovered in the basilica. The mosaic shows that the basilica's construction was commissioned by Justinian himself and possibly dedicated to his wife Theodora . The currently-unveiled text also makes mention of

3094-612: The Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete , Rhodes and Cyprus . According to the Augustan History , the Goths achieved no success on this expedition because they were struck by the Cyprianic Plague . The fleet probably also sacked Troy and Ephesus , damaging the Temple of Artemis , though the temple was repaired and then later torn down by Christians

3213-576: The Aesti and the Vistula Veneti , who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance. Jordanes compares the conquests of Ermanaric to those of Alexander the Great , and states that he "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone." Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from

3332-472: The Balkan provinces. In the meantime, a second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition consisting of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli, assembled at the mouth of river Tyras (Dniester). The Augustan History and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men. This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of

3451-461: The Balkans as early as the 1st century AD and had an important role in the development and importance of the city. The first mention of Christians in Ulpiana is the martyrdom of the brothers Florus and Laurus. They were originally from Constantinople and were building a pagan temple in Ulpiana when their Christian identity was deciphered and they were martyred. In the second half of the 4th century, before

3570-659: The Bastarnae at around 183 and invited them to settle in Polog , the region of Dardania closest to Macedonia. A joint campaign of the Bastarnae and Macedonians against the Dardanians was organized, but Philip V died and his son Perseus of Macedon withdrew his forces from the campaign. The Bastarnae crossed the Danube in huge numbers and although they didn't meet the Macedonians, they continued

3689-564: The Burgundians , Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group. Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani . In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani . A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes , who may have been of Gothic descent. Jordanes claims to have based

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3808-510: The Crimean Goths , established a culture that survived for more than a thousand years, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people. Gothic architecture , Gothic literature and the modern-day Goth subculture ultimately derive their names from the ancient Goths, though the Goths themselves did not directly create or influence these art forms. In the Gothic language ,

3927-612: The Danube . Around 275 the Goths launched a last major assault on Asia Minor , where piracy by Black Sea Goths was causing great trouble in Colchis , Pontus, Cappadocia , Galatia and even Cilicia . They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus . By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the Dniester River : the Thervingi and

4046-510: The Geats , from mainland Sweden, whose name is reconstructed as * Gautōz . Though these names probably mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb * geuta- , which means "to pour". The similarity of these Scandiavian names has long been noted by scholars in connection with the 6th-century book Getica ( c.  551 ), by

4165-490: The Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus , but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius . Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details, and as a result the Goths are often identified as originating from south-central Sweden. According to Jordanes,

4284-579: The Greuthungi . The Gepids , who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time. Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths. In the late 3rd century, as recorded by Jordanes, the Gepids, under their king Fastida , utterly defeated the Burgundians, and then attacked the Goths and their king Ostrogotha. Out of this conflict, Ostrogotha and the Goths emerged victorious. In

4403-613: The Nordic Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture . Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii. Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling Gothiscandza , seized the lands of the Ulmerugi (Rugii). The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by Greco-Roman sources in the 1st century under

4522-592: The Roman Empire under Augustus conquered the region. The Romans created the province of Moesia from parts of Dardania, but later made it a separate province called Dardania . The eastern parts of the region were at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania (present-day Kosovo), while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania (present-day south-eastern Serbia). Thracian names are absent in western Dardania; some Illyrian names appear in

4641-820: The Roman–Persian Wars , notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 244. An inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Parthian , Persian and Greek commemorates the Persian victory over the Romans and the troops drawn from gwt W g'rmny xštr , the Gothic and German kingdoms, which is probably a Parthian gloss for the Danubian (Gothic) limes and the Germanic limes . Meanwhile, Gothic raids on

4760-684: The Vandals , with whom they were certainly closely affiliated. The Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture , which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture. Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD. In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder mentions the Gutones as one of the peoples of Germania . He writes that the Gutones, Burgundiones , Varini , and Carini belong to

4879-533: The episcopal center of Dardania until the establishment of Justiniana Prima in 535 AD. Archaeological evidence suggests that after reaching its peak, Ulpiana shrank in the 5th and 6th centuries, due to natural disasters, as well as barbarian attacks during the weakening and subsequent fall of the Roman Empire . In 358 AD, Ulpiana was hit by the shockwaves of the devastating Nicomedia earthquake, resulting in some buildings being damaged. In 472 AD, King Theoderic

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4998-535: The " Hlöðskviða " (The Battle of the Goths and Huns), a medieval Icelandic saga. The sagas recall that Gizur , king of the Geats , came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict with the Huns, although this saga might derive from a later Gothic-Hunnic conflict. Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the Eastern Roman emperor Valens in 376 with

5117-573: The 1980s and 1990s, followed by further excavations after the Kosovo War . Currently, a team of Kosovan and French archaeologists is excavating Sector IV of the archaeological park. Research attention has so far mainly been given to the findings of the objects in the north entrance of the city. With the addition of the use of air photography and satellites in the past years, archaeologists, with no costly digging and no invasive procedures, were able to find and describe many big antique buildings which included

5236-550: The 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture . More recent genetic evidence has confirmed that Wielbark culture Goths from the Vistula carry Scandinavian Y-haplogroups , strongly suggesting that Gothic clans formed with migration from Southern Scandinavia. From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards the Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by

5355-456: The 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is now Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. From here they conducted raids into Roman territory, and large numbers of them joined the Roman military. These early Goths lived in the regions where archaeologists find the Chernyakhov culture , which flourished throughout this region during the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the late 4th century, the lands of

5474-742: The Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains , encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also Baltic Finnic peoples , Slavs (such as the Antes ), Rosomoni (Roxolani), Alans, Huns , Sarmatians and probably Aestii ( Balts ). According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent. Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to

5593-488: The Basilica had a parecclesion at some point. The Early Christian Basilica may have been built to replace the Episcopal Basilica with Baptistry , which was damaged beyond repair by the 518 AD earthquake. In August 2022, a basilica was discovered in the 4th sector of the archaeological park, located within the 19-hectares fortified section that is located to the north-east of the rest of the city. The basilica, being 70 m (230 ft) long and 20 m (66 ft) wide

5712-415: The Danube without Roman permission. The Gothic War culminated in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed. Following the decisive Gothic victory at Adrianople, Julius, the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire , organized a wholesale massacre of Goths in Asia Minor , Syria and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured

5831-619: The Dardani are as opponents of Macedon in the fourth century, clashing with Philip II who managed to subdue them and their neighbors in 345. However, Philip took no new territory and ended Macedon's borders near the Danube watershed in Paeonia . The Dardani then remained quiet until Philip's assassination in 336, after which they began planning to revolt alongside the Illyrians and the Thracians . The first century historian Pompey Trogue reports that these barbarous nations…were of wavering faith and perfidious dispositions and that only Alexander III's smooth succession averted disaster. Indeed,

5950-410: The Dardani are not mentioned in any ancient accounts of Alexander's Balkan campaign in 335. They remain absent from our sources until 284 when Lysimachus seized Paeonia, which had revolted earlier in 322, forcing her prince Ariston to flee to Dardania. It appears that the Dardani escaped the Macedonian yoke entirely during the Wars of the Diadochi as they again began to freely raid Upper Greece under

6069-426: The Dardanian capital Scupi . It was also among the largest settlements in the Balkans of the late antiquity. It is located close to the gold and silver mines of Janjevo and Shashkoc and archaeological findings suggest that the city was inhabited even before Roman rule. The first known mention of Ulpiana in ancient sources was done by Ptolemy and dates back to the second decade of the 2nd century AD. Ulpiana reached

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6188-404: The Gothic period as "the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe." William H. McNeill compares the migration of the Goths to that of the early Mongols , who migrated southward from the forests and came to dominate the eastern Eurasian steppe around the same time as the Goths in the west. From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in

6307-445: The Goths and other Germanic groups such as the Heruli . It nevertheless also included Iranian , Dacian , Roman and probably Slavic elements as well. The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. The first references to the Goths in the 3rd century call them Scythians , as this area, known as Scythia, had historically been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. It

6426-429: The Goths in present-day Ukraine were overwhelmed by a significant westward movement of Alans and Huns from the east. Large numbers of Goths subsequently concentrated upon the Roman border at the Lower Danube , seeking refuge inside the Roman Empire. After they entered the Empire, violence broke out, and Goth-led forces inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Roman forces regained

6545-462: The Goths into the confines of urban streets from which they could not escape and massacred soldiers and civilians alike. As word spread, the Goths rioted throughout the region, and large numbers were killed. Survivors may have settled in Phrygia . With the rise of Theodosius I in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers. Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through

6664-412: The Goths originated in Gotland or Götaland . The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic. Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and Scandinavian languages (particularly Gutnish ) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin. Scholars generally locate Gothiscandza in

6783-407: The Goths originated on an island called Scandza (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called Gothiscandza under their king Berig . Historians are not in agreement on the authenticity and accuracy of this account. Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record, but the evidence is not entirely clear. Rather than

6902-405: The Goths were called the * Gut-þiuda ('Gothic people') or * Gutans ('Goths'). The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is recostructed as * Gutōz , but it is proposed that this co-existed with an n-stem variant * Gutaniz , attested in Gutones , gutani , or gutniskr . The form * Gutōz is etymologically identical to that of the Gutes from Gotland, Sweden, and closely related to that of

7021-447: The Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia . Mistreated by corrupt local Roman officials, the Gothic refugees were soon experiencing a famine; some are recorded as having been forced to sell their children to Roman slave traders in return for rotten dog meat. Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed

7140-408: The Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighbouring Rugii and Lemovii were Germani who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals. He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes". In another notable work, the Annals , Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda , a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing

7259-413: The Great of the Goths attacked the city with 3,000 soldiers, plundering it and destroying parts of it. According to the chronicle and writings of Marcellinus Comes , Ulpiana was hit by another devastating earthquake in the year 518 that severely damaged Ulpiana and destroyed another 24 major cities in the region. Emperor Justinian rebuilt the city and its fortifications sometime after 535 AD and renamed

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7378-429: The Great , these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna . The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century, with a remnant in Asturias which would go on to initiate the Reconquista under Pelagius . Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea , known as

7497-439: The Greeks. The remainder withdrew north through Dardania where they were, according to Diodorous , subsequently destroyed by the Dardani. They then disappear from the written historical record until the 230s BC when a constant series of wars, raids, and counter-raids began against the Macedonians. Following the Celtic invasion, and the consequent diminishment in power of the Macedonians, the influence of Dardania began to grow in

7616-547: The Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Romans, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was thereafter mostly composed of Germanic warriors, as Roman soldiers by this time had largely lost military value. The Goths increasingly became soldiers in

7735-441: The Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns. Procopius interpreted the name Visigoth as "western Goths" and the name Ostrogoth as "eastern Goth", reflecting the geographic distribution of the Gothic realms at that time. A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination. A smaller group of Goths were the Crimean Goths , who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into

7854-441: The Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the Veneti and the Fenni . In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern Scandia . These Gutae are probably the same as the later Gauti mentioned by Procopius. Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin. Beginning in

7973-419: The Hunnic thrust into Europe and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west. The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as Caucaland in the sagas). Ambrose makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit). Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in

8092-415: The Illyrian peoples. Groups of Illyrians began to desert the Ardiaen queen Teuta at around the same time and join the Dardani, forcing her to end an expedition into Phoenice . When Philip V rose to the Macedonian throne, skirmishing with Dardania began in 220-219 and he managed to recapture Bylazora from them in 217. Skirmishes continued in 211 and in 209 when a force of Dardani under Aeropus, probably

8211-548: The Roman Empire continued, In 250–51, the Gothic king Cniva captured the city of Philippopolis and inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus , in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed. This was one of the most disastrous defeats in the history of the Roman army. The first Gothic seaborne raids took place in the 250s. The first two incursions into Asia Minor took place between 253 and 256, and are attributed to Boranoi by Zosimus . This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean "people from

8330-437: The Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, Fritigern , a rival of Athanaric, converted to Arianism, gaining the favor of Valens. Athanaric and Fritigern thereafter fought a civil war in which Athanaric appears to have been victorious. Athanaric thereafter carried out a crackdown on Christianity in his realm. Around 375 the Huns overran the Alans , an Iranian people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded

8449-557: The Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant Germanization of the Roman Army. Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did. Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include Gainas , Tribigild , Fravitta and Aspar . Mardonius , a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor Julian , on whom he had an immense influence. The Gothic penchant for wearing skins became fashionable in Constantinople,

8568-685: The Roman army. In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths . Visigoths means the "Goths of the west", while Ostrogoths means "Goths of the east". The Visigoths, led by the Balti dynasty , claimed descent from the Thervingi and lived as foederati inside Roman territory, while the Ostrogoths, led by the Amali dynasty , claimed descent from

8687-609: The Romans, the Thervingi invaded the territory of the Sarmatians of the Tisza . In this conflict, the Thervingi were led by Vidigoia , "the bravest of the Goths" and were victorious, although Vidigoia was killed. Jordanes states that Aoric was succeeded by Geberic , "a man renowned for his valor and noble birth", who waged war on the Hasdingi Vandals and their king Visimar , forcing them to settle in Pannonia under Roman protection. Both

8806-458: The Romans. After Gallienus was assassinated outside Milan in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, Claudius was proclaimed emperor and headed to Rome to establish his rule. Claudius' immediate concerns were with the Alamanni , who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After he defeated them in the Battle of Lake Benacus , he was finally able to take care of the invasions in

8925-459: The Thervingi, there were also populations of Taifali , Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, Dacians , Daco-Romans and other Romanized populations. According to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek), a 13th-century legendary saga , Árheimar was the capital of Reidgotaland , the land of the Goths. The saga states that it was located on the Dnieper river. Jordanes refers to

9044-502: The Thervingian king Ariaric , was captured. Eusebius , a historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000  Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes. Having been driven from the Danube by

9163-628: The Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal "German races", along with the coastal Ingvaeones , Istvaeones , Irminones , and Peucini . In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler Pytheas encountered a people called the Guiones . Some scholars have equated these Guiones with the Gutones, but the authenticity of the Pytheas account is uncertain. In his work Germania from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that

9282-558: The area of the Wielbark culture . This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the Pomeranian coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding Oksywie culture . It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of stone circles . This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of

9401-631: The beginning of the Marcomannic Wars . By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the Roman army . According to Jordanes, the Goths entered Oium , part of Scythia, under the king Filimer , where they defeated the Spali . This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence. The name Spali may mean "the giants" in Slavic , and the Spali were thus probably not Slavs . In

9520-535: The campaign. Some 30,000 Bastarnae under the command of Clondicus seem to have defeated the Dardani. In 179, the Bastarnae conquered the Dardani, who later in 174 pushed them out, in a war which proved catastrophic, with a few years later, in 170, the Macedonians defeating the Dardani. Macedonia and Illyria became protectorates of the Roman Republic in 168. The Dardanian Kingdom retained its sovereignty until 28 BC, when

9639-462: The city fell under ruins and its materials were reused for other constructions. The lower parts of the walls of the Gračanica Monastery were built with gravestones from Ulpiana. The epitaphs are still visible today. Despite being mentioned in historical documents since the 2nd century AD, the location of Ulpiana was not known in modern times until after World War II . There were rumors that

9758-481: The city to Iustinianna Secunda . Nevertheless, not long after, Ulpiana suffered from constant Avaric and Slavic attacks and after the latter invaded the Balkans in 618 , they burned Ulpiana to the ground. Some sources say that afterward it became uninhabited, but other sources suggest that at least the northern church of the city and some other buildings continued to be used throughout the entire 7th century. Eventually,

9877-458: The city was related to Lipjan due to the similarities in their names and the finding of some old artifacts in Lipjan, but the evidence was lacking. In 1953, the finding of four graves in the northern part of the cemetery finally confirmed the location of Ulpiana. Excavations started immediately and the first stage of excavations lasted between 1954 and 1959. The second stage of excavations took place in

9996-428: The decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army. The battle ensured the survival of the Roman Empire for another two centuries. In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launched an invasion of the Roman Empire , but were defeated by Aurelian , who, however, did surrender Dacia beyond

10115-463: The early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural Zarubintsy culture and the nomadic Sarmatians . Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the Bastarnae , who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC. Peter Heather considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition. The fact that

10234-470: The eastern parts. The correspondence of Illyrian names, including those of the ruling elite, in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a "thracianization" of parts of Dardania. Strabo in his geographica mentions them as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples, the other two being the Ardiaei and Autariatae . According to a historical reconstruction the first attested Dardanian king

10353-619: The embassy by saying that the Macedonians were in a sad condition if, after having subdued the whole east without assistance, they now required aid from the Dardanians to defend their country; and that he had for soldiers the sons of those who had served under Alexander the Great, and had been victorious throughout the world. Underestimating the Celtic strength, Ptolemy was later captured in battle and subsequently decapitated by their Gallic leader Bolgios . The tribes then pushed on towards Southern Greece, but were permanently turned back at Delphi by

10472-475: The end of the ancient world, the Balkans were involved in far-reaching ethnic perturbations, the Dardanians, of all the Central Balkan tribes, played the greatest part in the genesis of the new peoples. Whether the Dardanians were an Illyrian or a Thracian people has been much debated and one view suggests that the area was originally populated with Thracians who then exposed to direct contact with Illyrians over

10591-528: The expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people. By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in Scythia. This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east. It is believed to have been dominated by

10710-410: The first area, there is a cemetery with a church built on top of it, known as the Northern Necropolis or Memoria . To the east of the city, there is a castrum , and to the northwest and south, there are two more necropolises, neither of which have been unearthed so far. Ulpiana is located at the center of the Balkans and as such, it played a vital role in the region at the peak of its development. It

10829-529: The historian Dexippus , pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus . He won an important victory near the Nessos ( Nestos ) river, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace , the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men. Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with

10948-497: The historian Jordanes who wrote that the Goths originated on Scandza many centuries earlier, and moved to the Vistula delta. However, the accuracy of Jordanes' account for such early gothic history has been questioned by scholars. A people called the Gutones  – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in current Poland in

11067-450: The invasion of the Goths , the seat of the bishopric of Dardania was placed in Ulpiana. The first known bishop of Ulpiana is Machedonius, who was a member of the council of Serdika . Other known bishops were Paulus ( synod of Constantinople in 553 AD), and Gregentius, who was sent by Justin I to Ethiopia and Yemen to ease problems among different Christian groups there. Ulpiana remained

11186-479: The kingdom in 28 BC while on campaign against the Dacians and Bastarnae . The region was subsequently incorporated into the province of Moesia in 15 BC, and later in 293 AD, as the province of Dardania . Tribal aristocracy and pre-urban development first emerged in Dardania from the 6th–5th centuries BC. This proto-urban development was followed by the creation of urban centers and the emergence of craftsmanship, and

11305-410: The last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of Carpi are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths. In 332, Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Aoric , son of

11424-400: The late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture . By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful. During this time, Wulfila began the conversion of Goths to Christianity . The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship. Along with

11543-482: The middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the Black Sea . During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture. This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth. As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the Roman Empire , contributing to

11662-506: The name Gutones . The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians. Around 15 AD, Strabo mentions the Butones, Lugii , and Semnones as part of a large group of peoples who came under the domination of the Marcomannic king Maroboduus . The "Butones" are generally equated with the Gutones. The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as

11781-546: The names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna. Other Dardanian names are linked with... [REDACTED] Media related to Kingdom of Dardania at Wikimedia Commons Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe . They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in

11900-425: The narthex, with another three doors leading to the nave. There were another two entrances on the southern side. A baptistry, shaped as an octopetalous rosette, is located 7.5m to the south of the basilica. The original basilica seems to have been destroyed by an earthquake in 358 AD, and then it was rebuilt a few decades later, only to be destroyed again in the 6th century, with holes as deep as 1 meter being present in

12019-472: The nave. The Early Christian Basilica is a single-aisled basilica that was discovered in the 1950s. It is 33.5m long and 14m wide. The basilica seems to have been built in five different phases and it is also known as "the church of martyrs" due to its presumed dedication to the martyrs Florus and Laurus. The basilica was built in the 6th century AD and it has a floor mosaic, which has not yet been revealed. Its southern wall has three columns, which suggest that

12138-513: The north in the forest steppe , suggesting Gothic domination of this area. Peter Heather on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated. Ermanaric's possible dominance of the Volga - Don trade routes has led historian Gottfried Schramm to consider his realm a forerunner of the Viking -founded state of Kievan Rus' . In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by

12257-448: The north". It is unknown if Goths were involved in these first raids. Gregory Thaumaturgus attributes a third attack to Goths and Boradoi, and claims that some, "forgetting that they were men of Pontus and Christians," joined the invaders. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the second year by another, which sacked Pityus and Trabzon and ravaged large areas in the Pontus . In

12376-706: The peak of its development in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, at some point becoming the episcopal center of Dardania and hosting the Archbishop of Dardania. During this time, Ulpiana was known as Municipum Ulpiana Splendidissima (the Magnificent City of Ulpiana) and served as an important political, cultural, and economic center of the Roman Empire in Dardania. It contained a Decumanus Maximus street network, living quarters, utility buildings, as well as an aqueduct , supplying water to each building. Its proximity to silver and gold mines made it an important mining and craftsmanship center. Christianity started to flourish in

12495-527: The region as Oium. In the 360s, Athanaric , son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper Procopius against the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens . In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and defeated him , but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. Athanaric and Valens thereupon negotiated a peace treaty, favorable to the Thervingi, on a boat in the Danube river, as Athanaric refused to set his feet within

12614-566: The region. In 230, the Dardani under Longarus captured the strategic city of Bylazora in Paeonia. At some point in 230-229 in an unknown location in north-west Macedonia, they defeated the Antigonid king Demetrius II who died shortly the next spring. The Dardanian expansion into Macedonia, similar to the Ardiaean expansion into Epirus in the same period, may have been part of a broader movement among

12733-439: The reign of Lysimachus. Thereafter the Dardani became a constant threat to Macedonia's northern borders. In 279, during a Celtic incursion of the Balkans, Dardania itself began to be raided by several tribes on their way to plunder Greece. In that same year an unnamed Dardanian king offered 20,000 warriors to the Macedonian king Ptolemy Ceraunus to stop the invading Celts. Ptolemy found this offer insulting and rudely refused

12852-404: The remains of a basilica that was constructed before the 5th century AD. It is 40 m (130 ft) long and 20 m (65 ft) wide and consisted of two aisles and a nave, divided by columns. The nave ended with a single apse in the east. The apse had a synthronon and the floor is decorated by mosaics with geometrical patterns. The basilica had three doors on its western side which led into

12971-463: The rule of Maroboduus. Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni. Sometime after settling Gothiscandza , Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals. Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. In his Geography from around 150 AD, Ptolemy mentions

13090-552: The same expedition discovered the Necropolis itself. The Necropolis is dated to the 6th century, however, there is evidence to suggest that it predates the city walls, meaning that it was likely constructed in the 4th century. The Necropolis had an apse on its eastern side and a two-columned door between its narthex and its nave . The Necropolis also had a mosaic floor with Latin inscriptions but those were not preserved and have been permanently lost. In 2012, archaeologists discovered

13209-500: The scale of the invasion. After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube ( Tomi , Marcianopolis ), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis . Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because they were defeated by the Roman navy. Then they entered

13328-499: The scheming of Fritigern. Athanaric received a warm reception by Theodosius, praised the Roman Emperor in return, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the emperor following his death shortly after his arrival. In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382. The Thervingi were subsequently made foederati of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to

13447-420: The territory of the Goths. A source for this period is the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus , who wrote that Hunnic domination of the Gothic kingdoms in Scythia began in the 370s. It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards. Upon the suicide of Ermanaric (died 376), the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that

13566-529: The third year, a much larger force devastated large areas of Bithynia and the Propontis , including the cities of Chalcedon , Nicomedia , Nicaea , Apamea Myrlea , Cius and Bursa . By the end of the raids, the Goths had seized control over Crimea and the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxine coast, including Olbia and Tyras , which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities. After

13685-400: The villages Hajvalia, Laplje Selo, and the town of Gračanica . Geophysical research made by archaeologists has shown that there are more than 120 hectares worth of objects within the territory of the ancient town. There are two fortified parts of the city, with the first one consisting of an area of 35.5 hectares, and the second one, discovered in 2022, being about 19 hectares. To the north of

13804-471: Was Bardylis , who during the expansion of his dominion included the region of Dassaretis in his realm, but this is considered an old fallacy because it is unsupported by any ancient source, while some facts and ancient geographical locations go squarely against it. Most scholars hold that the Illyrian kingdom that was established by Bardylis was centered along Lake Ohrid and east to the Prespa Lakes , which

13923-466: Was called Dassaretis later in Roman times , located on the border between Macedon and Epirus . the Dardanians ... living in the frontiers of the Illyrian and the Thracian worlds retained their individuality and, alone among the peoples of that region, succeeded in maintaining themselves as an ethnic unity even when they were militarily and politically subjected by the Roman arms [...] and when, towards

14042-401: Was established in the 1st century AD, possibly developing from a concentrated Dardanian oppidum . Ulpiana was upgraded to the status of a Roman municipium at the beginning of the 2nd century. The upgrade to municipium took place during the rule of Trajan , before 117 AD and was named after the emperor. Ulpiana was an important city located along Via Lissus - Naissus and was very close to

14161-707: Was one of the main gravitational and communication centers between Rome and Constantinople and was located close to Via Lissus - Naissus and other roads that connected the Adriatic Sea to the Aegean Sea . Metal exports from Ulpiana have been found in 1993 as far as Caesarea in Israel. Amphoras with inscriptions from Ulpiana have been found in 2013 in Forli-Cesena in northern Italy . The amphoras were used to carry goods such as grain, wine, and olive oil, suggesting that Ulpiana's trade networks were vast. The city of Ulpiana

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