Roman architecture in nowadays Bulgarian lands

Not just the war operations on the Balkans, which last almost two centuries, are hard for Rome. As continuing as different from the expected is adding these lands in Rome’s imperial cultural system.
Universal in its regularities, rising the order in ideal, the Roman culture is aiming with no success to enforce its manner of thinking and its value system the Balkan nations and tribes. They don’t adopt the “roman” administrative method in the way it has been given to them, the partiality for “order” systems in the architecture of Romans, for geometrical forms of city plans, for codifying the legal regulations and ethical norms. Slowly, but with no compromises, the local cultures are decisively repulsing and adopting the reforms with lots of changes, delivering them eastward to Asia Minor where they’ll take even more changes which will totally change the original prototypes. That is why
The Romans have the feeling for unwonted, not understandable for them order which they determine as something “leaking” “with no fixed limits, mysterious, not belonging to the European culture and values”. The Rome’s efforts to conquer the Balkan Peninsula and to impose in its lands its military administrative and cultural system had continued almost two centuries. The first skirmish with Thracian warriors was in the battle at Pidna in 160 year B.C., and the last one – with the army of the Thracian tzar Gay Yuliy Remetalk in 44 year.
Symbol of the border between the West and the Orient was the fortresses gate raised on the – most difficultly passable place on the road Via Singidunum called “Traianovi Vrata” (next to the nowadays city of Ihtiman). It was raised in the honor of the co-emperors Valentian I and Valent and also Theodosiy and Arkadiy, bearers of the title “defeaters of the barbarians”.
The first step in steeling a civilization of “Roman kind” was the building of roads for the needs of the army, in the basis of which were the two roads, built by the Thracians, which the Romans called Via Singidunum and Via Egnacia. Secondary road system was crossing the mountains and one big road followed the Danube River. The roadways were covered with big paving stones, part of which can be seen nowadays in the Rodopa mountains, next to Melnik and some other places. The built next to roads Thracian villages prospered and were built in Roman manner: with right planning, water-supply, sewer system, public buildings. The usual size was around 25 square hectares and the form – rectangle, crossed form two streets – “cardo” north-south and “dekumanos” east-west, parallel to which the others buildings were built. In the center were the Forum around which the public buildings were built: pretorium, basilisks( the judge building), bulevterion and the temples. Second forum, so called “forum tranzitorum” was the trading center in the city.
In this manner were built the dating from antiquity Thracian villages: Serdika, Trimontium, Lihnida, Pautalia, Adrianopol, Filipi, Beroe, Skupi, Stobi, Hisar, cities net to the Danube river, Raciaria, Eskus, Nove, Iatros, Prista, Dorustorum, the cities guarding the passages and the strategic roads across the mountains: Nikopolis ad Istrum and Nikopolis and Nestum etc.
Serdika. In 29 year B.C. the Romans conquer the tribe of the serds. They rebuild Serdonpolis, which turns into typical roman village for three centuries. Its building scheme is based on two main streets: Kardo principalis(north-south) and Dekumanos principalis(east – west), parallel to which the other streets were built having according their orientation their names: kardo and dekumanos. The place where the two main streets were crossing was the forum, surrounded by colonnades, around which where the public buildings: bulevterion, basilisks, pretorium(known also as the palace of Konstantin Veliki), the rotunda, devoted most probably to Eksulap and Higia etc. The city was water – supplied and the famous serdian mineral bath was built also.
East, outside the city walls, was the necropolis, where during 5th – 6th century was raised the basilisks “St.Sofia”. South, on the mountainside of Vitosha monasteries existed and there, most probably, was raised Serdiiskata basilisk in which during 343 year was one of the oecumenical councils – The Serdiyski. In the suburbs there were great number of villas inhabited by its rich people.
Trimontium. “The biggest and the most beautiful among the cities” (Lucian – Dialogues). Continuing the life of the Thracian village named form the Macedonians Filipopol, the Romans renew it, keeping the existing structure, base on three of the city’s hills, from where its new name came. At the foot of the Threehills they build a stadium, and at its south side a forum, surrounded by trading buildings, amphitheatre, big bathroom. The richness of architecture details speaks for the high quality of the architecture of the buildings, and the existing of two amphitheatres, for the level of the culture life in this big trading city, center of fertile Trakia.
Nikopolis Ad Istrum was raised with a purpose to guard the military road, leading to the lands of the rebellious daki. Built in 102 year, in honor of the victories of emperor Traian, but ended its life very soon, the city is saved in substructions. A long lasting excavations took place there and as its city building, so the buildings inside illustrate most accurately the type “Roman village and Roman architecture on the Balkans” with its differences from the “classic” roman architecture.
The greek city-colonies Odessos, Mesembria, Apolonia and the rest sea villages turn also into roman cities. Next to the roads were built military garrisons and road stations, which become the foundation of new cities like Storgozia and Montana.
Remarkable and well – saved architecture monuments from this period are: the stadium and the amphitheatre in Trimontium, the terms in Varna(Odesos), the remains from public and private buildings of Nikopolis ad Istrum, Nove, Eskus, Nikopolis ad Nestum, the outside villas in South Bulgaria and so on.
During the first century a new religion comes to the Balkans – the Christianity, and they become the first Christianized lands in Europe. Here in the 4th century (in the city of Nish) was born emperor Konstantin Veliki, who acknowledges in 313 year with The Milano Edict the Christianity as equal to the other religious systems which existed in the empire. During 4th century emperor Teodosiy I separates the Eastern Roman Empire form the Western Roman Empire. That’s why we speek of early-byzantine architecture on the Bulgarian lands, for the period after 4th century, despite a large number of its monuments can not be separated from the roman. The line between them creates the sacred architecture of the Christianity. The biggest and most representative buildings are the Christian temples. Their creation as separate architecture type is a long and difficult process. It starts from the time of originating of the first Christian municipalities and demonstrates in brightest way the process of originating and development of the architecture typology, because the sacral architecture has the greatest number of logical meanings.