The site was at the junction of the Iatrus (
Yantra) and the
Rositsa rivers, where the Roman army under Emperor
Trajan had been amassed in readiness for the attack in the winter of 101–2 to the
Roxolani tribe from north of the Danube and who were allied to the
Dacians. The city was founded by Trajan around 102–106, as indicated on
Trajan’s Column, in memory of his victory in the
Dacian Wars over the
Roxolani and also later victories in 105. It was named
Ulpia Nicopolis in his honour using his family name, or
nomen. However the name
Nicopolis ad Haemum was used in
Ptolemy's Geographia dating from before 130. Trajan clearly intended it to become a magnificent city which is gradually being verified. The monumental character of the city however dates mainly to
Hadrian and
Antoninus Pius (138–161) and inscriptions found are no earlier than 136 when the name
Ulpia Nicopolis ad Istrum was in use. The new agora included a monumental ionic stoa and a sumptuous hall of unknown function. The city was ransacked by the
Costoboci in 170-171, a tribe from today’s Western Ukraine, shortly after which the city walls were built. Many buildings were excluded from the walled area from this time. The city prospered again in the 2nd and 3rd centuries under the
Severan dynasty (193–235). In 198 CE,
Septimius Severus and Caracalla sent a letter to the city, thanking its leaders and inhabitants for their festival celebrating the emperors' victory over the
Parthians and for sending a substantial monetary gift. This gesture may have been aimed at gaining favor and securing additional privileges, such as the status of
neokoros. However from about 212 the honorary title
Ulpia was no longer used in public inscriptions which is believed to be a result of
Caracalla's displeasure with the city after his visit there in 211–212. Caracalla closed the mint and it lost its status of
civitas stipendaria as well as its economic prosperity. After his death the city organised games for the new emperor and as a result it seems that the city regained its civic status, though not its full name, and re-opened the mint, issuing coins bearing images of its public buildings. In 250 near the city, emperor
Decius defeated the
Goths under
Cniva at the
Battle of Nicopolis ad Istrum. Nicopolis grew further as a major urban centre under Emperor
Diocletian's (284–305) reforms. Nevertheless at least the north wing of the agora was damaged during the 3rd century. Under
Constantine from 306 the damaged northern agora buildings were replaced by two built with
opus mixtum masonry, divided into three aisles by rows of large pillars, which may well have been
horrea (warehouses), given that other nearby cities (e.g.
Tropaeum and
Zaldapa) also received horrea rather than basilicas in the same period. These horrea probably formed part of the large supply network for the Danube army helped by building a large number of horrea in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. In 447, the town was destroyed by
Attila's Huns. Perhaps it was already abandoned before the early 5th century. In about the middle of 5th century after the Huns' invasion, new high and strong walls were built adjoining the southern wall of the old city. The larger area of the extensive ruins (21.55 hectares) of the classical Nicopolis was not reoccupied. The south wall of the old city was reconstructed as the north wall of the new one. Its towers were built upon destroyed and abandoned buildings, and ornamented stone blocks from their facades were used in the new structures. The towers were about 15m in front of the 10m high wall. The outside of the wall was rendered with mortar with incised grooves imitating massive stone blocks. The old south gate later also underwent a major reconstruction to compensate for higher surrounding terrain as the gate was situated in a hollow. The town became an episcopal centre during the early Byzantine period. The names of two of the early bishops of the city are known: Marcellus (in 451) and Amantius (in 518). The city was destroyed by the
Avars and
Slavs in the late 7th c. during the
Avar–Byzantine wars. A small Bulgarian settlement later arose upon its ruins (9th–14th century). Nicopolis ad Istrum can be said to have been the birthplace of
Germanic literary tradition. In the 4th century, the
Gothic bishop, missionary and translator
Ulfilas (Wulfila) obtained permission from Emperor
Constantius II to immigrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle near Nicopolis ad Istrum in 347–348. There, he devised the
Gothic alphabet and oversaw the translation of the
Bible from
Greek to
Gothic, which was performed by a group of scholars. ==Archaeology==