The Greek geographer Claudius
Ptolemy (ca. 90–168 AD) described Ulpia Oescus as a city of the
Triballi, an independent ancient tribe which inhabited today's northwestern Bulgaria. Between 106 and 112
Trajan granted the city the status of a
colonia and it received a new name,
Colonia Ulpia Oescensium ("Ulpia" after Trajan's middle name,
Ulpius). Veterans of the VI Macedonica and the
Legio I Italica Legions may have been settled here as shown by archaeology. The city was built on top of the legionary fortress. In 167, Oescus received the unique additional privilege of being granted all Roman rights. In 190–191, the city dedicated a pagan temple to the goddess
Fortuna, who was designated as protector of the city. There also existed a temple of the
Capitoline Triad (
Jupiter,
Juno and
Minerva). The city's economy included manufacturing of jewellery, bronze statuettes bronze brooches and other metal objects and vessels, glass, ceramics (
terra sigillata,
red slip pottery and other), metal and bone articles. It was also home to one of the largest sculpture workshops in the region. After 271, the Legio V Macedonica returned and built a second fortress, called Oescus II. An aqueduct was built to deliver fresh water from springs 20 km away, and a stone wall was constructed to protect the site from invaders and from the Danube floods. On 5 July 328 emperor
Constantine I personally opened and consecrated the
Constantines's Bridge, the biggest and most famous stone bridge on the Danube. The crossing linked Oescus with
Sucidava to the north and, measuring 2.5 km long (1.3 km over the river) by 5.7 m wide, was the largest river bridge in ancient times. However, the span was only used for about 27 years; it was destroyed during a barbarian invasion in 355. In 411, the
Huns destroyed Oescus, and in 444 an attempt was made to resettle it as a Hun settlement, named
Hunion.
Emperor Justinian I rebuilt the city's defensive wall, in an attempt to re-establish Oescus as the stronghold of the Danube defense system, but all the efforts were stopped in late 585 and early 586 by the invasion of the
Avars.
Middle Ages A Bulgarian village existed on the site during the 10th–14th centuries. == Archaeology ==