Editing Varna, Bulgaria (section)

=== Antiquity ===
[[File:VarnaRoman.JPG|thumb|Remains of [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] Odessos]]
[[File:Warna ruiny.jpg|thumb|[[Roman Thermae (Varna)|Roman Thermae]] west [[apodyterium]] with [[Athanasius of Alexandria|St. Athanasius]] church bell tower in the background]]

'''Odessos''' or '''Odessus''' ({{langx|grc|Ὀδησσός}})<ref>{{Cite Strabo|vii. p. 319}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Diodorus|19.73, 20.112}}</ref><ref>[[Appian]], ''Ill.'' 30; [[Arrian]], ''Per.'' 24; {{Cite Ptolemy|3.10.8, 8.11.6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Stephanus|''s.v.''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Mela|2.2.5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pliny|4.18}}</ref><ref>[[Ovid]], ''Trist.'' 1.9.37</ref> is one of the oldest ancient settlements in Bulgaria. Its name appears as '''Odesopolis''' (Ὀδησόπολις) in the ''[[Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax]]''; and as Odyssos or Odyssus in the [[Synecdemus]] and in [[Procopius]].<ref name=DGRG>{{Cite DGRG|title=Odessus}}</ref> It was established in the second quarter of the sixth century BC (585–550 BC) by [[Miletus|Miletian]] [[Greeks]] on the site of a previous Thracian settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeo.museumvarna.com/en/category/6|title=Odessos, Antiquity|publisher=Archaeological Museum Varna|access-date=23 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224131354/http://www.archaeo.museumvarna.com/en/category/6|archive-date=24 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Minchev |first=Alexander |title=Ancient Theatres and Theatre Art of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and Thracian Hinterland |date=2019 |work=Ancient Theatre and Performance Culture Around the Black Sea |page=183 |editor-last=Braund |editor-first=David |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/ancient-theatre-and-performance-culture-around-the-black-sea/ancient-theatres-and-theatre-art-of-the-bulgarian-black-sea-coast-and-thracian-hinterland/FE58543D28375B1D2CF4E672909A872E |access-date=2024-09-25 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781316756621.010 |isbn=978-1-107-17059-9 |editor2-last=Hall |editor2-first=Edith |editor3-last=Wyles |editor3-first=Rosie}}</ref> The Miletian founded an ''apoikia'' (trading post) of Odessos towards the end of the 7th c. BC (the earliest Greek archaeological material is dated 600–575 BC), or, according to [[Pseudo-Scymnus]]'', ''in the time of [[Astyages]] (here, usually 572–570 BC is suggested), within an earlier Thracian settlement. The name ''Odessos'' could have been pre-Greek, arguably of [[Carian]] origin. It was the presiding member of the Pontic [[Pentapolis]], consisting of Odessos, [[Constanța|Tomi]], [[Callatis]], [[Mesembria]], and [[Sozopol|Apollonia]].<ref name=DGRG/> Odessos was a mixed community—contact zone between the [[Ionia]]n [[Greeks]] and the [[Thracians|Thracian]] tribes ([[Getae]], [[Krobyzoi]], [[Terizi (Getae tribe)|Terizi]]) of the [[hinterland]]. Excavations at nearby Thracian sites have shown uninterrupted occupation from the 7th to the 4th century BC and close commercial relations with the colony. The Greek alphabet has been used for inscriptions in [[Thracian language|Thracian]] since at least the 5th century BC. 
{{See also|Derzelas}}

Odessos was included in the assessment of the [[Delian league]] of 425 BC. In 339 BC, it was unsuccessfully besieged by [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] (priests of the Getae persuaded him to conclude a treaty) but surrendered to [[Alexander the Great]] in 335 BC, and was later ruled by his [[Diadochi|diadochus]] [[Lysimachus]], against whom it rebelled in 313 BC as part of a coalition with other Pontic cities and the Getae. Nevertheless, at the end of the 4th c. BC the city became one of the strongholds of Lysimachus. The city became very prosperous from this time due to strong sea trade with many of the Mediterranean states and cities supported by a wide range of local products. Shortly after 108 BC, Odessos recognised the suzerainty of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus]].

The Roman city, ''Odessus'', first included into the ''Praefectura orae maritimae'' and then in 15 AD annexed to the province of [[Moesia]] (later ''Moesia Inferior''), covered 47 hectares in present-day central Varna and had prominent public baths, [[Roman Thermae (Varna)|Thermae]], erected in the late 2nd century AD (so-called Large (North) Ancient Roman Thermae), now the largest Roman remains in Bulgaria (the building was {{convert|100|m|2|abbr=on}} wide, {{convert|70|m|2|abbr=on}} long, and {{convert|25|m|2|abbr=on}} high) and fourth-largest-known Roman baths in Europe which testify to the importance of the city. There is also the Small (South) Ancient Roman Thermae from the 5th–6th century AD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/06/02/archaeological-monuments-from-ancient-odessos-harbor-great-potential-for-cultural-tourism-in-bulgarias-varna-museum-director-says/ |title=ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS FROM ANCIENT ODESSOS HOLD GREAT POTENTIAL FOR CULTURAL TOURISM IN BULGARIA'S VARNA, MUSEUM DIRECTOR SAYS |access-date=1 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513060236/http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/06/02/archaeological-monuments-from-ancient-odessos-harbor-great-potential-for-cultural-tourism-in-bulgarias-varna-museum-director-says/ |archive-date=13 May 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In addition, archaeologists in 2019 discovered ruins of a building of Roman thermae from the 5th century AD.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/11/15/5th-century-ad-byzantine-thermae-public-baths-discovered-in-downtown-of-bulgarian-black-sea-city-varna/ |title=5TH CENTURY AD BYZANTINE THERMAE (PUBLIC BATHS) DISCOVERED IN DOWNTOWN OF BULGARIAN BLACK SEA CITY VARNA |date=15 November 2019 |access-date=1 December 2019 |archive-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122063153/http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/11/15/5th-century-ad-byzantine-thermae-public-baths-discovered-in-downtown-of-bulgarian-black-sea-city-varna/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Major athletic games were held every five years, possibly attended by [[Gordian III]] in 238.

The main aqueduct of Odessos was recently discovered during rescue excavations<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/04/28/archaeologists-discover-main-aqueduct-of-ancient-odessos-during-rescue-excavations-in-bulgarias-varna/|title=Archaeologists Discover Main Aqueduct of Ancient Odessos during Rescue Excavations in Bulgaria's Varna|date=28 April 2015|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=11 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511235558/http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/04/28/archaeologists-discover-main-aqueduct-of-ancient-odessos-during-rescue-excavations-in-bulgarias-varna/|url-status=live}}</ref> north of the defensive wall. The aqueduct was built in three construction periods between the 4th and the 6th centuries; in the 4th century the aqueduct was built together with the city wall, then at the end of the 4th to early 5th centuries when a pipeline was laid inside the initial masonry aqueduct. Thirdly in the 6th century, an extra pipeline was added parallel to the original west of it and entered the city through a reconstruction of the fortress wall. The city minted coins, both as an autonomous [[polis]] and under the [[Roman Empire]] from [[Trajan]] to [[Cornelia Salonina|Salonina]], the wife of [[Gallienus]], some of which survive.<ref name=DGRG/>

Odessos was an early [[Early Christianity|Christian]] centre, as testified by ruins of twelve early basilicas,<ref>{{cite web |author=Borislav Petrov |url=http://varna.info.bg/bazilika.htm |title=Ранновизантийската базилика |publisher=Varna.info.bg |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828181656/http://varna.info.bg/bazilika.htm |archive-date=28 August 2008 }}</ref> a [[monophysite]] monastery, and indications that one of the [[Seventy Disciples]], [[Ampliatus]], follower of [[Saint Andrew]] (who, according to the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] legend, preached in the city in 56 CE), served as bishop there. In 6th-century imperial documents, it was referred to as "holiest city," ''sacratissima civitas''. In 442 a peace treaty between [[Theodosius II]] and [[Attila]] was conducted at Odessos. In 513, it became a focal point of the [[Vitalian (general)|Vitalian]] revolt. In 536, [[Justinian I]] made it the seat of the [[Quaestura exercitus]] ruled by a ''prefect of Scythia'' or ''quaestor Justinianus'' and including Lower Moesia, [[Scythia]], Caria, the [[Aegean Islands]] and Cyprus; later, the military camp outside Odessos was the seat of another senior Roman commander, ''magister militum per Thracias''.